"Final Masquerade" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and dr ...

. The song was originally recorded by the band for their sixth studio album, '' The Hunting Party'', where it appears as the eleventh track on the album and serves as the fifth and final single. The song premiered on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

on June 8, 2014. The song was produced by

Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda (; ja, 篠田賢治, Shinoda Kenji; born February 11, 1977) is an American musician, singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and was the band's collaborative vocali ...

and

Brad Delson Bradford Phillip Delson (born December 1, 1977) is an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist and one of the founding members of the rock band Linkin Park.

, and co-produced by

Emile Haynie Emile Haynie (born July 13, 1980), often credited simply as Emile, is an American music producer from Buffalo, New York. His range of production includes alternative rock, hip hop, indie and pop music. Haynie has worked with several prominent a ...

. An acoustic version of the song was released for digital download on February 19, 2015.

Composition

"Final Masquerade" has been described as an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

and a hard rock song.Partridge, Kennet
"Linkin Park's 'The Hunting Party': Track-by-Track Review"
''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' June 18, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2018 In an article from ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'', it was explained as "more like ''

A Thousand Suns ''A Thousand Suns'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on September 13, 2010, by Warner Bros. Records. The album was written by the band and was produced by Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda and Ric ...

'' than ''

Hybrid Theory ''Hybrid Theory'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000, through Warner Bros. Records. Recorded at NRG Recordings in North Hollywood, California, and produced by Don Gilmore, the album's l ...

'', which Linkin Park gives at their most controlled, meditative, a slowly unfurling, mid-paced anthem built around simmering keyboards, unfussy, low-tempo beats and palm-muted guitar. The song features one of

Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter who was best known as the lead vocalist of rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of the bands Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, ...

's finest vocal performances on the album."

described the song as "a sharp, edgy, lushly harmonic heavy-hitter that falls perfectly in line with Linkin Park’s lengthy string of hulking, hooky hits." In an interview with MTV, Shinoda explained:

Music video

The official music video for the song, directed by

Mark Pellington Mark Pellington (born March 17, 1962) is an American film director, writer, and producer. Life and career Pellington was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Bill Pellington, an All-Pro linebacker who played football with the Baltimore Colts ...

, was released on July 29, 2014 for premiere on

. A lyric video for the song was released earlier, as it debuted through Linkin Park's official Facebook page and in digital download format on June 10, 2014. As of December 2022, the music video for "Final Masquerade" has over 120 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

Reception

In the track-by-track review by ''

'', the song is given a positive response and explained as, "Synths and palm-muted guitars carry the mid-tempo verses into a head-nodding hard rock chorus. With that, another love affair ends in epic fashion, and there's even a big stadium sing-along."

Accolades

The song was voted as the second-best rock song on the ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

's rock 100 list''. The song was placed after their another song "

In the End "In the End" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It is the eighth track on their debut album, ''Hybrid Theory'' (2000), and was released as the album's fourth and final single. "In the End" received positive reviews by music critics, ...

"."In The End" and "Final Masquerade" have made it to the top of Kerrang!'s Rock 100 list
''

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

'' April 15, 2015.

Track listing

Personnel

;Linkin Park *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

Rob Bourdon Robert Gregory Bourdon (born January 20, 1979) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founding member of the American rock band Linkin Park. Early life Bourdon was born in Calabasas, California. He received classical piano l ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Brad Delson Bradford Phillip Delson (born December 1, 1977) is an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist and one of the founding members of the rock band Linkin Park.

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the feature ...

, backing vocals * Dave "Phoenix" Farrell –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

Joe Hahn Joseph Hahn (born March 15, 1977) is an American musician, DJ, director and visual artist best known as the DJ of the American rock band Linkin Park, doing the scratching, turntables, sampling, and programming for all seven of Linkin Park's ...

("Mr. Hahn") - samples, programming *

– backing vocals,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guita ...

, keyboards

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles 2010s ballads Warner Records singles Linkin Park songs Hard rock ballads Music videos directed by Mark Pellington Songs written by Mike Shinoda Songs written by Emile Haynie Song recordings produced by Emile Haynie American hard rock songs