Well I do."
(6/10)|
Well I do." |
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| Artist | Linkin Park |
| Title | One More Light |
| Type | Album |
| Released | 19.05.2017 |
| Genre | Pop |
| Style | Electropop, alternative, pop rock |
| My rating | (6/10) |
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Tracklist:
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Credits:
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Let's break the streak of big prog-oriented albums on behalf of less regarded and more poppy stuff. Linkin Park is a band that recently came back into favor with their return to releasing music and touring. Although 2024's "From Zero" was pretty divisive, this one was even more controversial.
Being the last ever record that Chester ever worked on, this lp is pretty often talked about, but hardly ever in a good and positive way. It's no question that it pales in comparison of their early albums, escpiecially the mighty and iconic duo of "Meteora" or "Hybrid Theory", but I think it deserves more attention. In my opinion, overall it's a better album that stuff like "Hunting Party" or maybe even "Minutes To Midnight", cause at least some of the songs are even somewhat memorable!
When "Nobody Can Save Me" 's first sounds hit, the record already makes it apparent that it was released in 2017... The sound effects used there and in some other tracks, really reminisce this era of popular music. Chester vocal sounds very frail and weak, but it's understandable, knowing what he was going through at the time.
"Good Goodbye" seems to be Shinoda's take on modern rap music. It's an evolution of his earlier, more oldschool-influenced style, updated to fit this more streamlined and "trendy" aesthetic. It's a nice track and another very memorable one.
The next track, "Talking to Myself", holds the streak of pretty interesting and fresh sounding songs. The main riff feels uncharacteristicly happy and bouncy for the band's style. It's just really devoid of any LinkinPark-ness, so I understand every die-hard fan from their nu-metal years turning off this album at this point.
While I kinda enjoy "Battle Symphony", the tracks like "Invisible" or "Sorry For Now" are definitely to blame for the bad press this album was met with upon it's release. They are uninteresting and forgettable for me, so I don't have much to say about them really.
"Heavy" on the other hand is wonderful! Really neat song with a catchy chorus. I listen to it really often. It definitely stood the test of time. Actually I fell the same with "Halfway Right", although it's a noticeably less grandiose and polished as a song.
I'll leave the best for end, and talk about "Sharp Edges" right now. I like it you know! I know it's cheesy, corny and all, but it has it's charm. It reminds me of a BMTH song from the simmilar era - "Oh No" from the 2015 "That's The Spirit" album. Both songs are the albums' finisher and both are bouncy and radio-friendly bangers.
"One More Light", a title track, is a strong contender for LP's best song ever. It's vulnerable, meaningful and has hauntingly fantastic lyrics, that resonate with me deeply. Over the years it's kinda become Chester's goodbye song, even to the extend that Emily refuses to perform it in the current era, saying that it's a Chester's song. I simply love it and i'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way, in spite of this records bad reputation.
This is not a magnificent record by any means, but I believe it is at least ok. People have been too harsh on it, it deserves to be remembered a lot more fondly! It has aged a lot tho, so if you're not a fan of uncompromising musial vocabulary of late 2010, I definitely do not recommend it...