At least according to Charlie Simpson, former Busted & FightStar vocalist who has now gone solo. He recently spoke to UK newspaper Metro to plug his new solo album, in which he specified what artists have influenced him in his solo work. http://www.metro.co.uk/music/870435...solo-career-but-admits-i-miss-being-in-a-band What do you think? Does what he say have weight or do you disagree?
Who gives a shit. The guy obviously hasn't listened to anything but singles. Because WTCFM sounds exactly like Blackout.
He must be jealous. The only fightstar song I ever heard was their cover of "Leper Messiah" for Kerrang's 'Remastered' celebration CD of Metallica's 'Master of Puppets.' Needless to say, I wasn't impressed. Bottom line, it is pretty apparent why this guy has "gone solo." It's because he is spoutting of at the mouth about shit he doesn't even understand. Nobody likes a diva.
If he was talking about Hybrid Theory and Meteora, then I might agree with him. This guy needs to pick up a copy of "A Thousand Suns" and then prove to me that all the songs sound the same as a lot or almost all their other albums.
What I find interesting with his comments is the fact that he bills his new album as something to be listened to as a whole, much like ATS: "I like it as a body of work. I see Young Pilgrim as one complete thing rather than individual tracks". I also see these comments as a way of jumping on this singer-songwriter wagon, distancing himself from a commercial sound he feels a huge band like LP have. Basically trying to sound like a cool & relevant solo artist by referencing bands that are all the rage ATM, whilst throwing this "rock" sound and image he's built up over the years under the bus. I agree that he must be referencing Linkin Park's singles and more prominently Hybrid Theory and Meteora, because their last two albums really don't fit the "overproduced" sound he mentions. It still amazes me that Linkin Park, after two more albums since HT & Meteora, still have this image attached to them that they're "nu-metal" and "overproduced". I honestly don't think they'll ever escape this label from the mainstream media and casual fans unfortunately.
That's because mainstream media and casual fans don't "get it" like most of us on here on the LPA do. We still give the band a chance because we (generally) like what they do. In the last 2 album cycles, Linkin Park stopped worrying about making the mainstream happy. In return, better music was made and genuine fans were kept around. I'm perfectly fine with that.
To be honest, if we were talking about HT, Meteora, or even some stuff on MTM...I'd agree with the guy. But seriously, he obviously hasn't heard ATS along with most of the mainstream world. I agree that he must have only heard the older singles...but come on....The Catalyst isn't even anything even radically close to their past singles. What annoys me is that he enjoys Kings of Leon and Foo Fighters because I'm not a fan of their music. Kings of Leon really tended to annoy the hell out of me when I heard it on the radio.
Can't wait to see his face when he "gives LP a chance" with ATS But, who cares really? People who heard ATS just simply face palm, while other people may go and test LP again or dumbly believe what he said
This. I can see why Charlie might of said what he did. But clearly he hasn't listened to ATS or MTM - I admire Charlie as a musician but I take he opinion of LP with a gain of salt.
As far as the band sounding overproduced, that's strictly a matter of perspective. Compared to Meteora, Linkin Park's last two albums sound more organic, but they might sound overproduced to someone who appreciates less-refined music. (Not that I'm saying someone can't appreciate both refined and unrefined music, mind you.) With regards to every song sounding the same, yeah, I'll agree with the consensus: he probably hasn't listened to much of Linkin Park's newer material. Regardless: opinions, assholes, all that jazz.
I wonder if he knows that Shinoda, and other members of the band, help with production. Even if it is "over-produced," atleast one band member made it that way. In that case, I am under the belief that is what the intended song was supposed to sound like; and I'm okay with that. I know some musicians are totally hands off when it comes to producing. I wonder if this guy is the same... The fact that he meant his comment in a derrogatory way, just proves this guy is an ignorant ass clown.
I'm not going to say that I disagree, although I would like to! But, as Chester said in a recent interview - I think with kerrang - the band are just getting started with doing what THEY want to do musically. This will obviously mean making music that will not be anything remotely like Nu-Metal. With this is mind, hopefully their future albums will eventually remove them from the Nu-Metal label in the eyes of the media. Just possibly!