ARTIST: Linkin Park
ALBUM: The Hunting Party
LABEL: Warner Bros., Machine Shop
RELEASE DATE: June 13, 2014
Missing the Mark
Written by Silas Valentino
Linkin Park’s sixth studio album is a departure from their recent two-album stint as an electric-centric rock band. Somewhere hidden in the album title is a metaphor regarding LP banding together to (as stated on their website) “carry the flag that is their own.” It sounds promising but words scrawled on your homepage are cheap.
This is the first time since 2003’s Meteroa where the band isn’t working with guru producer Rick Rubin, instead opting for a self-produced record. That’s risky considering the fact you don’t have another pair of trained ears ready to assist you if the train rattles off the rails but Linkin Park isn’t the kind of band to abide by tradition. They made their mark in popular music as the rock band with a rapper.
“Keys to the Kingdom” opens the 46-minute dystopian odyssey and during the first ten seconds you’re greeted with vocal-manipulated Chester Bennington howling about “no control, no surprise” and being his own casualty. From there LP shred any doubts that The Hunting Party will continue their preexisting exploration into electronic music and instead have opted for a return to their roots where Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda trade off on the mic while the band trades off between contained verses and explosive choruses.
Four unique guests pop up during The Hunting Party bringing along a six-pack of Fresca to help spruce up the ambiance. Page Hamilton of Helmet fame adds vocals on “All for Nothing” and one of the originators of rap—Rakim—spitfires a descent flow during “Guilty All the Same.” The most collaborative effort comes from System of a Down’s secret pistol Daron Malakian who lends his talents on “Rebellion.” But not even the might of the 30th greatest heavy metal guitarist (as voted by Guitar World) can salvage the track from a pitiful chorus stump where the song’s title is sung in a Justin Bieber-like melody.
The strongest guest contribution is courtesy of a man whose name is attached to Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Nightwatchman and most recently Springsteen. Tom Morello offers light but technically beautiful guitar work on the instrumental highlight “Drawbar.” Unlike the Morello we commonly know where his guitar mimics a hawk soaring towards a feast, this guitar work is much more reserved and melodic.
Bennington replaced Scott Weiland as the Stone Temple Pilots singer back in 2013 and after hearing most of the lyrics featured in The Hunting Party, you get the sense that he’s saving his good stuff for STP. “I thought I kept you safe and sound/I thought I made you strong/But something made me realize/That I was wrong,” he sings on the flat track “Until it’s Gone.” If while listening to a record for the first time you find yourself correctly guessing the upcoming lyrics, you know the singer half-assed the process.
Dave Grohl made headlines back in the mid 2000s when he condemned Linkin Park for using technological assistance during their live performances and Bennington has commented before on anti-Linkin Park listeners who appear at their shows with signs blasting the band. Linkin Park are in the perfect spot to truly combat their haters. They have something positive going for them—heck—their 2004 single “Numb/Encore” was the 2000s equivalent to Run DMC/Aerosmith’s “Walk this Way.” This record could have been their opportunity to say something challenging besides boasting about how much of a “5-star general” they are, as heard in “All For Nothing.”
But instead of rising to the challenge and crafting truly powerful songs with a message, Linkin Park use The Hunting Party like a YouTube comment section where they fall flat and only talk the talk.