Has LP become more centralized?

Discussion in 'Linkin Park Chat' started by MagmaXtreme, Jul 3, 2014.

  1. #1
    MagmaXtreme

    MagmaXtreme Well-Known Member

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    Lately it feels like Mike Shinoda is the glue holding the band together, and the driving force leading to the next album release. Several factors made me think this way, including:

    -Joe and Dave being less audibly apparent on the latest album, it seeming like their roles have become more minor, hence the level of involvement is questionable
    -The direction of THP having being mainly decided by Mike, it does not feel like most of the band had that drive for this direction initially
    -Mike basically does most of the work in the band now, significantly larger in proportion than any other member. He seems to be making most of the beats/riffs for every song
    -Mike seems to be talking significantly more than other members of the band in recent interviews compared to those of previous album cycles
    -Chester seems to be breezing through the recording process, he mentioned sleeping in the studio then waking up and doing vocals when needed, I feel like he was more involved in previous albums, particularly the first 3 albums

    With that being said, do you feel like some LP members are becoming less involved with the band and does this make you question how long they will stay together from here on?
     
  2. #2
    minuteforce

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

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    I think that Phoenix has the bass side of things mostly to himself when the band are in the studio.

    As for whether or not the other band members "had that drive" when creating "The Hunting Party", well, we have no idea, and that's the problem. If none of them do press, we don't get to hear them talk. Shinoda has been doing more press than the other band members since "A Thousand Suns" - coincidentally an album which, to many of us, appears to have been entirely Shinoda's baby.
     
  3. #3
    Astat

    Astat LPA Super Member LPA Super Member

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    All of the examples you listed are basically the way it's been for as long as I can remember, lol. Mike has been the primary driving force behind the band since day one. Him and Brad write the majority of the music, he writes most of the lyrics (with some additional input from Chester), and everyone else fills in the remaining gaps as needed. Other members bring in their own ideas too, but "leave it to Mike" is kind of their default mentality, which is especially apparent on Meeting of A Thousand Suns.
     
  4. #4
    Gibs

    Gibs The Prog Nerd Über Member

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    +1
     
  5. #5
    Jayhov

    Jayhov Well-Known Member

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    Off-topic but when are you ever going to post your review of the Hunting Party. Been waiting on it!
     
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2014
  6. #6
    Manu

    Manu Seeking tenderness with a dagger

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    He did already. It was glorious.
     
  7. #7
    lime treacle

    lime treacle You are not alone Über Member

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    There's nothing to worry about – there's a driving force in nearly every band. Essentially:

    Depeche Mode is Martin Gore.
    Death Cab for Cutie is Ben Gibbard.
    Foo Fighters is Dave Grohl.
    Alice in Chains is Jerry Cantrell.
    Kasabian is Sergio Pizzorno.
    R.E.M. was Peter Buck.

    Again, don't worry. The band won't fall apart because of this. No offense, but the very idea of that is ridiculous :bradwink:
     
  8. #8
    Filip

    Filip god break down the door LPA Contributor

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    I just love seeing the band in studio, hopefully we get a making of THP.
     
  9. #9
    Erica

    Erica Meh LPA Über VIP

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    Can this just be a forum rule, like every time Astat posts something, it's just like, thread closed. HE'S NEVER NOT RIGHT!!! It's infuriating :lol:
     
  10. #10
    Blackee Dammet

    Blackee Dammet Feminism Is My God Now

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    Linkin Park has always been the Mike band that other guys help him with. Always.
     
  11. #11
    jdanek630

    jdanek630 Well-Known Member

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    You sure you're not confusing Linkin Park with Fort Minor?? :rolleyes:
     
  12. #12
    Jayhov

    Jayhov Well-Known Member

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    <_< link?
     
  13. #13
    Apop

    Apop LPA VIP LPA VIP

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    Yeah, I understand your concern. However, it's just like everyone else said: Mike is a jack of all trades. He does the direction, demos, production, lyrics, vocals, art, press, and promotion for each album. Not to say the other guys just twiddle their thumbs, but it seems everyone willingly gives these powers to Mike. They trust him to make the decisions. That's why I don't think Linkin Park will split in such a large, dramatic fashion in the future. No one else in the band seems to really challenge Mike for his creative control of Linkin Park, everyone seems generally happy with the way things work out.
     
  14. #14
    Blackee Dammet

    Blackee Dammet Feminism Is My God Now

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    I know you're joking, but really, it's insane how many "huge fans" are somehow completely ignorant of just how much control Mike has had over the bands trajectory. Like it's not exactly a huge secret but still.
     
  15. #15
    minuteforce

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

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  16. #16
    MagmaXtreme

    MagmaXtreme Well-Known Member

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    I guess you're right, but having watched the Making of Minutes to Midnight video, this was apparently less so then than it is now. Ever since A Thousand Suns Mike had developed the skills to produce for the band without any external assistance from anyone.

    It seems I initially had the impression that they were more decentralized and that everyone played a part not significantly larger or smaller than any other member. Though examples like in one of the THP interviews, seeing Mike interrupt Chester and not letting him speak, should have made it more clear.

    In one of the LPTV episodes, where Mike passed a fan question over to Dave to answer it considering the decision behind the direction of THP, Dave looked like he didn't want to answer it and he was expecting Mike to do so, it felt like only Mike was fully behind the direction of the new album while everyone else just went with it.

    This for me makes me feel like not all the band members are as passionate as Mike is, and I feel LP would make better music if everyone had the same drive Mike had. It would be awesome if for example we could Chester was to write some riffs for LP songs like he did with DBS, and Joe bring in some new sounds from the DJ/turntable/programming side , rather than Mike do mostly everything.
     
  17. #17
    minuteforce

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

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    Unfortunately, Chester's Dead By Sunrise guitar riffs weren't that great. :rolleyes: If Shinoda and Delson handled the majority of the guitar-writing on "The Hunting Party", I'd say that it's best that they continue doing that

    Other than that, I agree. The music would benefit from all the band members being equally invested in a vision for an album, if that isn't already happening. :)
     
  18. #18
    Astat

    Astat LPA Super Member LPA Super Member

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    I've never really gotten the impression that Mike's consciously "running the show" or that the other guys aren't as passionate as he is (in most cases, anyway). I think it's more of a case of the rest of the band viewing him as their leader and trusting his judgement. I think a lot of that may have to do with Mike having some degree of formal musical training, meaning he probably knows a lot more about theory, how to actually write a sheet music score, stuff like that (the same is true of Brad, which is probably why it's no coincidence that Mike and Brad write as a duo a lot of the time - almost all of Hybrid Theory/Meteora started off as Mike/Brad demos). Mike doesn't strike me as a "rule with an iron fist" type of band leader like an Axl Rose or Gene Simmons, he's just a guy with a very versatile skill set who is also well-spoken and a natural leader. If there's going to be someone acting as the band leader in Linkin Park, it makes the most sense for it to be him.
     
  19. #19
    outcastboy

    outcastboy Sure God's all powerful, but does he have lips?

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    i wish mike wasnt the supreme leader of the band. LT and THP are proofs that he is a bit insane, i like both albums but they are rushed and not as good as they could have been IMO. he just changes his mind and the band follows him, the promotion of LT sucked, half the album is forgotten by the band (mike). how long till he gets out of the "bring rock back" mentality?

    i actually like DBS a lot, despite the over-produced aspect and being a bit generic. the album is great and unique, theres beautiful ballads (In The Darkness is amazing), and really heavy stuff like Condemned. the lyrics in WIC and EOTW are very different from what we usually hear in LP, actually even the love songs are very different from LPs stuff. and thats only what chester did on his own. if he and everyone in the band where really present in the making of the music, instead of just doing what mike says LP would be much better.

    Rob is an amazing drummer, Joe can do some really coll stuff like Session and his live solo, brad is an ok guitar player, his simplicity is interesting, and he do a lot of stuff in studio, Dave is yet to show what he can do, if he could only step up a bit, i love bass and in most LP songs its barely audible
     
  20. #20
    minuteforce

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

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    That's not entirely the band's fault at all.

    The whole point of Dead By Sunrise - and all side-projects in general - was for Chester to do something different from what he did in Linkin Park. And he didn't necessarily do it "on his own" - the sound of the album was very much shaped by the contributions of Julien-K.
     

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