Between a rock and a hard place

It’s never easy being a band that had its fair share of success both critically and in terms of an extensive global fan base. Linkin Park and the Stone Temple Pilots carry a lot of history, and the expectations whenever they release an album of new material will always run high. They’ve both more than proven what kind of lasting legacy they’ll leave behind in the contemporary music scene, so it comes as no surprise to find mixed reactions to these new releases.

Linkin Park  A Thousand Suns (Warner). It’s been three years since its last studio album, and if you read the press releases, this is the album that was created in the midst of a lot of soul-searching by the band members. They were pondering about their relevance, and how to elevate social consciousness within the context of being a band. The result? It’s a mixed bag of music with The Catalyst as the carrier single. Burning In the Skies is the other track I liked immediately, and Waiting for the End has dub influences which come as a surprise, even if it seems to be the odd man out among the tracks. There are samples of Mr. Oppenheimer and Martin Luther King speaking, all making for a potent white-boy angst manifesto. Earnest, but I wonder if it’ll gain them new fans.

Stone Temple Pilots (STP)  Stone Temple Pilots (Warner). In the case of STP, it’s been a decade since we last heard from the band. And acting like they never left the scene, the new album is a heavy dose of big rock riffs, snatches of glam Pop and Psychedelia mixed with straight-ahead blues/rock. There’s a distinct ’70s classic rock approach to the music, and one would have to think Led Zeppelin or Mott the Hoople to get an inkling of where STP is coming from. Between The Lines and Take a Load Off are the first two singles, and they’re rock at its purest. Cinammon is like a pop throwaway, but I loved it; and First Kiss on Mars is Scott Weiland flirting into David Bowie territory, circa Ziggy Stardust. A great eye-opener for new fans, and one would hope they’re back for good.