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Linkin Park may be Reuniting

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Go listen to some Grey Daze. He wouldn’t have a problem handling that song whatsoever.

Yeah, people underestimate Chester's range and versatility a lot.

Compare Holding You by Grey Daze to Kill The Flies by Sean Dowdell and His Friends. Compare One Step Closer to his Riders On the Storm cover with Santana. Or Slow Ya Roll by Young Buck and Cross Off with Mark Morton.

Like...the dude just SANG. Didn't matter about what song or genre.
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
Yeah, people underestimate Chester's range and versatility a lot.

Compare Holding You by Grey Daze to Kill The Flies by Sean Dowdell and His Friends. Compare One Step Closer to his Riders On the Storm cover with Santana. Or Slow Ya Roll by Young Buck and Cross Off with Mark Morton.

Like...the dude just SANG. Didn't matter about what song or genre.



One of his best

And he changed the lyric from “l don’t wanna live that life again” to “I don’t wanna live my life again.” 🙁

Also bonus happy moment

 
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TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
So the whole digital version of the album leaked, have to hunt it down first though :D

If you find a link, PM my ass. All of my leaky channels have expired since it's been a few years since I've searched for something.

Edit: Found it, studio quality.
 
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If you find a link, PM my ass. All of my leaky channels have expired since it's been a few years since I've searched for something.

Edit: Found it, studio quality.
Mine are about 250kbs quality, but for some reason Heavy is the Crown is the ripped yt music video version, so I guess the leaker was too lazy to just include the official single version? xD Did you get yours from google drive too?
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Mine are about 250kbs quality, but for some reason Heavy is the Crown is the ripped yt music video version, so I guess the leaker was too lazy to just include the official single version? xD Did you get yours from google drive too?

I skimmed Telegram and found it. Ironically, Heavy Is The Crown is missing there, too. The quality is likely the same, lmfao, I meant studio quality in so far as it wasn't a tertiary recording from someone's cell phone at a listening party, haha.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
What's everyone think of the new album?

I'll copy my thoughts from Reddit:

Been a fan since One Step Closer first dropped as a single. Obsessively listened to the entire discography as it happened, from albums to b-sides, Fort Minor, STP, DBS, BoW, MS, etc, etc. All That to say that I'm familiar with a lot of Mike's musical calling cards. I'm one of those dudes who never once questioned One More Light's spot in the discography. Other people were "this doesn't sound like the same genre," and I was "Song structure, lyrics, and production are LP plain as day,"

For From Zero, there were obviously new elements that made it clear from The Emptiness Machine that there were going to be new sonic elements and songwriting techniques. My review:

  1. From Zero (Intro) - Solid little short intro. Has shades of the artsy intros of past akin to OPENING from Reanimation or The Requiem, with the second half comprised of an in-studio chat, similar to interludes found on The Rising Tied, or The Hunting Party.
  2. The Emptiness Machine - First single, first new LP track since the OML sessions. This goes beyond actual music review into promotion, and it's been said before and likely better, but this was a GREAT choice for a first single. Again, it recalls What I've Done or Burn It Down as far as a life jacket type song. One that incorporates new sounds and themes from the current album while retaining a very familiar "Linkin Park," soundscape. Easing into Emily by giving the first verse and chorus to Mike was just good storytelling, musically.
  3. Cut The Bridge - This one was pretty sweet, definitely gives me like...mid-00's vibes, might be the intensity of the chorus or something. Need to absorb it more.
  4. Heavy Is The Crown - paired with the Arcane score version, this track and it's associated sounds are fucking epic. Given Up is an obvious influence, almost an homage and a proving ground to the legacy that Emily's inheriting. Nice Bleed It Out reference.
  5. Over Each Other - lyrically feels like a companion piece to Talking To Myself. Cool, stripped down track that slowly builds to a mid-energy climax. This is the song that makes me wish for more lyricism, though. It's a holdover from issues I had with a couple old LP songs. They do the "na na na," thing when they're trying to find a Melody before lyrics are written, and sometimes the "nanana's," make it to the final album, and I wish there were another line or two of lyrics instead. Bridge her reminds me of that. Just repeating "are we over each other?" with muted Em-wails in the background. It doesn't sound BAD, again, I just like chewing on lyrics.
  6. Casualty- This song is the shit. Isolated vocal fry intro akin to Keys To The Kingdom. Sick ass high pitched scratches during the Bridge evokes Spit It Out by Slipknot - just absolutely filthy track.
  7. Overflow - This one, I want to say it's badass, but I need to hear it a few more times. It kind of pulls you into a wall of sound, shoegazey almost, and by the time you get comfortable in the sound, the track is over. Definitely could see vibing to a seven minute version of this. Also, there's totally a little sample of Stick N' Move at the end.
  8. Two Faced - This has been compared to One Step Closer, and I get it. I think it's the guitar. Almost sounds like if you fed OSC into a good AI and the prompt was "finish this song," Like...all of the components of OSC are there, but arranged into a new beast.
  9. Stained- I really enjoy the lyrics here, and the melody Em uses. Not a lot else jumps to mind initially.
  10. IGYEIH - Sick. Guitars are tuned to Meteora, lmao. Has Figure .09/A.06 vibes because of that. Vocally, I kind of get some early Flyleaf influence, honestly. Which is no criticism, having a little flair of Lacey here and there is awesome.
  11. Good Things Go - Probably my favorite track. Really honest lyrics, nice back and forth with Mike and Emily. Mike has a flow here that reminds me of his Post Traumatic work.
All in all, fantastic gift to fans. It feels like they're 95% there. I can hear some growing pains - spots where the back and forth feels like it's still written with Chester in mind, but some tracks feel like they were born for Em and Mike together. Same with live performances. Finding the right places to put a vocal fill, finding the spots where Emily has more or less strength than Chester, etc etc. I feel like this is a weird situation, because it's essentially the band's first album, but with seven albums worth of expectation. This is something that I hope LP might even explore lyrically at some point - the struggle for those who love Linkin Park with Chester, and love Linkin Park with Emily, but can't quite reconcile the two together yet. Artistically, the sky is the limit with the potential here. If this was Emily Armstrong's Hybrid Theory, I think we should all look forward to Emily's Meteora.

Edit: it was a sample of Fuse, not Stick N' Move. Fuck me and my knowledge of cassette tape demos from 97.
 
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I'll copy my thoughts from Reddit:

Been a fan since One Step Closer first dropped as a single. Obsessively listened to the entire discography as it happened, from albums to b-sides, Fort Minor, STP, DBS, BoW, MS, etc, etc. All That to say that I'm familiar with a lot of Mike's musical calling cards. I'm one of those dudes who never once questioned One More Light's spot in the discography. Other people were "this doesn't sound like the same genre," and I was "Song structure, lyrics, and production are LP plain as day,"

For From Zero, there were obviously new elements that made it clear from The Emptiness Machine that there were going to be new sonic elements and songwriting techniques. My review:

  1. From Zero (Intro) - Solid little short intro. Has shades of the artsy intros of past akin to OPENING from Reanimation or The Requiem, with the second half comprised of an in-studio chat, similar to interludes found on The Rising Tied, or The Hunting Party.
  2. The Emptiness Machine - First single, first new LP track since the OML sessions. This goes beyond actual music review into promotion, and it's been said before and likely better, but this was a GREAT choice for a first single. Again, it recalls What I've Done or Burn It Down as far as a life jacket type song. One that incorporates new sounds and themes from the current album while retaining a very familiar "Linkin Park," soundscape. Easing into Emily by giving the first verse and chorus to Mike was just good storytelling, musically.
  3. Cut The Bridge - This one was pretty sweet, definitely gives me like...mid-00's vibes, might be the intensity of the chorus or something. Need to absorb it more.
  4. Heavy Is The Crown - paired with the Arcane score version, this track and it's associated sounds are fucking epic. Given Up is an obvious influence, almost an homage and a proving ground to the legacy that Emily's inheriting. Nice Bleed It Out reference.
  5. Over Each Other - lyrically feels like a companion piece to Talking To Myself. Cool, stripped down track that slowly builds to a mid-energy climax. This is the song that makes me wish for more lyricism, though. It's a holdover from issues I had with a couple old LP songs. They do the "na na na," thing when they're trying to find a Melody before lyrics are written, and sometimes the "nanana's," make it to the final album, and I wish there were another line or two of lyrics instead. Bridge her reminds me of that. Just repeating "are we over each other?" with muted Em-wails in the background. It doesn't sound BAD, again, I just like chewing on lyrics.
  6. Casualty- This song is the shit. Isolated vocal fry intro akin to Keys To The Kingdom. Sick ass high pitched scratches during the Bridge evokes Spit It Out by Slipknot - just absolutely filthy track.
  7. Overflow - This one, I want to say it's badass, but I need to hear it a few more times. It kind of pulls you into a wall of sound, shoegazey almost, and by the time you get comfortable in the sound, the track is over. Definitely could see vibing to a seven minute version of this. Also, there's totally a little sample of Stick N' Move at the end.
  8. Two Faced - This has been compared to One Step Closer, and I get it. I think it's the guitar. Almost sounds like if you fed OSC into a good AI and the prompt was "finish this song," Like...all of the components of OSC are there, but arranged into a new beast.
  9. Stained- I really enjoy the lyrics here, and the melody Em uses. Not a lot else jumps to mind initially.
  10. IGYEIH - Sick. Guitars are tuned to Meteora, lmao. Has Figure .09/A.06 vibes because of that. Vocally, I kind of get some early Flyleaf influence, honestly. Which is no criticism, having a little flair of Lacey here and there is awesome.
  11. Good Things Go - Probably my favorite track. Really honest lyrics, nice back and forth with Mike and Emily. Mike has a flow here that reminds me of his Post Traumatic work.
All in all, fantastic gift to fans. It feels like they're 95% there. I can hear some growing pains - spots where the back and forth feels like it's still written with Chester in mind, but some tracks feel like they were born for Em and Mike together. Same with live performances. Finding the right places to put a vocal fill, finding the spots where Emily has more or less strength than Chester, etc etc. I feel like this is a weird situation, because it's essentially the band's first album, but with seven albums worth of expectation. This is something that I hope LP might even explore lyrically at some point - the struggle for those who love Linkin Park with Chester, and love Linkin Park with Emily, but can't quite reconcile the two together yet. Artistically, the sky is the limit with the potential here. If this was Emily Armstrong's Hybrid Theory, I think we should all look forward to Emily's Meteora.

Edit: it was a sample of Fuse, not Stick N' Move. Fuck me and my knowledge of cassette tape demos from 97.
I largely share your opinion. The one thing I would add to the negatives (which I didn't notice until pointed out on reddit) is that the majority of songs have the complete same structure (which confirms that they played it as safe as possible) I think three songs have the same "repeat a line three times speaking and then scream it out" build up in the middle of the song. It's fine when you listen to the songs on their own, but it becomes noticeable if you listen to the album top to bottom. And that's me just nitpicking, I really enjoy the new record and it's definitely getting more plays than THP for me.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
I largely share your opinion. The one thing I would add to the negatives (which I didn't notice until pointed out on reddit) is that the majority of songs have the complete same structure (which confirms that they played it as safe as possible) I think three songs have the same "repeat a line three times speaking and then scream it out" build up in the middle of the song. It's fine when you listen to the songs on their own, but it becomes noticeable if you listen to the album top to bottom. And that's me just nitpicking, I really enjoy the new record and it's definitely getting more plays than THP for me.

I could see that grating on some listeners, for sure. I think what makes it alright to my ears is the sheer brevity of everything. Even the things that are formulaic don't get too repetitive when there isn't a single track exceeding four minutes in length. LP isn't Nine Inch Nails or Billy Corgan, though. But I'd totally blare a double album by LP.
 

Doomtrain

Gold Member
A couple listens in, and I don't love this as much as I wanted to based on how much I loved Emptiness Machine and Heavy is The Crown. It's not bad, but I don't think it's great either. Some track-by-track thoughts:

Emptiness Machine: Probably still my favorite song on here, and exactly the return to form (lol Veilguard reviews, but for real here) that the band needed.
Cut the Bridge: Way too reliant on repeating the same boring riff.
Heavy is The Crown: One of my favorites. Reminds me a lot of Faint.
Over Each Other: Pretty boring.
Casualty: Feels like a Hunting Party song; just a quick burst of raw punk. These songs didn't do it for me on Hunting Party and this one doesn't do it for me here.
Overflow: The most experimental song on the album, and one of my early favorites. I love the chill-but-eerie vibe.
Two Faced: This is Figure .09.
Stained: Solid, catchy song.
IGYEIH: Serviceable but unremarkable.
Good Things Go: Solid closer. Emily does some crazy vocal gymnastics on this one.

I don't think there's a lot that I'll return to here other than Emptiness Machine, Heavy is The Crown, Overflow, and possibly Good Things Go. There are no songs that I outright dislike except maybe Casualty, but a lot of the songs remind me of songs that I already considered lesser on their previous releases. Still, I'm glad they're back and I think Emily is a great addition.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
A couple listens in, and I don't love this as much as I wanted to based on how much I loved Emptiness Machine and Heavy is The Crown. It's not bad, but I don't think it's great either. Some track-by-track thoughts:

Emptiness Machine: Probably still my favorite song on here, and exactly the return to form (lol Veilguard reviews, but for real here) that the band needed.
Cut the Bridge: Way too reliant on repeating the same boring riff.
Heavy is The Crown: One of my favorites. Reminds me a lot of Faint.
Over Each Other: Pretty boring.
Casualty: Feels like a Hunting Party song; just a quick burst of raw punk. These songs didn't do it for me on Hunting Party and this one doesn't do it for me here.
Overflow: The most experimental song on the album, and one of my early favorites. I love the chill-but-eerie vibe.
Two Faced: This is Figure .09.
Stained: Solid, catchy song.
IGYEIH: Serviceable but unremarkable.
Good Things Go: Solid closer. Emily does some crazy vocal gymnastics on this one.

I don't think there's a lot that I'll return to here other than Emptiness Machine, Heavy is The Crown, Overflow, and possibly Good Things Go. There are no songs that I outright dislike except maybe Casualty, but a lot of the songs remind me of songs that I already considered lesser on their previous releases. Still, I'm glad they're back and I think Emily is a great addition.

It does have an element of A Thousand Suns in that if you've heard all the singles, you've heard the best put together songs on the album. I think if a couple tracks had more room to breathe it'd pay off.
 

Doomtrain

Gold Member
It does have an element of A Thousand Suns in that if you've heard all the singles, you've heard the best put together songs on the album. I think if a couple tracks had more room to breathe it'd pay off.
I agree, I do wish more songs had more room to breathe. I really love the vibe in Overflow, for example, and I could go for another couple minutes to really get lost in it before moving on.

I really love A Thousand Suns and I think some of the non-singles, like Blackout, are among the best songs on the album. Definitely agree that Catalyst and Waiting For The End are among the best.

I think the new album suffers from a lack of iconic Mr. Hahn parts. Heavy Is the Crown is probably the closest thing, but even that just feels like Faint Lite. Overflow is pretty electronic, and it might not be a coincidence that it's one of my favorites. Overall, though, there's really nothing on here that feels as iconic as the opening of Papercut or Somewhere I Belong, or the verse of Faint, or the chorus of Numb.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
I agree, I do wish more songs had more room to breathe. I really love the vibe in Overflow, for example, and I could go for another couple minutes to really get lost in it before moving on.

I really love A Thousand Suns and I think some of the non-singles, like Blackout, are among the best songs on the album. Definitely agree that Catalyst and Waiting For The End are among the best.

I think the new album suffers from a lack of iconic Mr. Hahn parts. Heavy Is the Crown is probably the closest thing, but even that just feels like Faint Lite. Overflow is pretty electronic, and it might not be a coincidence that it's one of my favorites. Overall, though, there's really nothing on here that feels as iconic as the opening of Papercut or Somewhere I Belong, or the verse of Faint, or the chorus of Numb.

Oh yeah, that comment wasn't even meant to cast aspersions upon A Thousand Suns. As far as my overall favorite records by Linkin Park, my top three (not in order) would probably be

Minutes To Midnight
A Thousand Suns
Hybrid Theory EP/LPU 1.0

I'm sure that opinion is of mixed origin, likely a toss up between actual interesting ideas explored in a mainstream setting and overdose levels of nostalgia, but I think each of those aforementioned three picked a direction and thematic center for their entire length and were just so committed to the bit that like it or hate it, you couldn't deny their energy. I have a big soft spot for concept albums thanks to Nine Inch Nails' Year Zero album releasing toward the end of my high school years.

As far as From Zero goes, there are definitely good scratching portions. There are good guitar portions with classic LP power chord drop tuned awesomeness. There are good vocal moments from Mike and Emily. I think what speaks nicely to both of our minor grievances simultaneously is the fact that just aren't ENOUGH of these moments, nor in long enough duration.

Even a twenty-five second Instrumental Interlude ala the turntable section before the bridge in With You would kind of space out and make more distinct the sections of the songs. I don't know, I don't mean to harp about the record length so much, I'm beyond certain that there's a deluxe edition, an instrumental/acapella edition, a 2024/25 live album/proshot show, live EPs, and probably a return to LPU EPs. By all rights, the content should be there. And frankly, I think the more they put out, the better their synergy and end product will be.
 

Big Baller

Al Pachinko, Konami President
I agree, I do wish more songs had more room to breathe. I really love the vibe in Overflow, for example, and I could go for another couple minutes to really get lost in it before moving on.

I really love A Thousand Suns and I think some of the non-singles, like Blackout, are among the best songs on the album. Definitely agree that Catalyst and Waiting For The End are among the best.

I think the new album suffers from a lack of iconic Mr. Hahn parts. Heavy Is the Crown is probably the closest thing, but even that just feels like Faint Lite. Overflow is pretty electronic, and it might not be a coincidence that it's one of my favorites. Overall, though, there's really nothing on here that feels as iconic as the opening of Papercut or Somewhere I Belong, or the verse of Faint, or the chorus of Numb.

But Joe Hahn doesn't do anything aside from wearing a cowboy hat.
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
Funny how I give a shit more about spoilers for an album than I do games or movies or anything else. Music is life and such are the consequences I guess.

Fuck all of you who are listening before release is basically what Im saying :messenger_kissing_smiling:
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Funny how I give a shit more about spoilers for an album than I do games or movies or anything else. Music is life and such are the consequences I guess.

Fuck all of you who are listening before release is basically what Im saying :messenger_kissing_smiling:

It's tradition for me at this point, from Minutes To Midnight onwards.
 

Doomtrain

Gold Member
Personal track ranking, because why not:

Emptiness Machine
Overflow
Heavy is The Crown
Good Things Go
Stained
Cut the Bridge
Over Each Other
IGYEIH
Two Faced
Casualty

Stained is growing on me, and I think Cut the Bridge and Over Each Other might be as well, to a lesser extent. Overflow is also growing on me, and I wouldn't be surprised if it ultimately ends up being my favorite song on the album. I sort of just feel nothing for IGYEIH and Two Faced. I think Casualty is actively bad. Overall, I like the album more than I did yesterday.
 
I largely share your opinion. The one thing I would add to the negatives (which I didn't notice until pointed out on reddit) is that the majority of songs have the complete same structure (which confirms that they played it as safe as possible) I think three songs have the same "repeat a line three times speaking and then scream it out" build up in the middle of the song. It's fine when you listen to the songs on their own, but it becomes noticeable if you listen to the album top to bottom. And that's me just nitpicking, I really enjoy the new record and it's definitely getting more plays than THP for me.
The way you worded this it sounds like they were trying to make an album full of singles rather than a full-on cohesive project from beginning to end.

Nothing wrong with either but I can see why someone wouldn’t like the former.
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member

Big Baller

Al Pachinko, Konami President


will smith mib GIF
 

Nydius

Member
Full Flac version got leaked by their store, $5:

The download button appears after purchase lol, just listened to it, can't get better quality than this :D

I picked it up for $5 when this popped up on my Facebook feed. I was pretty shocked when it immediately downloaded. They 'fixed' the download link about 45 minutes later. Feels like a real life Monopoly chance card: Website error in your favor. :pie_roffles: I noticed all the expanded extras weren't in the zip file though.

I really like the album. The entire album feels like an attempt to return to Hybrid Theory or Meteora style heaviness, even if it lacks the same cohesiveness as either of those. I can't help but feel like I'm back in the early 2000's while listening to this, in a good way. Casualty is probably my least favorite because neither Mike nor Emily even try to carry a tune. It's just "Angry Talking: The Song". Beyond the singles they've released already which I really like, I love Overflow, Stained, and Good Things Go.

Ultimately, how people feel about it will ultimately come down to their personal feelings about Emily.
I think she does a great job for new material written with her in mind but I still don't think she does justice to their old stuff.

It'll never take the top spot from Meteora but it may well be in my top 3 or 4.
 
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TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
I picked it up for $5 when this popped up on my Facebook feed. I was pretty shocked when it immediately downloaded. They 'fixed' the download link about 45 minutes later. Feels like a real life Monopoly chance card: Website error in your favor. :pie_roffles: I noticed all the expanded extras weren't in the zip file though.

I really like the album. The entire album feels like an attempt to return to Hybrid Theory or Meteora style heaviness, even if it lacks the same cohesiveness as either of those. I can't help but feel like I'm back in the early 2000's while listening to this, in a good way. Casualty is probably my least favorite because neither Mike nor Emily even try to carry a tune. It's just "Angry Talking: The Song". Beyond the singles they've released already which I really like, I love Overflow, Stained, and Good Things Go.

Ultimately, how people feel about it will ultimately come down to their personal feelings about Emily.
I think she does a great job for new material written with her in mind but I still don't think she does justice to their old stuff.

It'll never take the top spot from Meteora but it may well be in my top 3 or 4.

Even without factoring Emily in, Linkin Park has traditionally been so varied with their albums' overall sound that every release since their inception basically has had a portion of the fanbase claim they're sellouts.

What the fuck is this Reanination shit? I wanted nu-metal, not a hip hop record with rappers I've never heard of!

What is this Meteora shit? Reanimation really was ambitious, now we're just remaking Hybrid Theory? If you take off Foreword, The tracks even match up!

What is this Minutes To Midnight shit? Meteora was a seminal work of contemporary rock and now they're singing pussy coffee table rock with U2 guitars!

What is this A Thousand Suns shit? They finally ditch the Limp Bizkit shit and become a respectable rock band, and now they're trying to be Radiohead? NO-K, COMPUTER MOAR LIEK. Oh, nice six songs you have sandwiched in between 44 interludes.

What is this Living Things shit? They had a really compelling electronic sound, and now every Instrumental just sounds like a midi and they're getting into that Wub wub Skrillex shit.

What is this The Hunting Party shit? Prog rock requires more than power chords. Holy shit it's just DUNDUNDUNDUNDUNNNN for forty minutes. You get Tom Morello and put him in a piano track?

What is this One More Light shit? This sounds like a Buble joint. Some John Mayer shit. This album isn't a wonderland. Unless you're a pussy.

What is this From Zero shit? LP was Chester, LP is dead. A new singer? A woman? A lesbian?! SCIEN-MOTHER-FUCKING-TOLOGY?!! DANNYMASTERSONTHAT70SSHOWHOLYSHIT

....

That is to say that when you cast a net as big as LP does, with every new catch, you're gonna lose some of the surplus.
 

Nydius

Member
That is to say that when you cast a net as big as LP does, with every new catch, you're gonna lose some of the surplus.
(I snipped the rest of the quoted post to save space.)

You’re right. The fact that their albums are so widely varied is the main reason why LP is one of the few bands where I have all of their commercial releases on my media player. Very few bands have that distinction, even the ones I like more than LP.

Speaking of Reanimation, I remember when it came out and one of my friends who adored Hybrid Theory hated the hell out of the Reanimation remixes. I love them. Almost more so than the source material. If I had to choose between listening to Reanimation or Hybrid Theory, I’d probably pick Reanimation 7 or 8 times out of 10.
 
Even without factoring Emily in, Linkin Park has traditionally been so varied with their albums' overall sound that every release since their inception basically has had a portion of the fanbase claim they're sellouts.

What the fuck is this Reanination shit? I wanted nu-metal, not a hip hop record with rappers I've never heard of!

What is this Meteora shit? Reanimation really was ambitious, now we're just remaking Hybrid Theory? If you take off Foreword, The tracks even match up!

What is this Minutes To Midnight shit? Meteora was a seminal work of contemporary rock and now they're singing pussy coffee table rock with U2 guitars!

What is this A Thousand Suns shit? They finally ditch the Limp Bizkit shit and become a respectable rock band, and now they're trying to be Radiohead? NO-K, COMPUTER MOAR LIEK. Oh, nice six songs you have sandwiched in between 44 interludes.

What is this Living Things shit? They had a really compelling electronic sound, and now every Instrumental just sounds like a midi and they're getting into that Wub wub Skrillex shit.

What is this The Hunting Party shit? Prog rock requires more than power chords. Holy shit it's just DUNDUNDUNDUNDUNNNN for forty minutes. You get Tom Morello and put him in a piano track?

What is this One More Light shit? This sounds like a Buble joint. Some John Mayer shit. This album isn't a wonderland. Unless you're a pussy.

What is this From Zero shit? LP was Chester, LP is dead. A new singer? A woman? A lesbian?! SCIEN-MOTHER-FUCKING-TOLOGY?!! DANNYMASTERSONTHAT70SSHOWHOLYSHIT

....

That is to say that when you cast a net as big as LP does, with every new catch, you're gonna lose some of the surplus.
You hit the bail on the head.
Haha, A Thousand Suns is one of my favorite LP albums but this is legit accurate.
Lol same, it’s to this day their best and most inspired work.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
(I snipped the rest of the quoted post to save space.)

You’re right. The fact that their albums are so widely varied is the main reason why LP is one of the few bands where I have all of their commercial releases on my media player. Very few bands have that distinction, even the ones I like more than LP.

Speaking of Reanimation, I remember when it came out and one of my friends who adored Hybrid Theory hated the hell out of the Reanimation remixes. I love them. Almost more so than the source material. If I had to choose between listening to Reanimation or Hybrid Theory, I’d probably pick Reanimation 7 or 8 times out of 10.

Dude, Reanimation opened me up to many genres. I love the album to pieces. I didn't know about the concept of remixes, I was like 11, so it just felt like a grimy, dark sequel to Hybrid Theory for me.

Unreleased b-side with The Visionaries to celebrate that era:

 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
You hit the bail on the head.

Lol same, it’s to this day their best and most inspired work.

Yup also my fav of theirs. Hearing that album for the first time, and especially The Catalyst and Robot Boy was just like man I hope they stay in this more "out of the box/experimental" zone.

And admittedly, when I heard Catalyst that first time I didn't even know it was them :messenger_dizzy:
 
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TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Yup also my fav of theirs. Hearing that album for the first time, and especially The Catalyst and Robot Boy was just like man I hope they stay in this more "out of the box/experimental" zone.

And admittedly, when I heard Catalyst that first time I didn't even know it was them :messenger_dizzy:

A Thousand Suns was so fucking good, lmfao. All the IRL samples they used for interludes, really crunchy synth and scratches, grungy ass guitar where it appeared. This was the album where Mike started really earning his stripes as a second vocalist. I love his old school flow and his wordy verses, but the dude really started to Cantrell/Staley the shit out of the stage with Chester. Super important record for his development as a performer and producer.

The tracks and instrumentation are so diverse, and yeah, it's slightly to the left of the heavy scale, but the big hitters are BIG. Waiting For The End was ATS' Castle Of Glass or In The End. Just the iconic standout single on the album. Such good shit.
 
A Thousand Suns was so fucking good, lmfao. All the IRL samples they used for interludes, really crunchy synth and scratches, grungy ass guitar where it appeared. This was the album where Mike started really earning his stripes as a second vocalist. I love his old school flow and his wordy verses, but the dude really started to Cantrell/Staley the shit out of the stage with Chester. Super important record for his development as a performer and producer.

The tracks and instrumentation are so diverse, and yeah, it's slightly to the left of the heavy scale, but the big hitters are BIG. Waiting For The End was ATS' Castle Of Glass or In The End. Just the iconic standout single on the album. Such good shit.
Yup, I remember being bamboozled when I heard that the opening voice is Mike. And I will until I die claim that Jornada del Muerto+Waiting for The End is their peak, that song has absolutely everything.
 

Soodanim

Gold Member
This has probably been posted, but this is all I think of when I see this thread:


Dude nails the album 1-3 sound, it’s sad that he didn’t make it into a full track
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
Alright so clocking in at a whopping 31 minutes I felt the album was over before it even started. I like it, but not as much I would've had half the fucking record not been released ahead of time. Seriously, my listening experience would've been way more impactful if they had dropped Emptiness Machine a few months ago and then let the rest of the thing be until release. Let us have some fucking surprises. This trend or business move has been going on for years and it needs to fucking stop lol
'
Do you know how fucking blown away I would've been having heard Over Each Other for the first time following the intro and those first three tracks? :messenger_expressionless:

The last three songs are my favorite part of the whole album with IGEIH being #1. And yeah I can also see Stained being the next single for sure. Half the album is singles. Christ :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Hoping the next one is more of a venture into Thousand Suns 2.0 territory. Yes, they've made this album to show everyone they have returned and still got the chops to bring you back to 2003, but I really hope they journey back to the experimental and unexpected zone.
 
Alright so clocking in at a whopping 31 minutes I felt the album was over before it even started. I like it, but not as much I would've had half the fucking record not been released ahead of time. Seriously, my listening experience would've been way more impactful if they had dropped Emptiness Machine a few months ago and then let the rest of the thing be until release. Let us have some fucking surprises. This trend or business move has been going on for years and it needs to fucking stop lol
'
Do you know how fucking blown away I would've been having heard Over Each Other for the first time following the intro and those first three tracks? :messenger_expressionless:

The last three songs are my favorite part of the whole album with IGEIH being #1. And yeah I can also see Stained being the next single for sure. Half the album is singles. Christ :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Hoping the next one is more of a venture into Thousand Suns 2.0 territory. Yes, they've made this album to show everyone they have returned and still got the chops to bring you back to 2003, but I really hope they journey back to the experimental and unexpected zone.
It is definitely more of a "singles" album than a cohesive experience, hence why it can seem jarring that most songs have the same build up and screams when you listen through the whole thing on repeat. By themself these songs each have some really strong elements to them. Two faced is like Figure 09 and One Step Closer had a child, Cut the Bridge is straight up Bleed it out, Overflow kinda gave me those Session/Matrix vibes, I think it's a sick song and those that can't stand it right now will probably turn around on it. IGYEIH is an instant classic, Stained is for the folks that loved the more broad poppy sound of OML, Good things go is also something that wouldn't feel out of place on Post Traumatic. The Emptiness Machine is a perfect "hey this is our new singer" introduction song. I warmed up to Over Each other mostly because I like the cord progression and that reversed ticking sound at the beginning, but it definitely has the weakest lyrics maybe out of all LP songs. Casualty is that one song where shit gets lose at the concerts. As I said earlier, it's an incredibly safe release, and I'm all up for it after years of getting an LP release and only really liking two-three songs in a release (I'm looking at you THP). We'll probably get another relatively safe album after this one until they eventually start experimenting again and we hopefully get something insane like A Thousand Suns.
 

Doomtrain

Gold Member
Hoping the next one is more of a venture into Thousand Suns 2.0 territory. Yes, they've made this album to show everyone they have returned and still got the chops to bring you back to 2003, but I really hope they journey back to the experimental and unexpected zone.
What did you think of Overflow? It's very different from ATS, but it's definitely the most experimental/electronic song on the album.
 
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