A Thousand Suns
Linkin Park's experimental concept album on nuclear fear.
A Thousand Suns is the fourth studio album by American rock band Linkin Park, released in September 2010 by Warner Bros. Records. A concept album dealing with human fears such as nuclear warfare, it marked a drastic departure from the band's previous work and was their longest studio album to date.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Linkin Park
- Recorded
- November 2008 – August 2010
- Studio
- NRG Recording (North Hollywood, California)
- Genre
- Electronic rock
- experimental rock
- industrial rock
- art rock
- progressive rock
- Length
- 47:48
- Label
- Warner Bros.; Machine Shop
- Producer
- Rick Rubin; Mike Shinoda
Facts from the source article.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Requiem | 2:01 |
| 2 | The Radiance | 0:57 |
| 3 | Burning in the Skies | 4:13 |
| 4 | Empty Spaces | 0:18 |
| 5 | When They Come for Me | 4:53 |
| 6 | Robot Boy | 4:29 |
| 7 | Jornada del Muerto | 1:34 |
| 8 | Waiting for the End | 3:51 |
| 9 | Blackout | 4:39 |
| 10 | Wretches and Kings | 4:10 |
| 11 | Wisdom, Justice, and Love | 1:39 |
| 12 | Iridescent | 4:56 |
| 13 | Fallout | 1:23 |
| 14 | The Catalyst | 5:39 |
| 15 | The Messenger | 3:01 |
| Total length | 47:48 | |
Track listing from the source article.
Writing and recording
Recording for the album began in 2008, over a year after the release of Minutes to Midnight (2007). As with that album, Shinoda and Rick Rubin produced the record. Primary recording sessions took place at NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. In November 2008, lead singer Chester Bennington said the new record was a concept album; he described the idea as inspiring and something the band could relate to.
In May 2009, Mike Shinoda told Billboard that about half the music was done, though he could not predict how long the remaining songs would take. He explained that the band was experimenting and that the album would not sound like Hybrid Theory or Minutes to Midnight, aiming for a cutting-edge sound that defined itself as an individual record. Bennington continued composing while touring with Dead by Sunrise in support of their 2009 album Out of Ashes.
He told MTV that the band was still making a concept record but wanted to find a way to do it without waiting another five or six years. Bassist Dave 'Phoenix' Farrell predicted fans would be divided, saying the album was different and would surprise those expecting Hybrid Theory or Meteora.
Style and composition
In a May 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, Mike Shinoda said the band was writing and recording material for the album, originally scheduled for an early 2010 release. He expressed concern about the quality of the tunes and said the band would step back if needed to ensure top quality. Compared to Minutes to Midnight, he said the new album would have a bigger thread of consistency and be more experimental and cutting-edge. Christopher Weingarten of The Village Voice compared the album to Radiohead's OK Computer, describing its composition as featuring uninhibited hooks, daffy left turns, piano-soaked bathos, explorations of the human relationship with technology, and a complete avoidance of metal.
He noted elements such as distortion pedals, Vocoder syrup, cuddly heavenward synths, post-apocalyptic stutter-hop, and Ibiza house. Jordy Kasko of Review Rinse Repeat compared the style to Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon and Radiohead's Kid A. James Montgomery of MTV compared the album to Kid A due to the lack of guitars, the different style, and the album's message. According to turntablist Joe Hahn, the album's title references a line from the Bhagavad Gita made famous by J. Robert Oppenheimer in reference to the atomic bomb.
The title also appears in the lead single 'The Catalyst'. The band said Oppenheimer's comments influenced the album's apocalyptic themes.
Release and promotion
Before its official release, the album was shown at a 3-D laser event at Hollywood's Music Box Theater on September 7, 2010. A Thousand Suns came out on September 10, 2010, in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and then in the US on September 13, 2010. The band promoted it globally with the A Thousand Suns World Tour, which kicked off on October 7, 2010, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and wrapped up on September 25, 2011, in Singapore. In Madrid, they played a full set at the Puerta de Alcalá Gate, and their performance of "Waiting for the End" aired at the 2010 MTV Europe Music Awards.
Video games also helped promote the album. Joe Hahn confirmed that "The Catalyst" would appear in Medal of Honor, and he directed a trailer for the game that came out on August 1, 2010. Dave "Phoenix" Farrell explained the band picked the song because its dark tone matched the game's subject matter. For the Japanese release on September 15, 2010, Warner Music Japan made "The Catalyst" the official theme for Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. and put out a limited bundle that included the CD and a Gundam model kit with album-themed colors.
"Blackout" was used in EA Sports' FIFA 11. The band also released Linkin Park Revenge, a version of Tap Tap Revenge featuring four tracks from the album and six older songs. "Wretches and Kings" appeared in a trailer for EA Sports MMA.
Reception
A Thousand Suns debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 241,000 copies, exceeding Trey Songz's Passion, Pain & Pleasure by 1,000 copies. It became Linkin Park's fourth US number-one album, though first-week sales were significantly lower than Minutes to Midnight's 623,000. The album entered Billboard's Rock Albums, Alternative Albums, Hard Rock Albums, and Digital Albums charts at number one. In its second week, it slid to number three, selling 70,000 copies; by December 2010, sales passed the half-million mark.
On January 11, 2011, it was certified gold by the RIAA for 500,000 copies sold in the US. It spent 30 weeks on the Billboard 200. By June 2014, US sales reached 906,000 copies. In Canada, it peaked at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart with 23,000 copies sold, and was certified platinum in February 2011 for 80,000 units.
In the UK, it debuted at number two with first-week sales of 46,711 copies, behind Science & Faith by the Script, and was certified gold on September 10, 2010. In Australia, it debuted at number one on the ARIA Top 50 Albums, held the top spot for four weeks, remained in the top 50 for 18 weeks, and was certified gold in 2010 and platinum the following year.
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