Linkin Park Teases Upcoming Album with New Single, "Burn It Down"

Linkin Park Teases Upcoming Album with New Single, "Burn It Down"

: Published on Monday, April 16 2012; Written by Katie Marzullo

I officially fell in love with Linkin Park when they released their last album, A Thousand Suns, back in September of 2010. Not everyone agreed with me though – many long-time, hardcore LP fans were turned off by what was perceived as a “softening” of the band’s signature hard edge. I couldn’t comment too much, as I wasn’t much of a follower prior to A Thousand Suns; however, I didn’t find any lack of an edge in the band’s fourth studio album. The main complaint seemed to be that their lyrical content wasn’t as bitter as it used to be, replaced instead with a decidedly inspiration appeal (a friend of mine queried on Twitter upon first listen: “Did they find religion or something?”).

Okay, so, if your main attraction to Linkin Park over the years was a message of anger, then I can see how A Thousand Suns might let you down for striving for an apparent higher purpose. Indeed the album sounded like a 15-track awakening taking place. Those who were on board for the evolution happily joined LP on this journey, leaving behind those who would prefer to avoid progression. C’est la vie!

To that end, I am psyched to hear that Linkin Park is gearing up to release their next album, entitled Living Things, this summer. They released the first single from the album today, “Burn It Down”, along with a kick-ass lyric video featuring what appears to be a revolving Chester Bennington silhouetted by a star map.

It’s hard to judge what might be in store for us with the album as a whole based on this one song. I’m totally loving it, for sure – it feels almost like a happy medium between the Linkin Park of yore and the Linkin Park of A Thousand Suns, with frustrated lyrics accompanied by intense, soul-rattling rock. Bennington himself has hinted that the album will be “more familiar to people than A Thousand Suns,” indicating that the band is attempting to regain the fans that they lost on their last album while still trying to keep it fresh and innovative. Judging by the tracklist, it definitely appears the band is heading back into droopy territory, with titles like “Lies Greed Misery”, “Victimized”, “Until It Breaks”, and “Powerless”. Doesn’t exactly smack of the optimistic, higher-purposed tracks we got on A Thousand Suns. But who knows, the band may still be full of surprises yet…

In the meantime, take a listen to “Burn It Down” below and let us know what you think!