I actually love Burn It Down. But I also love Heavy and The Catalyst If you exclude The Hunting Party, there are only two Linkin Park songs I dislike. (THP brings that up to 8 ) So maybe I am in the minority. I'm also probably on the minority with my opinion that Living Things is their best album to date.
I feel lIke I'm in the minority when it comes to a lot of Linkin Park opinions(or at least LPA opinions): 1. Living Things is my favorite album 2. Burn it Down and Heavy are good songs 3. Meteora is still good in 2017 4. Robot Boy is awful 5. Linkin Park's live set lists are fine To name a few
Heavy is a Linkin Park song and One More Light is their album. Nothing's going to change that lol it's happening and I love it
I could say the same thing to you. I've been following this band for sixteen years now and on this forum going on 13 years. I would never imply that anyone who likes the song are just mindlessly following but I've been around long enough to know that this band has it's fair share of fans who WILL. I would also like to point out that I'm not one of these people who yearns for them to return to the HT and Meteora sound nor would I expect them to stick to one specific style. Honestly this is a first for me as I've enjoyed the vast majority of their work right from their Xero/Hybrid Theory days right up to THP. They've definitely had hiccoughs along the way (*coughrechargedcough*) but on the whole this is the first time I seriously find myself questioning the integrity of the band. Before this I didn't care if they wanted to experiment. My feelings of disdain towards the song echo my feelings for alternative music in general. It's completely lost it's balls altogether. The fact that bands like Panic! At The Disco and Cage The Elephant are being nominated in the Best Rock group at the Grammys is evidence enough of this. No disrespect to those bands but why the fuck are they being nominated for Best Rock when it's very much debatable whether those bands even qualify as Rock music? They got the nod ahead of bands such as Deftones, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and other Rock artists who released critically acclaimed albums in 2016. There's something really wrong in the way that the genre is being presented at the moment. I fear that the genre is going in the same way Hip Hop has. It's becoming a watered down overly pop-driven pussy incarnation of itself. This is the time where successful rock bands like Linkin Park need to be sticking to their alternative roots. Pop has always had it's place in Linkin Park's music, there's no question about that, but it was rare that it took centre stage. On this album all the inclanations are that this is going to be a pop album. And that to me is massively disappointing because it completely contradicts their previous rhetoric. In the lead up to THP Mike mentioned listening to rock radio and compared it to Nick jr (I forget the exact quote). My quesion is what the hell changed in 3 years? Obviously the album isn't out yet and I could just be jumping the gun completely, but I'm not liking anything presented to me from this album so far. It's not even as if I'm vehemently against pop music. I dig artists such as The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Daft Punk, Madonna and others. I just never expected LP to go down this route and it saddens me that they have. To me it's not experimental if you write an overly accessable album full of pop hits. It's not challenging yourself if lyrics like "Heavy" are the best you can do. It's not stepping outside your comfort zone, it's stepping in to a comfort zone which may give you commerical success but ultimately lose you alot of respect. Chester took to the stage with Kings of Chaos and was the lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots. None of those artists would go down this route. I think the band should have had a chat with Chris Cornell before they did this.
I'd argue the direction is not the only problem. Like, sure, it's not cool to see a band I've grown up with release something which goes against everything I liked them for. But on top of that, I honestly think the song is not that good of a pop song either. The first vere is just...very bland, and features some very cliché soundbites/lyrics/vocals modulation. There is some cool stuff going on instrumentally during the second verse, but for way too short. The brigde has some potentially cool drumming/sounds too, but again, it doesn't get the time to get anywhere. The song starts and ends too abruptly, which just gives it that lazy feeling. Finally, I don't think the back and forth between Chester and Kiiara works so well, as she is clearly outshining Bennington. If you take the catchiness out of it, "Heavy" doesn't have much to offer. At least in my opinion.
I think people forget that Linkin Park didn't give two fucks about what anybody liked when they recorded HT. Doing so after they make a ton of money diminishes artistic integrity. They already did that with Meteora and What I've Done...They don't owe you anything bruh
Chester on twitter "You can like whatever you want, just like we can write whatever we want." And about the dislikes for the song on youtube, he said "Expected". Another question on twitter "Do u guys feel u might "lose" fans bcuz of dis song/album?" Chester - we lose fans every time we release a new record.... but we gain many times more than we lose. "Do the really negative and aggressive reactions to new LP styles ever get to you?" Chester - sometimes.... but then I remember that I'm in LP and laugh at them
ALRIGHT I JUST LISTENED TO THIS THING FOR THE FIRST TIME and I quite liked it. A couple of things that I didn't expect: there's no intro, and Kiiara leads the second chorus, which surprised me. I wish Shinoda had sung the verses, because I think he would've done better in that register but, other than that, it's alright with me. Both vocalists sound solid.
I think people generally like new LP styles (ATS) but with Heavy I think a lot of fans didn't think they'd go that route. It's only one song, yes, but a super radio pop r&b'ish song with female vocals doesn't really scream LP. When they were teasing us ATS images and song snippets we were confused but excited. Very abstract stuff going on. You knew something NEW was coming. Even though it didn't get high praise at first, the album has developed somewhat of a cult following. I think ATS might end up being a down fall for the band because it raised the fans standards from now on.............i wish ATS never happened!.........wtf i hate linkin park now. (le lame joking face here)
This is why fans abandon the band every time, though: because they decide that the new song or new album doesn't scream LP. They "generally" like new LP styles until the new LP style is one they can't handle.
Yeah well, Chester on Twitter is getting on my nerve now. To which he did agreed. Fuck that. It might be that this record breaks my interest in the band for a while. That's alright, no big deal. Would that erase 10+ years of supporting that band? I don't think so. Feel free to experiment all you want, but show a minimum of respect while doing so.
Not afraid to say I LOVE "Living Things", "Burn it Down" is secretly my jam. It's just a fun song. Only 2 complaints are the mixing is muddy and "Skin to Bone" is the only weak track to me, but even that has a gorgeous instrumental. It's in tough competition from ATS and MtM, but it's firmly in my top 3. It has some of my favorite songwriting of theirs to date. I do agree with a lot of these points, but out of respect to the band, I really do feel that we should reserve these kinds of thoughts until we hear the album. "Heavy" is more of a Kiiara song than an LP song, they haven't had a big hit in years and it's all too convenient with a rising pop star that happens to admire the band. I don't think that makes them a "sellout" as much as it is treading new territory like they've always done. It's as new for them as it is for us, and it either works or it doesn't. Can't say I love the song either and it blends in too much with the massive pop landscape without being all that unique in its own right, but I trust the band and I don't believe they've given up their artistic integrity based off a lead single that's designed to be accessible. This is probably the happiest and proud I've seen them, I believe there will be elements of this new album that will surprise all of us in a positive way. I feel like they've always done a good job at trying to satisfying both their wide spectrum of a fanbase and the casual audience (as difficult and divisive as they are), I don't think that'll change here. As they're an aging band, they can't afford to be making forgettable and throwaway tracks. I'm really hoping the rest of this album turns out to be as special as they feel it is.
I like "Heavy" well enough, but I just don't think it succeeded in accomplishing any of the goals the band mentioned during the time they were making the album and now in these interviews.
did the catalyst get as much hate as heavy though? i dont think so. I think people just want to hear something creative and new. There is nothing like that with Heavy and it's actually getting the response it deserves.
Honestly, the only thing that irks me about Heavy is that Chester's voice didn't get a chance to really shine alongside Kiiara's. After hearing about how amazing Chester's voice is on the album during previous interviews, with Mike saying for example: " People are gonna be blown away by the voice on this guy." I was expecting to hear it on Heavy. Therefore, I was disappointed. I just hope that the 2nd single will really show off the vocals that they have been speaking of.
There is difference between the dislike I've seen from you and from certain other fans. You've clearly shown that you support them and just don't like the direction of the song. You are being clear about why you dislike it while not being disrespectful about it. But majority of the hate is coming from fans who go "RIP Linkin Park" or "WTF is this shit. Sell outs!". That's being disrespectful to the band and the hardwork they've put in. So you can't fault the band if they get annoyed as well.