The Hunting Party (album)

Did You Know?

• Shinoda originally recorded demos continuing the electronic sound of A Thousand Suns and Living Things during the Living Things World Tour in 2013, which Rick Rubin described as more 'poppy' than expected.
• The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 110,000 copies, becoming Linkin Park's first studio album not to reach number one since Hybrid Theory.

Recording

The album was recorded at Larrabee Sound Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with the band working five or six days a week. Additional recording took place at EastWest Studios, also in Hollywood, where drummer Rob Bourdon and Mike Shinoda recorded drums and percussion. Bourdon faced significant physical challenges during the sessions; Shinoda noted that the material was the hardest Bourdon had ever played on a Linkin Park album, requiring him to run, lift weights, and work with a trainer to build up to the speed and style.

Bourdon eventually sought help from a chiropractor after breaking his back from playing ten hours a day for seven consecutive days. Guitarist Brad Delson used Orange, Bogner, and ENGL amplifiers for a core sound, with Chandler amps employed for overdubs and higher parts. Engineer Ethan Mates described the setup as a small collection of core tones used consistently throughout the record. Lead singer Chester Bennington arrived late in the recording process, having spent most of 2013 touring with Stone Temple Pilots after replacing Scott Weiland.

When he joined the sessions, he was surprised by the band's return to a heavier rock-centric sound and expressed enthusiasm for the material.

Packaging

The album cover features 3D modeled artwork by Brandon Parvini, based on an original drawing titled "Archer" by visual artist James Jean. Parvini had previously designed the artworks for Living Things and the band's singles during that album's cycle. Deluxe editions of the album include a lithograph, T-shirt, and a 36-page art book by Jean. Joe Hahn served as creative director, instructing Jean to create a universe inhabited by powerful characters and defined by strange landscapes, with a unique character for each track.

Brad Delson contributed ideas of internal and external struggles depicted on a battlefield, with recurring images of flesh tearing and transforming into different forms and brittle shards of crystal erupting from organic matter. Shinoda explained that the band approaches art—packaging, merchandise, tour visuals, and videos—in a holistic way, creating interconnected imagery that immerses fans in a consistent universe unique to each release.

Promotion

On March 6, 2014, the band premiered "Guilty All the Same" featuring Rakim through Shazam, releasing it as a single the next day. A music video for the song, made entirely with the in-game engine of the sandbox video game Project Spark, premiered on YouTube on March 25, 2014; the course was made openly available for players to edit and remix. The album was officially unveiled on April 9, 2014, and the track listing was revealed on April 27. "Until It's Gone" was released as the second single on May 6, with pre-orders opening the same day.

A music video for "Until It's Gone" followed on June 11. "Wastelands" was released on the iTunes Store on June 1 and as a single on June 2. On June 3, Bennington appeared on BBC Radio 1 to premiere "Rebellion", which was released as a single the next day and later as a retail single on October 13. "Final Masquerade" premiered on MTV on June 8.

A listening session took place in Los Angeles on May 23, 2014, with additional sessions for Linkin Park Underground members on June 4 in various locations worldwide. The band also hosted the tenth and eleventh LPU summits during the album cycle, held in Darien, New York, on August 21, 2014, and in The Woodlands, Texas, on September 5, 2014.

Critical reception

Dave Simpson of The Guardian gave the album a positive three-star review, praising the return to the band's original sound and Rob Bourdon's drumming, though he noted that some tracks like "Until It's Gone" felt cliché. He commented that Linkin Park knows its audience and navigates the gap between their own aspirations and a fanbase celebrating the loud return to rocking hard. Chris Schulz of The New Zealand Herald also gave a positive review, describing the record as loud, spontaneous, and free, and contrasting it with the band's previous three albums, which he said sagged with overwrought ballads and pretentious soft-rock. He stated that The Hunting Party gets on with rap-rocking like it is 1999 all over again.