In my opinion, I would say almost half of Living Things could be considered heavy. The songs I have in mind are LITE, LGM, Victimized, STB, and UIB because of the harshness of their overall sound and dark lyrical content. This is how I would define "heavy" in the context of these particular songs. It's true that these songs don't really have prominent distorted guitar riffs but they are still able to deliver that sensation of heaviness in their own unique ways.
Of course a song doesn't need an heavy guitar riff to be heavy overal. But I'm still keeping my opinion that LT as a record isn't heavy at all. First, the number you mention is an illusion. You're saying that LT has 5 "harder songs", which is almost half the record following to you. But if you look at the time length of those songs, 3 of them are among the shortest on the record. So, in term of duration, those 5 tracks added doesn't come close to half of the record. And even if they did, an heavy record needs to be agressive from beginning to end, in my opinion. And second, UIB, LITE, and STB aren't really heavy songs according to me. LITE is energetic and has some heavier moments, but it isn't that of a crushing sound. UIB is really bipolar, and the part with Brad is hands down one of the mellowest things LP have ever done (the lyrical content is very dark, but dark and mellow can co-exist). STB just isn't heavy in my opinion, but I see where you're coming from. Again, it's not important that LT isn't an overall "hard" record. But being the big (obsessed? ) fan of louder music that I am, it somehow irks me when people think LT is an heavy record ahah.
I didn't take song duration into consideration when I came up with that list. I only applied the number of tracks on the album. I agree with several of your points, especially how LITE is energetic with heavy moments and how Brad's part in UIB is among the mellowest of moments in LP's discography. I guess where we differ is how we interpret music as being "heavy". I'm using quotes to illustrate that there is no universal definition for heavy music. I also get what you mean by louder music being harder, as I listen to quite a few bands that are definitely loud and this adds that extra "oomph" to their music. Lastly, do you think Victimized or LGM could be considered "hard" or "heavy" in any way?
As much as I like LT, it is hardly a heavy record. STB heavy? It's one of my favorite tracks, it's catchy, it has an awesome synth, but definitely not on the heavy department.
I can totally see where STB being Heavy is coming from. Same with UIB. Personally, I would consider LGM and Victimized heavy. I'm not sure about LITE, but idc, LITE is perfect if you ask me lol.
After being absent from these threads for a while and hearing Recharged and LPUXIII; Linkin Park is capable of anything. I want their sixth album to be whatever they feel 101% sure of. "Primo" would've easily fit on A Thousand Suns and could've been an instant favorite but they took it off and morphed something so epic and structure-less into a rock anthem. Look at how much different Holding Company is to Lost In The Echo. This band is fucking crazy. I feel like they're cooking up a classic this time around. They showed us how artistic and non-commerical they can be, while showing us again they can still put on a rock show. They're the prime example of the perfect band. All I want from this album, is no pressure, no "should we do this" but I want them to challenge themselves. I want this album to be a completed checklist of their once thought impossible goals.
Looks like you have a total boner for what they are up to at this point in time, and I'm perfectly fine with that.
I am very curious about what new sounds or elements LP will bring to the table. I think it's almost safe to say that the next album won't be like Living Things in the sense that it will be more than just a culmination of previous sounds and ideas. While I still enjoy LT a lot, I hope that LP will pull off something they have yet to try. If this is not the case, I hope that the band will reintroduce a previously used style/sound in a refreshing way. The truth is, only time will tell.
Well, with the Mike Shinoda blog post thread now dead, I thought I'd try to bring this back again to talk more on the album. So obviously there is much evidence that points towards a "heavy" album. But what does that mean exactly for this next album? Obviously it won't sound nu-mental nor will it sound like Hybrid Theory or Meteora, so what could a new heavy album sound like?
I think it would be like Blackout or Victimized kind of heavy. Although the 8 string guitars have me a little thrown off. Maybe we'll get a tech death album
I seriously hope it won't . I would prefer Blackout kind of heavy, 'cuz layers *drools*. And about the 8-string guitars, I wonder how low the band would go in tuning, I hope it's some somber shit. An intro like this and I would fangirl like crazy: [video=youtube;4vi9ZdJnDUE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vi9ZdJnDUE[/video]. Anyway. That's me daydreaming.
I think our best guess is: VICTIMIZED/QWERTY and Blackout, meshed together and drawn out = LP 6 But eh, I just hope they surprise me with smarter song-writing and more variation. One thing I also hope for is more varation in the vocal department. Blackout sounds really fresh, with Chester doing the "rapping", for the lack of a better word, and Mike doing the lead singing at the end. On this album f.e. Mike could do some heavier singing, rather than the kind of singing he usually does.
That would be really interesting, yep How they will use that 8-string guitar is also something that intrigues me. Even if eventually, it will maybe end up on 1 or 2 songs only ahah Otherwise, regardless of the sound, there is one thing I really hope this record will achieve, and it is : cohesion. Of course I'm all for diversity, but rather than being between the songs (one hip hop, one hardcore, one ballad, one single, ...), I hope this diversity will take place inside the songs. Living Things, to me, sounds pretty much like 2 EP mashed together and it affects negatively the record's identity. So yes, a cohesive record would be great !
^ About the 8-string guitar, remember Phoenix getting that nifty bass-guitar with the touchpad, also used by Muse and Pendelum? Can't say it changed their sound drastically so, in all honesty, I wouldn't get too excited.
I'm not that excited, I think I'm trying to stay as prudent and cautious as possible about the sound of the next record lol Simply intrigued
Yeah, wasn't really talking specifically to you there, just talking in general. You know how people tend to react here ;D
Low tuned guitar (heavier), layered with something awesome, going big from the start, epic.. But I'm not talking about the tuning itself, I doubt they would use an 8 string guitar to play C-tuning