10 Perfect Rock Concept Albums

Everything about Linkin Park in the early days was all about the push and pull between man and machine. Even though they were perfect for the nu metal scene that was peaking around the early '00s, there was a certain inward quality to the band's music, looking to deal with their emotional struggles on their own instead of pointing the finger outside most of the time. Since there were a lot more problems going on around the 2010's though, the band set out to make a record with a bit more emotional weight to it.

While the initial spark of Linkin Park hasn't gone anywhere on A Thousand Suns, the entire tone of the record seems to be more focused on the ambient sounds, with the setting being the fallout of nuclear war. As the interludes breeze by between songs, you really get the sense of being there in the rubble, with these songs being like spirits from the other side, practically warning us of what's to come.

Though there are synthetic elements to songs like Robot Boy, you can still feel the human side to everything, stricken with grief before being pulled back down into anger on Wretches and Kings and Blackout. As the curtain closes on the Messenger though, the spare acoustic sound of the track leaves you with a little hope for the future. The fallout may have been the equivalent of hell on Earth, but there's always a chance for humanity to come back stronger.