Linkin Park - The Hunting Party

Warning: this is a long track-by-track review. Rating: 9/10

A little less than a week ago on June 17, Linkin Park dropped their sixth studio album, probably their heaviest to date. After their booming debut Hybrid Theory, similar sophomore release Meteora, alternative rock Minutes to Midnight, stylistically different concept record A Thousand Suns, and last album Living Things that combined everything they had ever done, the band returned to their roots from even before 1999 with influences like Helmet, the Refused, and At the Drive-In. Going into the studio about a year earlier, emcee Mike Shinoda said he brought in some demos with a more alternative style that would satisfy pop radio, but came to a point where he hated it and trashed those, diving into the aggressive sound he felt is missing from current rock music. We wanted to write music that gets that 17-year-old who was never thinking about guitars to go, "I want play guitar because of that song!" -Chester Bennington (vocalist)

The record bangs off with an opener that shocks anyone who has heard LP’s last three albums. No more short instrumental intros; “Keys to the Kingdom” begins with Bennington’s distorted screams wailing about “fighting in futility” and sails smoothly into hard, and fast-paced drums that continue throughout the record. Following loud guitars, Shinoda graces the track with his low, melodic voice between choruses before ripping out a verse to remind everyone of his rapping skills. The second song is no disappointment either with its heavy intro Shinoda’s unforgiving rap that leads into Page Hamilton of Helmet on the chorus. “All For Nothing” even brings in their electronica influence with small drops in the second verse, and ends on a quiter note before their heavy first single “Guilty All the Same”. Before any vocals appear, it holds about a minute and a half of guitar, drums, piano, and bass that show everyone Linkin Park is back, and then Bennington yells out the verses and choruses with heated accusations. Enter legendary artist Rakim to spit a rap relevant to the whole idea of the album on the bridge. After the final chorus, Delson and Rob Bourdon finish the song as hard as it started. “The Summoning” is the short and strange instrumental that gives the listener’s ear a break before slamming it with “War”, a track with so much anger not only can you hear it in Bennington’s screams, but the instruments as well. Leading off with “Lies Greed Misery"-like drums, “Wastelands” is the third single of the album. Shinoda blasts you with a fearless rap on the verses, while Bennington yells the chorus in a similar manner as “Guilty All the Same”. Taking a break from the heaviness (sort of) with the second single “Until It’s Gone”, Bennington displays his incredible voice with singing reminiscent of “Burn It Down". The Hunting Party then hits you with an almost heavy metal track that is the fourth single. “Rebellion” is layed out with Shinoda’s deep voice singing the verse and Bennington on the pre-chorus and a blending of vocals for the chorus and screams on the bridge, all the while backed with Daron Malakian of System of a Down on guitar. “Mark the Graves” begins soft, but enters some more loud guitar by Delson that cuts out when Bennington’s smooth vocals come in with Shinoda on the harmonies. Breaking from the loudness, there is the absolutely beautiful instrumental “Drawbar” that features Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine before going into the other softest song on the record and fifth single “Final Masquerade” that is another glowing example of Bennington’s incredible singing voice. The final track is a little like the first in that it has many different ideas used in the band. “A Line in the Sand” starts simply with quiet vocals sung by Shinoda before hitting off like the rest of the tracks with the guitars, drums, and screams of Bennington. Lasting approximately six and a half minutes, it is the epitome of The Hunting Party and Linkin Park, combining nearly everything they have ever done.
Overall, it is one of the best records this “nu-metal”, alternative rock band of six has put out (not just my opinion either). Brad Delson has finally come out of his shell to show the world that he is truly a guitarist worth remembering and Rob Bourdon developed his drumming skills well over what we have seen in the past. Even the quieter songs of the album hold heavy riffs that make them fit perfectly with such a hard collection. Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington demonstrate their ability to not only seamlessly flow between each other’s vocals, but also to blend their voices into one. It is an amazing piece of work by the band and all you that ran off at their last three releases, I suggest you at least check out this record; Linkin Park wanted loud and aggressive, and that is what they made.

ArchonofFail's Top 10 Touhou Original Songs #3

Rating: 8/10 Whoops, looks like I missed a day, I guess #1 will be coming next Monday, anyways, #3, Bloom Nobly Ink-Black Cherry Blossoms ~ Border of Life, right from the start this song just sounds like an epic final boss theme. This song is just so good and also has a super badass name. Link to #4 Link to #5 Link to #6 Link to #7 Link to #8 Link to #9 Link to #10

ArchonofFail's Top 10 Touhou Original Songs #4

Rating: 8/10 Now that we have reached the top four, we are into my absolute favorite Touhou songs. These final four songs really stand out from the others to me as being absolutely amazing. Starting off, Native Faith. Earlier we had Candid Friend which I consider a happy upbeat song, but this song takes the cake for being happy and upbeat. I really don't have much else to say about it except that it is amazing. Link to #5 Link to #6 Link to #7 Link to #8 Link to #9 Link to #10

ArchonofFail's Top 10 Touhou Original Songs #5

Rating: 7/10 This song, Flight in the Bamboo Cutter ~ Lunatic Princess, while a great song on it's own is the king of being remixes. I am convinced that is actually impossible to make a bad remix of this song. Here are some of my favorite remixes of this amazing song. Link to #6 Link to #7 Link to #8 Link to #9 Link to #10

ArchonofFail's Top 10 Touhou Original Songs #6

Rating: 7/10 The next two song are songs that, while amazing on their own, are made even more awesome for me because they have awesome remixes. First off, Flowering Night, which is another song that makes a really catchy exciting boss battle theme. It has also spawned this somewhat famous remix which is amazing and just exemplifies what makes the song good. Link to #7 Link to #8 Link to #9 Link to #10

ArchonofFail's Top 10 Touhou Original Songs #7

Rating: 7/10 Time for #7, Reverse Ideology. Not only does it have an awesome name, it is really catchy and sounds like an epic boss theme, which it is. This and most of the remaining song on this list just get me pumped up for an epic boss. This song recently came onto my radar because just a week ago Touhou 14.3 was released featuring Seija Kijin as the main character who's theme this is. Although it is only used for a few tutorial levels, it got me thinking about this song and remembering how awesome it was. Link to #8 Link to #9 Link to #10

Kogicon's Summer Playlist!

Use this smooth and slightly eccentric mix of summer songs to set off your vacation. Enjoy :)

ArchonofFail's Top 10 Touhou Original Songs #8

Rating: 7/10 For #8 on this list, a very special song for me. Akutagawa Ryuunosuke's "Kappa" ~ Candid Friend, the boss theme for my favorite Touhou character, Nitori Kawashiro. This song is really happy and relaxing to listen to and, although it is a bit repetitive, it is really awesome throughout. Definitely one of my favorites and a great song to listen to if you want to relax. Unfortunately it is not one of the more popular songs to remix and there aren't a ton of great remixes out there, but if you look you can find them. Link to #9 Link to #10

ArchonofFail's Top 10 Touhou Original Songs #9

Rating: 6/10 And now for #9 Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle, this one I like particularly because of the impressive keyboard background throughout the song playing all sorts of amazing melodies. Also the chorus is really good too. Although entirely computer generated, the piano patters are just so impressive to me putting this song at a solid #9 on my list. Link to #10

ArchonofFail's Top 10 Touhou Original Songs #10

Rating: 6/10 This is something I have wanted to do for a while, having posted several of my favorite Touhou song remixes, here are my top 10 favorite Touhou original songs, prepare for epic Japanese video game music glory! Starting off with #10, Doll Judgement ~ The Girl Who Played with People's Shapes. This song is down at #10 on the list because of the amazing chorus. The rest of the song is fairly average I feel but wow that chorus is amazing. Also this song has spawned numerous amazing remixes including one of the most famous Touhou remixes of all time which in an of itself has many hilarious remixes.

Demetori - "上海紅茶館 ～ Chinese Tea"

Rating: 8/10 Another Touhou metal song, this one is much slower than the last one I posted, but is still distinctly metal. Demetori is one the few groups that I like just about every song of theirs and this is one of my absolute favorite's of theirs. Some really sweet instrumental metal.

Linkin Park - "A LIGHT THAT NEVER COMES (FEAT. STEVE AOKI)

night gets darkest right before dawn, what don't kill you makes you more strong, you'll have my mercy then when you're gone

Rating: 8/10

The band Linkin Park is well known for the many different sounds and styles of its music: from the nu-metal days of its debut album Hybrid Theory, the fourth studio release and concept album A Thousand Suns, and the more electronic fifth album Living Things. Back in 2002, the band released a remix album of its own music with guests. Last October they did it this again with the songs from their fifth album, featuring remixes done by different artists and one entirely new track. This song is a collaboration with the DJ Steve Aoki and made its premiere at a Summer Sonic show in Tokyo last year. Aoki starts off the song by dropping a sick dubstep beat that is soon matched with Rob Bourdon's drums. Then emcee Mike Shinoda spits an unforgiving rap verse that leads right into singer Chester Bennington's angst layered vocals that fill the chorus. Although I am biased as Linkin Park is one of my all time favourite bands, I think this song is great. It is filled with insane electronic samples that are just as badass as Shinoda's raps. This song is and fantastic mix of EDM and rap music with a touch of rock from Linkin Park's roots.

xi-on - Lost Remote

Rating: 7/10 Another Touhou remix, this time some Jazz, xi-on does a bit of a bunch of genres but I think their best stuff is their jazz. I really like the focus on the piano and the funky general composition of this one.

Tom Waits - "Road to Peace"

Rating: 5/10 But Israel says they did not know that his wife and child were in the car... A true classic, this anti-war part-song, part-prose piece features Tom Waits' ragged voice stunningly. An electric guitar strikes a smooth lead over the slow one-two drum beat, and carries the listener back in time.

A-ONE - "Leave Me In the Dark"

Rating: 6/10 One of the genres I have become interested in is a unique genre called Eurobeat. It originated from Italian disco but has since died down in Europe and has instead become popular in Japan. This song is from a Japanese group who work with a variety of vocalist to make Touhou eurobeat remixes in both English and Japanese. This one is by a guy who goes by Odyssey and it is fairly solid. Not my favorite song by him, but a quite solid one.