The Hunting Party is forever underrated, as a cool project where they figured out how to do a heavy thing without doing Hybrid Theory & Meteora again. The highlights rule, and the weakest tracks are still generally like, fine. I would also say that the song “Heavy” from One More Light is one of their best within the pop space. That album was a mixed bag, with uneven results from how far they could push towards making pop music, but “Heavy” is a more successful attempt. But yeah, A Thousand Suns is the main album that’s “essential” for a Linkin Park fan imo post Minutes to Midnight.
i revisited The Hunting Party a few years ago and the vast majority of it did not hold up for me, but i respect the effort. agreed re: Heavy though. song meant a lot during a dark period in my life