Review Summary: After years of clumsily searching; Chester and co. find themselves somewhere they belong.
It seemed after the release of Living Things, Linkin Park forgot what it was like to be a band. Gone was any semblance of energy and power they portrayed in their early days with Hybrid Theory and Meteora. What was left in the wake of their first few albums was a mess of half-assed electronic beats, meaningless lyrics, and an overall weak musical presence. Stripped of all their creative juices and held face down in the ashes of their legacy by producers drunk on corporate greed, Chester and the boys had become nothing more than a pussified version of the energetic, angry hard rock band they once were.
Then came The Hunting Party.
Rejuvenation is the key word here. Never has Linkin Park sounded so focused and mature. The lazy electronic samples and programmed drums from previous albums are laid to rest. Heavy guitar work and bombastic percussion is now at the forefront of the music. Vocally, Chester and Mike finding a good balance between singing, screaming and rapping, but never let one style overstay its welcome. Coupled with punk influences, a bit of thrash metal and only a sliver of their past albums creeping in here and there, we're taken on a sonic journey with all killer and no filler. Every song feels like it has purpose. The album doesn't stop to showcase Mr. Hahn's talent on the scritchy scratchy board. There are no awkward rave pads injected into the music for the sake of being "electronic". Nothing is too long or too short and songs have proper structure with enough room for everybody in the band to showcase their capability to rock. Nobody's presence is overvalued and no band member leaves with more to be desired.
For the first time in their career, Linkin Park sounds fully in bloom, showcasing themselves as sophisticated and confident. Quality was put in the forefront of the recording process and the result is encouraging. It goes to show that under all the fame and money, the guys still respect not only the fans, but themselves. There's going to be a time when Linkin Park decides to throw in the towel and call it a day. When that moment comes, I guarantee they'll look back more fondly on the music they wrote that exhibited real direction and artistic expression, more than the stuff that sounded like it belonged in another Transformers sequel.
