Maps of Music

One More Light (2017)

Where the lyrics of One More Light take you, and where it was really made.

This is the band's first album with a title track, and its co-lead singer died two months after the album came out.

Key places

Los Angeles work begins at Larrabee (2017)

Recording site Larrabee Sound Studios — The band started its Los Angeles work at Larrabee Studios, the same studio where it had worked on its previous album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Move to Sphere for more space (2017)

Recording site Sphere Studios — After noticing the band needed more space, the band shifted its recording work to Sphere Studios in Los Angeles. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• One More Light: seventh studio album by American rock band Linkin Park
• Released May 19, 2017 through Warner Bros. Records and Machine Shop
• First album by the band with a title track, which the band felt was the heart of the record
• Final album featuring co-lead vocalist Chester Bennington and drummer and co-founder Rob Bourdon
• Bennington died by suicide two months after the album's release
• Bourdon chose not to return for the band's 2024 reformation
• Sound described as more pop-focused, departing from the alternative rock and alternative metal of earlier albums

Background

• Predecessor: The Hunting Party, the sixth studio album, released in 2014
• Mike Shinoda began pre-production on his smartphone in mid-2015 during The Hunting Party Tour
• Main production started as soon as that tour ended
• The band decided to write songs with some external help; none of those outside collaborations made the final album
• Primary producers: Brad Delson and Mike Shinoda
• The album marks the second self-produced record after The Hunting Party

Recording

• Recorded between September 2015 and February 2017 in multiple studios
• Work was mostly in Los Angeles, with a few sessions in London and Canada
• Los Angeles sessions began at Larrabee Studios, where the band had worked on its previous album
• The band moved to Sphere Studios after noticing it needed more space
• Guest vocals from Pusha T, Stormzy, and Kiiara
• Collaborators include J. R. Rotem, Julia Michaels, Justin Tranter, Ross Golan, Andrew Goldstein, Blackbear, and Eg White

Cover

• Photo shot at Venice Beach by Frank Maddocks
• Maddocks had previously contributed artwork for Deftones and Green Day's Revolution Radio

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Linkin Park was formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996 by high school friends Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson.
• The band began as Xero, recorded a four-track demo in 1997, and changed its name to Hybrid Theory after Chester Bennington joined in 1999.
• Warner Bros. Records advised another name change, and the band chose Linkin Park.

Members

• The original lineup included vocalist Chester Bennington and drummer Rob Bourdon.
• Bennington died by suicide in July 2017, and the band went on hiatus.
• In September 2024 the reformed lineup was announced, with Emily Armstrong and Colin Brittain added to Shinoda, Delson, Joe Hahn, and Dave Farrell.

Career

• Debut album Hybrid Theory (2000) was certified Diamond by the RIAA and sold more than 4.8 million copies in its first year.
• Meteora (2003) followed, and Minutes to Midnight (2007) marked a change in sound.
• A Thousand Suns (2010), Living Things (2012), The Hunting Party (2014), and One More Light (2017) explored electronic, rock, and pop directions.
• The band has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
• Eighth album From Zero (2024) returned to a heavier sound.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: mixed or average reviews, weighted average 46 out of 100 from 7 critic scores
• NME: gave the album 2 out of 10 and called it a weak and contrived commercial move
• AllMusic (Neil Z. Yeung): said the album lacks the visceral charge that defined much of the band's catalog, with barely any riffs
• Team Rock: criticized the move away from rock music and said the band had waved goodbye to rock
• Consequence of Sound: described the album as a muddled mess that tried to chase the pop-EDM trend
• Newsday: gave a B+ and praised the new direction, comparing it to Coldplay and Owl City
• Critics' mixed reception, together with accusations of selling out, provoked an angry response from Bennington
• Bennington said he took the selling-out accusations as a personal attack
• Corey Taylor advised Bennington to give it time; Bennington later said he agreed with Taylor

Records

• US Billboard 200: debuted at number one with 111,000 copies in its first week, 100,000 of them pure sales
• Ousted Kendrick Lamar's Damn from the top spot
• The band's sixth number-one album on the Billboard 200 and first since Living Things in 2012
• Fell from number one to number thirty in its second week
• UK: debuted at number 4 with 16,100 copies, the band's lowest-charting UK album since Hybrid Theory
• Japan: peaked at number six (19,300 copies); Canada: number one (12,000 copies); Germany: number two (20,000 copies)
• Named the world's best-selling album of the week ending June 3, 2017
• Debuted at number one in several countries and certified gold in five countries

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The cover photo's children belong to a friend of the band, and Shinoda said they represent what the members feel when their families get together.
• The cover somewhat resembles the logo of the film company Lakeshore Entertainment.
• The lead single Heavy, featuring Kiiara, marked the first time a Linkin Park studio album song featured a female vocalist.
• The North American and Japan legs of the promotional tour were cancelled after Bennington's death on July 20, 2017.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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