Just a few thoughts from yours truly. Firstly, I'd like to point out the change in style of the album. That's a simple point and everyone knows about it but I must question why this change in style has been made? I mean, it has been proven that they can still write heavy songs (I'm thinking QWERTY) yet, for some reason, LP have decided to, erm, "mature" (I believe that "mature" is the wrong word to use because I'm thinking mature would mean more that the music being played has evolved however LP's style has just completely changed). Since the Hybrid Theory EP, and even before that when the band was called Xero, the style has been very much the same. It just seems odd to, after so long, suddenly redesign the band completely. Anyway, this seems fair enough but I'm also worried about the lack of direction in MTM. On HT all of the songs were selected to go together and some were dropped due to them "not fitting with the rest of the album". This was that same with Meteora and even the songs on Reanimation shared a similar idea. With MTM however, a few of the songs seem very much out of place (just look at Bleed It Out, Given Up and Hands Held High). There doesn't seem to be a 'theme' for the album at all. I know this next part will seem a bit random and probably slightly hypocritical on my part (I've been known to complain about LP's stalling tactics between each album by producing LIT, CC and even Reanimation) but I'd like to suggest that another remix album is what should come next. A remix album of Meteora so we can all get past the mess that is MTM (I'll be honest, I don't mind MTM but it just seems like the band ran out of ideas and threw together whatever came into their heads). The reason I want a remix album is because I feel that the band needs to go back to the way it was when they were leaning slightly more to the rap side of the band. Also, bringing back this older style and idea may actually give Joe something to do in the band other than help out with the videos. And that's it. I know some people will completely disagree with me here but each to his own. Oh yeah, sorry if some parts don't make sense, I was rushing it
Don't worry, I see what you're trying to say. Tbh, the only problem I have with the album is its lack of cohesion. While I quite enjoy the album, it's just not a solid unit of songs. If you look at the circumstances, it's a wonder they even got the album made. They hadn't been in a studio for 4 years, they worked with a producer who is the exact opposite of their previous one, and they over-wrote. Yes, I don't think they didn't have enough ideas, I think they had TOO many ideas. I think if they wrote less, they would have been able to concentrate more on the few they did write, imo. If this album has proven anything, though, it's that these guys take criticism to heart. People said too many songs on Meteora sounded alike, every song on MTM sounds different. As successful as MTM has been, they know a lot of people didn't like it, so I'm sure they'll take what they've heard and try to better themselves. I don't foresee them making MTM part 2, after the whole Meteora debacle.
The way I see it is that, if you've done the same thing for nigh-on a decade, when you try something genuinely different it's probably going to be interesting while lacking cohesion at best. For me, that's what MTM was... but there should never be more than one power ballad on an album that isn't by Bon Jovi.
It's my opinion that MTM has gotten old extremely fast. I can still listen to songs from Hybrid Theory, Reanimation, Meteora and Collision Course all the time but songs like Leave Out All The Rest and In Pieces just seem so, dare I say, boring. That's not to say they're bad songs but it is to say that this is the only album LP have ever made that has tracks which I'd skip through if I was playing the whole album. I think it sucks completely that Mike has dropped his rapping significantly (I also find it strange that after he wrote 'Get Me Gone' for Fort Minor that he's practicly written himself out of the album). I can tell that he doesn't have half as much fun when he's playing guitar than when he's rapping. Although having said that, songs like No More Sorrow and Shadow Of The Day are fantastic. I've said it before though, I believe that this album is just a transistional period for LP and that in on the next album we will hear a whole new LP that will evolve their music aswell as build on elements of their music that has made them so successful. One things for sure though, they're trying way too hard to go down as one of the best and sometimes that can kill a band. I hope this isn't the case.
I actually love the album, so I'm going to speak out against you guys and defend it. Did you ever think that maybe Linkin Park wanted to change their style up a bit? Maybe they wanted to do something different than the same exact thing they've done for the past two albums? And it's not like there isn't heavy songs on Minutes To Midnight, look at Given Up and No More Sorrow, or even Bleed It Out in some cases. There are hip-hop elements to it too, just because Mike only raps on two songs doesn't mean that the rest of the songs don't have a hip-hop element to them. Just because you're stuck on nu-metal doesn't mean everyone else is, it's a dead genre and personally, I think if LP released another nu-metal styled album they would be done.
I'd like to add that I think the songwriting on MTM improved a lot from their early days. Given Up and In Between are probably the weakest songs lyrically, but otherwise it's an improvement.
I think the change was certainly necessary. However where is it written in stone that having rap and rock elements in the same song makes it Nu-Metal? I think LP tried too hard to distance themselves from the whole thing that they've come out with an album that lacks organisation and catchiness. Don't get me wrong, it's a brilliant album and I love it, but there's potential for it to have been so much better.
I love the album but I gotta agree with Luke on one thing... the album has gotten old really fast. This was quite a surprise for me! Oh well, I hope (and believe) that they'll do something even better with the next album.
Agreeing with a point made all too well. I agree with that quite a bit actually. I either like some selected songs a lot (Given Up, Bleed It Out, Shadow Of The Day, No More Sorrow, Valentine's Day, and TLTGYA), and the rest are just kinda "blah". A remix album of Meteora would be awesome, and most of the fans have been chatting about it since the album came out, but we still haven't gotten a remixed album. As for MTM, if they make a remix album, it better not be remixed the way the What I've Done (Distorted Remix) done; because to me, it was terrible. I agree with the thing about Joe dissappearing too; he contributed a lot before, which is most likely why the other two albums were much more appreciated. Same with Mike and his rapping. In Between appears to be the least favorite song on the album to lots of fans. So, yeah, MTM got pretty boring after a while. Hopefully the next album won't be so boring, and not "more mature", which just doesn't make sense to me, because, yeah, all they did was change their style.
I understand that bands need to switch it up so that people don't get bored (hell, I'm in a band and we've changed slightly since we formed) but from what I can tell, they've abandoned their old style completely. There's no link whatsoever to the sound that got them where they are today. I'll agree that Given Up and No More Sorrow are heavy songs however Bleed It Out is not. This means that you've selected 2 songs out of 13 that are small links to the music that has made them what they are today. I've also gotta say that none of the songs on the album have a hip-hop influence at all except for Bleed It Out and Hands Held High. Finally, I'm not at all stuck on nu-metal; I wouldn't even go as far as saying that I like it.
You're saying that there's no theme for the whole album. Well I belive Mike said that was the point of the record. To go in 11 totally different directions. Lyrically, I think Given Up and Leave Out All The Rest are the weakest. The rest is better than Meteora at least. And some are the best they've wrote. My top three: 1. Hybrid Theory 2. Minutes to Midnight 3. Meteora Though I don't think it has got old on me yet. The only song I'm tired of is LOATR.
I'm going to address all of the points you made in this post. Firstly, you countered your point in trying to prove it. "It just seems odd to, after so long, suddenly redesign the band completely." It's been so long since the band's sound has changed, it was practically time for a change. From 1996 until the band started writing Minutes to Midnight, which is almost 9-10 years, the band has had the same sound. It served them well and got them huge sales and success. After a while, it doesn't sell anymore. Although there were fans complaining about the change with Minutes to Midnight, there was a significantly bigger amount of fans complaining about the lack of change before Minutes to Midnight. After a while, people were expecting a Hybrid Theory 3. Had they done that, they would have been beating a dead horse. Meteora was already too, too close to Hybrid Theory and some songs off of Meteora were pretty much clones to ones off of Hybrid Theory (i.e., In the End with Somewhere I Belong). Also, Meteora was also more watered-down lyrically than Hybrid Theory. Already, with their second record, they were restricting themselves a good deal. Simply put, something had to change. They needed to open themselves up a good deal otherwise they'd lose their credibility. Regarding the theme of Minutes to Midnight, it was a relatively just thrown together record if you look at it from a certain perspective. But, this record took a lot of time to make simply because the band spent a lot of time getting comfortable with the fact that they weren't going to do the same old style. They weren't focused on setting a theme, they were focused on working outside of their comfort zone. This record was a transitional record. A lot of different aspects of their creativity were shown on this record. Setting a theme for this album wouldn't have done their efforts justice. It would have just said, "Hey, here's one thing we can do different." Minutes to Midnight was "Hey, here's a lot of things we can do different. This is what we're capable of when we're not sticking to a routine sound." This gives us more of a rounded view of their creativity. Yes, the album isn't consistent with its sound and it doesn't keep a steady direction, but it has a consistency of throwing curve balls to the listener. It's more of a surprise record than a driving record, if that makes any sense. The idea of a remix album for either Meteora or Minutes to Midnight isn't a bad idea. The one thing that I disliked about Minutes to Midnight was the fact that they were close to completely eliminating the hip-hop element that they are known for. Bleed It Out and Hands Held High were all that represented that and unfortunately, it wasn't really enough for a lot of people. I think a remix album would not only show Linkin Park's extended creativity beyond a studio album, but their maturity in the hip-hop element they are known for. Yes, this would also bring back Joe a bit more and get him far more involved than was actually shown on Minutes to Midnight. I don't know if Linkin Park would do this, simply because when they released Reanimation, it wasn't well placed. It was released too soon after Hybrid Theory, which even though it highly impressed a lot of the fans (not to mention in retrospect, it is Linkin Park's most creative record and probably one of their best to date), it also lowered Linkin Park's credibility to come up with actual brand new material. I think that Linkin Park wouldn't do a remix album for Meteora or for Minutes to Midnight simply because they wouldn't want that repeat. I'd like to see something like that in the future, but I doubt it will happen. That's what I have to say.
If you think that Bleed It Out and Hands Held High are the only two songs that have hip-hop elements to them on Minutes To Midnight then you have no musical ear. Look at Leave Out All The Rest, it seems like it could be a Fort Minor song if Chester didn't do vocals, just because of the beat. Or Shadow Of The Day, that has hip-hop elements to it too. What I've Done and Valentine's Day drum patterns definitely resemble a hip-hop beat, and In Pieces has the whole reggae beat style thing going on, and The Little Things Give You Away even has a little hip-hop influence to it as well. So really, think before you speak. Just because every song doesn't have Mike dropping verses on it doesn't mean there isn't a hip-hop aspect to the new music. :angry:
You spelt 'rapping' raping, and yeah... now you get it. Oh and you said in your preivious post you hated What I've Done (distorted remix), i love it, I think it's much more interesting then the original, gives a sort of Muse-Hysteria feel. For people concerned with the change in style, people's tastes change overtime aswell, and maybe Linkin Park started like some really different music. I'm sure chester has stated sometime that he's been listening to some more types of music. I'm in a band myself and we started out writing sorta Alt Metal/Rock, Almost Nu-Metal type of thing, and then we all started liking dragonforce so our music became a lot more faster, solos and extra parts are fitted in everywhere, rapping is no more, and our music has got a more heavier feel. As for remix album, I'm all for it. Personally I'd like a mix of both Meteora and Minutes To Midnight, and maybe some redone Hybrid Theory ones (a Reading My Eyes re-do re-mix might fit in well), but not every song off meteora and MTM, just some from each that would make the album flow.
Yeah, that would be pretty cool actually. Because not all songs off of Meteora and Minutes To Midnight could be remixed well, some would work better than others. For one, I don't think that a remix of Hands Held High or The Little Things Give You Away would be good, because the original music is so good.