Linkin Park - From Zero Review

After a 7-year hiatus, Linkin Park is back with their 8th studio album, "From Zero". The new album came out today (November 15, 2024), and has been arguably the most anticipated release of the week. Most people know the name Linkin Park and the band's story. Chester Bennington was the band's vocalist until his devastating death in 2017. After that, the band went on hiatus until earlier this fall, when it was announced that Dead Sara vocalist Emily Armstrong would be the new singer full-time. It was also announced that Colin Brittain would replace Rob Bourdon on drums. Brittain also has experience as a co-producer for artists such as Illenium. 

"From Zero" has it's name because the band was originally named Xero, and the music is supposed to show how much they've evolved since then. With that said, you'd think this album would have a unique sound of it's own, just like every other Linkin Park album. Unfortunately, this just feels like a tribute album to everything they did prior to Chester's death. For example, "Cut the Bridge" sounds just like "Bleed It Out" from 2007, "Heavy is the Crown" sounds like "Faint" from 2003, and "Two Faced" sounds like "One Step Closer" from 2000. All 3 of those songs sound good, but the lack of creativity involved kind of dampens the enjoyment you get out of them. Everyone swears they aren't replacing Chester, yet they seem to be taking the songs he was on and practically recycling them.

As for the songs that do sound original, they go pretty much nowhere. "Over Each Other" is the biggest example of this. Just a bland alternative track that doesn't really redeem itself in any way. I'm not going to say any of the songs are awful by any means, just dull. I'm hoping the next album, whenever that may be, will be a little bit more unique. This does not match LP standards at all. Overall, I will be giving this a 2.5/5. It's mid. Not a whole lot else to say about it! I won't be giving up on the band's music yet though. Hopefully soon we'll get something a little better. - Elliott Dudoit