Linkin Park’s Brad Delson recently caught up with Music Radar and dished some of the details on the band’s new album! The band’s new single ‘Guilty All The Same’ sounded like a new direction from the band, we can’t wait to hear what else they’ve got in store for us!
With Linkin Park’s upcoming sixth studio album still months away from release as of now, it’s slotted for late June guitarist Brad Delson isn’t going to let all the cats out of the bag on what we can expect. But one thing’s for sure, he says: Guitar solo fans will get more than their money’s worth.
“Theres a lot of guitar solos on the album!” he says with a laugh. “And this is from someone who was quoted early on as saying I hated them.” He catches himself and then clarifies: “Not that I hated them as a listener; I just dont want to play any; I shirked guitar solos. Early on, I felt as though the songs we were making aesthetically didnt want them. This new batch of songs, to me, always want solos. I feel like every song has one.”
On Living Things, the guitars were punchier overall than on previous records. From what you’re saying, you’re ratcheting up the guitars even more now and not just when it comes to solos.
Yeah, there’s way, way more guitar. Living Things certainly had a balance and energy, and it brought together the sounds of a lot of our different chapters in a new way. This record is really a musical experiment and creative endeavor unto itself. Ive heard people say about Guilty All the Same, Oh, it sounds like their older stuff, cause its really heavy. But its not really like anything weve done, either. The heaviness of the track, and of what youll hear on other songs on the album, comes from a raw, visceral place, but it sounds distinctly its own as far as our musical history.
I thought this was kind of funny: Mike actually described it almost a prequel to Hybrid Theory. Theres a lot of records that were influential to us some hardcore stuff, some heavy, punk-oriented stuff and that spirit is there. Its like the record we might have made had we not made Hybrid Theory. It definitely goes down a different path, and it is guitar driven thats not an accident.“
Living Things was a relatively brief record. Is Guilty All The Same an indication that youre going for a longer album experience?
Well, I dont know if all of the songs are six minutes long, but a couple of them are. A couple of them are shorter. I feel like the creative ethos that has inspired us is not to try to imitate convention but to defy it. Sometimes that means, if a typical pop song is three minutes and 30 seconds long or even some rock songs then ours will be six minutes long. Or even two minutes long. Its just about going against the grain and, again, trying to do something that were not hearing. Thats what inspires us to charge forward into the unknown.
Rick Rubin co-produced the bands last three records. What led to the bands decision to do it themselves this time?
Technically, were capable of it because were very hands-on. Weve been that way in the studio throughout our entire career. Those creative with whom weve worked, its always about shaping the vision and even augmenting the creative firepower.
In terms of the vision of this record, Mike wrote a blog for Pigeons & Planes it was a response to an article, Rock Music Sucks Now And Its Depressing. Essentially, the original article said that rock music is herbivorous, and Mike was like, 'It doesnt have to be.’ This was around the time that he threw out his original ideas and changed course.
You were asking if the album is conceptually driven, and yes, we had a very specific conceptual mission, and we knew what it was and were technically able to do that. It just came down to keeping ourselves focused and making sure that we were setting the bar high enough and getting over it.
Check out the rest of the interview at Music Radar
