10 Huge Rock Albums That Didn't Deserve To Flop

By the time that Linkin Park got to the 2010's, the kind of nu metal tropes that they rode in on had long since faded from memory. In the wake of a bunch of metal acts either breaking up or getting even heavier with age, Minutes to Midnight saw them going into a more alternative rock direction, looking to have the same kind of appeal that you got from the typical radio rock format. If the metalheads were pissed off at them going into the alternative sphere though, chances are they had steam coming out of their ears the first time they heard A Thousand Suns.

Dropping the tags of genres altogether, this entire project seems like the opportunity for Linkin Park to make an album statement using electronic soundscapes, with limited guitar presence throughout the album. Before the rock purists get their pitchforks out though, this might be one of the greatest moments in Linkin Park's career, taking the same teeth that they had in their old days and putting them in better context, like the outsider chant of when They Come For Me or channeling the same inner turmoil of Breaking the Habit on Robot Boy.

And are we just going to forget that Linkin Park had electronics as part of their sound to begin with? Ever since Joe Hahn had to phase himself out of the DJ scratching position, his use of sonic textures make for some of the best parts of this album, from the soundscapes to the distorted piano sections coming through. A Thousand Suns might be far from Linkin Park's early years, but it might be the biggest statement that they've ever made as a band.