Linkin Park Working with Rick Rubin - 2012 New Album Outlook

Linkin Park Working with Rick Rubin – 2012 New Album Outlook

2011-12-30

Story by Charles Ken

Linkin Park taps longtime producer Rick Rubin for upcoming album

Linkin Park’s latest album A Thousand Suns dropped in 2010, and while the alt-rockers spent much of 2011 touring in support of the release, it’s not too early to start thinking about new music from Chester Bennington, Mike Shinoda and the boys!

Earlier this year, Bennington spilled details that the band are already working on a follow-up to the moody, alt-metal set. “We’re in the studio, and we’re well on our way to making our next record,” Bennington told Rolling Stone, adding that the album, once again, is being produced by Rick Rubin. “I can tell you that we have a lot of good music, a lot of quality songs.”

Rubin also gave an update, explaining that the recording process is moving ‘much further along’ than on past albums: “Typically we’ll have a once-a-week meeting to go listen to the songs that they’re coming up with and talk about them,” he told Billboard. “For so early in the project, they are much further along than they have been on the last two albums we did. On (‘A Thousand Suns‘) there were still a lot of irons in the fire. We knew, ‘OK, we can’t do this forever. Let’s leave this batch and we’ll come back and address it when we start up again.’”

Bennington added that the guys have been able to write a significant amount of music on the road– something novel for the band. “Mike [Shinoda] and I are out there with our studios — technology, thank God, has gotten to the point when what used to be three refrigerator-sized racks of equipment and a full board the size of a king bed can now fit in my backpack — and we’re working on new music as we’re driving in the car to a venue or in our hotel room, and when we come home, everybody works in their homes,” he said. “So we’ve kind of got this groove down to the point we’re kind of having our cake and eating it too.”

Linkin Park’s new goal, he said, is to record a new album every 18 months! On the downside, that means shorter touring cycles. “Touring for two years is excruciating,” Bennington said. “When we would tour for two years even the most resilient person in the band, at the end of that, was … miserable.” Are you stoked for the return of Linkin Park?

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Charles Ken

Meet the expert - Charles Ken is a graduate of Michigan State University where he studied writing and history. He's a longtime music buff and covers classic rock for Audio Ink Radio. Contact him at ken@audioinkradio.com.

1 Comment

Peter Horvath
31 Dec 2011, 8:02 am

I can’t wait.These guys are very good in that they’re doing. i’m sure,if i hear a new song by them,i am not gonna be disappointed LP

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