Rick Rubin Producing Next Linkin Park Album, Discusses Progress

Linkin Park is a band that is going through it's biggest case of denial ever.

They know their last album didn't set the world on fire. It also confirmed what a lot of people know - Minutes to Midnight damaged their brand.

A lot of casual fans have turned away from LP after the last two albums.

I don't know if it's pride, or if they actually believe it. But at some point they are going to have to man up and admit that they screwed up. The problem is, they have pretty much backed themselves into a corner by saying that their old music is rubbish and that they have matured into this new sound.

The new sound isn't selling physical copies ATS only went gold - 500K according to the RIAA and that took 4 months!

Foo Fighters by comparison made it to Gold in a single month. People can say I'm comparing Apple's and Orange's. I'm going to say it's not - LP was what some were calling the "World's Biggest Rockband" Linkin Park have had massive exposure - they were plastered all over Transformers (movies which made $300 Million plus) and toured to support their release. Yet 4 months to crack Gold?! Please - they're hemorrhaging fans by alienating them with their experimental 'new sound'.

Then there is the contract with Warner, Warner paid a $15 million advance for these guys and they take 20% of the royalties. I'm not sure of the sales, but I think they might have only just broke even after ATS - with three more albums to go if the sales decline at this rate you can expect LP to be without a label come record number 5. (M2M went 2xPlatinum, down to gold - that's a heck of a decline and based on the next album could be a sign of a trend).

Mike purportedly has his survey out in the wild to seek opinions from the fans - so do the band a favour. Don't kiss their arses and tell them you love their new album/sound when you much prefer their older songs. Be honest, be brutal - maybe it'll give them the kick up the backside they need.

I'm not saying that they should return to their original sound - I'm sure it's dated by now... but they still have greatness in them. There was that little breakdown in New Divide, Wretches and Kings even where it goes mental in Blackout. The problem is these are short teases in the middle of what otherwise become boring songs (W&K excluded, the whole thing rocks). But HT and Meteroa were wild rushes of big guitar, DJ effects and layered sounds that really felt epic.

Rubin has stripped them back, they don't sound like a big band anymore - they sound tiny.

I really think they should do another Reanimation and get the likes of Pendulum, Jay Gordon and a few others to have at A Thousand Suns and Minutes to Midnight and breath some energy into the dullness that is otherwise on those albums.

Then they should consider how they can go back to what made them unique - a "Hybrid" of musical styles, alternative grunge, electronics, rap... it was original. Now they are just like any other band - Rick Rubin's style is clearly one where he likes to make things simple and for that reason LP is the wrong band for him to be working with. If they don't want to work with Don Gilmore - fine. I'm sure there are plenty of other talented producers out there - or as others have suggested they can just produce it themselves. But I think what Don did was polish their sound and make it marketable for the alternative mainstream.

 

you, sir, are wrong. please go troll somewhere else. thanks. and @ Mr. Carlson: yeah, thats all there is to say

 

So just because his opinion is different than yours he's a troll? Although I don't agree with everything he wrote, I do agree on some points.

 

Linkin Park is proud of the last two albums they did. They are happy with the final product and at a point where they don't have to defend themselves over the kind of music they want to make.

Also Rubin never striped LP down. LP was ready for a change before Rubin came aboard Minutes to Midnight. He just helped they take the first step.

And after ATS I can't wait to see what the next step is.

 

I think that if LP wanted to polarize people again, they should keep their music raw and produce it themselves.

 

I agree in some ways. You are not trolling, so please people, don't call him a troll. This is a discussion thread after all.

 

Wow. After four years and two albums, so many "HT-ers" haven't given up on LP yet... I've got to say, I'm impressed.

 

Yeah, because Rick Rubin just produces 'just another band's. Like The Beastie Boys.

Or Run-D.M.C.
Or Slayer.
Or Danzig.
Or Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Or Johnny Cash.
Or Adele.
Or The Mars Volta.
Or Tom Petty.

And to Stormwalker: Meteora is the biggest piece of shit I've ever had the dishonor of listening to. I'd quite honestly allow a bunch of newborn babies to be defecated on by Jeff of the LPA while he has explosive diarrhea then allow them to listen to that steaming pile of fuckpiss. ATS is honestly the best album they've put out, tied with Reanimation. Who gives a shit if they're selling albums, and to be quite honest, if this and MTM have polarized you 'hardcore' fans, So be it. I've been a fan since before HT came out and enjoy the music they're putting out now. Deal with it or get the fuck out.

 

- As if you wouldn't take into account the decline in sales for EVERY artist. Illegal downloading is easily in the lead now, it's so simple. Check the stats. Artists can hit #1 in the US now with poor sales. And maybe they lost fans changing their sound, but so what, their old themes addressed the feelings they had at that age, any fan that won't develope along with their favourite band, THEY are the ones in denial.

 

Well, except RHCP, Cash and arguably Beastie Boys all those artists are average at best and just another band/singer in a crowd.

But that was not my point anyway, my point was that with Gilmore they were highly successful and recognizable, and now with Rubin (although they still have some good songs) they sound like any other band on TV. And if it weren't for Gilmore, they would probably never even have a chance of working with someone like Rubin. That's why I don't like them openly shitting on their first two albums.

Do they really think they'd get this rich and famous if they had released Waiting For The End instead of In The End or Iridescent instead of Numb? Fuck no, this forums probably wouldn't exist, let alone have this many members.

 

Derek, why are you against his opinion? This is, after all, a discussion thread. Your opinion is your opinion, and his is his. What makes you think that he is a troll when he is stating what he believes, like what you have done.... Furthermore, Kerrang! demoted ATS to 'KKK' later on in a special edition of Kerrang! directly about Linkin Park and the rise of Nu-Metal. They gave HT 'KKKKK', Meteora 'KKKK', MTM 'KKK' and after a re-decision, ATS 'KKK'. So, how after this fantastic review, many articles and a special edition of the magazine purely on them, are they hated by them?

 

Well, considering The Mars Volta is so badass John Frusciante willingly and gladly tracked and collaborated with them on their albums...

I just facepalmed so hard it dropped my IQ low enough that I started enjoying Meteora. Kudos sir. Although I'm not quite sure what 'kudos' means anymore.

 

Wow, I have to admit that you're so witty and that it doesn't get old after reading more that 2 of your posts.

And you're also using a logic that probably makes sense only to you.

Mars Volta can collaborate with Trent Reznor and they still would be able to be awesome. And Frusciante could go and collaborate with Good Chartlotte and they won't be able to be awesome either.

 

John Frusciante doesn't collaborate with just anybody. There's a reason he left the Chili Peppers after BSSM. There's a reason he handpicked his replacement after Stadium Arcadium, a guy he had previously worked with on his solo records.. There's a reason his second musical effort afterwards was with Omar. He doesn't work with 'average' musicians.

 

Can we all just agree that there are many fans out there who like the old LP and new LP, and there are many who like both...Sure they lost fans with their new sound... I actually think the "Hybrid" that Linkin Park is who defines them as a whole, they've made records like HT and Meteora, where they sounded similar but yet a little different...Then they made albums like MTM and ATS which sounded different in many aspects. They are by far one of not the most diverse band I have ever heard. The fact that this band has so many "hybrid" of sounds is exactly who they are...Linkin Park, a band constantly evolving, changing sounds, experimenting...

There are some days where I feel like putting in HT and Meteora because I like that sound, the energy, the angst, the records in general...Other days I love putting in MTM and ATS because they give me a different sound completly, yet the same band... I love how depending on whatever mood I am, they have a song or album that will put me in that mindset...

Their one of the greatest bands in the history of music, point made!

 

Don't you get it that being a super-talented musician doesn't necessarily mean that you can make good music? Just like being an average musician doesn't mean you can't make good music (the best example: Linkin Park)