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Template:Infobox album

The Hunting Party is American rock band Linkin Park's sixth studio album, released on June 17, 2014 through Warner Bros. Records. Five singles were released from the record: "Guilty All The Same", "Until It's Gone", "Wastelands", "Rebellion", and "Final Masquerade". The album sees the band recording heavier rock music than what they had done on their more recent releases like A Thousand Suns and Living Things, which opted for a more electronic based sound. The album debuted at #3 on the US Billboard 200 charts, making it the first studio album released by Linkin Park to not debut at #1 on that chart since Hybrid Theory

Background

The Hunting Party is the band's sixth studio album. The band's sound returned to a heavier state after being dominated by electronics in previous efforts. Between the time they recorded Living Things and this album, the band collaborated with EDM artist Steve Aoki to record "A Light That Never Comes" and begin work on a track later released under the title "Darker Than Blood" on Steve Aoki's 2015 album, Neon Future II.

The album name comes from the big picture of wanting. The band was originally going with the title "Carnivores", but instead they looked at the big picture: carnivores is a state of mind that is not about making a decision; carnivores are carnivores. Being a carnivore, you attack because you need to. A hunting party is an intentional gathering to kill. Chester claimed that, "With 'Carnivores' you don't have to explain, The Hunting Party you kinda have to explain." The aesthetic of the name was a large part of how they decided on the cover. Joe's direction of the art helped set the dynamic of the name, as well.

Writing and Recording

Writing for The Hunting Party began in May 2013, right around the time the band was preparing the Living Things remix album, Recharged. This is the first album since Meteora to not feature Rick Rubin as producer, and the first album in which Mike Shinoda is credited with being the producer (as well as Brad Delson). The band also experienced a change of setting whilst recording this album, moving operations to Larabee Sound Studios in Los Angeles, California instead of long-time recording space NRG Studios, also in Los Angeles. The band also worked in EastWest Studios, in Hollywood, California, mainly recording percussion and drums there.

In the earliest stages of recording, the band was writing pop rock music, akin to "Burn It Down" and "New Divide". Somewhere in the process, Mike had a change of heart. He wanted to make something heavier. He has commented on the weak impact of the current rock scene and wanted to reinvigorate the genre, bringing back the 1990s influence to the radio. He played a random riff on guitar to spark the diverging of the sound of the album, and that riff eventually became "Guilty All The Same". This song and "Mark The Graves" were the first two songs written for the album.

The Hunting Party sees the band take a heavy rock influence from the 1990s rock scene. It is almost a complete 180-degree turn from their previous effort, Living Things, in that the electronics are stripped from the forefront and replaced with heavy guitars and driving drums. Many songs on the album feature guitar solos, which Brad would typically shy away from. In an interview with MusicRadar, Brad spoke about the abundance of guitar solos, and how they found their way onto The Hunting Party: "There’s a lot of guitar solos on the album! And 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." Rob Bourdon also pushed himself on this album, performing some of his most impressive drum work on this album. Mike spoke about how hard Rob pushed himself in an interview with Q Magazine: "Rob was killing himself. He played 10 hours a day for seven days straight and blew his back. He had to see a chiropractor." According to Mike, Rob was putting in ten hours of a day for a week at one point for the album.

The album is also the first to feature major collaborators: "All For Nothing" featured Page Hamilton from Helmet, "Guilty All The Same" featured hip-hop legend Rakim, "Rebellion" featured System Of A Down guitarist Daron Malakian, and "Drawbar" featured Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello. It began like this: "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," as Chester stated in an interview with 3News. Ethan Mates, long-time Linkin Park mixer, gave Mike contact information for Rakim, as Mates had worked with him before. Rakim drove from New York City to Los Angeles (due to a fear of flying), playing shows along the way, to collaborate with Linkin Park.

Composition

Releases

Digital

  • The Hunting Party [Explicit] // {cat. 093624936602}
  • The Hunting Party [Clean] // {cat. 093624936992}
  • The Hunting Party (Xbox Deluxe Edition) // {-16tr- + With You live, LITE live, Numb live, BID live}
  • The Hunting Party: Acapellas + Instrumentals // {cat. 093624934332}

Track Listing

Standard Edition

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1 Keys To The Kingdom Bennington Chester Charles, Bourdon Robert G, Delson Bradford Philip, Farrell David Michael, Hahn Joseph, Shinoda Michael Kenji 3:38
2 All For Nothing (feat. Page Hamilton) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 3:33
3 Guilty All The Same (feat. Rakim) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Griffin William, Hahn, Shinoda 5:55
4 The Summoning Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 1:00
5 War Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 2:11
6 Wastelands Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 3:15
7 Until It's Gone Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 3:53
8 Rebellion (feat. Daron Malakian) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Malakian Daron V, Shinoda 3:44
9 Mark The Graves Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 5:05
10 Drawbar (feat. Tom Morello) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 2:46
11 Final Masquerade Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Haynie Emile, Shinoda 3:37
12 A Line In The Sand Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 6:35

Xbox Music Bonus Tracks

No. Title Writer(s) Length
13 With You (Live in LA 9.8.12) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, King John Robert, Shinoda 3:42
14 Lost In The Echo (Live in LA 9.8.12) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 3:57
15 Numb (Live in LA 9.8.12) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 3:17
16 Burn It Down (Live in LA 9.8.12) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 3:57

Pre-Order Bonus Tracks

See Hybrid Theory - Live At Download Festival 2014

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1 Papercut (Live at Download Festival 2014) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda 3:13
2 One Step Closer (Live at Download Festival 2014) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda 3:13
3 With You (Live at Download Festival 2014) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, King John Robert, Shinoda 3:34
4 Points Of Authority (Live at Download Festival 2014) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda 5:00
5 Crawling (Live at Download Festival 2014) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda 3:29
6 Runaway (Live at Download Festival 2014) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda, Wakefield Mark 3:16
7 By Myself (Live at Download Festival 2014) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda 3:24
8 In The End (Live at Download Festival 2014) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda 3:40
9 A Place For My Head (Live at Download Festival 2014) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell David Michael, Hahn, Shinoda, Wakefield 3:44
10 Forgotten (Live at Download Festival 2014) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda, Wakefield Mark 3:26
11 Cure For The Itch (Live at Download Festival 2014) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda 2:50
12 Pushing Me Away (Live at Download Festival 2014) Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda 3:29

Bonus DVD: Live In Monterrey

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1 A Place For My Head Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell David Michael, Hahn, Shinoda, Wakefield 5:20
2 New Divide Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 4:40
3 Somewhere I Belong Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 4:16
4 Points Of Authority Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda 3:21
5 Lies Greed Misery Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 2:28
6 Lost In The Echo Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 3:55
7 What I've Done Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 3:37
8 Burn It Down Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 3:54
9 In The End Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 3:29
10 Bleed It Out Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Farrell, Hahn, Shinoda 4:51
11 One Step Closer Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda 4:10

Personnel

Linkin Park is

  • Chester Bennington
  • Rob Bourdon
  • Brad Delson
  • Phoenix
  • Joe Hahn
  • Mike Shinoda

Production

  • Produced by Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson
  • "Wastelands" co-produced by Rob Cavallo
  • "Final Masquerade" co-produced by Emile Haynie
  • Lyrics & Vocals by Mike Shionda and Chester Bennington
  • "Rebellion" co-written by Daron Malakian
  • "Guilty All The Same" co-written by William Griffin
  • Background Vocals by Brad Delson, Joe Hahn, Rob Bourdon, and Phoenix
  • Additional Lyrics by Brad Delson
  • Engineering by Ethan Mates and Mike Shinoda
  • Digital editing by Josh Newell
  • Assistant Engineer: Alejandro Baima
  • Additional Assistant Engineers: Brendan Dekora and Jennifer Langdon
  • Studio Electro Tech: Warren Willis
  • Studio Drum Tech: Jerry Johnson
  • Album Production Coordination: Ryan DeMarti
  • Recorded at Larrabee Sound Studios, North Hollywood, CA
  • Additional Recording at EastWest Studios and Glenwood Place Studios
  • Mixed by Andy Wallace
  • Pro Tools Engineered by Paul Suarez
  • Assisted by Del Bowers
  • Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge
  • Assisted by Rich Morales

Additional Musicians

  • Additional Vocals and Guitar on "All For Nothing" by Page Hamilton
  • Additional Vocals on "Guilty All The Same" by Rakim
  • Additional Guitar on "Rebellion" by Daron Malakian
  • Additional Guitar on "Drawbar" by Tom Morello

Management

  • Worldwide Representation: The Collective
  • Management Team: Michael Green, Jordan Berliant, Trish Evangelista, Kavi Halemane, Mark Gorlick, and Ran DeMarti
  • Booking Agents: Dennis Arfa and Michael Arfin of Artist Group International
  • Europe Booking Agent: Scott Thomas of X-Ray Touring
  • Legal for Linkin Park: David Lande, David Byrnes, Mitch Tenzer, and Alicia Sydney for Zifren Brittenham LLP
  • Business Affairs for Warner Bros. Records: Charles Hamilton
  • Business Managers: Johnathan Schwartz and Michael Oppenheim of Gudvi, Sussman and Oppenheim
  • Publicity: Kymm Britton
  • UK Publicity: Kas Mercer of Mercenary Publicity
  • Machine Shop/LPU: Jessica Sklar, Lorenzo Errico, Kiel Berry, and Lulit Soloman
  • A&R: Rob Cavallo
  • A&R Coordination: Jonna Terrasi and Ran DeMarti
  • Marketing Director: Peter Standish

Artwork

  • Creative Direction: Mike Shinoda, Joe Hahn, Rickey Kim, and Brandon Parvini
  • Art Direction: Annie Nguyen
  • Original Artwork: James Jean
  • Computer Graphics: Brandon Parvini
  • Photography: Brandon Cox

Live Performance

Songs Played Live

  • "Guilty All The Same"
  • "Wastelands"
  • "Until It's Gone"
  • "Rebellion"
  • "Final Masquerade"
  • "A Line In The Sand"

Tours

  • European Tour
  • Carnivores Tour
  • The Hunting Party European Tour 2014
  • The Hunting Party North American Tour
  • North American Summer Shows
  • The Hunting Party Chinese Tour
  • The Hunting Party European Tour 2015

Reception

Critical Reception

The Hunting Party received generally positive reviews upon its release. On the review aggregation site, Metacritic, the album received a 65, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album three and a half stars, stating "Reconnecting with the past is a standard move for a heavy band 15 years into its career, but The Hunting Party is effectively aggressive, partially due to how far into the ether Linkin Park strayed on Living Things and, especially, A Thousand Suns."[1] In a review for Loudwire, Chad Childer praised the record's closing run of tracks, claiming "While Linkin Park unveiled several songs ahead of its release, those listening to The Hunting Party for first time will find the disc at its most triumphant during its final stretch, as tracks like "Rebellion", "Mark The Graves", "Final Masquerade" and "A Line In The Sand" provide a powerful finish to a rock-solid effort."[2] He also mentioned the guest appearances of Daron Malakian and Page Hamilton on "Rebellion" and "All For Nothing", respectively, as highlights. Dab Epstein, writing for Revolver, gave the album four stars, and said " The Hunting Party is inspiring proof that bands don't have to get softer as they grow older--but can, in fact, do the very opposite."[3]

In a more critical review, Dominick Suzanne-Mayer from Consequence of Sound claimed the album is nothing more than "the sound of a band with long-term tenure trying to find its place in modern rock, but its experiments seem more like an attempt to fling every trend from the past decade at the wall to see what might constitute a new direction" and cited "Rebellion" as "the most K-Mart version of a SOAD song possible."[4] NME's David Renshaw gave the album a 6 out of 10, citing Tom Morello's performance on "Drawbar" as a disappointment and calling "War" and "Wastelands" examples of "a tumult of expensive-sounding noise", but he praised Malakian's work on "Rebellion".[5]

Chart Performance

Awards

Gallery

Trivia

  • The closing track of The Hunting Party, "A Line In The Sand", is the band's longest song to date, taking the title from Minutes To Midnight's "The Little Things Give You Away".
  • The Hunting Party contains the most guitar solos of any Linkin Park album, with a total of 9 solos.
  • The Hunting Party marks the first time guest vocals have been used by Linkin Park on a studio album, with Rakim appearing on "Guilty All The Same" and Page Hamilton appearing on "All For Nothing".
  • The bonus DVD for The Hunting Party, Live In Monterrey, marks the first time a live DVD has been released alongside an album without containing any songs from that album.
  • The Hunting Party is the first studio album completely self-produced by the band.

External Links

Music Videos

Lyric Videos

Live Videos

  • "Until It's Gone" (Live In Milan 2014): LPTV | FanFootage
  • "Until It's Gone" (KROQ Red Bull Sound Space 2014): KROQ
  • "Final Masquerade" (Guitar Center Sessions 2014): Guitar Center
  • "Until It's Gone" (Guitar Center Sessions 2014): Guitar Center

LPTV

LPU-TV

Interviews

References

  1. AllMusic, June 2014
  2. Loudwire, June 2014
  3. Revolver, June 2014
  4. Consequence of Sound, June 2014
  5. NME, June 2014