Your Positives & Negatives for OML

Discussion in 'Linkin Park Chat' started by Mark, May 22, 2017.

  1. #21
    Captain-EO

    Captain-EO Also Prog Nerd Now, Thanks Gibs LPA Super Member

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    Positives:
    • Mike's singing is incredible. It's the biggest highlight of this album for me.
    • There's so much really great things going on instrumentally. Like has been touched upon, there are just so many parts to each song to discover. I'm just now finding the subtle clean guitar behind Kiiara's verse in Heavy.
    • Brad's guitar-playing. It just feels so right. Very little of the power chord riffs or octaves that are a tell-tale sign of Shinoda's hand. It has a genuine Brad feel to it.
    • Sorry for Now was one of the biggest and most amazing surprises that an artist I follow has released.
    • Despite some comments I have seen about the lyrics being "straight from a Hallmark card", I believe these songs stand among some of the best lyrics they've made. LP has a tendency to write lyrics some might call "whiney", but songs like Sharp Edges disregard this entirely.
    • The band dug deep and got extraordinarily personal with this album, like they promised. The way the tracks are so personal to them, combined with the perspective of many of the lyrics, make it just feel like a real experience of an album. This is something I feel they've only hit with A Thousand Suns before.
    • I really enjoy Mike's flow on Good Goodbye, which I see @Deliveranze has also mentioned. The lyrics to his verse did not have me impressed when I glimpsed them but his delivery is just way better than expected.
    Negatives:
    • Talking to Myself. I feel it's the weakest track on the album currently. I still like it enough, and it might grow on me in time, but it feels really out of place and of lower quality compared to the other tracks, even Heavy or Good Goodbye, which are not as strong and ill-fitting compared to the rest of the album, respectively. I'm also not a fan of the guitar tone honestly.
    • The album at some points seems to get a little caught up in Mike Shinoda's current obsessions, namely with trap drums and effected vocals. I don't dislike these things but I feel just a little (and I emphasize little) too much of it was sprinkled throughout the album. One of the moments I feel strongly about this is at the beginning of Invisible leading into the first verse. The drums just don't seem to work right there. I feel like it should have been live drums or something that was a little bit more spacious-sounding.
    Track Rankings:
    1. Sorry for Now
    2. Invisible
    3. One More Light
    4. Sharp Edges
    5. Halfway Right
    6. Nobody Can Save Me
    7. Battle Symphony
    8. Good Goodbye
    9. Heavy
    10. Talking to Myself
    The only real big gap is between Heavy and Talking to Myself. I just don't feel like it's a very strong song.

    Album Rankings:
    1. A Thousand Suns
    2. One More Light
    3. Minutes to Midnight
    4. Meteora
    5. Living Things
    6. The Hunting Party
    7. Hybrid Theory
    As much as I love MTM, I feel it doesn't have as much replay as a whole compared to One More Light. If I'm in a mood for one of the songs off MTM, there's probably one I don't want to listen to (it's usually What I've Done to be honest). But I still think A Thousand Suns outdoes One More Light. The run of When They Come for Me to Blackout is too good.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2017
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  2. #22
    Modern Guitar God

    Modern Guitar God Nets 2021 LPA Super VIP

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    Positives
    • The most personal and honest album from the band. They never would've gotten as specific lyrically as songs like OML, Sharp Edges, Halfway Right, Sorry for Now in the past.
    • The best vocal performances from the band
    • Brad's playing and sound is more reflective of his personal touch here
    • OML is one of the most heart-breaking songs I've ever heard
    • The most sophisticated production by the band imo. (Know people will laugh or mock me for thinking this though)
    • Artwork is also my favorite by the band

    Negative
    • A very short album (though it's much better than a long album with many not-so-good songs)
    • Not really feeling Good Goodbye.. could've benefited from longer verses from each rapper
    • Wish Sharp Edges was longer or had more variation. I still like the song however.
    • Don't think Heavy is that strong of a song. Though I like Kiiara's and Chester's singing.
    • Not anything to do with the album or band... just that this is a divisive album. Can't be helped though

    Song rankings
    1. One More Light
    2. Sorry for Now
    3. Nobody Can Save Me
    4. Sharp Edges
    5. Invisible
    6. Battle Symphony
    7. Talking to Myself
    8. Heavy
    9. Halfway Right
    10. Good Goodbye
    Album rankings
    1. One More Light
    2. Living Things
    3. A Thousand Suns
    4. The Hunting Party
    5. Minutes to Midnight
    6. Hybrid Theory
    7. Meteora
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2017
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  3. #23
    Avo

    Avo Don't Stop Running

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    I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone else mention this. From the second I heard it, I cringed, and I still do. It honestly just sounds so bad to me, like they really couldn't come up with anything better. But eh, it's one song that I hate on what is, to me, one of their better albums.
     
  4. #24
    Qwerty19

    Qwerty19 Well-Known Member

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    Positives
    • Melodies. Everything has been said already. They are infectious
    • Lyrics. More adult, I guess That's good
    • Guitars. More varied, subtle, and interesting.
    • Details. If you start listening closely to the instrumentals, there trully are a lot of cool stuff constantly shifting
    • Production. Maybe the best thing about this record.
    Negatives
    • Derivative. This whole thing is annoyingly reminescent of a lot of the current radio music
    • Chester voice. I don't find anything interesting about it throughout most the record. Sorry.
    • Flat. There's that point, starting from Battle Symphony, where I just get bored. The album terribly lacks in dynamism. Mid-tempo mellow pop songs, one after another, just like that, yeah, nope. Gimme some spices.
    • Formulaic. V-C-V-C-B-C. Usually with a more quiet first chorus. Gets old.
    • Bridges. They are just .... lazy.
    • "na na na na na na na"
    • Sharp Edges. If I had to pick one, that's the song I feel I have already heard 100000 times before. From people who do it way better.
    • First listening. It was bad. Very bad. Like, with MTM and ATS I remember having a "wtf" feeling, but in a way, I kept listening to it. I wasn't sure if if I liked it or not. With this? I just went "Yeah.... This is not quite good"
    • Replay-value. How long before the pop candy effect fades out?
    Ranking

    1. A Thousand Suns
    2. The Hunting Party
    3. Minutes To Midnight

    4. Hybrid Theory
    5. Meteora

    6. Living Things

    7. One More Light
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2017
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  5. #25
    Noosh

    Noosh Well-Known Member

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    Positives
    • The production has stepped up significantly which helps every track sound wider and deeper. The hidden complexities really make this album a treat to listen to.
    • The lyrical quality is up there with Minutes To Midnight, A Thousand Suns and Living Things.
    • The album overall has a much more upbeat feeling. Having wondered what LP's take on albums such as Mylo Xyloto would be, hearing the result is wonderful. You can really feel that they had a lot of fun working on this album.
    • Six songs off the album made it into the live set already which opens the door for nearly the entire album being played in live which hasn't happened since ATS.
    • Composition wise, this album is gorgeous. So many infectious melodies and wonderful chord progressions.
    Negatives
    • Chester's "rap" on Sorry For Now is alright but I feel it could have been a little better if Mike had performed that section instead.
    • With the excessively negative reaction to the direction of the album, I hope to god that we don't get a neo-Hunting Party era. One More Light's strengths lie in it's layered composition, great production and highly varied tracks that explore every corner of pop. It would be a shame to ditch that in favour of heavy guitar spilt everywhere to compensate for boring instrumentals with dismal lyrics that only work in live environments.
    • Heavy is easily the weakest lead single the band has released. While I got into it after it was released, I still had the thought of "where are they going with this?!" in the back of my head until Battle Symphony was released.
    Song Ranking
    1. Halfway Right
    2. Invisible + Nobody Can Save Me
    3. Talking To Myself + Sharp Edges + One More Light
    4. Battle Symphony
    5. Sorry For Now
    6. Good Goodbye
    7. Heavy
    Album Ranking
    1. Living Things + One More Light
    2. A Thousand Suns + Minutes To Midnight
    3. Meteora
    4. Hybrid Theory
    5. The Hunting Party
     
  6. #26
    AThousandLivingTheories

    AThousandLivingTheories Mark The Graves

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    Pros:
    • The singing is the best part about the album.
    • A lot of the songs are lyrically well written.
    • Relatable lyrics.
    • A lot of the instrumentals are pretty good, but they still have some issues.
    • Production wise is very solid.
    Cons:
    • Bad lyrics in a few of the songs (Mike's verse in Good Goodbye, with "highly illiterate" and "you idiots", and Stormzy's very forced rhyme, rhyming "Linkin Park" with "Linking Tings In Parks", and then Halfway Right's lyrics.)
    • Trap drum beats. Trap drum beats everywhere. Drum synths heard in every charting song lately. And the real drums have taken a backseat.
    • The instrumentals can be a problem in some songs. One More Light is an example, the droning instrumental kinda kills it for me. It's a lot better live, though.
    • Some forgettable songs, Invisible coming to mind.
    I give it a strong 5/10.

    Track Rankings:
    1. Talking To Myself
    2. Nobody Can Save Me
    3. Battle Symphony
    4. Sorry For Now
    5. Heavy
    6. One More Light/Halfway Right (tie)
    7. Invisible
    8. Good Goodbye
    9. Sharp Edges
    Album Rankings:
    1. A Thousand Suns
    2. Living Things
    3. Meteora
    4. The Hunting Party
    5. Hybrid Theory
    6. Minutes to Midnight
    7. One More Light
     
  7. #27
    mmmmtastycookies

    mmmmtastycookies Not black & white, only organized confusion

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    Positives:
    - LP has showcased a brand new style, and for the most part it proves successful.
    - Catchy choruses & fun outro's. NCSM, Sorry for Now and Invisible outro's specifically.
    - Chester slays on this album. His performance on One More Light (the song) is probably his most genuine and emotional to date // so does Mike for the record.
    - Definitely an element of surprise upon early listens, and although some song structures might have been same old-same old, it never really felt that way to me.
    - Layered production makes you lean into the songs & pick up subtle things not noticed earlier which enhances the replayability of the record.

    Negatives:
    - Similar production style across a majority of the songs (beats, echo/air-y-ness). Because of this, some songs bleed into others. Battle Symphony comes to mind.
    - Abrupt album ending
    - Organic sounds from drums and guitars are lost in the mix. While I understand why this was done, I think a few more songs could have benefited from this not being the case

    Right now the album sits at a 6.5/10 for me. It's a fun record but I think once the novelty of it being new wears off, there will only be a few tracks I turn back to.

    Top Tracks:
    1. One More Light
    2. Nobody Can Save Me
    3. Sorry For Now
    4. Taking To Myself
    5. Invisible
    6. Halfway Right
    7. Sharp Edges
    8. Heavy
    9. Good Goodbye
    10. Battle Symphony

    Albums:
    1. Hybrid Theory
    2. A Thousand Suns
    3. Meteora
    4. The Hunting Party
    5. One More Light
    6. Minutes to Midnight
    7. Living Things
     
  8. #28
    blackout.

    blackout. Well-Known Member

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    Positives:
    • Lyrics. Maybe they are not so complex, they don't have a lot of metaphors but they are really honest and natural. They look like conversations with friends/family. For the first time Linkin Park have lyrics that are focused on specific topic. I remember them saying that "Living Things" is very personal too, like "One More Light", but on "Living Things" I feel like there are a lot of generalities. On "Living Thins" lyrics are just about relationship, not that specific like on "One More Light" where Mike wrote a song about their kids, for example. Probably the best album when it comes to lyrics.
    • Wonderful atmosphere. I have read the whole topic and no one paid any attention to it. Many beautiful vocal melodies, thanks to which we can feel evn better the lyrics. There is something dreamy in these songs, in my opinion. Especially in "Nobody Can Save Me" and "Sharp Edges". I really like listening to this album in the night. It's simply beautiful.
    • Sound of clean guitar. It is known that the guitars are not in the foreground for "One More Light", but in my opinion they are very well located and sound good. What is the most important is that guitars on "One More Light" add a lot of climate and calm vibe to some of the songs. First verse of "Nobody Can Save Me" and first verse of "Invisible" are the best examples. Unfortunately, the more distorted guitars in "Talking To Myself" don't sound so good, a little weird in my opinion, not enough power in them, so I pointed out that I mean only clean guitars.
    • Vocals. Chester sounds more comfortable and natural than on "The Hunting Party". Starting from lyrics and vocal melodies has allowed them to create comfortable melodies that don't tire Chester. For example "Talking To Myself" sounds great live! In addition, I must praise Mike. He is developing, singing better and better. It can be heard at concerts, he sings "Invisible" practically the same as it sounds on the record.
    • Good mix. Listening to the album is pleasant, there is no sound/noise wall.
    • Very catchy melodies. I sing "Nobody Can Save Me" and "Talking To Myself" everyday and after I listen to the album, there are a lot of melodies that are stuck in my head for whole day. Especially choruses are very catchy!

    Negatives:
    • Too little melody on instruments/synthesizers. I'd like to hear more moments like on "Invisible" bridge. In each track, guitars and synthesizers play only chords that match the vocals. There are very few additional tunes such as the main theme of "Until It's Gone" or "Numb" and it's not good for me. They should add more melodies like that.
    • In each track the same/similar structures. I have nothing against the construction of verse/chorus/bridge/chorus because I like simple songs but how many times did they use a quiet refrain theme? In almost every song the first chorus is quiet, builds tension before the next part where the song explodes. They should have used more variety in these songs. I believe they had around 18 months to work on this album and they are very creative group of people so they should have come up with something more interesting.
    • Repetitive sound of electronic components. The synthesizers in each song are very similar, there is no big diversity in them. Synthesizers are not so bad, for example, in "Talking To Myself" they sound interesting. But trap elements are worse for me. I have nothing against trap, I like this genre but they sound like the band are not so experienced in adding them into the songs and they feel a little bit forced. And there is no diversity in sound of them, there are a lot of similar sounding snare/hi-hats samples going around.
    • "Good Goodbye". It's not a bad song but this track just doesn't fit in this album. There are a lot of personal things and suddenly there are Mike with Stormzy and Pusha T rapping about "hoes" and "idiots". I believe they had more beautiful songs/demos that would extend the wonderful vibe of first track. They should release "Good Goodbye" as a stand-alone song before or after the premiere of "One More Light" if they really wanted this track to be released.
    Track Ranking:
    1. Nobody Can Save Me
    2. One More Light
    3. Sorry For Now
    4. Halfway Right
    5. Talking To Myself
    6. Invisible
    7. Sharp Edges
    8. Battle Symphony
    9. Heavy
    10. Good Goodbye
    But there are a lot of songs that are really close to each other. I like every song on this album so it was hard to choose for me.

    Album Ranking:
    1. Living Things
    2. One More Light
    3. A Thousand Suns
    4. Hybrid Theory
    5. Minutes To Midnight
    6. Meteora
    7. The Hunting Party
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2017
  9. #29
    Halfway Dwight

    Halfway Dwight We are the fortunate ones.

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    Positives:
    - The lyrics feel natural, personal and are easy to relate to.
    - Mike and Chester's vocals.
    - The atmosphere of the songs.
    - The use of the guitar and how it blends in with the other elements in the songs.

    Negatives:
    - The same/similar structures that the songs have. It would have been interesting to see more variety.
    - Good Goodbye. This song feels out of place in the album, at least for me.

    Track ranking:
    - Sorry For Now / One More Light
    - Halfway Right
    - Nobody Can Save Me
    - Sharp Edges
    - Invisible
    - Battle Symphony
    - Heavy
    - Good Goodbye

    Album ranking:
    - A Thousand Suns
    - One More Light
    - Living Things / Minutes To Midnight
    - The Hunting Party
    - Hybrid Theory
    - Meteora
     
  10. #30
    Vdalem

    Vdalem Purrfect! LPA Super VIP

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    As usual, every time they put out a new album......I love them more and more, no matter what!
     
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  11. #31
    HybridT

    HybridT Well-Known Member

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    Positives:
    • This album may be the catchiest one they've ever done.
    • The mixing and the production are excellently well done.
    • I'm starting to enjoy the lyrics, especially lyrics from One More Light and Sorry For Now. (I found the line 'In the kitchen, one more chair than you need' very deep)
    • I feel 'One More Light' might become one of my favorites songs of all time.
    • 'Nobody Can Save Me' is slowly becoming an awesome opener for the album.
    • The best vocal performance by Mike and Chester hands down. And I still can't believe that Mike can replicate live what he did in the studio.
    • 'Sorry For Now' does remind me a lot of ATS in terms of experimentation. :D
    Negatives:
    • I would have loved to have some transitions between songs.
    • The absence of Mike's rap verses.
    • Less Mike than I would loved. He has a great voice, I think he deserves singing more songs.
    • Very simple structures. Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Chorus.
    • Despite of enjoying the lyrics, I feel that some of them are a bit lazy. C'mon they were 18 months in the studio, they could at least wrote a bridge different than the damn pre-chorus (e.g. Talking To Myself, Invisible, and so on...)
    Top Tracks: (this can be modified)
    1. One More Light
    2. Sorry For Now
    3. Nobody Can Save Me
    4. Talking To Myself
    5. Sharp Edges
    6. Invisible
    7. Halfway Right
    8. Battle Symphony
    9. Good Goodbye
    10. Heavy
    Top Albums: (very early for OML to be included in the list... anyway, this can be modified aswell)
    1. A Thousand Suns
    2. Minutes To Midnight
    3. One More Light
    4. Hybrid Theory
    5. Living Things
    6. The Hunting Party
    7. Meteora
     
  12. #32
    Mark

    Mark Canadian Beauty LPA Administrator

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    General consensus for OML songs thus far:

    1. One More Light
    2. Sorry For Now
    3. Nobody Can Save Me
    4. Invisible
    5. Sharp Edges
    6. Talking To Myself
    7. Halfway Right
    8. Battle Symphony
    9. Good Goodbye
    10. Heavy
    One way you could look at the bottom 3 is that they could not have picked three worse songs to promote this album. Great way to get your fans on your back from the outset. :lol:

    OR it's shiny new toy syndrome and people are fatigued by those three from overplaying before the full album released.

    Also, TTM had the most varied reactions. 3 first place votes and 4 last place votes. People are all over the map on TTM.
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2017
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  13. #33
    InStereo

    InStereo Well-Known Member

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    Positives:

    - One More Light is a beautiful song
    - Mike's singing on Sorry for Now
    - I can listen to the record with my mum
    - Talking to Myself is a good song
    - The live versions of the songs save a lot
    - Mike's rapping on Good Goodbye

    Negatives:

    - Chester's singing (and I hate to say that but compared to older stuff he just sounds weak. His voice sounds squeaky most of the time. The live version of OML shows that he still has it)
    - Boring song structures
    - Trap sounds everywhere
    - Lyrics, to me, are not necessarily better than older stuff. If they are (Halfway Right) the song kills it
    - The hypocritical Marketing

    Top Tracks:
    1) One more Light
    2) Talking to myself
    3) Sorry for Now
    4) Battle Symphony
    5) Nobody can Save me
    6) Invisible
    7) Good Goodbye
    8) Heavy
    9) Sharp Edges
    10) Halfway Right

    Top Albums:
    A Thousand Suns
    Minutes to Midnight
    The Hunting Party
    Hybrid Theory
    Meteora
    Living Things
    One more Light
     
  14. #34
    One More Rob

    One More Rob Well-Known Member

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    Pros:
    - Talking to Myself. Honestly to me this is just what I expected/hoped the album would be when I heard about it
    - Its short.

    Cons:
    - no replay value. In fact I keep hearing this stuff about (don't just listen once but let it sink in) in all honesty listening to this album feels like a chore.
    - OML (the song) feels so bland. I know what the subject meatter is or rather that its an emotional subject. But to me the song (musically/vocally) just isn't. Lyrically yes. I wish what you heard from the song would reflect that. I mean the Live version from Jimmy Kimmel is what I am talking about. Then they should just make a non-bland instrumental and its perfect.
    - Sharp Edges feels like a song I have heard before. The only difference being the lyrics
    - That trap breakdown in SFN ruins the entire song for me. Like if that was not there it would be the second flawless song on OML.
    - Guest producers. To me it feels/felt more and more that basically its not "Heyy we made songs with pop-producers and its album worthy. But to me it always felt like they were saying "okay if we try this we have to put an album of it out, regardless of quality.". I have said it before but for me its not that LP goes POP is bad I just think LP goes pop could be realized better than it is.
    - Heavy. That song is an absolute abomination. If I had the ability I would delete all traces of it from the planet.

    Song ratings:
    1. Talking to Myself
    2. Invisible
    3. Sorry For Now
    4. Battle Symphony
    5. Nobody can Save me
    6. Halfway Right
    7. Sharp Edges
    8. Good Goodbye
    9. One More Light
    10. Heavy

    Album Rating:
    1. ATS
    2. LT
    3.MTM
    4. THP
    5. Meteora
    6. HT
    7. OML
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2017
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  15. #35
    HypnoToad

    HypnoToad Glory to the HypnoToad! LPA VIP

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    Positives:
    • By far Mikes best vocal performance.
    • Melodies Melodies Melodies.
    • Talking to Myself, Sorry For Now, and One More Light are just great songs innit.
    • Speaking of One More Light, it definitely takes the place of The Little Things You Give Away as the most beautiful LP song for me.
    • Production. Top notch.
    • This is the only LP record where I feel like I don't have to be in a certain mood to listen to it. If that makes sense.

    Negatives:
    • Not really a gripe with the album per say, but I wish I could go back in time to when the band was promoting THP and duct tape their mouths shut whenever the word "pop" was said, because their comments are really biting them in the ass with this release.
    • Generic song structure on every song.
    • Mike's god awful rap on Good Goodbye.
    • Chester's rap on Sorry For Now. It's not that I don't like it, but it just feels kinda...there. Sorry For Now still knocks though.
    • For the first time I can say that an LP song got progressively worse the more I listened to it and that song is Heavy. The only redeeming quality of that song is that Kiiara sounds nice on it.
    • Would've been nice if the album was a little longer.
    Song Rank:
    1. One More Light
    2. Sorry For Now
    3. Talking to Myself
    4. Nobody Can Save Me
    5. Sharp Edges
    6. Invisible
    7. Halfway Right
    8. Battle Symphony
    9. Good Goodbye
    10. Heavy
    Album Rank:
    1. A Thousand Suns
    2. Minutes to Midnight
    3. Reanimation
    4. Hybrid Theory
    5. Second Half of Living Things
    6. One More Light
    7. The Hunting Party
    8. First Half of Living Things
    9. Meteora
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2017
  16. #36
    Spitz

    Spitz Well-Known Member

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    Pros:
    • This album is a desperately needed palette cleanser from the hot garbage that was the Hunting Party.
    • There's nothing about Talking to Myself that I don't like and it should've been the lead single, if only to ease the fanbase into the sound of the album.
    • The same with Invisible. It's a cute song and should've been the second single.
    • Lyrics-wise, One More Light steals the show.
    • Memorable vocal melodies. Chester needs to flex his pop/R&B chops more. It makes songs like Halfway Right and Heavy more listenable.
    • Y'know what, I enjoy Mike aping El-P's flow on Good Goodbye. El-P needs more recognition than being Killer Mike's second banana.


    Cons:
    • I feel that a large part of why I like Talking to Myself is because it's the token rock song.
    • I know that a large part of why I like Good Goodbye is because it's the token rap song, phoned-in verses from everyone be damned.
    • Maybe it's a fault of the production, but the album sounds so homogeneous. There's no real peaks or valleys, it's largely one mood and sound throughout.
    • Disproportionate focus on Chester. Maybe I'm alone in feeling this way, but for about 90% of the band's output, Mike's absence is strongly correlated with how forgettable any given song's going to be. Like, I don't care enough about either Nobody Can Save Me or Battle Symphony to tell the difference between the two.
    • Related to the above, but Mike only has one rap verse on this whole album and it was probably written five minutes after he heard Talk to Me.
    • I honestly don't see anything in the lyrics that warranted bringing in outside songwriters. I mean, THP is tied with Meteora as the band's nadir on that front, but they didn't need anybody's help to get back to the (relative) highs of ATS and the good half of LT.
    • Waiting three years for half an hour of the band obviously chasing trends kinda irks me and the band trying so hard to gaslight everyone into thinking otherwise isn't helping. I figured that this album was gonna be pop-oriented ever since Mike let it slip that the material they were working on before THP was leaning more towards indie-pop, but between that, some of the songs from the Mall OST and hearing that Jon Green and Conner Youngblood were working on the album, I had this hope that it was gonna be a somewhat quirky record with some pop appeal but no expected aspirations for airplay like, I dunno, Get to Heaven by Everything Everything. I was not prepared for an amalgamation of Imagine Dragons and the Chainsmokers. And then it turned out none of Conner's contributions made the record anyway.
    • I love the band for its experimentation, but the results here are mixed. I didn't like it at first, but Sorry for Now eventually grew on me once I started looking at it as a counterpart to Blackout, However, while showtune-trap is an interesting concept on paper, it just doesn't come together for me as a listening experience. As for Sharp Edges, the band wrote a better beardy-folk tune with Devil's Drop and that didn't have to resort to tired Nietzsche references.


    Song Rank:

    1. Invisible
    2. Talking to Myself
    3. Good Goodbye
    4. Sorry for Now
    5. One More Light
    6. Sharp Edges
    7. Halfway Right
    8. Heavy
    9. Nobody Can Save Me
    10. Battle Symphony


    Album Rank:

    1. Reanimation (I'm counting it and y'all can't stop me.)
    2. A Thousand Suns
    3. Living Things
    4. Minutes to Midnight
    5. One More Light
    6. Meteora
    7. Hybrid Theory
    8. The Hunting Party
    9. Recharged (Likewise with this one.)
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2017
  17. #37
    Bennington_Hahn

    Bennington_Hahn This goes out to everybody still hatin' LPA VIP

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    Nice idea. Beats the standard review idea. Makes things a lot easier ti digest. Here's my breakdown...

    Pros:

    • Production. Everything just sounds good. Better than LTs production by a mile.
    • Brad's guitar work (Especially in NCSM, S4N, OML & Sharp). An unexpected turn. Continuing with what he started with some of the tracks from the Mall OST.
    • Lyrics - the best since ATS. They really are the most emotional & Sentimental of their carrier.
    Cons:
    • Production. Yeah I know. I've put it down twice, but i feel that some of the mixing unfairly drowns out Brads great work.
    • Return to generic song structures and shorter "Firecracker songs". Which I'm sure is a pro for some but a regression in my eyes coming after THP.
    • Cliche pop sensibilities (e.g. the pitch shifted chipmunk vocals.)
    • Over Reliance on Synths & electronic effects, instead of stripped down & more organic songwriting a la the song OML.
    • Big step down from Rob. Too many sampled beats. He offers little to the table here.
    • Apart from S4N, not many songs offer surprising dynamic turns in the music. its too predictable. And some of the chord progressions are too safe.

    Track Rankings:
    1. Sorry For Now - The Spiritual successor to Waiting for the End. Standout track.
    2. One More Light - Powerful song. One of the bands best stripped down songs. heartfelt and full of emotion.
    3. Sharp Edges - very Mumford & Son's esque Folk pop. Unquie twist to end the album.
    4. Halfway Right - Very Disney (but the lyrics are anything but!)
    5. Nobody Can Save Me - "Owl City" Meets "Burning in the Skies".
    6. Invisible - Mikes singing prowess is excellent. Could have gone further with the 80's synth.
    7. Battle Symphony - "Coldplay" to a tee. But LP make it work with their sensibilities.
    8. Heavy - Grown to like this one more. It's melody holds it together.
    9. Good goodbye - Fort Minor/We Made it - being the only Hip-hop track 2 guests where uneeded.
    10. Talking to myself - "The Killers". Forgettable and done before.
    Album Rankings:
    1. A Thousand Suns
    2. Minutes to Midnight
    3. The Hunting Party
    4. Hybrid Theory
    5. Living Things
    6. One More Light
    7. Meteora
     
  18. #38
    wolfboy

    wolfboy Active Member

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    Pros:
    - Non-cringey lyrics
    - Chester's singing
    - Easily accessible, can listen to album with friends/family that only listen to pop

    Cons:
    - Album gets boring very quickly. Low replay value.
    - Song structures for most the songs is too repetitive
    - Boring drumming loops

    Track Ranking:
    1. Nobody Can Save Me
    2. One More Light
    3. Sorry For Now
    4. Battle Symphony
    5. Invisible
    6. Sharp Edges
    7. Talking To Myself
    8. Halfway Right
    9. Heavy
    10. Good Goodbye

    Album Ranking:
    1. The Hunting Party
    2. A Thousand Suns
    3. Meteora
    4. Minutes To Midnight
    5. Hybrid Theory
    6. One More Light
    7. Living Things
     
  19. #39
    LP Soldier 01

    LP Soldier 01 True LP Soldier

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    Positives
    • The band not being afraid to risk a new genre, knowing they could get a lot of backlash for that,
    • The album is very personal and for me most of the songs are relatable.
    • Some of the best vocals from Chester and Mike, particularly on SFN, OML, NCSM, TTM, Invisible and SE.
    • Great idea from the band to swap Mike´s and Chester´s roles on SFN.
    • A very positive word to the fact of reaching Billboard 200 top spot, now the next goal is reaching gold status in the RIAA for 500 000 shipments.
    • One More Light is the best song of the abim, which spoke to me on levels an LP song had been able to in all 7 records. That might be due to the record being more personal and more human as the band describes it, I was shivering when they played OML live in Prague, it´s just a beautful moment with all the lights from the crowd.
    • Sharp Edges also deserves appreciation for its country tone, which works well for LP, which could be more explored in future records
    • The album is very solid and has lot of sing-along potential is a powerful tool a good record has which helps people to relate to the songs before people analyze the lyrics.
    • Some of the lyrics are just great, meaningful and relatable (OML, NCSM, Sharp Edges, TTM, BS, SFN, Invisible)
    • This album grows on people very easily and is its real value is understandable after a few listens in which people discover more hidden little sounds.
    • The chipmunk sounds are something that got me into new LP a lot, apart from me being a devoted fan since 2012 and having all studio albums as well as Milton Keynes live album (more live albums will certainly improve the collection in the future)
    • Good idea to start with the chorus in Good Goodbye, very good verse from Mike Shinoda
    Negatives
    • Halfway Right is one of the - moments of the record, having lyrics I still can´t understand, even though I like the line "I woke up driving my car"
    • At least one song could have an even heavier and edgier guitar play than TTM does, a song that would depart from the core of the album, but would please fans a bit more.
    • Heavy fails in the mission of reaching a wider audience in my opinions, either in terms of Youtube views, which are an important meter for that, as well as in terms of fan appreciation
    • Kiiara outshines Chester a lot in Heavy, it doesn´t contribute to the balance a duet should have
    • Heavy and BS sound too generic, even though their lyrics are very good
    • In Good Goodbye, PushaT is quite irrelevant, Stormzy ok, but if Mike rapped all the verses it would have worked out much better
    Song Ranking
    1. One More Light
    2. Sorry For Now
    3. Nobody Can Save Me
    4. Talking To Myself
    5. Invisible
    6. Sharp Edges
    7. Good Goodbye
    8. Halfway Right
    9. Battle Symphony
    10. Heavy
    Album Ranking
    1. Meteora
    2. Living Things
    3. One More Light
    4. The Hunting Party
    5. Hybrid Theory
    6. Minutes to Midnight
    7. A Thousand Suns
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2017
  20. #40
    minuteforce

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

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    That line describes experiencing memory loss as a consequence of substance abuse.
     

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