I mean, if you get asked the same questions over and over again, can you really get angry at someone giving the same answers?
Huge generalisation here and, based on what I've observed, I'd say that it's grossly inaccurate. And, personally, I don't equate some so-called "indie-alternative" demos (which we haven't heard, and which we know nothing about beyond that vague descriptor) with "LIVING THINGS Part 2". You have a point, but I was getting hopeful that we'd be past the whole name-dropping thing by now. On the other hand, this interview could have happened a long time ago
Well, since you built everything around art... a few years ago there was a men that brought a certain art to a broader audience. He made it possible for a lot of other artists to be heard. He seemed to be innovative (and in my opinion he is) but had to realize that all he did someone basically already did years ago. He started a movement and this is something LP is trying.They are innovative in the way that the band - as one as the most succesful rockbands on earth - is releasing an album that is actually only interesting for a more limited audience. Maybe the innovation is that they are helping to make this kind of music interesting for people and bands that normally wouldn't be comnected to this genre. Who knows. The way you you define innovation does not exist in reality. Just a few days ago I heard an old pop record from the 80s. The artist is unknown and it never was a huge success ... but the sound is something that sounds like modern pop music. It just existed 20 or 30 years too early. Show me a tune that wasn't already there years ago. it is all about connecting, small evolutions and probably bold use of remixing existing elements.
But punk already was a popular genre with a huge audience. I understand what you're saying. Another example is Kanye West: Yeezus was an attempt to bring noise rap and experimental hip-hop into the mainstream. Kanye was not the first person to make this sound, we already have groups like Death Grips and Clipping doing it, but as a very popular artist Kanye West deserves credit for bringing such an underground sound into the mainstream. But Punk is not an underground sound anymore. It's not a genre begging for a mainstream audience, it already had one in the 90s and early 00s. So Linkin Park digging it up in 2014 isn't really innovative in that sense either. And you're right, everything has been done before/there's nothing new under the sun, and yes innovation in art is usually more about subtle changes, but I don't feel like Linkin Park did that either (save for maybe one song like Keys To The Kingdom which I truly could not see any other band doing). They were too nostalgic. They wore their influences on their sleeves. When they made a song that kind of sounded like Helmet, they opted to just call the guy from Helmet to sing on it. They wrote a SOAD song with Daron Malakian. I love War, but it's basically a bunch of punk "tropes" thrown into one song. So let's call the album what it is: Linkin Park's love letter to 90s punk. Nothing wrong with that.
After this album its clearly obvious that no matter what music LP make its not going to please all LP fans. When we want them heavier, we want to hear the indie/pop stuff mike made. when LP have too much electronics and we wanted the guitars back, it wasn't enough balance between the guitars and the samples. 1 album is not going to change what rock is today. If anything personally I think the pop/indie stuff that mike is on about had alot of joe hahn in it. After hearing that joe hahn solo he does live I honestly want to hear more of him more than any other band member. we know one thing for sure that Linkin Parks next album is going to have nothing to do with pop/indie stuff if it is that would be alot of hypocrisy right there.
What an interesting thread of opinions lol. Even with this album sounding like a mash of sounds from over a decade ago, that in itself is a fucking breath of fresh air in 2014. What sounds like this album, coming from anyone NEAR their level of popularity in the world? I forget that this is a band that spent the better part of 4 years making Electro based rock, but this album is such a change in sound for any fan that hopped on the train after Meteora that I don't see HOW this can't be called innovative. What is the issue with looking at an album relevant to the year it was released and what the overall musical landscape is? I've been into EDM more than anything recently, and even over there poppy happy sounds are dominating after the initial American Dubstep(Brostep) rush. Heavy is not in right now and I applaud LP for making a "Heavy" album
I´m sorry but people in this thread are wrong about mike´s statements. He NEVER said he was making a new revolutionary sound....he said that he wanted ROCK bands to make ROCK records instead of pop sounds. So if the album has a nostalgia feeling is because that was the time when rock was still a trend. PERIOD. I don´t understand all the hate on Mike these days. Everybody knows the rest of the band doesn´t have too much of a opinion because they don´t have balls to direct a new sound so they ALWAYS go on Mike.
This post said it best: Imitation, not innovation. It's not enough to just make an album that sounds like the 90s. You have to take the essence of that 90s punk rock and surround it with something new. Like Kanye with Yeezus: he took a genre known for being abrasive and noisy, and combined it with minimalism and accessible melody. That's something new that draws from things that already existed. The Hunting Party just draws from stuff that already exists, and does it pretty shamelessly. That's the difference between imitation and innovation. If hard rock is going to make a comeback, someone else is gonna have to lead.
In my opinion they made a 90s record with the "LP touch". I can clearly identify, which band made this album, that's why i call this album an innovation. Of course, they only combined that old style of the 90s with typical LP trademarks, they could include some new sounds too - in LP-context. But personally, already the solos gave the record a fresh touch. I claim that, Mike just wanted to promotion the record and promotion is mostly a little overdone to get the interest. Anyway, i still didn't expected a record with big innovations, but little ones and to me, they completed their mission.
He wanted to write inspiring music if I'm not mistaken. Here in southwest Oklahoma we have one rock station and all it plays is older rock songs. I've heard GATS and wastelands play on not the rock but the pop station here. Now imagine a 14 year old boy listening to this station. I'd say linkin park making the album they did would honestly inspire at least one out of twenty fourteen year old kids. Maybe less, who knows. Buuut without The Hunting Party I can promise you that a hell of a lot less people will be inspired to even pick up a guitar, Try playing the drums, or even think about making anything but EDM, indie, poppy music. Let alone music itself! I can honestly say since THP has come out my interest in writing music in general has been higher than its been in years. But those fourteen year old kids who listen to just pop might never willfully listen to any rock if not for Linkin Park. We might not see it in the way LP wants us to see, but give it time. I bet it inspires.
Whoa, PERIOD - step back Anyway, this is something which I had an issue with way early on. Why can't aggressive rock be something other than "nostalgiac"? We have a lot dance and hip-hop music today that's actually a far cry from the dance and hip-hop music of the 90s (and some which isn't, but I digress) and which show that these genres have continued to evolve and expand during fairly short time-spans. Is "a nostalgia feeling" really the only way to push hard rock forward?
I dont understand the hate towards Mike just because he is the one who decides the direction for the band. It's obvious that without him Linkin Park wouldn't be the same. Every song we love is basically something that got his approval, in the end. He is the brains behind the band and just because you don't like the current album or the previous album, it's not a reason to bash him for it. It's not like he forced others into making the new album. They eventually saw his way and joined in. I personally feel THP is a solid album. It's certainly inspiring me to take up drumming lessons when I get the money for it. Are there flaws? Of course. LP isn't a band that is perfect. The only problem with THP would be that it's not made intentionally catchy as HT or Meteora or even LT, which I'm sure is a reason why people think LP were uninspired or the songs lacked something. The only thing I think THP lacked was decent lyrics in certain songs like Until It's Gone and in certain places in other songs. Maybe Nostalgia is the way to start it? Pushing rock forward otherwise would include songs like Burn It Down which, while having rock elements, also featured heavy synths that are a constant thing in the modern era. That's basically what LP, or at least Mike, was trying to avoid. A majority of the new rock bands are synth heavy and that's what gives them the modern touch but that's also the reason why it sounds weak and pop-ish. They didn't want that which is why they took inspiration from the earlier rock sounds because it's a much stronger sound by comparison. Look at any of the modern rock songs that become a huge success, Radioactive, Pompeii. They are so pop-ish in nature that you really cannot call them rock. Even the bands that have been around for almost 10 years are now getting synth heavy. LP was one of them in LT. The Script started out as a good ROCK band and now from their previews of the new album, their songs seem to be typical synth filled modern "rock" songs. Muse's previous album featured so much synths and electronics that I sorta hated that album, in spite of them being my 2nd favorite band, because I missed Bellamy's solid guitar work and the fact that it didn't suit them at all. Thank God they are going back to rock sounds in the upcoming album. 30 Seconds to Mars also started out as a regular rock band but now their songs are extremely synth heavy. Coldplay, The Killers, all have gone for the "modern" rock sound with their own touch but the sound is such a huge variation, quite softer in nature, from what was called "rock" 10-20 years ago. I'm mentioning these bands because all these bands are either still mainstream or were mainstream not too long ago. It should be easier for them to create a normal rock song and still have it become successful when compared to a non-mainstream rock band. I think more people want A Thousand Suns part 2, which I'm totally for.
I think the bottom line for me is that Mike is trying to make this new record out to be something bigger than it is. I get very uncomfortable when people start tooting their own horn, especially concerning art (ie. extremely subjective). If all Mike had said is "look, we did ATS and LT when we felt it was something different from the general trend of rock, and now it's gone the opposite direction so we want to make a rock album" I don't think anyone would be up in arms about it. But Mike keeps saying things like "Disney radio" and "family friendly" as if these are things that are by definition bad, I'm sorry wasn't that Iridescent and What I've Done? To me it seems like LP had this message preplanned and decided to spread it everywhere without evaluating the response it got. The fact that CHVRCHES got asked something Mike didn't technically say was wrong, but not surprising at all. After thinking about it I think when you connect the dots of the overall message in all these interviews Mike is dissing bands like CHVRCHES in order to make his own record sound like it's going after the big bad radio industry (which, let's face it, is what made LP popular in the first place). /rant EDIT: One last thing, I think ATS had the best marketing of any LP album. It was very much about looking inward and self reflection to try and do something new and (to Linkin Park) innovative.
My thoughts exactly. Certain songs, like KTTK, kind of do that but overall, it's a nostalgia trip. Enjoyable, yes, but it clashes with the band's wishes to revitalize #RAWk and innovating it to make it more modern. In that sense, they failed and at times basically copied other bands (Rebellion). Nothing wrong with it, if it wasn't for all the pre-album talk that described this new album as the next big thing. No one can deny it: the band's (Mike's) pre-album talk hurts this album. Linkin Park makes a heavy record, but we have to look at it within the context of Linkin Park's discography because, in the bigger picture, it's not really that heavy. Yet, when other artists put out calmer records, Linkin Park don't look at it within the context of that particular artist's discography and instead use it to prove that "today's rock music is dead". So "don't look at the bigger picture for our new record but please, do look at the bigger picture for other artists".
I don't think Mike is trying anything. Infact, I don't even think he is thinking when he is talking in these interviews. Chester is doing even worse I think what with calling ID out and other crap. THP is as innovative as any other Linkin Park album. It had collaborations for the first time. The heavier guitar and drums were a challenge for Brad and Rob, Rebellion was lyrically an experiment, KTTK, Drawbar, MTG and ALITS are all different. This album wasn't the dumb down heavy album you guys make it out to be. The band didn't make it completely heavy- they had UIG, wastelands, FM, Drawbar. IMO, the music on the album is solid. The lyrics on AFN, the chorus of GATS and UIG (despite the interesting parent-child theme) isn't that impressive though.
Yeah, I think that's exactly the point Mike and the band where trying to make with this album more than anything. rock bands like the ones you've mentioned, aren't really making heavy rock songs any more. And LP where one of them I think people here would defiantly be more respectful to mike if he acknowledged that point more than anything else. Like "the rock genre has been watered down, with Disneyfied indie pop... However I must admit even our band has been stuck in that rut for a while" To me, I think this is the fundamental problem with mike and the bands argument. Not admitting that their own band has been guilty of this for years.