Imma do HHH first cuz I missed it I love "Hands Held High" more for its simple instrumentation than its raps. I love Mike's raps in this song and they stand among his best and most inspired, but it's the organ/violin that makes the song very serene and beautiful. It was a massive departure from their old sound, and the outro is angelic. "No More Sorrow" is like the harder, midtempo version of "Given Up" (they share the same song structure actually). It didn't really have a massive impact on me at first, but it grew on me and it's now an alright song in my opinion. Up to this day, I have no idea what Joe does in NMS.
Moving on... Valentine's Day! "Valentine's Day" is the ninth track on Minutes to Midnight. Built around a beautiful guitar line from Brad Delson and impressive drumming from Rob Bourdon, the track is one of the poppiest songs the band has done, yet one of the darkest and most haunting. Not very much is known about the origin of the song, the working title, and no demo versions of the song were featured on LP Underground releases. There is a rumour, for a lack of a better word, that Chester wrote the song for his father, who died on February 14, popularly called Valentine's Day. In the Minutes to Midnight booklet notes for the song, a bit of background is given on the entire album: Before the release of the album, Chester spoke on the song in a track-by-track analysis in Kerrang!: "Valentine's Day" begins with finger picking from Brad, but it doesn't take long for Chester join in with the first verse. They're soon accompanied by a lot of tom drums from Rob Bourdon, and a great bassline from Phoenix, which, for once, wasn't buried in the mix completely. There's also an atmospheric quality to it, as a piano line and atmospheric synths begin to appear through the song. The track steadily builds and builds until it finally explodes. And it's nothing short of breathtaking. With Bennington passionately singing "on a Valentine's Day...", we finally learn where the title comes from. And as if one vocal line from Chester wasn't enough to keep us satisfied, the chorus of the song is repeated in the breakdown. As with the basically every song in Linkin Park's discography, critics and fans were divided with their opinions, with some labelling it some of the bands best work, others bashing it as too soft. Which group do you fall in? Lyrically, the song is filled with pain and regret. It can be easily interpreted as being about the feelings of loneliness, sadness and emptiness after a breakup, however the song has a few lines that clearly hint at it being about regret after the death of a loved one. This contributes to the theory of the song being about Chester losing his father. The song is definitely one of the darkest the band has ever written. Numerous references to death are made, such as black wind or darkness, but perhaps one of the most obvious are the lines "And the ground below grew colder/As they put you down inside", which clearly hint at a funeral. In the end, the song is there for you to interpret it and make it as close to you as you can. The band's lyrics are known for being layered in meaning, and I think that's what most of us enjoy about the lyrics. "Valentine's Day" wasn't performed live very often, but it is an amazing live experience. It gave the band a chance to really connect with the crowd in with a bit quieter song that everyone could relate to. It was first played on Januery 16, 2008 in Hannover. It continued to be played live during the 2008 Europe Winter and Summer tours and the 2008 North American Winter tour. The band rotated three setlist on these tours, with "Valentine's Day" regularly being in two of them. When performed live, the only modification the band did with the song was a new, lenghiter guitar intro from Brad Delson. It definitely added to the atmosphere and was very nicelly connected to the song. An absolutely wonderful performance of the song, along with this intro was captured in Lisbon in 2008, I embedded it above for your viewing pleasures. The last performance of the song happened on June 27, 2008, just two days before the iconic Milton Keynes performance. While it's highly unlikely the band will bring it back into the setlist, I'm sure it would make a lot of fans very happy. So, if you ask Chester what his plans for Valentine's Day are, you know what answer you're gonna get? "Masturbation". Stay classy, Chester. Never change.
On a more serious note, it's an alright song. Though it may be covering a more personal, heartbreaking subject matter, it's presented in a way that comes across as incredibly whiny and bland. It's one of the weakest tracks on Minutes to Midnight. It's far from the worst they've done though. The overall problem with this song is that LP were trying to be something they're not good at, a poppy, emo-ish Alt. Rock band. It doesn't work well for them.
"Valentine's Day" is one of the very best examples of the great mixing on "Minutes To Midnight", especially the way the drums shine amidst all the other instruments. Compare it to how the drums are mixed in the heavier "Meteora" songs Literally the only problems that I have with the song are its title and the line "on a Valentine's day ..."
Not the best song , but an alright one. The chorus is so cool and also the bridge. I dont always listen to this song, but when i do , its Februar 14th
Fun fact: I never heard the outro("On a valentine's day") until years after I bought the album because I thought the song was extremely boring. Now I love this song - while actually feeling that the outro is the weakest/ most generic part of the song. Overall the second half of MTM is so much better than the first half.
I really like Valentine's Day. It's a great soft song of theirs, and I don't really view it as a poppy song. What exactly makes it that? It also has a slightly different structure which makes it different, like Easier to Run. I would really like the band to do a similar song. Building up to the end the way it does with great instrumentation. The lyrics are again laced with multiple meanings, but I go with the theories that it is about someone who died. Some of the best lyrics on the album, if not their entire discography. It's a shame they don't play it live anymore, plus that is another song where Chester could easily play rhythm guitar and Mike could play keys at the end. Overall, still a good song
I love "Valentine's Day". Wouldn't change a thing about it. It's just another great example of the band's growth on Minutes to Midnight.
Oh, yeah, "Valentine's Day" doesn't really have a chorus. It has two verses, two pre-choruses, a bridge part and a big outro section
I like this song. It's a lot better when you realise it's about a death and not standard relationship issues.
Lol if there is one thing that lp is perfect at it would be making emo alt. songs And that's not me talking ,it's probably 90% of people that still consider LP an emo band The whiny vocals and bland lyrics are 2 things that any lp fan must cope with and that's a fact in a lot of their songs....
I think that the first 2/3's of the song are brilliant but that outro is kinda cringeworthy. Chester's vulnerable vocals are definitely a standout though!
I missed What I've Done. I think this is the second best song on MTM. I love the Shadow Of The Day links into it with an interlude at the start, and then everything else afterwards is amazing. I don't get disappointed by this song at all, and I like it where Mike comes in at the end, a bit like a 'Whoa ah oh' outro except a 'Na na na' outro. Bang Three was a nice demo, they used most of the structure of that for What I've Done's instrumental but changed some of it. Great song. Shame that (IMO) a bad song comes afterwards and it doesn't just go straight on to No More Sorrow.
Hands Held High is one of my least favourites from LP, although I don't hate it. The rap is a little slow, but it fits the instrumental with the organs and the drum band. The 'Amen' bit made me annoyed at first because I didn't want them to be singing about religious stuff, but I found really that part had nothing to do with a religion. The second chorus where Mike sings is the best part of the song, which I actually like a lot. IMO they kind of failed with some of the lyrics though, but only the bit where he is talking about his father with his fear and pride, and when he describes his brother's book. The rest of the lyrics are meaningful and they are probably the best out of Mike's raps (note I'm talking about the lyrics here). I don't really hate anything in LP, except that outro of When They Come For Me, which one day I would actually like to know why everybody else doesn't also hate it ;(
Valentines Day. I used to be my own protection; but not now. Cause my mind has lost direction; somehow. I sing along to those all the time. This is a beautiful song. I always enjoy it. I love the 'guitar solo' part, which isn't really a guitar solo it's just an 'instrumental' solo. Also, I just wanted to point this out 'And the clouds above move closer, looking so dissatisfied' Are we talking about Lakitu from Mario or something here? Then Chester goes onto a different pre-chorus part, which is completely different to the vocals on the verse. And we come to a nice long chorus. Great song.