"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)
ReleasedNovember 10, 2012
Recorded
Genre
Length
  • 4:17 (video mix)
  • 3:25 (album version)
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)Linkin Park
Producer(s)
Linkin Park singles chronology
"Powerless"
(2012) 		"Castle of Glass"
(2012) 		"A Light That Never Comes"
(2013)
Music video
"Castle of Glass" on YouTube

"Castle of Glass" (stylized in all caps) is a song written by American rock band Linkin Park for their fifth studio album, Living Things.[1] The song was produced by co-lead vocalist Mike Shinoda[2] 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[3] and on March 22, 2013, it was released as a digital single on iTunes.[4]

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 21-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.[5] 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."[5] Yet is one of the most direct that the band has done, with a traditional song structure and a melody reminiscent of country music.[6]

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."[7] 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."[8] 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."[9] The song was nominated for the "Best Song in a Game" award at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards.[10]

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 the man is seen 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.[11] The video ends with a quote from Winston Churchill, shown in all-caps:[12]

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.[13] 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. Afterwards, the song became a regular spot on tour setlists, and while it has been aborted on a few occasions, it hasn't been dropped consistently from setlists.

Starting from the touring cycle for The Hunting Party in 2014 and continuing into 2017's One More Light World Tour, the band debuted an "Experience Version", which combines the studio version's first verse and chorus with the bridge and ending of the Mike Shinoda remix from Recharged. Throughout the tours, the band also added elements from other songs, such as A Thousand Suns's "The Radiance", "It's Goin' Down", etc. During the One More Light World Tour, the Experience Version received a new ending, in which Mike would usually rap with a random verse.[14]

When Mike Shinoda briefly brought Fort Minor back from hiatus in 2015, "Castle of Glass" was placed on the band's setlist, in which he uses a remix of the Recharged remix mashed up with The Rising Tied's "Kenji".

At the Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington tribute concert, the studio version of the song was played for the first time after the Living Things World Tour, with Adrian Young, Tom Dumont and Tony Kanal of No Doubt alongside Alanis Morissette as guests. The song was played one step higher than normal to accommodate Morissette's vocal range.

Mike Shinoda also played "Castle of Glass" consistently during his solo tour in support of Post Traumatic. The song was performed with him playing piano and was arranged two and a half steps higher.[15]

Personnel

Track listing

CD single[3]
No.TitleLength
1."Castle of Glass"3:25
2."Lost in the Echo" (KillSonik Remix)5:09
DE iTunes EP[4]
No.TitleLength
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

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[37] Gold 15,000*
Germany (BVMI)[38] Platinum 300,000^
Italy (FIMI)[39] Platinum 30,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[40] Platinum 30,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[41] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[42] Platinum 1,000,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Worldwide[1] December 7, 2012 Digital Download Warner Bros.
Germany February 2, 2013 CD

References

  1. ^ a b Linkin Park - Castle of Glass Archived 2014-09-21 at the Wayback Machine Linkin Park
  2. ^ "Linkin Park talk about their 'CASTLE OF GLASS' Video for Medal of Honor Warfighter". 2012-10-18. Archived from the original on 2017-11-10. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  3. ^ a b "Catalogue Search - Warner Music Switzerland". Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Castle of Glass - EP" (in German). iTunes. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Linkin Park, 'Living Things' – Album Review". Loudwire.com. 25 June 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  6. ^ Newman, Melinda (2012-06-25). "Album Review: Linkin Parks Living Things breathes life into band". Hitfix.com. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  7. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (2009-09-14). "Linkin Park, 'Living Things': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  8. ^ "Linkin Park - Living Things (staff review)". Sputnikmusic. 2012-06-26. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  9. ^ "Review: Linkin Park – Living Things [Album] | Altsounds.com Reviews". Hangout.altsounds.com. 2012-07-03. Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  10. ^ Taormina, Anthony (November 15, 2012). "2012 Spike Video Game Awards Nominees Announced". Game Rant. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  11. ^ "Linkin Park - CASTLE OF GLASS (featured in Medal of Honor Warfighter) - (2012) commercials". adland.tv. 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  12. ^ "Castle of Glass by Linkin Park". channelAPA.com. 2012-10-10. Archived from the original on 2012-11-19. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  13. ^ "LPTV - Making of Castle of Glass video". Youtube. 2012-10-27. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
  14. ^ "2017.05.06 Buenos Aires, Argentina".
  15. ^ "2018.06.14 Hollywood, California".
  16. ^ "Linkin Park – Castle of Glass" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  17. ^ "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: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201326 into search. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  19. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201433 into search. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  20. ^ "Linkin Park – Castle of Glass" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  21. ^ "Linkin Park – Castle of Glass" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  22. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  23. ^ "PORTUGAL SINGLES TOP 50". Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. January 27, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  24. ^ "Linkin Park – Castle of Glass". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  25. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  26. ^ "Linkin Park Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  27. ^ "Rock Airplay". Billboard. July 20, 2013. Archived from the original on August 4, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  28. ^ "Linkin Park Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  29. ^ "Nuevas Esta Semana". Record Report (in Spanish). R.R. Digital C.A. 2013-03-09. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16.
  30. ^ "Classifica settimanale WK 30" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  31. ^ "Jahreshitparade Singles 2013". austriancharts.at. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  32. ^ "Top 100 Singles Jahrescharts 2013" (in German). VIVA. Viacom International Media Networks. Archived from the original on 20 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  33. ^ "CLASSIFICHE ANNUALI 2013 TOP OF THE MUSIC BY FIMI GfK" (in Italian). FIMI. January 9, 2014. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  34. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2013 – hitparade.ch". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  35. ^ "Alternative Songs: Year End 2013". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  36. ^ "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2013". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  37. ^ "Austrian single certifications – Linkin Park – Castle of Glass" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  38. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Linkin Park; 'Castle of Glass')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  39. ^ "Italian single certifications – Linkin Park – Castle of Glass" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved August 27, 2013. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Castle of Glass" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  40. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Castle of Glass')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  41. ^ "British single certifications – Linkin Park – Castle of Glass". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  42. ^ "American single certifications – Linkin Park – Castle of Glass". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
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