Linkin Park

'A Thousand Suns'

One merciful step closer to forgetting mook mania.

Spin Rating6 of 10

Linkin Park's fourth studio album (and second collaboration with producer Rick Rubin) contains plenty of aggressively arty material that might surprise fans of the megapopular rap-rock outfit: "Wretches and Kings," for instance, chops up spoken-word sound bites in a Bomb Squad style, while "When They Come for Me" layers post-NIN dance-punk synths over a tribal drum groove. Still, the most unexpected track on the boldly conceived A Thousand Suns might be the disc's acoustic closer, "The Messenger," in which Chester Bennington flexes a tender camp-counselor croon.

By Mikael Wood

1 Van Halen 'A Different Kind of Truth'
2 Lana Del Rey 'Born to Die'
3 Cloud Nothings 'Attack on Memory'
4 Himanshu 'Nehru Jackets'
5 Kathleen Edwards 'Voyageur'
6 Imperial Teen 'Feel the Sound'
7 Leonard Cohen 'Old Ideas'
8 Skrillex 'Bangarang'
9 Escort 'Escort'
10 First Aid Kit 'The Lion's Roar'

1 Cloud Nothings 'Attack on Memory'
2 Cloud Nothings 'Attack on Memory'
3 Kathleen Edwards 'Voyageur'
4 The Mark Lanegan Band 'Blues Funeral'
5 The Mark Lanegan Band 'Blues Funeral'
6 Leonard Cohen 'Old Ideas'
7 Escort 'Escort'
8 Escort 'Escort'
9 Escort 'Escort'
10 Himanshu 'Nehru Jackets'

Linkin Park

'A Thousand Suns'

The Mark Lanegan Band 'Blues Funeral'

Of Montreal 'Paralytic Stalks'

Van Halen 'A Different Kind of Truth'