Burning in the Skies
"Burning in the Skies" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was announced as the band's third single from their fourth studio album, "A Thousand Suns", on January 20, 2011, and it was released on March 21. A music video for the single was directed by Joe Hahn, Linkin Park's turntablist. It was released in the United States to the Nielsen BDS adult contemporary indicator chart by February 2011, although it was clarified by vocalist Mike Shinoda that it is an international-only single, hence not charting in any "Billboard" charts . "Burning in the Skies" (along with five other songs from "A Thousand Suns") is featured in the "Linkin Park Track Pack" as downloadable content for the rhythm video game "". The track pack was released on October 19, 2010. Music video. Filming for the music video occurred from January 17 through 19, 2011, with Joe Hahn and lead vocalist Mike Shinoda tweeting about filming the video. The international music video was directed by Joe Hahn. The video premiered on kerrang.com on February 22. The video was also uploaded on YouTube by Linkin Park on their official YouTube channel linkinparktv. The entire  video is in slow motion. It shows the final activities of random people (a teen party; a couple in a car; a girl in her bathroom; another girl studying with her computer; an old man dining alone; and a kid running with pajamas and a lion mask) before being caught in a blast radius of what seems to be a nuclear explosion in downtown Los Angeles. The explosion happens when the guitar solo starts. Then the band members are seen in darkness with effects similar to the ones used in the "Waiting for the End" music video, although they do  not sing or perform their instruments in accordance to the song. As of February 2022, the song has 55 million views on YouTube. The behind-the-scenes video for "Burning in the Skies" was released on March 29, 2011. Live performances. The song made its debut full live performance at their Melbourne, Australia show on December 13, 2010 during their A Thousand Suns World Tour as the chorus had been sung by Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington after the bridge of "Bleed It Out" in several shows of the tour. Reception. Jean Dean Wells of AOL Radio praised the song , saying that the band "delivered an upbeat track that could play just as easily on any pop radio station." Charts. Since Shinoda confirmed that it is an international-only single, the single did not chart on any "Billboard" charts. The single received moderate success on the charts where it charted.