Linkin Park - From Zero - Album Review

For this album review, Linkin Park makes a cynical and deeply disappointing return.

NOTE: for those nitpicking about the unscripted piece at the end of my review, I know I misspoke with 'Hands Held High' as a song on 'Minutes To Midnight'. Trying to use that to invalidate my thoughts on this album is not the dunk you think it is.

Best Songs: 'Heavy Is The Crown’
Worst Song: ‘Overflow’, ‘IGYEIH’

Thanks for watching Spectrum Pulse!

Linkin Park - From Zero - Album Review (rap rock / nu-metal / pop rock)
--
Spectrum Pulse is a music review / commentary channel, like colleagues Anthony Fantano of TheNeedleDrop, ARTV, Dead End Hip Hop, Rocked, Deep Cuts, Crash Thompson, Brad Taste, and plenty others, known for discussions of music, movies, art and culture.

Spectrum Pulse, music, review, 2024, album, album review, react, reaction, On The Pulse, Linkin Park, Linkin Park review, Linkin Park album review, Linkin Park reaction, Linkin Park From Zero, Linkin Park From Zero album review, Linkin Park From Zero review, Linkin Park From Zero reaction, From Zero, The Emptiness Machine, Cut The Bridge, Heavy Is the Crown, Over Each Other, Casualty, Overflow, Two Faced, Stained, IGYEIH, Good Things Go, Emily Armstrong, Mike Shinoda, rap rock, nu metal
--
#SpectrumPulse #linkinpark #fromzero

[redscarf_x]

I really enjoyed this album, definitely worth a listen despite the critcs. Give it a try!!

[rockmovieswithtyler]

You meant to say Minutes To Midnight, not Hands Held High around the end there but that's okay especially when frustration gets the better of us! It happens!😅

[JamoboBorg]

Completely agree on Shinoda being the real weak point. With Chester gone, he's become the de-facto leader and just refused to step up to that plate here. Which isn't all that surprising given his decision to include generative AI slop in some of the marketing.

[JoeBergy]

Mark, I'm going to have to vehemently disagree with one of your claims: Hybrid Theory still totally holds up. Most of the songs are absolutely amazing, and while I guess Crawling is overplayed to meme status, the only real blips in the album are A Place for my Head, and the end bridge of By Myself.

[PurplexingLycan]

I personally disagree with your view that Linkin Park have never been great lyricists. I think that the writing on most of the songs from all of their past albums is really powerful, but I can't say the same about From Zero, which is one of my biggest issues with it

[TheLuiscelaya]

This is a pretty clear cash grab by Mike Shinoda and co. The album takes all of the worst elements of Linkin Park’s 17 year span of albums and put them all in this album with none of the charm those albums had. The best part of the album is legit Emily’s vocal performance on this, and it honestly feels partially contrived thanks to the production and overall direction from Mike. It really should’ve been a spinoff project and left Linkin Park be; but instead they wanted to milk the name value

[The-Aspiring-Creator]

I have a significantly less jaded view on this. For the record, this is coming from a hardcore LP fan who enjoys all the albums (Yes, even the lesser liked stuff.). I think From Zero is playing things a little safe, it's comfort food but in all honesty? I think that was needed.

I will never forget the excitement that radiated from me the moment I realized the announcement they were teasing was a concert and my happiness listening to The Emptiness Machine's opening as I realized it was something new and with all the songs? I feel like I'm wrapped up in a nice cozy blanket and I think it's a good way to ease people in with the new singer who is genuinely really good! Hell, there are points where she scarily almost sounds like Chester and I feel like as she sticks around, she'll get better and better and I do feel they will play around with things and make more music that has that unique energy.

[arcanemaster]

I think the main issue with me is how forced and dishonest this record feels. Even if early LP weren’t the best lyricist, I always felt the emotions and melodrama was earnest and coming from a real place. I didn’t really feel this here. Emily is a talented vocalist, but I can’t connect to any of it and that’s especially true for Mike this time around. Made worse that the hooks vocally and instrumentally are super forgettable. It’s like if they tried to remake Living Things without the catchy choruses, and I really like that album.

But yeah, kinda bad album imo. I was hoping for more maturity but this record feels like all angst without the passion or genuineness

[ElliYeetYT]

I’m just going to comment before the diehard fans do because they really like going after Negative reviews of “Senpai Linkin Park.”
If you enjoy it, great for you. Don’t turn into a Taylor Swift cult-like fanbase because of these reviews, calm TF down.

[Bbpagewolf]

Linkin Park are one of my top 10 favorite bands of all time, but I was not excited for this album at all. The harsh reality is that Emily Armstrong is barely on this album in the grand scheme of things. It’s just a Mike Shinoda project that features Emily as a microphone for Mike to have a temper tantrum. And one kept coming to mind for me to compare this album to as a result of that particular feeling…this is Linkin Park’s Van Halen III. No this album isn’t as bad as that one, but Gary Cherone was just a microphone for the Van Halen brothers to spew nonsensical lyrics all throughout that album, and unfortunately Emily is in the same boat here. I know many people won’t agree simply because of the name attached to the album cover, but I refuse to let my love for a band cloud my better judgement. And the last hot take I’ll make here is this…I’m sorry to say, but not even Chester Bennington would save an album like this. If nothing else about this album changed outside of switching out Emily with Chester, the album’s quality would be no better or worse than it already is, and as it is I personally gave the album a strong 2/10, with Cut The Bridge and Good Things Go being the only songs I even remotely like on this album.

[taveontimmons]

I think this album is fine. Solid, but not amazing. I really like Emily’s voice.

[madi]

If you want a *good* rock/metal album with female vocals, just listen to the new Poppy album.

[wheelsofmercury]

A *very* disparaging review, yet I did see it coming from you. I personally think the album is solid; nowhere close to touching the heights that the stuff with Chester did, of course, but not terrible, either.

[keiracoven]

A bit harsh, but fair I guess. I liked the album well enough. I think they played it safe because they knew people were already going to be ready to shit on them and kinda just played the hits. It's at least the most they've sounded like their old selves in quite a while. The Hunting Party touched on LP's old style but minus that we really haven't heard hints of it since one or two tracks on Minutes to Midnight 17 years ago.

I think Emily actually did a fairly solid job on the album vocally, and that if anything Mike was the one that kinda fell flat. I don't remember a single part of his after a few playthroughs, but definitely remember some of Emily's hooks (I know he wrote both parts but damn he gave Emily all the good parts). That's part of why I don't necessarily agree Mike would be doing Fort Minor if it sold okay, feels like the rapping was the weakest part of the album.

I think the scientology thing is a can of worms that none of us really know the answers on, and there's very little chance of us ever getting them thanks to the legal and physical danger of saying anything negative about them once you're involved with them or even leave them.

I also don't really agree with it being an issue that they used Heavy is the Crown. What I've Done was on Transformers: The Album and nobody really batted an eye at the fact it was both on a Linkin Park album and on a soundtrack. It fit the tone of the album and is definitely one of the stronger tracks so that's an odd criticism to me.

I'm at least curious where LP might go next, now that they might hopefully feel a bit more free to experiment again after putting an album out and it being for the most part positively received. It was like a 3/5 for me, probably won't be giving Overflow or Stained many replays.

[bruxtiabiturix]

I don't know why they should change the name - Chester went out of his way to say he wouldn't want that; but from a brief listen to one of their newer singles, I couldn't get behind the lyrics. Something about it sounded sloppily written.

[nicholasheal]

Okay fair, but like, counter point. You make it sound like the album isn't mostly fun to listen to. I thought it was. Especialy compared to bore fests like Living Things and One More Light. I like that it sounds like more of a proper followup to The Hunting Party.

[alexddragame]

Did not liked this record much at all either.

[oscarmacias]

I guess we can agree to disagree, I personally loved it, but kinda hard to take this review seriously because people criticized Linkin park for not sounding like meteora o hybrid theory then they release a few songs on this album that are reminiscent to that and are criticized, some peoples just can’t seem to be happy with anything

[JoelLarsen-ztix]

Sorry Mark but you're dead wrong here, this album is light years better then One More Shite.

[CnMmagic]

Out of depth and lack of theme. Every song in this album reminded me of older Linkin Park's songs and that make it really, really hard to not compare thing when they are using the same name and try to cook with the same recipe. And when you start the comparision, it begin to rot really fast. 2/5 mid tier executing with too much bait for nostalgia.