Castle of Glass

"Castle of Glass"
Single by Linkin Park
from the album Living Things and Medal of Honor: Warfighter
B-side "Lost in the Echo" (KillSonik Remix)
Released December 7, 2012
(see release history)
Format CD single, digital download
Recorded 2011–2012 at NRG Recording Studios
(North Hollywood, California)
Genre
Length 4:17 (Video mix)
3:25 (Album version)
Label Warner Bros.
Writer(s) Linkin Park
Producer(s) Mike Shinoda, Rick Rubin
Linkin Park singles chronology
"Powerless"[1][2]
(2012)		 "Castle of Glass"
(2012)		 "A Light That Never Comes"
(2013)
Music video
"Castle of Glass" on YouTube

"Castle of Glass" is a song written by American rock band Linkin Park for their fifth studio album, Living Things.[3] The song was produced by co-lead vocalist Mike Shinoda[4] and Rick Rubin. The song was released as a promotional single for Danger Close Games's 2012 release, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, as with Linkin Park's previous contribution to the Medal of Honor series, "The Catalyst". The single was released on February 2, 2013 in physical format[5] and on March 22, 2013 it was released as a digital single on iTunes.[6]

A Mike Shinoda remix is featured on Linkin Park's second remix album, Recharged. The remix version is also featured in the video game Need for Speed Rivals as part of the soundtrack.

Composition
"Castle of Glass"
A 35 second sample of the chorus and outro of "Castle of Glass".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Castle of Glass" uses electronic elements from the band's previous studio album, A Thousand Suns.[7] Loudwire noted in their Living Things review that the song features "very different electronic elements and unique sounding samples that the band have added to their musical palette."[7] Yet is one of the most direct that the band has done, with a traditional song structure and a melody reminiscent of country music.[8]

Reception

"Castle of Glass" has received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Billboard wrote in their review of Living Things, "A folk song with LP's muscle, "Castle of Glass" uses compelling songwriting, extended metaphors and a simple but radical (for Linkin Park) arrangement to offer one of the album's most intriguing tracks."[9] A staff reviewer at Sputnikmusic wrote in their mixed review of Living Things that the song sounded too similar to "Powerless" and that the song "would have been better if it wasn’t inferior to the similar sounding final track."[10] AltSounds described "Castle of Glass" in their album review as "a drawn-out filler track that keeps to a crawling pace, is strangely passive and doesn’t leave you feeling very inspired."[11] The song was nominated for the "Best Song in a Game" award at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards.[12]

Music video

The music video for Castle of Glass was recorded on August 1, 2012 and it contains footage from the first-person shooter video game Medal of Honor: Warfighter. It was released on Linkin Park's YouTube channel, linkinparktv, on October 10, 2012. The music video shows a young boy being told that his father has been killed in action. He and his mother mourn the death as the fallen SEALs teammates and their families try to comfort them. The band is shown playing in a storm where shattered pieces of glass circle the band. Towards the end the boy goes through his father's possessions, fast forwarding to him (played by Marine Corps veteran Scott Levy) becoming a SEAL, like his father before him. At the end of the video we see the man telling a girl the heartbreaking news of her family member, as she too cries. The video hints at the boy and the woman being the family of Rabbit, who died in the previous game and the teammates being Mother and Preacher. True to the Medal of Honor philosophy, Castle of Glass highlights the emotional realities soldiers and their families face far from the battlefield.[13] The video ends with a quote from Winston Churchill, shown in all-caps:[14]

All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words:

freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.

The music video for Castle of Glass is also dedicated to the movie The Messenger as Bennington's favorite movie.

The band's part of the music video was filmed entirely in front of a green screen, with the production being handled by Mothership and Digital Domain.[15] Its post-production relied heavily on CGI animation and After-effects. Special effects have a prominent use in this music video, and also continues the motif of a world falling apart, as with the previous Living Things videos. One of these is an opening shot of Mike Shinoda, beginning with a shot under, moving progressively upwards until the walls around him start to crumble. The music video also picks up on suspended animation techniques, which sees objects in a fixed position in air, literally suspended, with a central subject being the one animate in this point of fixed time.

Live performances

The song made its live debut at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards on December 7, 2012. Chester, Mike, Brad and Phoenix all sang during the last chorus. On the next day, the song was performed at the 23rd Annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas Festival.

Track listing

CD single[5]
No. Title Length
1. "Castle of Glass"   3:25
2. "Lost in the Echo" (KillSonik Remix) 5:09
DE iTunes EP[6]
No. Title Length
1. "Castle of Glass"   3:25
2. "Lost in the Echo" (KillSonik Remix) 5:09
3. "Burn It Down" (Live Rock Im Park 2012) 4:00
4. "Lies Greed Misery" (Live Rock Im Park 2012) 2:30

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2012–14) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[16] 2
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[17] 18
Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)[18] 25
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[19] 48
France (SNEP)[20] 166
Germany (Official German Charts)[21] 10
Hungary (Single Top 40)[22] 7
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 17
UK Rock and Metal (Official Charts Company)[24] 17
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[25] 32
US Rock Airplay (Billboard)[26] 24
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[27] 16
Venezuela (Record Report)[28] 148

Year-end charts

Chart (2013) Position
Germany (Media Control AG)[29] 41
Italy (FIMI)[30] 90
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[31] 85
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[32] 50

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[33] Gold 15,000*
Germany (BVMI)[34] Platinum 300,000^
Italy (FIMI)[35] Platinum 30,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[36] Platinum 30,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Worldwide[3] December 7, 2012 Digital Download Warner Bros.
Germany February 2, 2013 CD

References

  1. ↑ Linkin Park - Powerless Linkin Park.
  2. ↑ Discography : Singles : Linkin Park Linkin Park
  3. 1 2 Linkin Park - Castle of Glass Linkin Park
  4. ↑ "Linkin Park talk about their 'CASTLE OF GLASS' Video for Medal of Honor Warfighter". 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  5. 1 2 "Catalogue Search - Warner Music Switzerland". Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  6. 1 2 "Castle of Glass - EP" (in German). iTunes. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Linkin Park, 'Living Things' – Album Review". Loudwire.com. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  8. ↑ Newman, Melinda (2012-06-25). "Album Review: Linkin Parks Living Things breathes life into band". Hitfix.com. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  9. ↑ Lipshutz, Jason (2009-09-14). "Linkin Park, 'Living Things': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  10. ↑ "Linkin Park - Living Things (staff review)". Sputnikmusic. 2012-06-26. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  11. ↑ "Review: Linkin Park – Living Things [Album] | Altsounds.com Reviews". Hangout.altsounds.com. 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  12. ↑ Taormina, Anthony (November 15, 2012). "2012 Spike Video Game Awards Nominees Announced". Game Rant. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  13. ↑ "Linkin Park - CASTLE OF GLASS (featured in Medal of Honor Warfighter) - (2012) commercials". adland.tv. 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  14. ↑ "Castle of Glass by Linkin Park". channelAPA.com. 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  15. ↑ "LPTV - Making of Castle of Glass video". Youtube. 2012-10-27. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
  16. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Linkin Park – Castle of Glass" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Linkin Park – Castle of Glass" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  18. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201326 into search. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  19. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201433 into search. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Linkin Park – Castle of Glass" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Linkin Park – Castle of Glass". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Linkin Park – Castle of Glass". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2012-11-10" UK Rock Chart. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  25. ↑ "Linkin Park – Chart history" Billboard Hot Rock Songs for Linkin Park. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  26. ↑ "Rock Airplay". Billboard. July 20, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  27. ↑ "Linkin Park – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for Linkin Park. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Nuevas Esta Semana". Record Report (in Spanish). R.R. Digital C.A. 2013-03-09. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16.
  29. ↑ "Top 100 Singles Jahrescharts 2013" (in German). VIVA. Viacom International Media Networks. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  30. ↑ "CLASSIFICHE ANNUALI 2013 TOP OF THE MUSIC BY FIMI GfK" (in Italian). FIMI. January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  31. ↑ "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2013". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Alternative Songs: Year End 2013". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  33. ↑ "Austrian single certifications – Linkin Park – Castle of Glass" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved May 28, 2013. Enter Linkin Park in the field Interpret. Enter Castle of Glass in the field Titel. Select single in the field Format. Click Suchen
  34. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Linkin Park; 'Castle of Glass')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  35. ↑ "Italian single certifications – Linkin Park – Castle of Glass" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved August 27, 2013. Select Online in the field Sezione. Enter Linkin Park in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically
  36. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Linkin Park; 'Castle of Glass')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
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