Offering moments of poignancy, the song had some polished tunes and textures. With elements of electro-pop and sonic haze, Rubin brought his classic Midas touch to the knobs. While ‘Burn it Down’ strived to deliver an anti-war sentiment, the track is eerily reminiscent of a nu-metal journey long forgotten. Of course, Mike Shinoda’s repetitive verse Like an army falling one by one couldn’t get any more predictable. Offering some confessional balladry by Chester Bennington, the track is doused in melodic bridges and mediocre sounds. With ‘In My Remains’, Linkin Park’s crisp verses slid tersely into the song’s refrains. With missing bass drops and dry vocals, the opening track felt like something you have heard over and over again.
Apart from some sparkling synths and chomping guitar samples, it seemed to have a dull outlook altogether. The album opener ‘Lost in the Echo’ featured some interesting sound samples but it failed to cater to the overall musical palette. Leaning on Bennington’s harrowing hooks, the five LPs traded turntable scratches for dub step trimmings. Interestingly, their signature ‘guitar anthems’ and wobbling melodies took a backseat with this album. In fact the entire album is soaked in gigantic screaming choruses, monoliths of sound and digital washes. Though Linkin Park showed up late at the rap-rock outfit, the band has some brutal sounds on display with ‘Living Things’. However, their latest album ‘Living Things’ proved to be completely stripped-down in comparison with the alt-metal-electro-rock band’s preceding oeuvre. And, experimenting with sub-genres and eccentric styles, the band’s obsession with dense layers and clean sounds has led to some interesting compositions over the years. While their earlier album, ‘Minutes to Midnight’ catered to modern rock radio aggression, ‘A thousand Suns’ had intense character, thematic depth and rustic textures. With their fourth album ‘A thousand Suns’, Linkin Park underwent a complete transformation from blockbusting nu metal to left-field, electronic and political pop.