A Thousand Suns

I'm not a music connoisseur. I like my Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and even a little Justin Bieber once in a while (one million screaming teenagers couldn't be wrong, could they?). I'm pretty bourgeois and if you were looking for something that was musically "edgy" or "hip" I'd have to point you to a couple other friends who are much more discerning (i.e. picky) than I. But that's not to say that I'm with out taste. :) I recently picked up the new LP album. Awesome. The new Linkin Park album is beautiful, stirring, passionate. I don't share the same political views as LP but there latest offering is compelling, courageous, hopeful, imaginative, passionate… Things that I embrace as fundamental to what it means to be human. Most folks aren't into the rap/rock, nu-metal genre which LP is known for so the initial reaction might be that they would never listen to A Thousand Suns. But part of the courage of this album is that LP moves away from the sound that they are known for: the music is still LP but most tracks are unlike Meteroa and Hybrid Theory. A Thousand Suns is a concept album, meaning that the album is to be taken in as a whole; the separate tracks, unlike most albums, are closely related to one another. ATS is about to war. It moves from the frightening to the sorrowful to the wrathful and, finally, to the hopeful. The album is a little less than 48 minutes long. If you want to listen to it, I recommend listening to it when you have time to just sit and listen. Some highlights:

• ATS has some memorable and historical sound bites from Mario Savio, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert Oppenheimer mixed in. Oppenheimer's quote in The Radiance is particularly eerie.
• I love the piano mixed in with the choral background in Robot Boy.
• Iridescent has this soaring chorus at the end that reminds me of ColdPlay.
• Wretches and Kings: It's Rage 2.0. Awesome.

I've been reading several reviews: people either love it or hate it. Part of the criticism is that LP seems to have eschewed it's roots by pursuing a more pop-friendly sound. That's debatable, though LP is more accessible, there's enough screamo, rap, and drums to keep many people away. Part of genius is surfacing this dichotomy of love and hate. I've been listening to it over and over for the past half week and I am consistently reminded how meaningful this album is. It reminded me of why I love Rage Against the Machine. These people care about their music and they think their music can change, not just individuals, but humanity.