Linkin Park recently released a single on their new album A Thousand Suns (due to release on 9/14/10) called “The Catalyst.” If you haven’t heard it yet, you can listen to it on their Myspace. It’s the first song on their playlist.
Anyway, I was browsing through some comments on their Youtube video preview of the song, and there were quite a few negative comments concerning the song, and a lot of people wanted LP to return to their sounds of Hybrid Theory and Meteora. Honestly though, I like their new sound. Granted I was at one point one of those pessimists when Minutes to Midnight came out, but after I got accustomed to the huge difference, I began to enjoy it a lot. Now, after listening to “The Catalyst,” I’m really appreciating the new road that Linkin Park’s going down. They’re not afraid to try out new things, which I applaud them for because a band tends to get boring if they produce the same sounds over and over again. LP instead keeps it fresh and original with music that is both appealing and different (to me at least).
What do I like about “The Catalyst?” Pretty much everything. I love the added synth, the piano in the middle (big plus for that!), and the slowly progressing guitar throughout the song. The lyrics are very strong and powerful too. In general, I think they’ve strung together a song with many different elements, and it works to create a piece that is extremely unique.
And for those who complain that LP’s changing too much, they really aren’t. They’ve been experimenting with sounds even back in the Meteora days when they added a Japanese flute to “Nobody’s Listening.” In fact, the two instrumentals that they had in Hybrid Theory and Meteora – “Cure for the Itch” and “Session” – were pretty experimental too. “The Catalyst” actually kind of sounds like a combination of sounds from those aforementioned instrumental tracks with other things mixed in. So right from the start, LP has been changing, but just like in Minutes to Midnight with “Given Up,” “What I’ve Done,” and “No More Sorrow,” I’m sure they’ll keep some of their old sounds too.
Nonetheless, I’m still extremely hyped for the release of A Thousand Suns. It’s about time Linkin Park got a new album out!
