Linkin Park 2013-2015: The Hunting Party What is the Hunting Party? the band revealed their sixth album would be titled The Hunting Party. Why did they name their album the Hunting Party? Shinoda commented the album is a "90s style of rock record". Where did this album generate the most interest? Revolver ranked The Hunting Party as the fourth best album of 2014. How long did the Hunting Party hold the 4th best rank? 2014.
What was the content of the Hunting Party album as in general drift?
What was the content of Linkin Park's Hunting Party album as in general drift?
In an interview with Fuse, Shinoda confirmed that Linkin Park had begun recording their sixth studio album in May 2013. The band released the first single from their upcoming album, titled, "Guilty All the Same" on March 6, 2014 through Shazam. The single was later released on the following day by Warner Bros. Records and debut at No. 28 on the US Billboard Rock Airplay charts before peaking at No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock charts in the following weeks. Shortly after the single's release, the band revealed their sixth album would be titled The Hunting Party. The album was produced by Shinoda and Delson, who wanted to explore musical elements from Hybrid Theory and the band's earlier material. Shinoda commented the album is a "90s style of rock record". He elaborated, "It's a rock record. It's loud and it's rock, but not in the sense of what you've heard before, which is more like '90s hardcore-punk-thrash.' The album includes musical contributions from rapper Rakim, Page Hamilton of Helmet, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, and Daron Malakian of System of a Down. The Hunting Party was released on June 13, 2014, in most countries, and later released in the United States on June 17.  Linkin Park performed at Download Festival on June 14, 2014, where they played their debut album, Hybrid Theory, in its entirety. Linkin Park headlined Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in 2014, along with Metallica, Kings of Leon, and Iron Maiden. They also headlined with Iron Maiden again at the Greenfield Festival in July. On June 22, Linkin Park made an unscheduled headline appearance at the Vans Warped Tour, where they played with members of Issues, The Devil Wears Prada, A Day To Remember, Yellowcard, Breathe Carolina, Finch, and Machine Gun Kelly. In January 2015, the band embarked on a tour to promote the release of The Hunting Party, consisting of 17 concerts across the United States and Canada. The tour was canceled after only three concerts when Bennington injured his ankle. On May 9, Linkin Park performed at the first edition of Rock in Rio USA, in direct support for Metallica.  On November 9, 2014, MTV Europe named Linkin Park the "Best Rock" act of 2014 at their annual music awards ceremony. The band won the 'Best Rock Band' and 'Best Live Act' titles of 2014 on Loudwire's Music Awards. Revolver ranked The Hunting Party as the fourth best album of 2014. In an interview with AltWire on May 4, Shinoda reflected on The Hunting Party and commented on Linkin Park's future, stating; "I'm really happy with the reaction from The Hunting Party, and I think we're ready to move somewhere new on the next album, which will be coming [in 2016]".  Linkin Park collaborated with Steve Aoki on the song "Darker Than Blood" for Aoki's album Neon Future II, which was released in May 2015. The first preview of the song came during Aoki's performance on February 28, 2015 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois. The song was debuted on Twitch.tv on April 13 and released on April 14.  Linkin Park performed at the closing ceremony of Blizzcon 2015, Blizzard's video game convention. CANNOTANSWER
"It's a rock record. It's loud and it's rock, but not in the sense of what you've heard before, which is more like '90s hardcore-punk-thrash.
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer Rob Bourdon, all of whom are founding members. Vocalists Mark Wakefield and Chester Bennington are former members of the band. Categorized as alternative rock, Linkin Park's earlier music spanned a fusion of heavy metal and hip hop, while their later music features more electronica and pop elements.

Formed in 1996, Linkin Park rose to international fame with their debut studio album, Hybrid Theory (2000), which became certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Released during the peak of the nu metal scene, the album's singles' heavy airplay on MTV led the singles "One Step Closer", "Crawling" and "In the End" all to chart highly on the Mainstream Rock chart; the latter crossed over to the pop chart. Their second album, Meteora (2003), continued the band's success. The band explored experimental sounds on their third album, Minutes to Midnight (2007). By the end of the decade, Linkin Park was among the most successful and popular rock acts.

The band continued to explore a wider variation of musical types on their fourth album, A Thousand Suns (2010), layering their music with more electronic sounds. The band's fifth album, Living Things (2012), combined musical elements from all of their previous records. Their sixth album, The Hunting Party (2014), returned to a heavier rock sound, and their seventh album, One More Light (2017), was their first pop-oriented record. Linkin Park went on a hiatus when longtime lead vocalist Bennington died by suicide in July 2017. In April 2020, bassist Dave Farrell revealed the band was working on new music, though they have stated they will not be touring for the foreseeable future.

Linkin Park is among the best-selling bands of the 21st century and the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. They have won two Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, 10 MTV Europe Music Awards and three World Music Awards. In 2003, MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth-greatest band of the music video era and the third-best of the new millennium. Billboard ranked Linkin Park No. 19 on the Best Artists of the Decade list. In 2012, the band was voted as the greatest artist of the 2000s in a Bracket Madness poll on VH1. In 2014, the band was declared as "The Biggest Rock Band in the World Right Now" by Kerrang!.

History

1996–2000: Early years

Linkin Park was founded by three high school friends: Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson. The three attended Agoura High School in Agoura Hills, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. After graduating from high school, the three began to take their musical interests more seriously, recruiting Joe Hahn, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, and Mark Wakefield to perform in their band, then called Xero. Though limited in resources, the band began recording and producing songs within Shinoda's makeshift bedroom studio in 1996, resulting in a four-track demo tape, entitled Xero. However, tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal. The lack of success and stalemate in progress prompted Wakefield, at that time the band's vocalist, to leave the band in search of other projects. Farrell also left to tour with Tasty Snax, a Christian punk and ska band.

After spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Arizona vocalist Chester Bennington, who was recommended by Jeff Blue, the vice president of Zomba Music in March 1999. Bennington, formerly of a post-grunge band Grey Daze, became a standout among applicants because of the dynamic in his singing style. The band then agreed on changing their name from Xero to Hybrid Theory; the newborn vocal chemistry between Shinoda and Bennington helped revive the band, inciting them to work on new material. In 1999, the band released a self-titled extended play, which they circulated across internet chat-rooms and forums with the help of an online 'street team'.

The band still struggled to sign a record deal. They turned to Jeff Blue for additional help after facing numerous rejections from several major record labels. After failing to catch Warner Bros. Records on three previous reviews, Blue, who was now the vice president of Warner Bros. Records, helped the band sign a deal with the company as a developing artist in 1999. However, the label advised the band to change their name to avoid confusion with Hybrid. The band considered the names "Plear" and "Platinum Lotus Foundation" before deciding on "Linkin Park", a play on and homage to Santa Monica's Lincoln Park, now called Christine Emerson Reed Park. They initially wanted to use the name "Lincoln Park", however they changed it to "Linkin" to acquire the internet domain "linkinpark.com".

Bennington and Shinoda both reported that Warner Bros. Records was skeptical of Linkin Park's initial recordings. The label's A&R was not pleased with the band's hip-hop and rock-style approach. An A&R representative suggested that Bennington should demote or fire Shinoda and exclusively focus on making a rock record. Bennington supported Shinoda and refused to compromise Linkin Park's vision for the album. Farrell returned in 2000, and the band released their breakthrough album, Hybrid Theory, that same year.

2000–2002: Hybrid Theory and Reanimation

Linkin Park released Hybrid Theory on October 24, 2000. The album, which represented half a decade's worth of the band's work, was edited by Don Gilmore. Hybrid Theory was a massive commercial success; it sold more than 4.8 million copies during its debut year, earning it the status of best-selling album of 2001, while singles such as "Crawling" and "One Step Closer" established themselves as staples among alternative rock radio play lists during the year. Additionally, other singles from the album were featured in films such as Dracula 2000, Little Nicky, and Valentine. Hybrid Theory won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "Crawling" and was nominated for two other Grammy Awards: Best New Artist and Best Rock Album. MTV awarded the band their Best Rock Video and Best Direction awards for "In the End". Through the winning of the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, Hybrid Theorys overall success had catapulted the band into mainstream success.

During this time, Linkin Park received many invitations to perform on many high-profile tours and concerts including Ozzfest, Family Values Tour, and KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas. The band worked with Jessica Sklar to found their official fan club and street team, "Linkin Park Underground", in November 2001. Linkin Park also formed their own tour, Projekt Revolution, which featured other notable artists such as Cypress Hill, Adema, and Snoop Dogg. Within a year's stretch, Linkin Park had performed at over 320 concerts. The experiences and performances of the precocious band were documented in their first DVD, Frat Party at the Pankake Festival, which debuted in November 2001. Now reunited with former bassist Phoenix, the band began work on a remix album, dubbed Reanimation, which would include works from Hybrid Theory and non-album tracks. Reanimation debuted on July 30, 2002, featuring the likes of Black Thought, Jonathan Davis, Aaron Lewis, and many others. Reanimation claimed the second spot on the Billboard 200, and sold nearly 270,000 copies during its debut week. Hybrid Theory is also in the RIAA's Top 100 Albums.

2002–2004: Meteora

Following the success of Hybrid Theory and Reanimation, Linkin Park spent a significant amount of time touring around the United States. The band members began to work on new material amidst their saturated schedule, spending a sliver of their free time in their tour bus' studio. The band officially announced the production of a new studio album in December 2002, revealing their new work was inspired by the rocky region of Meteora in Greece, where numerous monasteries have been built on top of the rocks. Meteora features a mixture of the band's nu metal and rap metal style with newer innovative effects, including the induction of a shakuhachi (a Japanese flute made of bamboo) and other instruments. Linkin Park's second album debuted on March 25, 2003 and instantly earned worldwide recognition, going to No. 1 in the US and UK, and No. 2 in Australia.

Meteora sold more than 800,000 copies during its first week, and it ranked as the best selling album on the Billboard charts at the time. The album's singles, including "Somewhere I Belong", "Breaking the Habit", "Faint", and "Numb", received significant radio attention. By October 2003, Meteora sold nearly three million copies. The album's success allowed Linkin Park to form another Projekt Revolution, which featured other bands and artists including Mudvayne, Blindside, and Xzibit. Additionally, Metallica invited Linkin Park to play at the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003, which included well-known acts such as Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne and Deftones. The band released an album and DVD, titled Live in Texas, which featured some audio and video tracks from the band's performances in Texas during the tour. In early 2004, Linkin Park started a world tour titled the Meteora World Tour. Supporting bands on the tour included Hoobastank, P.O.D., Story of the Year and Pia.

Meteora earned the band multiple awards and honors. The band won the MTV awards for Best Rock Video for "Somewhere I Belong" and the Viewer's Choice Award for "Breaking the Habit". Linkin Park also received significant recognition during the 2004 Radio Music Awards, winning the Artist of the Year and Song of the Year ("Numb") awards. Although Meteora was not nearly as successful as Hybrid Theory, it was the third best selling album in the United States during 2003. The band spent the first few months of 2004 touring around the world, first with the third Projekt Revolution tour, and later several European concerts. At the same time, the band's relationship with Warner Bros. Records was deteriorating rapidly on account of several trust and financial issues. After months of feuding, the band finally negotiated a deal in December 2005.

2004–2006: Side projects

Following Meteoras success, the band worked on many side projects. Bennington appeared on DJ Lethal's "State of the Art" and other work with Dead by Sunrise, while Shinoda did work with Depeche Mode. In 2004, the band began to work with Jay-Z to produce another remix album, titled Collision Course. The album, which featured intermixed lyrics and background tracks from both artists' previous albums, debuted in November 2004. Shinoda also formed Fort Minor as a side project. With the aid of Jay-Z, Fort Minor released their debut album, The Rising Tied, to critical acclaim.

Linkin Park also participated in numerous charitable events, most notably raised money to benefit victims of Hurricane Charley in 2004 and later Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The band donated $75,000 to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation in March 2004. They also helped relief efforts for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims by staging several charity concerts and setting up an additional fund called Music for Relief. Most notably, however, the band participated at Live 8, a series of charitable benefit concerts set up to raise global awareness. Alongside Jay-Z, the band performed on Live 8's stage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a global audience. The band would later be reunited with Jay-Z at the Grammy Award Ceremony 2006, during which they performed "Numb/Encore", en route to winning a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. They were joined on stage by Paul McCartney who added verses from the song "Yesterday". They would later go on to play at the 2006 Summer Sonic music festival, which was hosted by Metallica in Japan.

2006–2008: Minutes to Midnight

Linkin Park returned to the recording studios in 2006 to work on new material. To produce the album, the band chose producer Rick Rubin. Despite initially stating the album would debut sometime in 2006, the album was delayed until 2007. The band had recorded thirty to fifty songs in August 2006, when Shinoda stated the album was halfway completed. Bennington later added that the new album would stray away from their previous nu metal sound. Warner Bros. Records officially announced that the band's third studio album, titled Minutes to Midnight, would be released on May 15, 2007 in the United States. After spending fourteen months working on the album, the band members opted to further refine their album by removing five of the original seventeen tracks. The album's title, a reference to the Doomsday Clock, foreshadowed the band's new lyrical themes. Minutes to Midnight sold over 625,000 copies in its first week, making it one of the most successful debut week albums in recent years. The album also took the top spot on the Billboard Charts.

 
The album's first single, "What I've Done", was released on April 2, and premiered on MTV and Fuse within the same week. The single was acclaimed by listeners, becoming the top-ranked song on the Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. The song is also used in soundtrack for the 2007 action film, Transformers. Mike Shinoda was also featured on the Styles of Beyond song "Second to None", which was also included in the film. Later in the year, the band won the "Favorite Alternative Artist" in the American Music Awards. The band also saw success with the rest of the album's singles, "Bleed It Out", "Shadow of the Day", "Given Up", and "Leave Out All the Rest", which were released throughout 2007 and early 2008. The band also collaborated with Busta Rhymes on his single "We Made It", which was released on April 29.

Linkin Park embarked on a large world tour titled "Minutes to Midnight World Tour". The band promoted the album's release by forming their fourth Projekt Revolution tour in the United States which included many musical acts like My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, HIM, Placebo, and many others. They also played numerous shows in Europe, Asia, and Australia which included a performance at Live Earth Japan on July 7, 2007. and headlining Download Festival in Donington Park, England and Edgefest in Downsview Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The band completed touring on their fourth Projekt Revolution tour before taking up an Arena tour around the United Kingdom, visiting Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester, before finishing on a double night at the O2 arena in London. Bennington stated that Linkin Park plans to release a follow-up album to Minutes to Midnight. However, he stated the band will first embark on a United States tour to gather inspiration for the album. Linkin Park embarked on another Projekt Revolution tour in 2008. This was the first time a Projekt Revolution tour was held in Europe with three shows in Germany and one in the United Kingdom. A Projekt Revolution tour was also held in the United States which featured Chris Cornell, The Bravery, Ashes Divide, Street Drum Corps and many others. Linkin Park finished the tour with a final show in Texas. Mike Shinoda announced a live CD/DVD titled Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes, which is a live video recording from the Projekt Revolution gig at the Milton Keynes Bowl on June 29, 2008, which was officially released on November 24, 2008.

2008–2011: A Thousand Suns

In May 2009, Linkin Park announced they were working on a fourth studio album, which was planned to be released in 2010. Shinoda told IGN that the new album would be 'genre-busting,' while building off of elements in Minutes to Midnight. He also mentioned that the album would be more experimental and "hopefully more cutting-edge". Bennington also addressed the media to confirm that Rick Rubin would return to produce the new album. The band later revealed the album would be called A Thousand Suns. While working on the new album, Linkin Park worked with successful film composer Hans Zimmer to produce the score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The band released a single for the movie, titled "New Divide". Joe Hahn created a music video for the song, which featured clips from the film. On June 22, Linkin Park played a short set in Westwood Village after the premier of the movie. After completing work for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the band returned to the studio to finalize their album.

On April 26, the band released an app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, a game called 8-Bit Rebellion! It featured the band as playable characters, and a new song called "Blackbirds" which was unlockable by beating the game. The song was also later released as an iTunes bonus track on A Thousand Suns.

A Thousand Suns was released on September 14. The album's first single, "The Catalyst", was released on August 2. The band promoted their new album by launching a concert tour, which started in Los Angeles on September 7. Linkin Park also relied on MySpace to promote their album, releasing two additional songs, "Waiting for the End" and "Blackout" on September 8. Furthermore, a documentary about the album's production, titled Meeting of A Thousand Suns, was available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. On August 31, 2010, it was announced that the band would perform the single live for the first time at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. The venue of the debut live performance of the single was Griffith Observatory, an iconic location used in Hollywood movies. "Waiting for the End" was released as the second single of A Thousand Suns.

Linkin Park reached No.8 in Billboard Social 50, a chart of the most active artists on the world's leading social networking sites. In other Billboard Year-End charts, the band reached No.92 in the "Top Artists" chart, as well as A Thousand Suns reaching No.53 in the Year-End chart of the Billboard Top 200 albums and No.7 in the 2010 Year-End Rock Albums, and "The Catalyst" reaching No.40 in the Year-End Rock Songs chart.

The band was nominated for six Billboard Awards in 2011 for Top Duo or Group, Best Rock Album for A Thousand Suns, Top Rock Artist, Top Alternative Artist, Top Alternative Song for "Waiting for the End" and Top Alternative Album for A Thousand Suns, but did not win any award. The band charted in numerous Billboard Year-End charts in 2011. The band was No.39 in the Top Artists Chart, No.84 in the Billboard 200 Artists chart, No.11 in the Social 50 Chart, No.6 in the Top Rock Artists Chart, No.9 in the Rock Songs Artists Chart, No.16 in the Rock Albums Chart, No.4 in the Hard Rock Albums Chart, and No.7 in the Alternative Songs Chart.

2011–2013: Living Things and Recharged

In July 2011, Bennington told Rolling Stone that Linkin Park aims to produce a new album every eighteen months, and that he would be shocked if a new album did not come out in 2012. He later revealed in another interview in September 2011 that the band was still in the beginning phases of the next album, saying "We just kind of began. We like to keep the creative juices flowing, so we try to keep that going all the time ... we like the direction that we're going in". Later, on March 28, 2012, Shinoda confirmed that the band is filming a music video for "Burn It Down". Joe Hahn directed the video. Shinoda spoke to Co.Create about the album's art, saying that it will "blow them [the fans] away ... the average person is not going to be able to look at it and go, I understand that that's completely new, like not just the image but the way they made the image is totally new. So there's going to be that".

On April 15, 2012, Shinoda announced that Living Things would be the title of Linkin Park's fifth album. Shinoda stated that they chose the title Living Things because the album is more about people, personal interactions, and it is far more personal than their previous albums. The band promoted the album on the 2012 edition of the Honda Civic Tour, with co-headliners Incubus. The band performed "Burn It Down" at 2012 Billboard Music Awards. On May 24, the band released the music video for "Burn It Down" and debuted "Lies Greed Misery", another song from Living Things, on BBC Radio 1. "Powerless", the twelfth and closing track of the album, was featured in the closing credits of the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Living Things sold over 223,000 copies during its debut week, ranking No. 1 on the US Albums Charts. Linkin Park's single, "Castle of Glass", was nominated for 'Best Song in a Game' at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards. The band also performed at the award ceremony on December 7, but lost the award to "Cities" by Beck. Linkin Park also played at the Soundwave music festival in Australia, where they shared the stage with Metallica, Paramore, Slayer and Sum 41.

On August 10, 2013, the band collaborated with American musician Steve Aoki to record the song "A Light That Never Comes" for Linkin Park's online puzzle-action game LP Recharge (short for Linkin Park Recharge), which was launched on Facebook and the official LP Recharge website on September 12, 2013. On the day of the game's release, Linkin Park made a post on their Facebook explaining that the song used to promote the game would be included on a new remix album, entitled Recharged, which was released on October 29, 2013 on CD, vinyl, and digital download. Similar to Reanimation, the album features remixes of ten of the songs from Living Things, with contributions from other artists, such as Ryu of Styles of Beyond, Pusha T, Datsik, KillSonik, Bun B, Money Mark, and Rick Rubin. The band also worked on the soundtrack for the film Mall, which was directed by Joe Hahn.

2013–2015: The Hunting Party

In an interview with Fuse, Shinoda confirmed that Linkin Park had begun recording their sixth studio album in May 2013. The band released the first single from their upcoming album, titled, "Guilty All the Same" on March 6, 2014 through Shazam. The single was later released on the following day by Warner Bros. Records and debut at No. 28 on the US Billboard Rock Airplay charts before peaking at No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock charts in the following weeks. Shortly after the single's release, the band revealed their sixth album would be titled The Hunting Party. The album was produced by Shinoda and Delson, who wanted to explore musical elements from Hybrid Theory and the band's earlier material. Shinoda commented the album is a "90s style of rock record". He elaborated, "It's a rock record. It's loud and it's rock, but not in the sense of what you've heard before, which is more like '90s hardcore-punk-thrash.' The album includes musical contributions from rapper Rakim, Page Hamilton of Helmet, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, and Daron Malakian of System of a Down. The Hunting Party was released on June 13, 2014, in most countries, and later released in the United States on June 17.

Linkin Park performed at Download Festival on June 14, 2014, where they played their debut album, Hybrid Theory, in its entirety. Linkin Park headlined Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in 2014, along with Metallica, Kings of Leon, and Iron Maiden. They also headlined with Iron Maiden again at the Greenfield Festival in July. On June 22, Linkin Park made an unscheduled headline appearance at the Vans Warped Tour, where they played with members of Issues, The Devil Wears Prada, A Day To Remember, Yellowcard, Breathe Carolina, Finch, and Machine Gun Kelly. In January 2015, the band embarked on a tour to promote the release of The Hunting Party, consisting of 17 concerts across the United States and Canada. The tour was canceled after only three concerts when Bennington injured his ankle. On May 9, Linkin Park performed at the first edition of Rock in Rio USA, in direct support for Metallica.

On November 9, 2014, MTV Europe named Linkin Park the "Best Rock" act of 2014 at their annual music awards ceremony. The band won the 'Best Rock Band' and 'Best Live Act' titles of 2014 on Loudwire's Music Awards. Revolver ranked The Hunting Party as the fourth best album of 2014. In an interview with AltWire on May 4, Shinoda reflected on The Hunting Party and commented on Linkin Park's future, stating; "I'm really happy with the reaction from The Hunting Party, and I think we're ready to move somewhere new on the next album, which will be coming [in 2016]".

Linkin Park collaborated with Steve Aoki on the song "Darker Than Blood" for Aoki's album Neon Future II, which was released in May 2015. The first preview of the song came during Aoki's performance on February 28, 2015 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois. The song was debuted on Twitch on April 13 and released on April 14.

Linkin Park performed at the closing ceremony of BlizzCon 2015, Blizzard's video game convention.

2015–2017: One More Light and Bennington's death

Linkin Park began working on new material for a seventh studio album in November 2015. Chester Bennington commented on the album's direction by stating, "We've got a lot of great material that I hope challenges our fanbase as well as inspires them as much as it has us." In February 2017, Linkin Park released promotional videos on their social network accounts, which featured Shinoda and Bennington preparing new material for the album. Mike Shinoda stated the band was following a new process when producing the album. Brad Delson elaborated: "We've made so many records and we clearly know how to make a record and we definitely didn't take the easy way out this time."

The first single from the new album was revealed to be titled "Heavy" and features pop singer Kiiara, the first time the band has featured a female vocalist on an original song for a studio album. The lyrics for the song were co-written by Linkin Park with Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter. The single was released for download on February 16. As they have done in the past, Linkin Park had cryptic messages online in relation to the new album. The album cover was revealed through digital puzzles across social media; the cover features six kids playing in the ocean. The band's seventh album, One More Light, was released on May 19, 2017.

Bennington died on July 20, 2017; his death was ruled a suicide by hanging. Shinoda confirmed Bennington's death on Twitter, writing, "Shocked and heartbroken, but it's true. An official statement will come out as soon as we have one". The band had released a music video for their single "Talking to Myself" earlier that day. One day after Bennington's death, the band canceled the North American leg of their One More Light World Tour. On the morning of July 24, Linkin Park released an official statement on their website as a tribute to Bennington. On July 28, Shinoda announced that donations made to the band's Music for Relief charity would be redirected to the One More Light Fund, which had been set up in Bennington's memory. On August 4, when the band was initially scheduled to play on Good Morning America, Chris Cornell's twelve-year-old daughter Toni appeared with OneRepublic to perform "Hallelujah" as a tribute to Bennington (who was the godfather to her younger brother, Christopher) and her father. Bennington had previously performed the song at the funeral for Cornell, who had also died from a suicide by hanging two months earlier.

On August 22, Linkin Park announced plans to host a tribute concert in Los Angeles to honor Bennington. The band thanked fans for their support, stating, "The five of us are so grateful for all of your support as we heal and build the future of Linkin Park". The band later confirmed that the concert, titled Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington, would take place on October 27 at the Hollywood Bowl. The event included Linkin Park's first performance following Bennington's death. The event featured multiple guests performing Linkin Park songs along with the band. The event was over three hours long and was streamed live via YouTube.

In November 2017, the band announced that a live album compiled from their final tour with Bennington, titled One More Light Live, would be released on December 15. On November 19, Linkin Park received an American Music Award for Favorite Alternative Artist and dedicated the award to Bennington.

2017–2020: Hiatus
Linkin Park remained on hiatus between Bennington's death and 2020.

During an Instagram live chat on December 17, 2017, Shinoda was asked whether Linkin Park would perform with a hologram version of Bennington in the future. He replied, "Can we not do a holographic Chester? I can't even wrap my head around the idea of a holographic Chester. I've actually heard other people outside the band suggest that, and there's absolutely no way. I cannot fuck with that."

On January 28, 2018, Shinoda replied to a tweet from a fan inquiring about his future with Linkin Park, writing "I have every intention on continuing with LP, and the guys feel the same. We have a lot of rebuilding to do, and questions to answer, so it'll take time." On March 29, however, Shinoda stated that he was uncertain of Linkin Park's future when being interviewed by Vulture. On April 17, Linkin Park was nominated for three awards at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, but did not win any of them. The band was presented with The George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement at UCLA on May 18.

On February 18, 2019, Shinoda said in an interview that the band is open to the idea of continuing though what form that takes has yet to be decided. Shinoda stated "I know the other guys, they love to be onstage, they love to be in a studio, and so to not do that would be like, I don't know, almost like unhealthy." When asked about the band's future minus Bennington, Shinoda stated, "It's not my goal to look for a new singer. If it does happen, it has to happen naturally. If we find someone that is a great person and good stylistic fit, I could see trying to do some stuff with somebody. I would never want to feel like we are replacing Chester."

2020–present: Return to music
On April 28, 2020, bassist Dave Farrell revealed the band is working on new music. On August 13, the band released "She Couldn't", a track that was originally recorded in 1999, and it was included on a 20th anniversary edition of their debut album Hybrid Theory, released on October 9.

On January 8, 2021, Linkin Park released a remix of "One Step Closer" by American electronic duo 100 Gecs. The band revealed it was the first of many new remixes inspired by Reanimation to come.

On October 29, 2021, when asked about the band playing live shows again, Mike Shinoda stated that "Now is not the time [for the band’s return]. We don’t have the focus on it. We don’t have the math worked out. And I don’t mean that by financially math, I mean that like emotional and creative math.”

Philanthropy
On January 19, 2010, Linkin Park released a new song titled "Not Alone" as part of a compilation from Music for Relief called Download to Donate for Haiti in support of the Haiti Earthquake crisis. On February 10, 2010, Linkin Park released the official music video for the song on their homepage. The single itself was released on October 21, 2011.

On January 11, 2011, an updated version of Download to Donate for Haiti was launched, called Download to Donate for Haiti V2.0, with more songs to download. For the updated compilation, the band released Keaton Hashimoto's remix of "The Catalyst" from the "Linkin Park featuring YOU" contest.

Shinoda designed two T-shirts, in which the proceeds would go to Music for Relief to help the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disasters. Music for Relief released Download to Donate: Tsunami Relief Japan, another compilation of songs, in which the proceeds would go to Save the Children. The band released the song titled as "Issho Ni", meaning "we're in this together", on March 22, 2011 via Download to Donate: Tsunami Relief Japan.

In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, Linkin Park played at Club Nokia during the "Music for Relief: Concert for the Philippines" in Los Angeles, and raised donations for victims. The show was broadcast on AXS TV on February 15. Other artists during the show included The Offspring, Bad Religion, Heart, and The Filharmonic.

Musical style and influences
Linkin Park combines elements of rock music, hip hop and electronica, and have been categorized as alternative rock, nu metal, rap rock, , , , hard rock, hip hop, rap metal, pop, and industrial rock. Despite being considered nu metal, the band never considered themselves as such.

Both Hybrid Theory and Meteora combine the alternative metal, nu metal, rap rock, rap metal, and alternative rock sound with influences and elements from hip hop, and electronica, utilizing programming and synthesizers. William Ruhlmann from AllMusic regarded it as "a Johnny-come-lately to an already overdone musical style," whereas Rolling Stone described their song "Breaking the Habit" as "risky, beautiful art".

In Minutes to Midnight the band experimented with their established sound and drew influences from a wider and more varied range of genres and styles, a process Los Angeles Times compares to a stage in U2's work. Only two songs on the album's tracklist feature rap vocals and the majority of the album can be considered alternative rock.Metacritic, Minutes To Midnight . Retrieved January 27, 2008.

The vocal interplay between Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda plays as a major part within Linkin Park's music, with Bennington being the lead vocalist and Shinoda as the rapping vocalist. On Linkin Park's third album, Minutes to Midnight, Shinoda sings lead vocals on "In Between", "Hands Held High", and on the B-side "No Roads Left". On numerous songs from band's fourth album, A Thousand Suns, such as the album's singles ("The Catalyst", "Burning in the Skies", "Iridescent"), both Shinoda and Bennington sing. The album has been regarded as a turning point in the band's musical career, having a stronger emphasis on electronica. James Montgomery, of MTV, compared the record to Radiohead's Kid A, while Jordy Kasko of Review, Rinse, Repeat likened the album to both Kid A and Pink Floyd's landmark album The Dark Side of the Moon. Shinoda stated that he and the other band members were deeply influenced by Chuck D and Public Enemy. He elaborated: "Public Enemy were very three-dimensional with their records because although they seemed political, there was a whole lot of other stuff going on in there too. It made me think how three-dimensional I wanted our record to be without imitating them of course, and show where we were at creatively". One of the record's political elements is its samples of notable speeches by American political figures. A Thousand Suns was described as trip hop, electronic rock, ambient, alternative rock, industrial rock, experimental rock, rap rock, and progressive rock.

Their fifth album, Living Things, is also an electronic-heavy album, but includes other influences, resulting in a harder sound by comparison. The band returned to a heavier sound compared to their last three albums on The Hunting Party, which was described as an alternative metal, nu metal, hard rock, rap rock, and rap metal album. Their seventh album, One More Light, was described as pop, pop rock and electropop.

Linkin Park's influences include Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Jane's Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Machines of Loving Grace, Metallica, Refused, Minor Threat, Fugazi, Descendents, Misfits, Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, A Tribe Called Quest, Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock, N.W.A, Public Enemy, KRS-One, Boogie Down Productions, Led Zeppelin, Rage Against the Machine, and the Beatles.

Legacy and influence
Linkin Park has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.Linkin Park's Brad Delson talks One More Light: 'There really is a ton of guitar on this album'  MusicRadar April 3, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017. The group's first studio album Hybrid Theory is one of the best-selling albums in the US (12 million copies shipped) and worldwide (30 million copies sold). Billboard estimates that Linkin Park earned US$5 million between May 2011 and May 2012, making them the 40th-highest-paid musical artist. 11 of the band's singles have reached the number one position on Billboard Alternative Songs chart, the second-most for any artist.

In 2003, MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth-greatest band of the music video era and the third-best of the new millennium. Billboard ranked Linkin Park No. 19 on the Best Artists of the Decade chart. The band was recently voted as the greatest artist of the 2000s in a Bracket Madness poll on VH1. In 2014, the band was declared as the Biggest Rock Band in the World Right Now by Kerrang!.Linkin Park Are the 'Biggest Rock Band in the World Right Now'  Ultimate Guitar August 28, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014. In 2015, Kerrang! gave "In the End" and "Final Masquerade" the top two positions on Kerrang!s Rock 100 list.

Linkin Park became the first rock band to achieve more than one billion YouTube hits.
Linkin Park also became the fifteenth most liked page on Facebook, tenth most liked artist, and most liked group followed by the Black Eyed Peas. Linkin Park's "Numb" is the third and "In the End" is the sixth "timeless song" on Spotify. The two songs making Linkin Park the only artist to have two timeless songs in top ten.

Hybrid Theory by the group is listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, It was also ranked at #11 on Billboard Hot 200 Albums of the Decade. In addition the album was included in Best of 2001 by Record Collector, The top 150 Albums of the Generation by Rock Sound and 50 Best Rock Albums of the 2000s by Kerrang!. The album Meteora was included in Top 200 Albums of the Decade by Billboard at No. 36. The album sold 20 million copies worldwide. The collaborative EP Collision Course with Jay-Z became the second ever EP to top the Billboard 200, going on to sell over 300,000 copies in its first week after Alice in Chains' Jar of Flies in 1994. The album Minutes to Midnight, in the United States, had the biggest first week sales of 2007 at the time, with 625,000 albums sold. In Canada, the album sold over 50,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart. Worldwide, the album shipped over 3.3 million copies in its first four weeks of release.

The New York Times Jon Caramanica commented Linkin Park "brought the collision of hard rock and hip-hop to its commercial and aesthetic peak" at the beginning of the 2000s. Several rock and non-rock artists have cited Linkin Park as an influence, including Proyecto Eskhata, Of Mice & Men, One OK Rock, Bishop Nehru, Misono, From Ashes to New, Bring Me the Horizon, Coldrain, Red, Girl on Fire, Manafest, Silentó, 3OH!3, The Prom Kings, AJ Tracey, Kiiara, The Chainsmokers, Kevin Rudolf, Blackbear, Amber Liu, Billie Eilish, Tokio Hotel, The Weeknd, Stormzy and Imagine Dragons.

On August 20, 2020, their 20th anniversary, Linkin Park collaborated with virtual reality rhythm game Beat Saber to release 11 maps based on their songs.

Band membersCurrent members Mike Shinoda – vocals, rapping, rhythm guitar, keyboard, samples , 
 Brad Delson – lead guitar , backing vocals 
 Dave Farrell – bass , backing vocals 
 Joe Hahn – turntables, samples, programming , backing vocals 
 Rob Bourdon – drums, percussion , occasional backing vocals Former members Mark Wakefield – lead vocals 
 Chester Bennington – lead vocals , occasional rhythm guitar Session and touring musicians Kyle Christner – bass 
 Scott Koziol – bass 
 Ian Hornbeck – bass TimelineDiscography

 Hybrid Theory (2000)
 Meteora (2003)
 Minutes to Midnight (2007)
 A Thousand Suns (2010)
 Living Things (2012)
 The Hunting Party (2014)
 One More Light (2017)

Awards and nominations

Concert toursHeadlining Hybrid Theory World Tour (2001)
 Projekt Revolution (2002–2008, 2011)
 LP Underground Tour (2003)
 Meteora World Tour (2004)
 Minutes to Midnight World Tour (2007–08)
 International Tour (2009)
 A Thousand Suns World Tour (2010–11)
 Living Things World Tour (2012–13)
 The Hunting Party Tour (2014–15)
 One More Light Tour (2017)
 Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington (2017)Co-headlining 11th Annual Honda Civic Tour (2012)
 Carnivores Tour  (2014)

See also
 List of best-selling music artists
 List of best-selling albums
 List of best-selling remix albums
 List of best-selling singles
 List of best-selling albums in the United States
 List of songs recorded by Linkin Park
 List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. alternative rock chart

ReferencesWorks cited'''

 Saulmon, Greg. Linkin Park. Contemporary Musicians and Their Music. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2007. .
 Baltin, Steve. From The Inside: Linkin Park's Meteora. California: Bradson Press, 2004. .
 Blue, Jeff. One Step Closer: From Xero to #1: Becoming Linkin Park''. Tennessee: Permuted Press, 2020. .

External links

 
 musicforrelief.org

 
Alternative rock groups from California
American alternative metal musical groups
American pop rock music groups
American electronic rock musical groups
Nu metal musical groups from California
Rap rock groups
Rap metal musical groups
1996 establishments in California
Musical groups established in 1996
People from Agoura Hills, California
Warner Records artists
Echo (music award) winners
Grammy Award winners for rap music
Kerrang! Awards winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
World Music Awards winners
YouTube channels launched in 2006
Musicians from Los Angeles County, California
Fusion music musicians and groups
is a 1994 racing video game developed and published by Sega for the Game Gear in Japan. It features Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Amy Rose, and Doctor Robotnik.

In 1995, a sequel named Sonic Drift 2 was released.

Gameplay

Sonic Drift is a racing video game in the vein of games Super Mario Kart (1992). Players control one of four characters―Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Amy Rose, and Dr. Robotnik―and race around a series of tracks, with the objective being to cross the finish line in first place. Tracks are divided into three grand prix modes and are themed after levels from the original Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). Each character has their own attributes that make them weaker in some areas and stronger in others. For instance, Sonic has fast acceleration but poor control, while Robotnik has poor acceleration but moves at high speed. Driving into television monitors scattered around the track awards the player a power-up, such as a temporary speed boost or invincibility. Tracks also contain gold rings that can be collected to use a special attack, which is unique for each character. Alongside a traditional racing mode, the game also features a training mode and multiplayer options that are compatible with the Game Gear's link cable peripheral.

Development and release
Sonic Drift was developed by Sega AM2, a development studio for Sega headed by Yu Suzuki, who directed critically and commercially successful games for Sega, such as Hang-On, Space Harrier, Out Run, and Virtua Fighter, and released in Japan for the Game Gear on March 18, 1994. A Western release was planned but canceled due to Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske’s concerns regarding its quality. In place of Drift's release in America, Sega instead released a port of Sonic Spinball. Drift is the first racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and was created specifically to rival the success of Nintendo's Super Mario Kart (1992). Early versions of the game featured Flicky, a blue bird that has made frequent appearances throughout the series, as a playable character, who was subsequently replaced by Amy Rose in the final version. The music that plays when collecting a blue invincibility power-up is a sped-up version of the opening song You Can Do Anything from Sonic CD. Drift is also the first Sonic game to feature Amy and Dr. Robotnik as playable characters. The soundtrack was composed by Naofumi Hataya.

In 2003, Sonic Drift was ported to the GameCube as an unlockable extra in Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, though it was omitted from the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 releases. It was compiled into Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PC in 2005, and was digitally re-released for the now-defunct GameTap storefront in 2006. A demo of Drift is also included in Sonic Gems Collection.

Reception

Sonic Drift received mainly mixed reviews from the press. Japanese publication Famitsu heavily compared the game to Super Mario Kart, feeling that the game was largely uninspired and generally lacking in content compared to Nintendo's game. They were also critical of the game's short horizon, which they claimed made it hard to see what was ahead of the player. Electronic Gaming Monthly was more positive towards it in a preview, saying that the game was fast-paced and enjoyable but the flashing, choppy scrolling hampered the gameplay somewhat. They enjoyed the game's amount of modes, namely the Vs. Mode. Jeuxvideo.com in 2012 also compared the game to Super Mario Kart, disliking Drift for being too simplistic and for being very easy to finish, alongside the general lack of content and poor presentation. They stated: "Too simple and too fast to finish, Sonic Drift is unfortunately not a title that will fascinate the crowds." Its inclusion in Sonic Mega Collection was negatively received; GameSpy passingly labeled it as "almost unplayable", while Eurogamer mockingly called it "a terrible, terrible racing game whose flickering madness actually made me physically sick."

Retrospectively in 2019, Hardcore Gaming 101 said that the gameplay itself was decent and solid, but felt that it was greatly lacking in content and variety. They criticized the track design in particular for being generally boring, lacking in presentation, and for the stage themes being purely cosmetic instead of affecting the track designs themselves. Hardcore Gaming 101 argued that the "controversial" short horizon was easy to become used to, and said that it didn't have that negative of an effect on the game itself. They concluded their review with: "Sonic Drift is a decent enough racer, but the lack of variety in track design (both visually and thematically) and the small amount of content mean that it’s a racer only a small number of people will dedicate themselves to."

Notes

References

1994 video games
Sega video games
Game Gear games
Game Gear-only games
Karting video games
Racing video games
Japan-exclusive video games
Video games developed in Japan
Single-player video games
Sonic the Hedgehog spin-off games The Hunting Party is the sixth studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. The album, produced by band members Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson, was released by Warner Bros. Records and Machine Shop on June 13, 2014. It is the first album since Meteora (2003) not to be produced with Rick Rubin, who produced the band's previous three studio albums.

Stylistically, The Hunting Party is a departure from the electronic rock and experimental sound of the band's previous two studio albums, A Thousand Suns (2010) and Living Things (2012) and marks a return to the band’s nu metal sound. The album, described by Shinoda as simply "a rock record", serves as a statement by the band against contemporary mainstream and active rock bands, accused by him as "trying to be other bands and playing it safe". Packaged by an artwork by Brandon Parvini based on an original drawing by James Jean, the album took under a year to record and produce, with material being improvisationally written by the band. The album also features guest appearances from Helmet's Page Hamilton, System of a Down's Daron Malakian, Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, and Rakim, marking the first time Linkin Park has collaborated with other artists on a studio album.

The album was promoted by the band and Warner Bros, with multiple promotional teasers and interviews produced and published in the lead-up to the album's release and listening parties of the album being held worldwide on multiple dates. The band embarked on the Carnivores Tour, a double-headline tour with Thirty Seconds to Mars, as well as The Hunting Party Tour, in support of the album. Five singles from The Hunting Party have been released; "Guilty All the Same" in March 2014, "Until It's Gone" in May 2014, and "Wastelands", "Rebellion" and "Final Masquerade" in June 2014.

The album received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its return to the heavier rock sound of their older albums. It debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, and has placed at number four on Revolvers list of "The 20 Best Albums of 2014". The album was certified Platinum in United States for the sales of one million copies.

Background

In 2010 and 2012 respectively, Linkin Park released their fourth and fifth studio albums A Thousand Suns and Living Things. The albums, both produced by Rick Rubin and Mike Shinoda, marked a shift in the band's musical direction from a nu metal-oriented sound, recognized with Hybrid Theory (2000) and Meteora (2003), to a more experimental and "cutting edge" sound. The electronica-influenced albums were commercially successful.

Production on the band's sixth studio album began as a result of a series of events in which Shinoda decided to drop the electronic and experimental sound of the band's previous two studio albums. Shinoda had originally recorded and produced demos, which continued the sound of A Thousand Suns and Living Things, for the band's sixth studio album during the band's Living Things World Tour in 2013. He presented the demos to his bandmates, which received positive reception from the rest of the band, and to Rubin, who was also positive towards the demos, though describing them to Shinoda as more "poppy" than he expected. However, Shinoda, after listening to the demos again after the end of the tour, felt a strong negativity towards his material, especially after Rubin's statements. In a Warner Music interview, Shinoda stated that "I don't even believe in this music. This is a mistake; I don't like what I'm making. I kind of went backwards into the process and scrapped all of it and started new stuff."

Following A Thousand Suns and Living Things, albums which were created with leaving behind a sound that was "not new and not cool anymore" in mind, the band's sixth studio album was approached as a return to the band's early sound, with the electronic sounds of their previous two studio albums being dropped in favor of the band's traditional rock instrumentation. Using Hybrid Theory as a template, the band composed and recorded it in context of modern times, in 2014 rather than 2000. Guitarist Brad Delson jokingly stated that the album was an "alternative Hybrid Theory" and "maybe its prequel", with the album being inspired by artists the band listened to before they started their musical career. Shinoda told Rolling Stone about the ideas surrounding The Hunting Party: "We're not 18-year-old kids making a loud record – we're 37-year-old adults making a loud record. And what makes a 37-year-old angry is different than what made us angry back in the day."

Composition
The band took a different method in writing new material for The Hunting Party as opposed to their previous albums. While for all their previous albums they used the traditional method of writing, demoing and rerecording in the studio, songs were instead written and composed in the studio itself, with no material being written or composed beforehand. Delson spoke about the methods used on the album in an interview with Premier Guitar, saying that "Something unintentional might be the coolest sound I make all day, and knowing how to allow those mistakes to happen and to shape them potentially makes for some great music."

The album has been described as alternative metal, nu metal, hard rock, rap rock and rap metal by professional reviewers. Shinoda described the album's sound as a 1990s style of rock record: "It's a Rock record; "it's loud and it's Rock, but not in the sense of what you've heard before, which is more like '90s hardcore-punk–thrash". He described the "weak" status of modern rock in the music industry as an inspiration in recording a heavier rock album; to try to bring the sound of the 1990s back to the forefront. Shinoda criticized the modern state of alternative radio, stating "There’s so much stuff that sounds like HAIM or CHVRCHES or Vampire Weekend that I’m full. The thing I’m hungry for is not that. I turn on the rock station in L.A. and it sounds like Disney commercial music." This led to a response from CHVRCHES, with their lead singer Lauren Mayberry calling Shinoda's comment "a pointless dig." Bennington agreed with Shinoda's comments, as he said, "The bands I was listening to when I was growing up were all doing really innovative shit—Jane’s Addiction, Alice in Chains, Nirvana... Bands like the Refreshments and the Rembrandts, that music fucking angers me to this day. And the same thing is happening now, where there’s all this stuff that feels like the soundtrack to 'Friends' or 'The Wizards of Waverly Place.'"

In an interview with MusicRadar, Delson stated that the album would feature more guitar solos. He further stated that "this is from someone who was quoted early on as saying I hated them. Not that I hated them as a listener; I just don’t want to play any; I shirked guitar solos. Early on, I felt as though the songs we were making aesthetically didn't want them. This new batch of songs, to me, always want solos. I feel like every song has one."

Recording

The Hunting Party was recorded at the Larrabee Sound Studios, located in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the recording for the band's sixth studio album, the band would spend five or six days a week at the Larrabee Studios working on the record. The Hunting Party was also recorded in part at EastWest Studios, also located in Hollywood. There, drummer Rob Bourdon and Shinoda would record drums and percussion for the album. The band would also record other material for the album at EastWest on occasion.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Shinoda said that the album was difficult for drummer Rob Bourdon, where he had to push himself to meet the music speed and style. He commented that "It's probably the hardest stuff he's ever played on one of our albums. He had to physically work his way up to it. He had to go running, lift weights, work with a trainer", eventually Bourdon feels that he had become a better drummer at the end of each day after recording. Shinoda later told Q magazine that Bourdon had to seek help from a chiropractor after he had broken his back recording material for the new album. Shinoda told Q that "Rob was killing himself. He played 10 hours a day for seven days straight and blew his back."

Orange, Bogner and ENGL brand amplifiers were used on the record by Delson, providing a "core sound" described by engineer Ethan Mates as "a small collection of core tones to be used in a sonically consistent way throughout the record". Chandler brand amps were also used for overdubs and "higher parts". Delson spoke about his studio setup for The Hunting Party, stating that "It's great to have a setup where I can run combinations of heads and cabs simultaneously to get the most appropriate tone, or do something more straightforward like record just one cabinet with two mikes".

Lead singer Chester Bennington arrived late in the recording process of the album, having been chosen to replace Scott Weiland in the band Stone Temple Pilots, and then proceeded to record High Rise and tour with the band for most of 2013. When he eventually joined the band in the studio, he was surprised to find the band had reverted to their heavier rock-centric sound. Bennington stated in an interview with Kerrang!: "Mike wrote tons while I was touring with Stone Temple Pilots last year. When I got home, there was a lot for me to catch up with, and he was playing me things and I was like, 'Dude, this is fucking awesome!' I was really surprised how heavy it was".

The album features four guest artists; Rakim from the hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim on "Guilty All the Same", Page Hamilton from the American alternative metal band Helmet on "All for Nothing", Daron Malakian from System of a Down for the song "Rebellion" and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine fame on the song "Drawbar". Bennington commented on the collaborations, stating that "We really felt like if we need to be inspired and move in another direction. I think when we got Page in, Mike had written this chorus and sang it, and his voice had this tone, and it was unlike anything I'd heard from him before. And I was like, "Dude this is crazy, this sounds like a Helmet song! It's cool!" And we were like, "Dude, why don't we see if we can get like Page in here?" You know? And if that's why the song says it's feeling like it should be, then why don't we just go straight to the source".

Packaging

Artwork
The album cover for The Hunting Party features a 3D modeled artwork by Brandon Parvini, who had previously designed the artworks for Living Things and the band's singles during the album's release cycle. The artwork was based on an original drawing, entitled "Archer", by visual artist James Jean that was created for the album. It is one of many artworks by Jean to be used in the packaging of the album, which also features, in deluxe editions of the album, a lithograph, T-shirt and a 36-page art book by him. Jean's traditional style, notably different to the artwork created for The Hunting Party had been previously described by Dana Jennings of The New York Times as "suffused with a dreamy romanticism and lyricism worthy of Maxfield Parrish, even as Mr. Jean subverts those and other isms."

Linkin Park had professed that they have been fans of James Jean's art for a while, describing discussions between the band and Jean as having "started naturally". Joe Hahn served as a creative director for the artwork of The Hunting Party, instructing Jean to "create a universe inhabited by powerful characters and defined by strange landscapes", with a general concept of having a unique "character" for each track on the album. Delson also contributed ideas of "internal and external struggles", metaphorically depicted on a battlefield, where images such as "flesh tearing and transforming into different forms and brittle shards of crystal erupting from organic matter" would recur. Shinoda explained: "We try to approach our art—packaging, merchandise, tour visuals, videos, anything—in a holistic way. All the parts are interconnected, and by creating great imagery that can be used in multiple contexts, we can immerse the fans in a universe that is consistent and unique to each release. It's always a work in progress, but I feel like we've learned a lot and continue to make it better each time."

James Jean was invited by Shinoda and Delson to listen to the band's rough material created early on during the recording sessions for The Hunting Party. He acknowledged the band's change of musical direction from A Thousand Suns and Living Things, and was inspired by the material to create artworks that were "charged with [the band's] intensity as well as their rationale for that change". However, Joe Hahn banned Jean from listening to any more material after Jean had performed some of the songs from memory on his piano. Jean originally sketched each individual artwork for The Hunting Party in a personal sketchbook, where it felt more intimate and less precious to Jean. The minimality of the images was intentional, as the artworks would eventually be made into 3D-modelled artworks where lighting and texture would be added to each character. 20 artworks were made in the space of a month by Jean for Brandon Parvini and his team to transform into 3D-modelled artworks, with Parvini choosing exactly which artworks would be modelled for The Hunting Party.

Title
The title of the album, The Hunting Party, is a contextual metaphor. The album, a return to the band's original harder rock-centric sounds, represents the band's desire to not only create something different from other rock bands, but to also bring back the "energy and soul" of rock itself, and that Linkin Park are the party that will hunt for that energy and soul. Shinoda elaborated on the title of the album in an interview with Kerrang! explaining: "We got so sick of other bands trying to be other bands and playing it safe the whole time, so the album name comes from a theory about culture becoming too passive, everyone just standing around waiting for opportunities to come to them instead of going out and getting theirs. I'm aware there are always going to be heavier bands than us, but The Hunting Party is Linkin Park going out and getting it for ourselves." The inspiration for the title came from a news article Shinoda read online about a Japanese writer's concerns about today's growing society. The writer described the young men of today as "herbivores", and explained how they are essentially grazing, waiting for an opportunity to come to them, rather than hunting for it.

Promotion

On March 6, 2014, the band premiered "Guilty All the Same", which features Rakim, from the album through Shazam. The track was later released by Warner Bros. on March 7, 2014, as the lead single promoting the then-unannounced sixth studio album by the band. A music video for "Guilty All the Same" also premiered on YouTube on March 25, 2014. The music video, a continuation of the band's collaboration with Xbox, was made entirely with the in-game engine of Team Dakota's 2014 sandbox video game Project Spark. Additionally, the course made for the music video was made openly available by the band, giving players of Project Spark on Microsoft Windows and the Xbox One the opportunity of editing and remixing the course.

While information about Linkin Park's sixth studio album had leaked beforehand, including the album's title and release date, The Hunting Party was officially unveiled by the band and Warner Bros. Records on April 9, 2014. The track listing of the album was additionally unveiled by Shinoda and Linkin Park's management team on April 27, 2014. "Until It's Gone" became the second track to be unveiled, and was released as the album's second single on May 6, 2014. Pre-orders for the album were also opened on the same day, with "Guilty all the Same" and "Until It's Gone" released early on the album's iTunes Store page. A music video for "Until It's Gone" was then released on June 11, 2014. "Wastelands" was released on the iTunes Store on June 1, 2014, and later as a single on June 2. On June 3, 2014, Bennington appeared on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 to premiere the song, "Rebellion". An official lyric video was released alongside a release of the track on the iTunes Store the same day. It was later released as a single on June 4, and was released as the album's fourth retail single on October 13. On June 8, 2014, Linkin Park premiered the third single "Final Masquerade" on MTV.

A listening session for the album took place on May 23, 2014, in Los Angeles. Further listening sessions for Linkin Park Underground members were announced for June 4, 2014 in various locations worldwide. The band, additionally, hosted the tenth and eleventh editions of the LPU summit, a convention for Underground members, during the album cycle. The tenth edition was held at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien, New York on August 21, 2014, and the eleventh edition was held at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, Texas on September 5, 2014.

The band's first live performance of The Hunting Party album cycle was on May 24, 2014, at the KMFA Day music festival, in which they headlined. The band performed "Guilty All the Same", "Until It's Gone" and "Wastelands" for the first time. The band also performed as headliners at Rock in Rio Lisboa VI on May 30, 2014. During the performance, Shinoda tossed promotional singles containing the studio version of "Wastelands" out into the open audience, days before the song's official single release. Linkin Park are also set to embark on a double-headline tour of North America with Thirty Seconds to Mars in support of both The Hunting Party and Thirty Seconds to Mars' 2013 album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams. The tour, dubbed the Carnivores Tour, spanned 25 dates in August and September 2014, with American rock band AFI serving as opening act during the entire tour. The band held another tour named as "The Hunting Party Tour", which started on May 30, 2014. However, some of the shows on the tour were cancelled due to Bennington breaking his leg.

Critical reception

Upon its release, The Hunting Party received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, the album has received an aggregated score of 65/100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 15 reviews. Dave Simpson of The Guardian gave the album a positive review. Upon giving the album three stars, he praised the band's return to their original sound, stating that "Shinoda's desire to make a punk rock record and Bennington's more ethereal electropop segments don't always make comfortable bedfellows, but Rob Bourdon's terrific drumming means the energy never lets up". Despite labeling some tracks of the record like "Until It's Gone" as cliché, he commented positively on the music and writing of others such as "Drawbar" and "Rebellion". He further wrote, "Linkin Park certainly know their audience, and here delicately navigate the gulf between their own aspirations and a fanbase who will celebrate the band's loud return to rocking hard." Chris Schulz of The New Zealand Herald also gave the album a positive review, describing the record as "Loud, spontaneous and free", attributes that, he states, "aren't normally associated with Linkin Park, but The Hunting Party takes just seconds to prove the sixth release from the Californian precision-metal act is a different beast". He continues to compare the album with the band's recent discography, describing their previous three albums as having "sagged with overwrought ballads and pretentious soft-rock", while The Hunting Party "gets on with the task of rap-rocking like it's 1999 all over again."

David Renshaw at NME opined that "It might not kill the Mumford and Butler clones, but The Hunting Party is an energetic effort at least." Renshaw also praises Daron Malakian's guest spot, but considers Tom Morello's contribution a disappointment. AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine observes "Far from sounding as if they're grasping at straws, Linkin Park seem rejuvenated, proving there is value in the cliché of returning to roots." Dan Epstein from Revolver described the album as "...not only the hardest and heaviest thing they've ever released, but it's also their first album to pack the sort of guitar firepower that would actually appeal to your average headbanger." Epstein concludes by stating that it's proof that bands don't need to get softer in order to mature. At Billboard, Kenneth Partridge states "...these Cali rap-rock commandos go rogue, flinging missiles in all directions. They attack record companies, politicians, rule makers, exes, and anyone else in sight, all the while rediscovering the savage fun of super-loud guitars." Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph stated "...it is sleek, exciting and committed enough to suggest there is life in the rock beast yet." Jordan Blum at PopMatters rated it a 5/10, describing it as a "solid album", but considers it "too repetitive, uninspired, and generic", compared to the three previous albums. Rolling Stone reviewer Jon Dolan states that "on Album Six they're back with a retro-neo-aggro sound that would've been too intense for modern-rock radio in 1999...these dudes can still bring it like backward-ball-cap warriors hopped up on Mountain Dew and Dad's fourth divorce."

Accolades
The Hunting Party was featured in a number of year end "best of" lists. The album also was nominated for the "2014 Rock Album of the Year" by Loudwire, but lost to "Islander"'s Violence & Destruction by a close margin of 0.29% of votes. Whereas the band won the "Best Rock Band of 2014" and "Best Live Act of 2014". The song Rebellion from the album got a nomination for "2014 Rock Song of the Year" where it lost to Three Days Grace's "Painkiller".

Commercial performance
The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 behind Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence and Sam Smith's In the Lonely Hour, with first-week sales of 110,000 copies in the United States. Although it was the first week of 2014 where three albums sold more than 100,000 copies in the United States, it became Linkin Park's lowest-peaking studio album and their first to not reach number one since Hybrid Theory. In its second week, the album dropped to number nine on the chart, selling 29,000 copies. In its third week, the album sold 16,000 more copies, bringing its total album sales to 155,000 in the United States. As of December 2014, the album had sold 231,150 copies in the United States. Despite its slow sales, the album was certified Platinum in the US, in December 2017.

Track listing

Notes
  Live from Mexico is Linkin Park's 2012 live performance in Monterrey, Mexico, originally recorded for MTV World Stage.

The Hunting Party (Acapellas + Instrumentals)

The Hunting Party (Acapellas + Instrumentals) is the second instrumental and a cappella tracks album performed by Linkin Park, taken from The Hunting Party. The album was released on iTunes and Amazon on August 12, 2014.

Track listing

Personnel

Linkin Park
 Chester Bennington – lead vocals
 Rob Bourdon – drums, percussion
 Brad Delson – lead guitar, backing vocals, production
 Dave "Phoenix" Farrell – bass, backing vocals
 Joe Hahn – sampling, programming, backing vocals
 Mike Shinoda –  vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, production, creative director, engineering, rap vocals on "Keys to the Kingdom", "All for Nothing", "Wastelands", and "A Line in the Sand"

Additional musicians
 Page Hamilton – chorus vocals and additional guitar (on "All for Nothing") 
 Rakim – rap vocals (on "Guilty All the Same")
 Daron Malakian – additional guitar (on "Rebellion")
 Tom Morello – additional guitar (on "Drawbar")

Technical

 Rob Cavallo – co-production (on "Wastelands"), A&R
 Emile Haynie – co-production (on "Final Masquerade")
 Ryan DeMarti – production coordination
 Ethan Mates – engineering
 Andy Wallace – mixing
 Paul Suarez – Pro Tools
 Josh Newell – digital editing
 Emily Lazar – mastering
 Rich Morales – mastering assistance
 Alejandro Baima – assistant engineering
 Brendan Dekora – assistant engineering
 Jennifer Langdon – assistant engineering
 Jerry Johnson – drum technician
 Brandon Parvini – computer graphics, creative direction
 Rickey Kim – creative direction
 Annie Nguyen – art direction
 James Jean – artwork
 Brandon Cox – photography
 Kymm Britton – publicity
 Kas Mercer – publicity

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

2014 albums
Linkin Park albums
Albums produced by Mike Shinoda
Warner Records albums
Albums produced by Emile Haynie
Hard rock albums by American artists
Albums recorded at EastWest Studios