Mike Shinoda on the album that split the Linkin Park fanbase in two
Mike Shinoda has discussed which Linkin Park album he thinks is the most polarising
Select the newsletters you’d like to receive. Then, add your email to sign up.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
Louder
Louder’s weekly newsletter is jam-packed with the team’s personal highlights from the last seven days, including features, breaking news, reviews and tons of juicy exclusives from the world of alternative music.
Every Friday
Classic Rock
The Classic Rock newsletter is an essential read for the discerning rock fan. Every week we bring you the news, reviews and the very best features and interviews from our extensive archive. Written by rock fans for rock fans.
Every Friday
Metal Hammer
For the last four decades Metal Hammer has been the world’s greatest metal magazine. Created by metalheads for metalheads, ‘Hammer takes you behind the scenes, closer to the action, and nearer to the bands that you love the most.
Every Friday
Prog
The Prog newsletter brings you the very best of Prog Magazine and our website, every Friday. We'll deliver you the very latest news from the Prog universe, informative features and archive material from Prog’s impressive vault.
Mike Shinoda has revealed which Linkin Park album he believes to be the most divisive among the band's fans.
Shinoda discussed Linkin Park's back catalogue in a new interview with Anthony Fantano, and which one of their seven albums seems to polarise fans the most.
Shinoda said: “A Thousand Suns which was our fourth record, it wasn’t as commercially successful as the earlier ones because nothing could be – that would be impossible.
“It was very polarising. It got one or five stars by everybody, so we ended up with three-star ratings all over the board because half the people hated it with all of their heart and soul.”
Shinoda went on to say that over time, fans have come around to the album, which was released in 2010.
“Now we’re at a point where if you ask the average person who’s relatively familiar with the band what their favourite record is, a lot of them say that one,” he said. “It’s changed, the whole relationship with the band has changed.
“People go, like, ‘Man, that was like the first album I ever bought, that’s how I learned to play guitar! And then I moved on to guitar that was harder…’ And that was part of the thing we were like, ‘Yeah, Brad Delson could actually play much more difficult stuff…’ But we loved how that sounded and we wanted to make stuff that a kid who couldn’t really play guitar, and he’d be like, ‘Yeah, let’s play this riff!'
Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!
“I appreciate that being older. I do love the idea of being in a position to maybe be a good teacher or a role model if I know something that somebody else doesn’t know.”
You can watch the full interview below.
Founded in 1983, Metal Hammer is the global home of all things heavy. We have breaking news, exclusive interviews with the biggest bands and names in metal, rock, hardcore, grunge and beyond, expert reviews of the lastest releases and unrivalled insider access to metal's most exciting new scenes and movements. No matter what you're into – be it heavy metal, punk, hardcore, grunge, alternative, goth, industrial, djent or the stuff so bizarre it defies classification – you'll find it all here, backed by the best writers in our game.

