Talk about consistency - Linkin Park has created yet another great album.
"Living Things," the group's fifth album, is pretty top-notch from its opening track, "Lost In the Echo" - which features Chester Bennington's signature screech - to its closing numbers, the Skrillex-sounding and grungy instrumental "Tinfoil," which transitions into the guitar-heavy "Powerless."
The album is dominated by anger and, at moments, disappointment and rage: "Lies Greed Misery" and "Victimized" are self-explanatory, and on "In My Remains," Bennington sings: "Falling in the cracks of every broken heart, digging through the wreckage of your disregard."
"Living Things" comes 12 years after the six-member band released its brilliant debut, "Hybrid Theory." The new album was produced by Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin, and it's reminiscent of the rap-rock sound of the group's first two discs.
The guys took a departure from that on "Minutes to Midnight" and 2010's "A Thousand Suns" - also produced by Rubin - which had psychedelic moments and featured excerpts from political speeches.
But Linkin Park never disappoints, and "Living Things" is living proof.
Check this track out: It's simple, but Bennington's repetitive "Ohhh" on "Roads Untraveled" is oh-so-good.
'Living Things'
Linkin Park
Warner Bros. Record
