Linkin Park - Burn It Down

Well, this is quite something. With the initial hype about the new Linkin Park single and quotes from the band themselves, we had ourselves set up for their new single to make a dramatic return to the classic Nu-Metal sound evidenced on their first two albums - a sort of triumphant return to form that'd sweep them right back into the massed general public's hearts again (not that, in our opinion, they ever lost their 'form'.)

But Burn It Down is something else entirely. A synth-laced behemoth that propels itself on a fiery concoction of mechanistic beats and another classic Chester Bennington vocal. You could even, at a push, call it Linkin Park's most 'pop' single to date. With the guitars largely switched out, Burn It Down certainly doesn't sound like a return to the band's early work, but in its supercharged kinetic energy, it feels like the group's most on-point work since What I've Done. It's the kind of track that wears its goals on its sleeve, a big anthem of a number that says 'We're back, and this time we're aiming high'.

While in the grand scheme of things, the epic grandeur of The Catalyst might stand - musically speaking - as the better record, Burn It Down acts as a marked progression on from the A Thousand Suns sound, losing the more outre elements for a cleaned-up, agile single that stands up there with some of the band's best choruses. And Mike Shinoda's raps - well, they're properly, properly back; again, with an energy the band haven't displayed to this degree for years. And all this bodes extremely well for new album, Living Things, released on the 25th June.

Linkin Park unveil Burn It Down cover art!

It's the first single from the new Linkin Park album. It's called Burn It Down. The cover art features a burning man. All we know right now is that we can't wait to hear the song. Bring. It. On.

Linkin Park announce new single Burn It Down

It's here! Well, a glimmer of news about it at any rate. After much anticipation, Linkin Park have announced that their new single will be called Burn It Down and that it's set for a 16th April release date. The band have already talked about how their new material will see a return to a more mainstream sound after the eclecticsm of A Thousand Suns, so will this finally see a re-emergence of the Meteora/Hybrid Theory incarnation of the group? Either way, we can't wait to hear the track.

Linkin Park - Blackout (Renholder Remix) for Underworld soundtrack

When you're soundtracking a dark gothy movie like Underworld (the forth instalment of which - Awakening - is out in cinemas in January), the likes of Linkin Park, The Cure and Evanescence seem like obvious shoe-ins. They certainly play to the tastes of what you might imagine the target audience to be.

Of particular interest is the Renholder Remix of Linkin Park's Blackout - easily one of the standout tracks from their A Thousand Suns album. As the band work on its follow-up, this remix serves as a tantalising offering to tide us fans over until new material proper arrives.

The original version of Blackout was Linkin Park at both their most epic and sonically adventurous - while all the time still maintaining their vital commercial sensibilities, those hooks that have kept fans coming back for more again and again.

Renholder himself (AKA Danny Lohner) has worked with rock royalty himself in the form of Trent Reznor, so we can hopefully expect something suitably industrial and amazing. His previous work with the Underworld franchise encompassed pulsing, low-slung basslines throbbing with darkly sexual rhythms and synthetic power.

With Linkin Park previously covering NIN classic Wish, this new remix of Blackout represents another coming together (of sorts) of the bands' collective legacies and one we're definitely down for.

The full Underworld: Awakening soundtrack is as follows:

Evanescence - 'Made of Stone' (Renholder Remix)
Lacey Sturm - 'Heavy Prey'
Linkin Park - 'Blackout' (Renholder Remix)
The Cure - 'Apart' (Renholder Remix)
Stella Katsoudas - 'Killer & a Queen'
Ministry - 'Watch Yourself' (Renholder Remix)
Lacuna Coil - 'Trip The Darkness' (Ben Weinman Remix)
The Naked and Famous - 'Young Blood' (Renholder Remix)
Black Light Burns - 'It Rapes All In Its Path'
William Control - 'The Posthumous Letter'
Civil Twilights - 'How I'm I Supposed To Die'
& Sons - 'Consolation Prize'
8MM - 'Liar'
Ryan T. Hope - 'You Won't See the Light'
Combichrist - 'Bottle of Pain'
Collide - 'Intruder'
Justin Lassen feat. Silent Fury - 'Exit Wounds' (Justin Lassen Remix)

Introducing... Vanquish

Any girl band who covers Linkin Park are in my good books straight away. Let us introduce you to Vanquish, the latest glamourous girl group set to take the UK by storm. Comprised of Bee, Holly, Lizzy and Rianna, the frisky foursome showcase their ace vocal harmonies in this rather lovely cover of LP's Numb.

Holly even plays piano on the track too - these days girl bands are having to fight tooth and nail to get the attention of the sceptical anti-pop radio playlists, and clear display of talent like this is always a favourable extra nod in the right direction.

Fresh from thrilling the UK on a variety of schools tours, club nights and theme park appearances the girls are hitting the ground running with a formidable blast of perky future-pop. We're loving the remix clips of their track Headrush on their website; it's carefree stilettos and disco balls stuff that wouldn't sound out of place on The Saturdays new album.

Their YouTube channel also gives a tantalising glimpse at Steal The Show and The Harder You Love; the girls spent the summer entertaining fans at the British Grand Prix earlier this year and the high octane thrills and spills of the race have clearly spilled over into their songs.

We hear they've worked with the amazing Space Cowboy on their debut album as well as Wayne Hector (the guy behind all of The Wanted's best songs), so we're expecting great things to come from these girls!

You can get more Vanquish on their official site, their Twitter page, and on Facebook.

Linkin Park - Rolling In The Deep (Adele cover)

Everyone seems to have had a crack at Adele's super-hit Rolling In The Deep at the moment, so it seems only right that Linkin Park should get round to doing a version of their own.

Perhaps not the most obvious choice of group, but they do a fair job of it. A lot of the response I've seen on Twitter has been rather negative, but to be honest, the cover is what it is. It's a simple acoustic take on a popular track - there's always going to be those that disapprove, but then that goes for pretty much all cover versions.

With Chester Bennington doing a fine job as ever on vocal duties and Mike Shinoda playing guitar, the group performed the track at a German fan club event.

Linkin Park's current single Iridescent, taken from the soundtrack of the new Transformers movie, is available to download from iTunes now.

New releases round-up - 13th June 2011

Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns +

An exciting re-release of the band's stellar A Thousand Suns album. This multi-disc version features a live CD recorded at the band's Madrid tour date where tracks from the current album are mixed in with old favourites. Classics like Numb and In The End make an appearance, ensuring you can rock to your heart's content.

Download

Nerina Pallot - Year of the Wolf

Classy, immensely soulful retro-pop from this lovely lady - you may remember her from 2006 single Everybody's Gone To War, but this new record sees her striking out in new, bold directions. Lead single Put Your Hands Up is one of the best pop records of the year, without a doubt, and makes for a punchy intro to the album.

Download

Take That - Progressed

In another 2 CD re-release this week, Take That pump their multi-million selling Progress album with eight new tracks and change the cover from Yellow to Red. Includes the magnificent electro-stomp of Love Love, taken from the soundtrack of the new X Men movie. Oh, and all nicely timed to tie in with the TT boys' massive stadium tour currently zipping up and down the UK.

Download

Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Make A Scene

Like Nerina, Sophie is an incredibly experienced hand in the pop game now, and the shiny, glistening hooks of Make A Scene make for a welcome return. It's been four years since her last album and in that time we've seen her collaborate with the Freemasons on the fantastic Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer), a track sure to have you partying long into the night. New single Starlight is a real treat too.

Download

(Video) Linkin Park - Iridescent

When you're making a music video for a movie tie-in song, there's always the inclination to fill it with a whole host of exciting clips from the film in question. Nothing wrong in that, it has, after all, become the norm. You need only look at Take That's new single (which fronts the the new X Men film), to see a rather well done example of it. It's all very tasteful and looks cool, but equally, it's not breaking any boundaries.

And then you look at what Linkin Park have done with their Iridescent video, the companion track to the summer's other big blockbuster - Transformers: Dark Of The Moon. Ever the ambitious and innovative ones, Linkin Park have instead incorporated the movie graphics into the video itself, tweaking them so that the film elements become inseparable from the video itself.

Not only does this make everything all the more exciting, but it places the video itself into the Transformers universe; the band becoming characters playing out their own existences in this new, terrifying world. As the video's director and band member Joe Hahn puts it, 'What would it be like to be citizens in a decaying universe?'

There's some lovely mirrored kaleidoscope effects going on and the entire video is treated with this lovely sort of blurred black & white sheen, colour only ever coming through in slight glimpses. There's a whole host of imagery going on here too, from a snake, creepy whited-out eyes and a last-supper tableau.

For a dark, epic, moody track; but one gifted with the most uplifting of choruses, this video manages to act as the perfect mirror. Linkin Park have always been a band with a vision, and Iridescent is just one small part of that vision, but boy does it look good.

New releases round-up - 30th May 2011

Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus

A veritable treasure trove of remixes of one of the band's best tracks, they come from some unexpected sources including Eric 'Call On Me' Prydz and Stargate (them that did Rihanna's S&M). Quality stuff. Expect more electronic loveliness on the band's remix album out on June 6th.

Linkin Park - Iridescent

The third Linkin Park single to feature on the soundtrack of a Transformers movie, Iridescent appears here in a slightly reworked form from its original album version. Nevertheless, it still represents Linkin Park at their most epic and emotional - a real tear-jerking rock ballad if ever there was one.

The Pierces - You & I

Last week we featured the girls' single Glorious as one of our picks of the week, and now we have the album! They are just *that* good. Blissed-out 70s charm and wonderful vocal harmonies, I expect this will swiftly become the soundtrack to many people's summers.

The Script - Science & Faith

The fourth single from the band's second album, it isn't likely this track will set the charts alight, but I'm taking this opportunity to give it all the attention it deserves as it's by far the best song on the record and I've been waiting literally ages for them to release it as a single.

The Kixx - Already Gone

In this age of social media and internet-savvy teens, 15,000 fans on Facebook is a pretty sure sign you're on the right track. And that's exactly what new boy-band The Kixx have gone and got themselves. Comprised of David, Robbie, Dave and Jack, the band are set to join Olly Murs on his UK tour in the coming months - something sure to see that number of fans grow and grow.

Their debut single Already Gone is an electro tinged pop-rock stomper; a buzz-saw synth bassline and machine-gun beats setting the pace before the track launches into a full-throttle chorus. Electric energy lies at the heart of this track and it whips you along at a roaring pace.

Fans of The Wanted will lap The Kixx up, they present that same confident, powerful brand of lad-pop. But what marks them out as different? Well, they play their own instruments for a start. Then there's the more clinical, precise feel stamped all over Already Gone - It's a song that knows all the right buttons to press, presenting a more refined, modern breed of track. Imagine the swagger and youthful energy of McFly in their prime mixed in with the dreamy New Wave of Duran Duran and you'll have a fair idea of what the band sound like.

And if all that wasn't already enough to convince you to check them out, the video for the single features Emily Atack AKA Inbetweeners hottie Charlotte Hinchcliffe.

I really love some of Kixx's early YouTube cover versions too, in particular their take on Linkin Park's Numb where they transform the track into a beautiful chilled out ballad. It showcases a real rock edge to the boys' voices, a nice touch when so many competiting boybands head more for the R&B vibe. Take That's SOS and The Script's For The First Time also get an outing - one thing that really wins me over with these guys is simply the song choices displayed here, they go for less obvious songs and it allows them to fully come into their own. This is a band that place themselves in an increasingly crowded market and who aren't afraid to try something a little different to get heads turning their way. I'm impressed.

Already Gone is released on June 5th.

Linkin Park - Iridescent

Linkin Park have a long history with the Transformers films; contributing What I've Done and New Divide to the soundtracks of the previous two movies. It's a strategy that's worked well for the band with What I've Done becoming the band's highest charting UK hit when it reached Number 6 back in 2007.

Iridescent was one of the standout tracks from their most recent record A Thousand Suns and is now being released as the album's fourth single in a new remixed form in conjunction with the latest Transformers movie; Dark Of The Moon. With its epic chorus and dramatic build-up to an intense crescendo, the track is rounded off with lyrics about letting go of all the pain and hurt in life. A song that talks about the 'cataclysm raining down' is suitably fitting for the scale and action-packed nature of the Transformers movies.

This mix of the track adds a new beat, giving it a slick, glossy feel, following in the vein of Leave Out All The Rest from the band's previous album Minutes To Midnight. Essentially a lush piano ballad, Iridescent shows that Linkin Park really are just as apt at the subtle, slow stuff as the all out 'loud' tracks. The new mix elevates Iridescent out of the far more intense, almost gothic feel the original album version had with its touches of church organ in the verses. In its place is something that has been cleverly trimmed and streamlined.

The big guitar solo is still every bit as epic, as are the chanty shouts of 'LET IT GO!' in the anthemic finale. In the final chorus singer Chester Bennington's vocals reach a real grit and passion; the kind of texture he's always done so well; conveying the lyrics with utter sincerity and emotion. It's all actually rather moving - which is precisely what you want on a Hollywood film-fronting track like this.

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (nothing to do with that legendary Pink Floyd album...) is out in the cinemas on the 1st July.

Iridescent is released on the 16th May.

Linkin Park - Burning In The Skies

Linkin Park have developed a knack of writing emotional, intensely melodic ballads recently. I'm almost tempted to call them 'power ballads' but that conjours up images of cheesy middle-of-the-road rock and bad hairstyles. No, these are ballads done the Linkin Park way - in other words, laden to the brim with angst, immaculately produced beats and big guitar solos. Say what you want about the band, they've got a formula and it sure as hell works; latest single Burning In The Skies is a real standout. One of the best tracks from an exceedingly good album, it's great to see it getting a proper release.

Following in the tradition of Shadow of the Day and Waiting For The End, the apocalypic themes continue - but destruction and desolation have never sounded as beautiful as this. The chorus of 'swimming in the smoke, of bridges I have burnt' is enchanting; a tear-stricken tale of relationships fallen by the wayside. What I've always admired about Linkin Park is that their skill at writing a fantastic chorus has remained utterly consistent throughout the decade since they released their landmark first album Hybrid Theory. The Nu-Metal leanings and frenetic raps may have quitened down, but the choruses remain - each and everyone ready-made to be shouted out with gusto across arena's and stadiums the world over.

For Linkin Park, Burning In The Skies is just another chapter in a truly remarkable career - but to us, the listeners, it represents another brilliant case study in what it means to make a great rock record. Oh, and the video is brilliant too. Nuclear explosions and arty slo-mo? Well cool.

Bonus edition Ahoy!

'Extended', 're-release', 'bonus', 'deluxe'. These are all words that have been occuring rather often recently. A top chart act releases an album and it does well. So how do you squeeze a few more sales out of that 'era'? Easy! Release a bonus version of it with MORE content. It's a win, win situation.

Currently I'm getting excited over the exclusive HMV edition of Duran Duran's All You Need Is Now which comes with a bonus remix CD. There's also the bonus version of Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns which is packaged with a DVD of the band playing live in Madrid. This release is rather awesomely titled A Thousand Suns +, with emphasis on the 'PLUS'. It's like those TV ads for razors. Properly amazing.

And just look at the cover. THOSE COLOURS! It's like someone got high and then went crazy on Photoshop. I love it.

Linkin Park - Live at the O2 Arena

Linkin Park

11^th November 2011

O2 Arena, London

London’s O2 Arena was made for bands like Linkin Park.  50 million albums sold worldwide, two Grammy Awards... the list of accolades racked up by the band since their ground-breaking debut album Hybrid Theory hit the shelves back in 2000 goes on and on.  And now, ten years on, they remain as big as ever; an international music giant centred around the dynamic duo that lies at the band’s heart - Enter Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington, the former’s lightning-quick raps paired with the latter’s impassioned vocals and guttural screams making for a combo that rocks the venue to its core.  Where their contemporaries have long since fallen by the wayside, Linkin Park remain, standing tall.   And judging by the packed out O2 arena, they still command just as much attention now as when Hybrid Theory went four-times platinum a decade ago.

The set consists mainly of tracks from the band’s two most recent albums; ‘concept’ works that see the band exploring themes of nuclear apocalypse and war, moving away from their rap-metal beginnings to a more traditional alternative-rock sound.  It was a move that alienated many fans, but it gave the band scope to expand their repertoire into previously unexplored areas, whether it be the emotive balladry of Shadow of the Day or the rough and ready punkiness of Given Up.

Most importantly though, despite the shift in the band’s musical direction, the quality of their songs remains; still possessing that unique ‘Linkin Park’ sound, still focused around brilliant melodies and heartfelt lyrics.   It is the band’s earliest material that gets the crowd going the most though, classic singles like In the End and One Step Closer filled with seemingly endless levels of energy, the audience breaking out into miniature mosh-pits, bodies colliding against each-other with wild abandon as the songs’ reach their climax.

The staging is refreshingly minimal – most acts, taking to a venue as large as the O2 Arena, would lavish thousands of pounds on immense lightshows and props– but Linkin Park are content to let the music do the talking, packed tightly onto a small stage that if anything, serves only to emphasise the band’s enthusiasm all the more.  Scattered throughout the show are grainy, distorted videos dug up from the archives of American history, including Oppenheimer’s famous “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds” quote.   It’s minimalistic and chilling touches like this, that when mixed into Linkin Park’s music, hold more power than any amount of flames, fireworks and lasers ever could.