How much damage (if any) did this album do?

Discussion in 'Linkin Park Chat' started by Chris loves LP, Jun 10, 2017.

  1. #81
    Derek

    Derek LPAssociation.com Administrator LPA Administrator

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    Well here's the thing. I seem to remember about LT, the band said they had found a sound they liked. There was even some suggestion that they would stick with the LT formula but just change it from album to album.

    ...then along came THP and that whole possibility was thrown out the window :lol:
     
  2. #82
    Brandon

    Brandon I was Ree's 100th follower on Twitter.

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    At this point, I wish the band would get off this. There's a difference between loving all types of music and not being afraid to incorporate anything into your own creations, and pointless contrivance. The band has definitely fallen head-first into the second category after The Hunting Party-One More Light. None of it feels natural anymore. The marketing for the albums really underscores that.

    I think they just need to focus on writing the best music they can at this point and not worry if the end product has too many of x instrument.
     
  3. #83
    Michele

    Michele Praise Brad Delson, our Lord and Savior. LPA Addict

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    my thought was, that they would definitely try to make something as far away as possible. And we knew that Mike had some "Indie" demos (iirc) he worked on before he went full "heavy" (pun intended)
     
  4. #84
    Iopia

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    Fair enough, but from my experience I also know that even if right now I feel like I want to do something forever, I probably won't feel the same way in a few months.

    I do agree with the sentiment that the quality of the music should always come before anything else, but on of the weird things about the creative process is that constraining yourself and not allowing yourself to do the same thing twice often gives just as good, if not better results than writing the best music you can with no restrictions at all. In theory the latter sounds a lot more appealing, but I personally I think LP are a perfect example of this in action. While writing A Thousand Suns, the band forcibly threw out anything that sounded too much like Linkin Park. That album is the epitome of the band's desire to never repeat themselves, and in my opinion it resulted in by far the best work the band has ever put out. Meanwhile, Living Things was meant to be a return to writing the best music that came to mind without worrying about it being "too Linkin Park-y", and while not the album's certainly not bad, personally I think it's much weaker than it's predecessor. Now, this pattern definitely doesn't apply to everything the band has put out, but by and large I think the band's desire to evolve has lead to great things and I hope they keep trying new things for as long as they're around (although I agree that the jumps don't have to be as extreme as the last two albums). Just my 2 cents anyway. :lol:
     
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  5. #85
    LP Soldier 01

    LP Soldier 01 True LP Soldier

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    I agree with the previous statements that the change in sound is good, it probably shouldn´t have been so drastical from Nu-Metal to pure Pop, because that can, as it did, make fans go "What happened to the band I used know in 2000s, where is the aggressiveness, the heavy sound, the guitars?" and all that. Apart from being a complete change of sound when compared to THP, it deserves credit because they put hard work into this one and came up with some of their best and most meaningful songs ever. I see them going back to some heavier stuff or at least away from pop and will still sound good in the years to come.As this album was not so commercially successful, I think the next one will be the first in which they improve their album sales from one album to the next, which would be good to see, as well as new #1 Billboard 200 chart debut. I would like them to win a Grammy once more, but nowadays it's very hard and on the Rock category (not rock as to me, but they say so at Billboard), this year's winner will probably be Imagine Dragons.
     
  6. #86
    minuteforce

    minuteforce Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance. LPA Team

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    There've been a multitude of ~drastic~ transitions, it's not like they did a smash-cut from "Hybrid Theory" to "One More Light". People act like they were exclusively making nu-metal songs right up until just the other month.
     
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  7. #87
    Brandon

    Brandon I was Ree's 100th follower on Twitter.

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    This is true, but the reason A Thousand Suns is great isn't because it sounded different than the albums that came before it. It's great because it's ambitious, unconventional, and managed to perfectly capture/predict a lot of U.S. political anxiety and in some ways feels even more relevant today than it did at release.

    If ATS was exactly the same, but a bunch of the synth leads were replaced with crunchy Hybrid Theory guitars, or the piano melodies and drum beats were the clean strat riffs and natural drums of Minutes to Midnight, it would still be a great album. I've used the house and car example on this forum before. The band has officially become too focused on what color paint their new Mercedes is instead of what the actual car is capable of.
     
  8. #88
    Virgocore

    Virgocore Well-Known Member

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    The Hunting Party was the most shocking album for me, for multiple reasons. I genuinely never would have imagined that they would create an album like The Hunting Party after Living Things. I also thought they were basically done with a heavier rock and metal sound at that point because they hadn't really made music like that since 2003, aside from a few odd tracks on Minutes To Midnight. And when you look at One More Light, I can see it as somewhat of the ''next step'' after Living Things, since the band originally was creating pop music in 2013 before they changed direction for The Hunting Party, as cited in many interviews. That in turn makes One More Light very jarring to some people who may not closely follow the band, because it's releasing a pop album right after The Hunting Party. Who the hell knows what will come next.
     
  9. #89
    Reed To Black

    Reed To Black Prog, bro.

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    I wouldn't say that I 'hate' this album, I would describe my opinion as being 'indifferent' to it. My musical taste has evolved drastically since I first got into the band in 2012 in that I've started listening to heavier and more complex music. There's nothing wrong with LP wanting to make an album like One More Light, and there are some good songs on it, but I don't feel a connection with it; emotionally or otherwise. I hope the guys start making harder, more technical music within the next few albums but my expectations of that happening are slim to none. It saddens me that my tastes and Linkin Park's trajectory seem to be traveling on divergent paths, but the band will always hold a special place in my heart.
     
  10. #90
    minuteforce

    minuteforce Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance. LPA Team

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    These hypothetical people keep up enough that they know of "The Hunting Party" and how it was promoted, so I'd actually say that they do closely follow the band.
     
  11. #91
    One More Rob

    One More Rob Well-Known Member

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    I do get the point you're trying to make here. What I wanna say however is that (again speaking from my own experience) If I feel like (lets say) another nu-metal album I will. If I say afterwards that I might wanna do a half nu.metal half different album, I say, why not. Point is. I could see LP do an OML 2 but still say after that "its bs, We want something new"
     
  12. #92
    Virgocore

    Virgocore Well-Known Member

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    Wow... this is somewhat sad to read. I feel for you. I was very much invested and into the band during the years of Hybrid Theory, Meteora and Minutes To Midnight. I saw the band live many times throughout those years and I bought literally everything that the band did, including merch and everything else. I've mentioned on this site a few times about how I did not enjoy New Divide at all and I also didn't like A Thousand Suns at all, so I stopped being a fan in the band. I'm not saying A Thousand Suns is a bad album, because it's not, it's just not the kind of music that I enjoy. Then came Living Things a few years after and I disliked that album even more. I also didn't like The Hunting Party a few years after that, and didn't enjoy One More Light at all, this year, either. But I still remember the days that I was a big fan of the band and I still like talking with Linkin Park fans and learning about all the music, etc. It's weird, because I'm a fan of a lot of other bands and artists, and I don't feel that way about any of the others, but I somehow feel ''connected'' to the Linkin Park world, even though I really only like 3 of their main albums. So, what I'm trying to really say is that perhaps you are just growing out of the band, but that doesn't mean you have to abandon Linkin Park completely. You've said you became invested in the band emotionally, so that's a pretty big thing.

    I do agree with a few of your points, too. It was pretty embarrassing to see Chester's temper tantrums during interviews this year, it really didn't project him in a good light, and a lot of musicians and publications reacted to it. His approach should have just been ''If you like the music, good, if you don't like it, that's ok too.'' Of course when you're in a huge global band that has sold like 60 million albums, there will be people who call you a sellout, whether it's true or not. A 42 year old man should be able to brush that off, especially after have been making music for the better part of his life. But that's just my two cents. I also did feel a bit offended by his remarks, as I am one of those fans who enjoy the first albums, but it's whatever. I'm also not one of those fans who calls them sellouts, I just simply don't like the music, so I guess his anger wasn't really projected at someone like me, but it felt like it was in a way. I was happy when Mike reassured fans that all fans are welcome and you're free to enjoy any album. Mike always seemed like a much cooler person to me, and he obviously is mature and can handle criticism like a grown man.

    As far as the band ''falling apart'' creatively, I can agree and also disagree with that in a way. I don't want to offend anyone on here, but I don't think the band seems to be as collectively invested into the actual band like they used to be. 2015 saw the whole Linkin Park becoming a brand thing, and the band wanting to move towards that more in the future. I was worried when that happened because I assumed it meant that the actual music would take a back seat. The fact that they also brought in song writers to help write basically every song on the album also rubbed me the wrong way, and I know that's where I'll annoy a lot of people on this site, so I'll leave it at that. There's no doubt that the band loved making music during Minutes To Midnight and A Thousand Suns and they seemed very free and happy during those years as well. Like I said, I don't like A Thousand Suns, but I can respect it for what it was. You also raised another good point, about how they Linkin Parkified songs for Living Things. I'm not sure why they reverted back so quickly after making Minutes To Midnight (an album that also saw a lot of unique structures, particularly on the second half) and A Thousand Suns. I think Living Things is probably the band's weakest album. It's just so bland and boring to me. If I were to ever pick an album that I think was the band's downfall, it'd be that one. One More Light is EXTREMELY similar to Living Things for me, and I know some will disagree with that, but that's just how I feel. So people who love Living Things but hate One More Light confuse me. That's like someone who loves Hybrid Theory but hates Meteora in my mind, because they're similar to each other.
     
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  13. #93
    InStereo

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    Call me crazy but this is actually the first time after MtM that I wouldn't be too surprised if they made another record in the style of Hybrid Theory and Meteora. They already proved several times by now that they do not give a shit about what they said in any interview from the past, plus I could imagine they feel like they have something to prove after all the criticism for OML.
     
  14. #94
    minuteforce

    minuteforce Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance. LPA Team

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    If they do have something to prove, I'd say it definitely isn't that they can do nu-metal :rolleyes:
     
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  15. #95
    InStereo

    InStereo Well-Known Member

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    True. But a lot of People do not think that they still have it.
     
  16. #96
    Doridorica

    Doridorica Well-Known Member

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    If they did another nu-metal record there'd even be more criticism than there is now and besides they proved they can do it based on that short studio clip. I want them to move forward not back to nu-metal. They did two albums and I can always go back to them if I want to listen to the old sound but that's enough.
    I just wish they don't get any external writers for the next record. They said they wanted to learn sth new but it was a huge disappointment for me.
     
  17. #97
    minuteforce

    minuteforce Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance. LPA Team

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    Well, then, you can show them this and shut them up. ;)
     
  18. #98
    Doridorica

    Doridorica Well-Known Member

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    I watched the clip again and realized lyrics don't fit with the music or maybe I'm just used to the sound of the actual song. Anyway, they proved the point and now let's explore new territory.
     
  19. #99
    InStereo

    InStereo Well-Known Member

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    I know this, and I think it's bad (while it's bad on purpose). And it reminds me of
     
  20. TobinKnowsBest

    TobinKnowsBest 20.03.1976 - 20.07.2017 LPA VIP

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    Every time I see that I can't help laughing at Mike shouting "EVERYTHING'S ABOUT ME", mainly because 9/10 of the heavy Heavy covers have that exact same moment :lol:
     

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