An Honest Appeal For "A Thousand Suns"

Before you pass quick judgment, scroll down and say "oh man, this post is WAY to long," and perhaps overlook my praise as sheer fan-boy obsession, you might need to actually spare the 47 minutes it takes to listen through Linkin Park's latest studio release, "A Thousand Suns."  And specifically for this album, I truly mean it.  Grab some headphones, find an hour of your day to spare, and take a seat, because if you allow the 15 tracks of "A Thousand Suns" to sink into the depths of your mind without interruption, I think you will discover a remarkable body of work, one that will ultimately reward you for you careful listening and patience.

Now, I'm not going out and saying "OMG THIS IS THE BEST ALBUM OF ALL TIME EVER OMG!! <3." After all, I am devoting a precious blog to it.  However, most of what I have to say of "A Thousand Suns" I have to say because of three reasons:

1. The content of this music in the context of the artists who made it is important to recognize
2. I truly believe that individually the songs are tremendous, but even more so, I believe that the album as a whole functions as something greater than the sum of its parts, something hard to find in this age of music where almost everything is managed digitally and the industry revolves around singles
3. Perhaps the biggest reason, that this record is so underrated and has been so overlooked, that it deserves more recognition than it has received

So, here is my case for Linkin Park and their fourth studio album, in order of these reasons I have laid out above.

The number one reason, in my opinion, that most people have overlooked "A Thousand Suns" is simply because of ignorance.  This is the reason most people do not open themselves up to new or different music, because they like what they like and that's it.  Especially in this case, most people who have past over this album have done so because they look at it and say "Ehh, another Linkin Park album? I hate all of their immature, angry, and mediocre music from before, so why would I like this?" Perhaps you yourself have said this in passing.  But it's OK! Because I want you to have a second chance and experience the best of what this album can offer.  In fact, only recently have I become a Linkin Park fan, because most of their angsty, loud, and aggressive sound from "Hybrid Theory" and "Meteora" just wasn't my style before about two or three years ago.  But for some reason, I personally just came to like Linkin Park, all the while accepting their shortcomings in regards to talent and creativity.  Before "A Thousand Suns," when you would listen to Linkin Park, you would know what you were getting.  Which is why I advise that you listen through this latest album the way I did, with no preconceptions of what it will sound like because of who made it.  Whether you love old Linkin Park or hate it, that is simply the way you have to listen to it.

I caution you so much in this manner because the content of this record deserves it.  After you listen to it, and when you take into consideration the band who made it, it presents them ultimately in an entirely different light.  Personally, I was astonished at what I thought a moderately talented group of guys was able to do with this album.  Lyrically and musically, they managed to push not only what the common conception of what "Linkin Park" is beyond its boundaries, but they managed to push modern music in a direction that has not quite been explored, and which I believe will be in coming years.  At their core, these songs are well constructed, not just written.  They seem very thoughtfully planned out and cared for individually, and especially in the larger scheme of the album as a whole.  One of my largest bits of praise for "A Thousand Suns" is that it blends together 15 different tracks that uniquely transcend genres into a cohesive album.  More than most albums that have been made recently, it deserves - even necessitates - the full "front-to-back" play through.

Finally, I blog tonight because I just want you to listen to this album.  I have been a huge proponent of it ever since the day Linkin Park released it back in September, and I have even won over a few of my friends who were doubters at first.  Some of my friends, devout Linkin Park fans, hated it.  One in particular wondered aloud if the album was actually, and I quote, "a joke."  But I encouraged them to sit down and play through all 47 minutes, to save their judgment, and just let the music play itself to them.  And guess what?  Yep, they fell in love with it.  So please, I formally ask you that you find an hour to spare this weekend, perhaps before you fall asleep one night, that you do as I have suggested twice now, and just listen through the entire thing uninterrupted.  As someone with very eclectic musical tastes that are ever expanding, I ask you to trust me, and take a chance on "A Thousand Suns," just as Linkin Park did.  All you have to lose is an hour - nothing in comparison to the two years the six men of Linkin Park spent creating it.

Paper Vs. Data Sheet

I won't sleep well either way

I Don't Like Amsterdam

OK now, take a deep breath.  First of all, this post is called "I Don't Like Amsterdam."  It is not "Amsterdam is the Worst Book of All Time," "Ian McEwan Should Never Pick Up a Pen or Pencil Again," or "Amsterdam Stinks So Much that I am Going to Stop Reading Forever."  This is my opinion, and that is all.

Second of all, I feel as if a person saying that they do not like a book is a bold claim to make - one that is freely imparted all too often, without consideration of its implications.  I've heard fellow classmates exclaim their distaste for particular English books so often that I really want to use that cliche about having a dollar for every time some one said something... Because I would be so wealthy that by now I would have my own yacht... Because a yacht is totally something a wealthy person buys.  But nonetheless, the phrase "I don't like..." is unconsciously tossed around more than that random beach ball in the stands at a football game.  People rarely legitimately support their opinions, and if they did so, maybe they would even see the other side of an argument.

So for one, don't take my expressions personally because they are just my opinions.  No one shares the exact same musical taste as someone else, so no one should share the exact same literary taste as someone else.  Secondly, I plan on backing up my above statement, so don't go calling me a hypocrite just yet.

For starters, I must admit that I have enjoyed what we have read this year for the most part.  Othello lived up to its fame as a classic Shakespeare play, The Namesake was a surprisingly entertaining story, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest proved thoroughly amusing as well as thought provoking.  But when it comes to Amsterdam... well, you know how I feel.  Some of you, my classmates, share this feeling with me, and we have most likely shared this opinion with one another.  We might have different reasons, but these are mine (and since lists are just so gosh darn cool, I'm going to use one of them).

1. Ignorant Claims - You may or may not know I'm the President of the Young Republicans club (thanks, November WAS a nice victory), but now that you do, it's probably obvious that the assertions Clive and Vernon make about Garmondy and the effects of his conservative policies infuriate me.  To just state as simple fact that "'There'll be even more people living below the poverty line'" because of Garmondy is not only objectionable to me, but in a broad sense, is immature (79).  One way or another, drawing severe conclusions like this one do not advance political discussion in any way, and just come off as ignorant and childish.
2. Predictability - Even from the epigraph, the general conclusion of the book can be seen from a mile away.
3. Unimaginative -  In a way, this coincides with #2, as the story line in general is rather simplistic and boring.  Two friends who turn on each other.  As if that hasn't been done before.
4. Unrealistic Conclusion - In a feeble attempt to compensate for #3, the ultimate fate of the characters is completely unreasonable.  We have discussed the novel's ending in class, and as some of us have mentioned, it is rather difficult to believe that they would go to the extent that they would kill each other.  Unless they were both clinically insane, I cannot bring myself to accept that as realistic.
5. Weak, Unlikeable Characters - While this reason is highly subjective, I still feel as if Clive and Vernon, while moderately well developed by McEwan, are so immoral, so distasteful, and so objectionable, that it is overly difficult to not necessarily sympathize with either of them, but to care about them in a general sense.  Honestly, I couldn't really care what happened to them because I just hated them so much.  No matter if this is intentional or not, I personally found it hard to feel invested in the outcome of these characters lives.

I could possibly go on, but since it is rather late and your attention span must be wearing thin, I shall stop myself.  Once again, these are MY OPINIONS!!! I do not discourage you from disagreeing with me.  In fact, I encourage it.  I promise, I won't be offended... I'll just belittle you into either agreement with me, or into shame because of your foolish ignorance... :)

Pillows

What do you typically associate with pillows? Comfort? Relaxation?  Or as an AP English student do you analyze the pillow, and think of the possible implications of the feather and down components in its interior?

Well if you do that last one, you're crazy.  But I normally just like to picture that instant gratification of laying down on a pillow, that feeling of "ohhhh, I'm not getting up from here for at least an hour."  And don't get me started on the other side of the pillow.  Man, oh man, when you flip that baby over and its just the perfect cool temperature against the side of your face.  All the pleasures of life pale in comparison to that moment.  But apparently, there must be some people out there who do not associate well with pillows.  How could this be?  I do not know, but it's true I tell you!

It's true because at least two writers of literature have found it such a vile and objectionable object that it should be considered for use as a murder weapon.  Desdemona of Shakespeare's Othello suffered such a fate, as well as our dear friend McMurphy of Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  To me, it seems pretty strange that of three books we have thus far completed, two of them make prevalent a "death by pillow."  Think about it, what are the odds that two highly symbolic and unrelated deaths are attributed to a pillow and it's capacity to smother?  And why pillows?  Granted, Bromden hardly "kills" McMurphy with the pillow, as the incident was more or less an act of euthanasia to end McMuphy's post-lobotomy suffering.  But on the other hand, Othello doesn't mess around.  He smothers his wife with brute force, not once, but twice.  Even if you might think that this juxtaposition of comfort and death uniquely brought about by the pillow reveals some sort of effort by Othello to kill his wife peacefully, I'm going to have to disagree.  I can't say from experience, but I'm almost positive that suffocating to death is not pleasant in any way.  I think that this pillow murder is viscous.

So what's the connection?  Let's think of what else these works have in common... dig deep, read between the lines, push the implications... what could these two pieces of literature have in comm-- I GOT IT! MS. SERENSKY ASSIGNED THEM TO US!  Bahahaha, you thought you could stump us Ms. Serensky, but we're on to you!  I bet you're trying to sabotage us and get us to hate pillows!  Nice try, but not going to happen!