The lyrics are quite intense.
The lyrics are quite intense.
Yeah but i don't think another vocalist is even necessary at this point, Mike is very capable of carrying the band forward in that department. He has definitely strengthened his singing.
what? no. LP needs to hire a singer who can scream somewhat similar to Chester or they will immediately drop into nothingness. If they can't get someone to do the songs listed above live, then they will no longer get booked for big shows, and make no mistake, that is the #1 most important thing for all people involved in LP, as it's the only way they make any real $. New material blah blah blah. People pay to hear the heavier shit from the early days, like it or not. This is not Radiohead.
Mike Shinoda's new album Post Traumatic just dropped. It's really good.
http://mshnd.co/pt
I listened to this new album by a guy called Mike Shinoda just because he's performing just before NIN at one festival this summer, and I deeply regret doing so.
Shocked to see somebody can honestly enjoy this album.
Only keeping one track, and it's because Chino's on it.
Have you ever heard Mike Shinoda? If so, I'm not sure what else did you expected; this record is everything Mike Shinoda was and is. From the urban hip-hop to the poppy style, all of it. And it's great, though it gets a little flat toward the end. Over Again and Nothing Makes Sense Anymore stand out to me in particular.
Brooding, but especially it's intro sounds like Leaving Hope, and knowing how Mike loves NIN, it can not be a coincidence. A great instrumental - a funny thing to say, given the discussion in the other thread. :P
However, I'm a little mad at Mike. There is no nice way of saying it, so I'll just be blunt: Chester's tragedy made [Mike's] music good again. Or to be more precise, it made Mike care again. He was always a fucking talented guy, but after showing a middle finger to the critics with The Hunting Party, he clearly did not care anymore. One More Light has got to be one of the laziest release by a triple A band in recent years, and it only becomes even more obvious, when you listen to Post Traumatic. When Mike wants to do quality hip-hop or pop, he can do it. Just the sheer energy in Over Again makes me shiver.
Not sure what the future holds for LP, but some of these songs could even be played live with some remixing.
@Volband look, I'll admit, OML was pretty boring aside from Talking to Myself and the title track.....but to say he didn't care? Shut up. They wanted to try songwriters, they made the lyrics first and not the music (so you can blame that too) which is probably why the songs sound like they did. He clearly cares since if you actually look at the lyrics that he wrote on most of the songs (Including the two songs I've mentioned), you can see he still has something to write about. You don't have to like it, and that's totally fine...but don't say shit like that, he very much cares, they just express it differently then you do.
Well then let's say he did not care to create a fully fleshed LP record. If OML was advertised and sold like Reanimation or Collision Course, it would've been a different story - still a bad record, but less salt in our mouth. To me, it's a very lazy approach that you don't care enough about your own band's integrity. OML sounds like a record made by a band who are so much in love themselves, that they think that they can throw whatever they want on their record without getting backlashed.
I love pop and I love Living Things - best LP record outside of the obvious first two. I don't really dig the kind of rock music they did on THP, but I can not deny that they worked their asses off to make it, and they can be proud of it for sure. But OML is like... why? And their whole response to it, especially Mike being as arrogant as we've never seen him before. The criticism clearly got to him (which says a lot, because people are bitching since Meteora, yet it took this record to break him), and he definitely did not handle it too well.
And how's that when Mike has so much shit going on in his life, that he absolutely has to create something, he makes a fucking great record with 16 songs, but when they were making OML, they only managed to muster up.... that? Songs like Battle Symphony and Good Goodbye sound like fucking demos for God's sake! The only song which is surprisingly brave is Sorry For Now. I admit, that song is very interesting, but looping the chorus of Battle Symphony for 3 and a half minutes is not exactly music making at its highest form.
Then again, I'd challenge anyone to compare OML to PT, and decide which record got more attention, care and effort put into it. Personally, I'm just happy that Mike is fired up again, and being the perfectionist he is, instead of "guys... what if for this record.... hold on to your seat... we did less? XDD I know duuuude.... amazing!!!!!!"
Imagine caring this much about Linkin Park lyrics. And that's coming from a fan that's seen them 5 times live. But come on.
Post Traumatic is dope. Love the artbook and the signed print i got.
I umm... I kinda loved this album. Time to high-tail it out of here before I get murdered.
One More Light was Linkin Parks best and most interesting record since Meteora without question.
Now, I never liked people - or the notion itself - who tell others that if they find something utter shit, then no one else is allowed to like it. And I can also totally see how OML can reach people who were never really interested in Linkin Park, because it's extremely casual, extremely stripped down, so it was basically written for mainstream radio play. It's also hard to say that the record is worthless, because songs like Talking to Myself or Sharp Edges are beg to be played during a car trip for a sing-along.
But I don't know what exactly is interesting in OML, and how it may be the best since the post-Meteora era. There are so many songs which sound half-finished, where they just repeat the chorus a million times to lengthen the playtime, yet it's still rather short (ie. Battle Symphony or One More Light). Then every single song except Sharp Edges has those trap sounds and mixing styles, which very quickly turns from interesting to annoying and repetitive. It's like when someone says a big punchline, people smile (not laugh, just smile), then he keeps repeating over and over and over again, and you're like okay dude, stop it now, it's becoming reaaaal annoying. Mike's singing voice is... ugh, yeah. Sure, it's great he tried, but he already debuted it on The Catalyst so nothing revolutionary there.
It's very bold to call OML the most interesting non nu-metal LP record, when arguably at least 3 out of the 4 records preceding it easily tops it in that area. M2M and THP are much more interesting because both records did a 180; you've never heard LP sound like that before. And Living Things was the quality version of OML. Poppy, but quite creative. I really don't like how less is more is an actual thing in some people's mind; it's true for OML or Hesitation Marks. How on Earth is Battle Symphony and Halfway Right are considered better songs than In My Remains or Castle of Glass? I never parrot shit like blah blah the music industry today blah blah, but it's quite saddening how not only you can get away with giving 50% less than before, butit may be even more profiting. While Living Things wasn't knocking down boundaries (OML neither), you could say that this is pop with a Linkin Parkish twist on it. OML is just... random trap and summer pop songs with Chester.
Also, OML has some sort of protection due to Chester's death. Some people actually believe that the record has some deep message from Chester, which is absolutely mind-boggling. The very first Linkin Park song on Hybrid Theory (Papercut) was already about mental issues, so there's no reason to pretend this was something special with OML. Also, Living Things literally has a song titled I'll Be Gone.
The reaction from the two frontmen were quite shameful as well. Mike was an arrogant prick and Chester absolutely lost his mind over the vast criticism. With each interview they gave, they seemed dumber and dumber. Mike's explanation about the hatred in that React Bros (or what's their name...) video was quite delirious; like, there's no fucking way he actually believes what he's saying. I could understand if they get this upset after a record like A Thousand Suns: a record with a story, new LP elements, lots of work, etc. It must feel shit when you read stuff like LOL THIS IS GARBAGE XD. But for God's sake, they uploaded a snippet where Mike says - like someone who just had an Eureka - that what if.... guys, check this out... what if.... we did LESS now???? Cool, right???
So yeah, when you literally upload a video where you tell the world you are going to be lazy, because it's brave in your book, that's not exactly a sign of a record that is going to be the best since Meteora, but especially not an exciting one. A friend of mine always pulling my leg whenever we discuss music with shit like "yeah, but is it as good as OML? Don't think so buddy, don't think so. =)".
I like how you just never mention how Chester apologized for that or the fact how his outburst was almost certain because he was venting out from his losing battle with depression.
I get, im not defending the album because of his death, and even though Chester only wrote 2 songs on OML (Heavy and Sorry for Now), it still is very haunting with him singing the songs that Mike wrote (much like with Breaking the Habit)
I feel like if they took more time with it, It could have been something better? Or maybe it was the songwriters....I dunno...this album is still like a 4 to me.
You know what I also hate? When people think they did this to be on the radio. Fuck off. People said the same thing about the band itself when Hybrid Theory first came out, and it pissed off Mike then, it im sure it pisses him off Still. and It pisses me off too.
You literally have no proof of them ever wanting to do this "for the radio", nothing at all. And you never will, because that was never what they wanted.
They just tried something new, and it didnt really work out the way it was planned. I was still looking forward to what was gonna follow after.
Also, doing less can work out if you know how to do it right (Obviously it didn't)
Again, my two cents
What are your favorite LP albums? My top three are 3: Meteora 2: Minutes To Midnight 1: A Thousand Suns
Meteory
reanimation
one more light
hybrid theory
minutes to midnight
Meteora
Hybrid Theory
Living Things
Minutes to Midnight
The Hunting Party
Post Traumatic has been about the only thing that is getting played besides Bad Witch right now. It's a great album. Falls off a bit for me at the end, but not enough to ruin the album's monstrous mid-section
LP never really put out a bad album imo. Definitely an unpopular opinion but that's how I feel.
I would be mostly inclined to agree, though it's certainly not a popular opinion, particularly around here. I would say that Meteora aged very poorly for me, but when I first heard it in 2006 it really hit the spot. That's probably the closest I'd come to calling an album "bad."
Funnily enough, I thought the same thing about One More Light until Chester died and I gave it another serious listen. I know for sure that that colors my opinion significantly, but it also feels less...forgettable, now? I guess.