MTG is meant to be more instrumental than the rest. So what, you want a fucking novel in there? It's better with a few repeated lines there. The vocal is on point.
The chorus in MTG is repeated three times (two in a row) In Until It's Gone "you don't know what you've got" is said 8 times, and "Until It's Gone" is said 14 times.
If you think Mark the Graves is bad listen to TLTGYA. The second half of the song (which is about 3 minutes long) is more or less the chorus repeating.
Didn't say The Little Things Give You Away was bad, just that the second half was rather repeatative.
Disappointments: The album sounds a little soulless and forced. Repetitive chroses (Wastelands of Todaaaay), and I'm not a huge fan of the rawness of the record, it lack some layers, some dirty noises (also, Joe Hahn? Were are you?) Satisfaction: This album is GREAT even knowing that you don't know what you've got Until It's Gone. THIS IS LINKIN PARK LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!! This shit is so addictive and awesome that the album sounds nice even if you don't know what you've got Until It's Gone. Also, Rebellion and Final Masquerade are Masterpieces and the album has no bad songs for me.
Satisfactions: Final Masquerade, War and All For Nothing being better then I expected. All the small interludes between the songs during the first half. The calm/soft/melodic parts of the album (Mike's sung verses, FM, UIG verses etc.) It just feels great to have new LP music. Disappointment: Mike's rapping. I feel no flow what so ever, and some parts even makes me cringe. I just don't like the style of rapping he chose this time. Half of the lyrics. It just feels cheesy and predictable. Some of the songs are just different parts put together, and there is no real song there, and it feels forced and disconnected. (KTTK and ALITS especially) ALITS. The overhype ruined it for me. And it's not a very good song. The whole "heavy" gimmick. Maybe it's just that I have grown out of the heavy music I used to listen to, but the "heavy" riffs here just don't do it for me. I would have prefered indie-LP. And Drawbar, just meh. Maybe I'm a little harsh, it's an okay album. Enjoyable, but not their best. It might grow on me in the next couple of days.
Satisfaction: The songs that are a perfect blend between the late 90's LP and the early 10's LP: Until It's Gone (love the synth, and the energy that was given to make this a "power" ballad) and Final Masquerade. GATS very much grew on me. I did not like it at first. I still believe they did not need Rakim on this record. With slightly rewritten lyrics, Mike easily could have handled the rap section. I also agree that Mike's lyricism and delivery has disappointed as of late as well. He takes a much more second-person approach to his lyrics now rather than a first or even third person approach, which comes across as much more humble and sincere. Disappointments: Too much raw energy and forced aggression that turned me off. I'm not a fan of the LP that it seems a segment of our culture is looking for them to become. LP was never a particularly "heavy" band; they were only heavy relative to A Thousand Suns. Even MTM seemed "heavy" relative to ATS (ref: Given Up; No More Sorrow). The screams that Chester uses on most of this record are not very enjoyable or listenable to me. I prefer his old style of screaming - where you could understand what he was saying, and not cringe a bit when you heard it. Biggest disappointment? The audible disappearance of Mr. Hahn.
Yet other "forced" or "gimmick" terms to describe the heavy sound of THP. Weird that being "electro-pop experimental" for the sake of being experimental and "anti-LP" never was considered a "gimmick" or "forced" back in the days. Oh well. I guess the use of those terms just depends of one's degree of enjoyment of an album.
Biggest Satisfaction: Mark the Graves, Drawbar, Rebellion, A Line in the Sand & Guilty All the Same. Remember when we first heard that title, Guilty All the Same? Most people cried about it, and even though it was the first song released 3 months before the actual album, this song is STILL fresh. One of the best on the record. Mark the Graves is really unique, really sounds like one big bad ass what-could-be instrumental and just keeps me interested throughout. Drawbar is awesome as well. I know a lot of people were let down with this song because they expected more out of the Morello collaboration but man, with this following Mark the Graves it feels like one huge 8-minute track. Love it. A Line in the Sand is exactly how Mike described it - everything Linkin Park can do in one song. And Rebellion, need I say more? Though, I don't think this track would be nearly as powerful if Malakian didn't have his hands on it. Also, the little interludes are great. I wish they were all longer though and given their own separate tracks just to make this album look better on paper. Disappointments: Like most, Until it's Gone, and for mostly the same reasons. Great instrumentation, fucking lyrics are probably the most bland the band have ever laid out. Worse than Somewhere I Belong. Almost. I'll also throw in Final Masquerade, too. Great, great song, but not for The Hunting Party. That song should have been on Minutes to Midnight, and it's also badly placed on the album. Maybe it should be in place of of Until it's Gone because once Drawbar is over with it feels like A Line in the Sand should be next, but it's not. Also, as good as Keys to the Kingdom is, the chorus ruins it almost. Maybe and introduction track would have complimented this song a little better, maybe. Everything else that I didn't mention I'm okay with.
I've never gotten why people have the lyrics of SIB. It's not a fucking masterpiece, but I think they're pretty solid.
The chorus. HEEL-FEEL-REEL, come on. That's what happens when you re-write it 40 times. I'm sure the other 39 versions were better.
They fit, though. Honestly, I think the song paints a super clear picture, and is something I can relate to.
The collaboration between LP and Tom didn't click as well as people would have hoped. As Mike explained, RATM is a jamming band, they make music that way while LP is quite the opposite, they demo their songs and build them piece by piece on computer.