Linkin Park Debut Smokey Clip For 'The Catalyst'

Linkin Park has made its fans happy with another hotly-anticipated music video "The Catalyst," the first single off their fourth studio album, "A Thousand Suns," will hit stores on September 14. Linkin Park go into a slow-motion performance in a music video, which is filled with smoke, water and dust but still offers high-energy performance which is somehow captured in the slow-motion scenes. New video sees Linkin Park pushing the envelope even further. Throughout the entire song, you'll wait for the thin, tinny-sounding synthesizer to fade out and the song to emerge as more than just repetitive lyrics.
"The Catalyst," remix the stems and/or write their own part for the song on any instrument and has good lyrics and is catchy. It emphasizing on the transition from electronica to a slow dirge midway through the track. The single debuted at No.1 on both Billboard's Rock & Alternative Songs charts, with 12.2 million audience impressions. The video was directed by the band's turntablist Joe Hahn. The video starts with bandmate Mike Shinoda sitting inside a car singing the first verses with his face covered by a hood. Then, the shot opens to a foggy environment, showing dozens of people simply wandering, then being attacked by strangers, then we know it's a whole city getting destroyed.
The music video for the song is artistic and has so far impressed the fans. According to bassist Phoenix, the video contains references to the Bhagavad Gita and J. Robert Oppenheimer, which are two themes that are also used in the album. As Producer Mike Shinoda describes it, "The concept...kind of comes from the idea of, like, if you could imagine when nuclear fission was invented, or a moment in time when something can be used for positive or negative." The video itself is filled with smoke, water, gas masks, and chaos throughout. Its neutral colors reflect that until the end when the colors red and blue are added to the mix. As the video switches between images, it is all woven together in a way. All in all, it's exactly what fans would expect from Linkin Park, a good song and a creative video which leave you wanting more from the band.
Linkin Park are probably one of the 10 biggest rock acts on the planet. They have never been afraid to push the envelope and try new things. This is easy to do if you are a band that has nothing to lose, but in LP's case, it borders on insanity. Their albums are the kinds of things labels schedule their financial quarters around. They're tent poles (or life preservers) meant to keep things from sagging too low or sinking too deep. The danger of alienating their fanbase is very real, and the results could be catastrophic.