It's glaringly obvious, if you've heard the band's new singles (at the bottom of this post), that the new Linkin Park album will be the antithesis of heavy. Furthermore, in an interview with All Things Loud, rapper for the group Mike Shinoda stated that the album wasn't going to be guitar-driven or heavy, though in a very roundabout way. Here's exactly what he said.

"Just hearing any song, like Heavy, is just one piece of the whole. That said, though, if the only thing you want to listen to is ESP guitars through a rectifier amp then this is not the album for you. Come to a show, though, because there are songs in the set which are for you! This is not your album, though."

ESP themselves caught wind of the quote, and fired back in a very professional, and very funny, way! The company wishes Linkin Park all the best in its future endeavors, but it's also glad that it's not part of the album.

We all thought, "Wow, that's a really bizarre thing to say! What does that even mean?" But then we looked at the context of the interview itself, where Shinoda was explaining the differences between Linkin Park's new lighter, poppier sound and the expectations of their fans who enjoyed their previously guitar-driven music. He stated, "Just hearing any song, like Heavy, is just one piece of the whole. That said, though, if the only thing you want to listen to is ESP guitars through a rectifier amp then this is not the album for you. Come to a show, though, because there are songs in the set which are for you! This is not your album, though."

Okay, fair enough. Once we realized what was being said, which was that ESP Guitars is the iconic representation of the powerful sound of heavy music, and that was exactly what people shouldn't expect from the new Linkin Park album, we got it. And then we checked out one of the songs from this album, and… yes. Yes indeed. Mike is correct; that is not the sound of ESP Guitars. Most definitely not.

So, in short, ESP is pleased to announce we won't be on the new Linkin Park album, though of course we wish them the best in their ongoing endeavors.