Album Review: Linkin Park – One More Light (Warner Bros. Records)

Last week we reviewed the new Paramore record & said that had Paramore not lived within our genre at one stage we wouldn’t have even looked at it. That same thing can be applied to the new Linkin Park album, One More Light. An album that is so far removed from rock & metal that it’s shocking. One More Light is out now via Warner Bros. Records.

Now don’t get me wrong, Linkin Park have always genre hopped. Calling them a rock band has been a bit of a stretch in recent years but even the most ardent of LP supporters will struggle to defend this uninspired, insipid & outdated pop album.

One More Light is terrible, not just a bad Linkin Park album but a terrible album, full stop. It’s not even because of the genre it lives in as Linkin Park have proven in the past to be able to write good & catchy rock/pop songs. No, One More Light is so terrible because it’s every B-side of a boy band’s hit ever.

10 songs of sheer contempt to their fan base, a fan base that Linkin Park seem keen to reject going off Chester Bennington’s recent outburst about how we should all “move the fuck on from Hybrid Theory”. Funny that, they didn’t seem to mind when they used their debut album to wrangle a headline slot at Download in 2014.

The first two songs, Nobody Can Save Me & Good Goodbye (feat. Pusha T & Stormzy) start things off in the worst way. The former is a bland, heavy on the effects, showcase of Chester’s vocals while the latter brings in the most tired sounding rapping. Both songs also cause unintentional hilarity with the ‘chipmunk’ vocal moments.

It’s May 2017 & this album already sounds 10 years out of date. Every tired pop trope is used here. No clever structure, no tempo changes, no catchy choruses…nothing. An absolute nothing album & it says a lot that the first time you actually hear a guitar isn’t until the third track, Talking to Myself.

It hardly matters though…this is the Chester Bennington show. His vocals are front & centre for the most part & there is very little input from the rest. However, when they do throw their weight behind a song the rest just seem to get caught up in the insipidness of the record. Rapper, Mike Shinoda’s singing on Invisible will see most people check out of this album.

It’s the final straw coming at the halfway point especially following Battle Symphony, the worst song released this year on the worst album for many years.

The best thing about One More Light is that it’s only 10 songs & 35 minutes long. The poorly received Heavy (feat. Kiiara) sounds even worse then it did when stuffed amongst everything else here. No matter how long you wait, you’re not going to get any semblance of decent music.

There is no defending utter rubbish like Sorry for Now & it’s disgustingly horrible effects, the ‘nah-na-nah-nah-na’ vocals of Halfway Right or the super-soft pointless melody of the title track, One More Light.

The album comes to a close with a wimper, Sharp Edges is the vomit-covered icing on a cake made of shit. One More Light is about Chester Bennington & his voice, which while fantastic, (there is no denying that) but when what’s coming out of his mouth sounds so insincere & so designed to pander to a specific audience it’s impossible to care.

One More Light is a terrible album, one of the worst albums of the decade.

Linkin Park – One More Light Full Track Listing:

1. Nobody Can Save Me
2. Good Goodbye (feat. Pusha T & Stormzy)
3. Talking to Myself
4. Battle Symphony
5. Invisible
6. Heavy (feat. Kiiara)
7. Sorry for Now
8. Halfway Right
9. One More Light
10. Sharp Edges

If you want to hear for yourself just what One More Light offers you can check it out on Apple Music below. Good luck.