Full disclosure – when I first heard ‘Heavy’ last year, I wasn't impressed. It sounded on the surface to be too similar to other hip-hop-pop doing the rounds. But a week or two later when I found the chorus stuck in my head, I had to re-evaluate whether that was such a bad thing. Sure, Linkin Park have previously been about pushing a different sound, especially with their concept albums, and making success out of that. But it's worth remembering that they're not getting any younger, and maybe they wanted to work more within an existing paradigm for once, but add their own style to it and make it their own. I think they succeeded, and did so well. The lyrics are as cutting as ever, even if they do feel a tad repetitive in places (the closing refrain of Battle Symphony just seems to linger a few iterations too long), and their decision to write the lines and then build the song around them – apparently a first for them – shows through in how they mesh together. And while listening to songs out of context, such as a radio single, means that they do sound same-ish to some of their contemporaries, the real test is when listening to the album in its entirety, and really being able to give it the attention it deserves. They're not young and angsty anymore, but they still have a lot to say about their life experiences, and that comes through strongly, and it's as relatable as ever. It's such a shame that Chester fell in his battle with the demons that drove him in his creativity; now songs like Nobody Can Save Me, One More Light, and of course Heavy, become all the more poignant, and the whole album now becomes something of a tribute to his memory. RIP.

Linkin Park have shown over the years that they can make great albums with a different style each time and although I would never consider this a “Rock” Album, I do consider this a very good album that shows yet another side to Linkin Park. The way they change their style every album keeps things interesting and yet again hasn't disappointed me.

Chester Bennington lead singer raged at the fans because they sold out and made this useless pop trash and didn't stick to their nu metal roots, I listened to 2 seconds of the first song and had to eject the disc straight away, sorry Chester the fans were right, you are totally wrong