From Zero – A Perfectly Fine Comeback

In Brief

From Zero is an okay album, which is about what I’d expect from a Linkin Park album and that is just fine. But as a fan, I’m very happy.

Album Review: Solid 5/10

Big Yes: The Emptiness Machine, Cut The Bridge, Heavy is the Crown, Over Each Other, Two Faced, Stained

Big No: Casualty, Good Things Go

Listen to it on Spotify

The Review

Linkin Park, once the biggest band on the planet (probably still is honestly, especially when talking about rock bands), has returned to the fray with a new full-length studio album after several years of inactivity following the unfortunate passing of frontman Chester Bennington in 2017 which occurred not long after the release of their previous studio album, One More Light. This new album is coming off of a very active few months of build-up beginning with the surprise release of the album’s lead single, The Emptiness Machine in October of 2024. The iconic 2000s band is back in action with a new frontwoman, Emily Armstrong, and drummer, Colin Brittain. Since then, the band has been hard at work performing multiple shows around the world and appearing on various talk shows to promote the band’s resurgence. 

For a band that has not really been in the pop music zeitgeist for years, the massive commercial success and attention that the band has received for this comeback was quite astonishing. From topping rock charts to reaching the Top 50 most listened to artist on Spotify, Linkin Park is proving to be a band with staying power. Linkin Park has a nasty reputation for being an average band from a bygone era sporting edgy and corny melodramatic lyrics that only angsty teens would find interesting. It’s clear that Linkin Park was the voice of a generation and that despite their negative perception, the band is offering a sound that is relatively hard to find in today’s mainstream music. Rock as a genre today is relegated to its own circle and Linkin Park is the only true rock act that has managed to pierce the veil and bring rock back to the ears of the average listener. 

I want  to make my position very clear when I went into this album: I am a long-time fan of the band. I listened to them religiously for a lot of my teenage years. After Chester’s untimely and unfortunate passing, I found myself listening to them less and less over the years. As my music tastes matured, I eventually grew out of them. A few years ago, I tried listening to them again and the music that I used to love so much suddenly sounded…corny? Perhaps I was too influenced by people’s perception of the band because they started to sound exactly like what people described their music to be; angsty, angry, self-righteous slop. However, fast forward to mid-2024 and my childhood band announces a comeback paired with a brand new song with a new lead singer. My initial reaction to the news was excitement. However, the song itself failed to impress me. It sounded like exactly what I had come to feel about the band. Overly melodramatic lyrics that think it’s way deeper than it is despite not really saying anything, sung over some basic rock instrumentation.

But then some time passed, and the band released their 2nd single, Heavy is the Crown. A hard-hitting and energetic stadium anthem, featuring strong performances from Mike Shinoda and Emily Armstrong. I found myself happily surprised by how much I enjoyed the song. Then suddenly, a quick revisit to The Emptiness Machine saw me liking the song quite a bit now. Sure, the lyrics are still whatever, but I couldn’t escape how catchy and listenable the song actually was. I found myself enjoying the song unironically. Suddenly, I found myself greatly anticipating this new album. Watching the plethora of videos online of the band’s live performances also sold me on this comeback. Emily was a great frontwoman and performed very well. The shows had an energy that was so very familiar. Most importantly, the band looked so happy. They were having fun and so was the crowd. Oh my god…my favorite band is back. There was no mistaking it. The energy was the same and the old music suddenly sounded as good as I remembered…Linkin Park is fucking back!

During this time, the rollout for the album kept the hype at a high level for me. It even reignited my love for their old music because suddenly, a trip down memory lane found me listening to old Linkin Park a lot and god it was good. Sure, the lyrics are corny but this is a band with a lot of creative force behind it. Never settling, always reinventing themselves. The Linkin Park fan in me had been resuscitated and he was ready. Fast forward to Over Each Other and I was impressed with it as well. A more mellow and slightly poppy track showing off Emily’s range that she can do more than just scream at the top of her lungs. Even the lyrics weren’t the worst thing in the world. The lyrics successfully depict a struggling relationship with poor communication and Emily delivers it with the right level of emotion for me to be sold. Their final single, Two Faced, dropped a day before the album’s release and it sold me on this album. Again, the lyrics are very basic, but it was a very fun track that felt a lot like old-school Linkin Park. It sounds like it came straight out of Hybrid Theory but with a more modern sound. It’s basically a modern One Step Closer and goddamnit I like it a goddamn lot. Mike and Emily sound like they’re having a blast on this one and the disc scratching from the one and only Mr. Hahn makes a very welcome return.

So those are the singles. What about the rest of the album? Well. It’s alright. 

I admit I was initially slightly disappointed but by the end of the short runtime—clocking at a sweet half hour—, I felt satisfied. For better or worse, this sounds 100% Linkin Park. Your mileage may vary on how much you enjoy this project, but this has that Linkin Park special sauce and for me personally, that makes me happy and content. It should come as no surprise since the brains of this operation since the days when the band was called Xero (the album title references it) is still very much in charge here. I am of course talking about Mike Shinoda and guitarist Brad Delson. While Chester may have been the face, the voice, and frankly the heart of the band, Mike and Brad were the captains of the ship when it came to their music. 

The album opens with a fun and cheeky intro with words from someone who I assume is Mike’s kid realising that the album title “From Zero” is a nod to them being called Xero before Linkin Park. The Emptiness Machine opens the album and I think putting their highly popular lead single was a smart choice to ease us into this new project. It’s a poppy but rocking piece of alt rock sporting some of the best mixing and mastering the band has ever had. This praise would extend to the rest of the album. Moving into the next track, Cut The Bridge is the first taste of a new song off the album, and I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I like it a lot more than The Emptiness Machine. Sounding a bit like Bleed It Out, it is extremely catchy with a strong driving beat, I can already say now that this is going to be the one I come back to most often. Mike delivers quality verses, giving us some decent lyrics with a fitting flow. Emily is as strong as she is across the track list. Emily might come away as the big standout on this album. I hope more people accept her as the band’s singer because I think she’s great. 

The next two tracks are Heavy Is The Crown and Over Each Other. Honestly, all the singles off the album are strong. If someone doesn’t have any interest in listening to the full album, at least the singles present the band in full force and in classic form. Pushing past those two tracks, the album presents a couple of weak tracks. The weakest on the album, in fact. Some light perusing around the Linkin Park subreddit saw several fans who went to the listening event praising Casualty. Upon release, it seems the fanbase at large seems to like it quite a bit. Personally, I found the song to be a weak attempt at making a “hard song” a la The Hunting Party. It just sounds like a discount War. My biggest problem is with Mike’s delivery on his verses. While I think his energy and attempt at a more aggressive delivery is commendable, he ultimately falls short. The lyrics are also pretty bad, even for Linkin Park standards. I find myself on the cusp of banging my head, but it just doesn’t reach me. 

Overflow probably has the most interesting production out of all the tracks, and it has a vibe that I think kinda works. Very moody and atmospheric, it’s some solid trip hop. While I wish the chorus would hit a bit harder, I think it’s appropriate for what they were going for. Commendable track but doesn’t quite get there for me, so I feel very indifferent about it. The lyrics are absolutely ass though, and I could not take them seriously at all. On the other hand, Stained is definitely one of my favorites and one of the album’s standouts. Probably the poppiest song on here but it comes off as strength instead of a weakness. Easy on the ears with very smooth guitar riffs and strong drumming from Colin. Mike delivers some more solid verses and Emily gives my favourite performance on the album. I’d also argue this one has the best lyrics on the album, or at least it’s speaking on a topic that I could emotionally engage with and made me think a bit. It works because unlike the rest of the album where the songs have lyrics that sound deep but aren’t actually saying anything, Stained actually has some bite to it. 

IGYEIH sounds like what Casualty should have been. The band is at full power on this one, with Colin going off on the drums and Brad giving the best guitar riffs on the album. This one carries some Meteora energy with it and it’s hitting me real good. Emily on this one and across the album is really putting in the work to convince us that she deserves to be here, and she’s definitely won me over through and through. The energy on this song is powerful. The lyrics are terrible though, and a bit too corny for my taste. Is it a bit basic? Sure. But goddamnit, this one fucks hard. Rounding up the album, we have Good Things Go. The fanbase has rallied around this one quite a bit, designating it as the emotional centerpiece of the album. This is From Zero’s One More Light or Iridescent. So, with that said, I know I’m gonna catch a lot of flak from them when I say that this one is pretty mid. The worst thing about this one is the terrible lyrics. Probably the worst one here? I can’t say for certain since across the board the lyrics are probably the weakest element of the album as a whole. My problem with this song’s lyrics is that it’s such an impersonal and surface-level representation of the themes of the song. It’s vague and general, and reeks of “I’m 14 and this is deep”. It’s got good intentions, but I wish Mike could write the lyrics to sound more personal rather than general. The subject matter deserves better. The song itself is…okay, I guess? I think Emily goes off in the chorus and I like it quite a bit, and I can say the same about Mike on the bridge. It’s decent. The verses are where the song struggles to grab my attention since with its weak melody. 

So as a whole, I think the album is perfectly fine. It is a Linkin Park album in the most Linkin Park way it could’ve been done. Mostly decent tracks with honestly not much to hate. It’s a very diverse but safe album, especially for a band like Linkin Park who never really had “safe” in their vocabulary. If Linkin Park was safe, they’d just make Hybrid Theory seven times. But Linkin Park has always had higher aspirations and I find them to be quite admirable. Also, for a band that’s coming back with new faces from a six-year hiatus, safe was a smart decision. It’s a great way to ease people back into the band and the new members. I hope their next studio album is more conceptual like Minutes to Midnight or A Thousand Suns, because this sounds like a greatest hits album that takes us on a musical odyssey of what Linkin Park was but has no real direction. I think my biggest praise for this album as a fan is that I can hear 20 years of Linkin Park in it. I can hear elements from everything they’ve ever done which is pretty cool to pick up on as a fan. Another big point of praise is the vocal chemistry between Mike and Emily, and just the chemistry everyone has as a band. Emily is amazing and has earned her place in one of the most significant bands of the 21st Century. It’s a lovely feeling knowing that Linkin Park is back, and that they’re alive and well. More importantly, they’re back with a renewed energy and that they’re happy. As a longtime fan, my love for the band has been revived and I am very happy. I look forward to more from them.

Solid 5/10.