Artists in this Article
For the lead single to upcoming fourth album "A Thousand Suns," Linkin Park offers a nearly six-minute anthem of aggression with two distinct parts. "The Catalyst" lets the band dip its toe into electronica in its first half, with rave-ready blips surrounding Chester Bennington's dystopian cries. At the three-minute mark, however, the track morphs into a slow, emotional dirge, with Bennington and Shinoda singing, "Lift me up, let me go," over a beat tailor-made for a stadium's worth of slow claps. "The Catalyst" recalls Muse's epic vocal chants as well as Green Day's political commentary, but Linkin Park creates an original, if a bit awkward, transition from twisty techno to fist-pumping rock. The band's interesting fusion of ideas-and the fact that "Catalyst" is its first No. 1 debut on Billboard's Rock Songs chart-proves that Linkin Park still has a few tricks up its sleeve.
Up for Discussion