Anyone familiar with my writing style may have noted that I refrain from being too personal. Observation and commentating objectively on what lays before me has been something I\u2019ve held close as a crucial part of my writing for a long time. Yes, something can sound amazing \u2013 but why? What it is that evokes that reaction from me? Sure, I like it. Now I have to prove why.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the thing: today\u2019s an important day, not only for me, but for a lot of people. For family, for friends, all of us across the world. And it\u2019s on this particular day that I can\u2019t help but remember hearing \u2018The Catalyst\u2019 for the very first time. I remember my younger self sitting in my room on a chilly August afternoon so vividly and hearing the exact representation of the ethos of a band exhausted with their own sound: “We were not making an album. For months, we’d been destroying and rebuilding our band.”<\/em> Of course, this attitude polarized, as it was always going to. With cinematic, aggressive synthesizers, and being far more driven by the kind of electronic backbone only \u2018Breaking The Habit\u2019 had hinted at, \u2018The Catalyst\u2019 saw a completely restructured Linkin Park<\/a><\/strong> stepping forward with only one objective: to create something different<\/em>.<\/p>\n Mille soleils<\/em> will always be the album that polarized the most for the band. Sure, Une lumi\u00e8re de plus<\/a><\/em> certainly drew its fair share of criticism after its May 2017 release, but compared to the \u201clove-it or hate-it\u201d reception of Mille soleils<\/em>, Une lumi\u00e8re de plus<\/em>\u2019s criticism at times was unfortunately far more one-sided, with much of this being primarily attributed to the band\u2019s decision to pursue an ultimately pop-driven direction. Whether or not that reception was valid remains entirely down to each and every individual listener<\/a>, but it\u2019s hard to ignore Une lumi\u00e8re de plus<\/em>\u2019s emphasis on being a personal and emotionally driven record, displaying vulnerability and lyricism that was well-suited to the album\u2019s aesthetic direction and style. While Mille soleils<\/em> shared some similar criticisms for a drastic change in direction, where Mille soleils <\/em>managed to succeed was in portraying that very same vulnerability on a far grander scale.<\/p>\n Take for example the ambient and electronically distorted introductory \u2018The Requiem\u2019\/\u2019The Radiance\u2019: a lonely, dissonant piano key distantly heard throughout the mix, while Mike Shinoda<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s haunting and strangely manipulated vocals drift hazily forward: \u201cGod, save us \u2013 everyone. Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns?\u201d<\/em> Combined with a sampled J. Robert Oppenheimer<\/strong> uttering his famous reflection on the cataclysmic nature of nuclear destruction, the memory of what the band used<\/em> to represent stylistically is completely and utterly decimated, with Mille soleils<\/em>\u2019 leading single being the appropriate catalyst, and its introductory tracks following suit. Gone are the far simpler structures and direction of the ever-controversial nu-metal era, with Mille soleils <\/em>instead seeing the band embracing a sound far more akin to the likes of progressive and experimental rock.<\/p>\n Even the moments found throughout the album that share some resemblance to Linkin Park<\/strong>\u2019s former material still retain the identity of what the album represents: \u2018Burning In The Skies\u2019 gentle instrumentation and blistering octave-heavy guitar solo easily compares to the likes of Minutes avant minuit<\/em>\u2019s \u2018Shadow of the Day\u2019. But while \u2018Shadow of the Day\u2019 lyrically revolves around the idea of accepting a certain situation, even retaining the slightest<\/em> hint of optimism in moving forward from something broken, the solemn tone of \u2018Burning In the Skies\u2019 and the late Chester Bennington<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s mournful delivery of \u201cI’m swimming in the smoke, of bridges I have burned\u201d <\/em>sees only the perspective of a quiet realization that damage has been caused that can never be undone.<\/p>\n Now sure, Linkin Park<\/strong> have never been known to shy away from emotive, angst-driven lyrical content, but when considering the more meditative writings of \u201cI filled my cup with the rising of the sea, and poured it out in an ocean of debris\u201d<\/em>, or the politically charged sampling of Mario Savio<\/strong> ou Martin Luther King<\/strong> (on \u2018Wretches and Kings\u2019 and \u2018Wisdom, Justice and Love\u2019 respectively), \u2018Somewhere I Belong\u2019s far simpler statement of \u201cI wanna heal, I wanna feel, what I thought was never real\u201d<\/em> almost seems trivial by comparison. Instead, much of Mille soleils<\/em> delves into the deeply rooted (and entirely rational) societal fear of a world on the potential brink of nuclear devastation, something captured particularly poignantly through \u2018Iridescent\u2019: \u201cAnd with the cataclysm raining down – insides crying, “Save me now!” You were there, impossibly alone.\u201d<\/em> For a band that began its journey with the likes of the iconic radio friendly hits \u2018Crawling\u2019 and \u2018In The End\u2019, the sheer scope of Mille soleils<\/em>\u2019 intended message is undeniably ambitious, and of course, those that disagreed with the band\u2019s new direction needed look no further than Mike Shinoda<\/strong>\u2019s wisely chosen words throughout the tribal and middle-eastern influenced \u2018When They Come For Me\u2019, or Bennington<\/strong>\u2019s controversial comments following the release of Une lumi\u00e8re de plus <\/em>years later.<\/p>\n In fact, on the subject of Une lumi\u00e8re de plus<\/em>, it\u2019s also well-worth noting exactly how much Mille soleils<\/em> actually influenced the band\u2019s later works: \u2018Waiting For The End\u2019s soaring vocals, up-tempo instrumentation, and even somewhat reggae influenced direction easily laid groundwork for the likes of One More Light\u2019s<\/em> \u2018Good Goodbye\u2019 and \u2018Invisible\u2019, while ballad \u2018Iridescent\u2019s glittering synthesizers and climactic arena rock bridge easily sees itself revisited in Living Things<\/em>\u2019 \u2018Powerless\u2019, or \u2018Roads Untraveled\u2019. Even La partie de chasse<\/a><\/em>, an album nearly completely devoid of the band\u2019s signature polished electronics, in favor of a raw, heavier rock sound, sees \u2018Fallout\u2019s ambiance and \u2018The Catalyst\u2019s iconic synthesizer lead very nearly recreated through the introductory sombre tones of \u2018A Line In The Sand\u2019.<\/p>\n At its heart, Mille soleils<\/em> represented a band on the brink of complete and total creative self-destruction, except this happened to be exactly what the group was looking for, and in doing so stumbled upon some of the best material of their entire career. Take for example the sprawling, gorgeous sonic landscapes of \u2018Jornada Del Muerto\u2019, or the fact that the spectacular \u2018Robot Boy\u2019 synthesizer solo easily stands as one of the most competently written sections of a lead instrument of the band\u2019s entire career. It may not be overly complex by nature, but it captures the track\u2019s emotionally driven direction perfectly. As for the vocal side of things, alongside \u2018Wretches and Kings\u2019 snarling, industrial hip hop backbone, the track sees Mike Shinoda<\/strong>\u2019s flow completely stepped up from the likes of \u2018Points of Authority\u2019, opting for a more aggressively delivered approach, and far more exhilarating lyricism as a result: \u201cThe front of the attack is exactly where I’m at – somewhere in between the kick and the hi hat. The pen and the contract, the pitch and the contact, so get with the combat.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In a complete shift in direction, and focusing more directly on Chester Bennington<\/strong>, album finale \u2018The Messenger\u2019 stands as both the most optimistic track of Mille soleils<\/em>, while also one of the band\u2019s most stripped-back of their entire discography: featuring a simple acoustic chord progression and Shinoda<\/strong>\u2019s gentle piano-work, Bennington<\/strong> desperately calls for those in need of help to remember to \u201clisten to your heart, those angel voices \u2013 they’ll see you to you, they’ll be your guide, back home…\u201d <\/em>It\u2019s a surprising, abrupt change of pace, seeing Bennington <\/strong>offer a genuinely beautiful vocal performance, and ending the album in extreme contrast to its entirety proves itself a hauntingly powerful final moment.<\/p>\n Dans l\u2019ensemble, Mille soleils<\/em> is a standout representation of the ability of a band that many had written off as simplistic \u201csame old, same old.\u201d The negative stigma of nu-metal proves itself a tough one to crack, but where the band chose to tread throughout Mille soleils<\/em> didn\u2019t just surprise their audience: it completely shattered their expectations, for better or worse. As I mentioned previously, this was Linkin Park<\/strong> at their most polarizing, and this still stands true. By Une lumi\u00e8re de plus<\/em>, fans were familiar with the band\u2019s tendency to approach each post-M\u00e9t\u00e9ores<\/a> <\/em>album differently to the last, but the headstrong determination to completely disregard the sound that had ultimately granted them their success proved to be a fantastic example of putting creative integrity first over risk of alienating those that may actually purchase le mat\u00e9riel<\/a>. Even the album\u2019s leading single, a track noted through the Meeting of A Thousand Suns<\/em> documentary as having been produced with the overbearing intent of being exactly that \u2013 a leading single<\/em> \u2013 displays the band\u2019s complete and unflinching resolve to ensure that this was something different. Something special. Sure, it was a case of being either critically acclaimed or receiving scathingly negative reception, but in truly embracing an ethos of music not being \u201ca pattern to be followed\u201d<\/em>, Mille soleils<\/em> will always be what I can\u2019t help hearing on days like today. And for that, it will always have my respect.<\/p>\n For Chester Bennington, 1976-2017
\n\u201cLove keeps us kind.\u201d<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"