Firstly, why was it removed from MTM? Secondly, why doesn't Mike do this more? Thirdly, how come nobody ever talks about it?
It's difficult to say, but the easy answer is that the band simply didn't feel it made the cut for the album. However, it was simultaneously released as a bonus track - and so in that regard, no one really separates it so much from the album. Do what? Sing songs almost entirely on his own? That's not a bad question, but at the same time Mike has had songs following "No Roads Left" that are dominated by him. I think specifically of "When They Come For Me," "Wretches and Kings," "Fallout," "Until It Breaks," and even songs like "Rebellion" and "A Line in the Sand" to some extent. However, most songs off of Minutes to Midnight were fairly one-dimensional (in my opinion), and the band has since continued to try giving songs more hybrid structures. This really entails having both Chester and Mike on songs, sometimes singing the same melodies. I don't doubt we'll see more of it in the future, but it really depends on whether or not Mike is going to keep underdog rapping (which has gotten fairly old to me) or if he is going to experiment more with his vocal contributions. Of course, he sings far more now than ever - just not by himself. Everyone talked about it when the album came out, and it occasionally pops up. But it's also been 7 years. Not everyone still talks about "My December" and not often do people even spend time on the demos released via the LPU. As time passes, it's just not as common to see those songs sit at the center of a discussion. It's not that people don't care about the song or don't like it, it's just been a while. You can also refer to Minus' screenshot to give you an idea of how common it was as a topic. And like he said, those were just the threads where the name was in the title.
I honestly think it was because Mike wasn't up for signing it live. I'd like to hear Chester try it live.
Other than the ones above, Mike is not that great in singing live (his parts in "In My Remains" and "Castle of Glass" are typically easy to sing in a relaxed manner, but having to project it louder in a live environment is pretty difficult). I doubt he would like to perform "No Roads Left", since it's pretty hard to sing in general (imagine how much Chester-like yelps he would have to do). The lower-pitched performance of the song in Japan during "Bleed It Out" was the closest thing, though.
I liked "No Roads Left" in 2007, but, now, I think that the lyrics are pretty boring and one-dimensional, as Louis put it. I also think that it's far from Shinoda's best singing performance on a record. Bits and pieces of it have been sung during the live "Bleed It Out" bridge in the past, so, so you could say that it has been performed live to some extent
I think No Roads Left was genuinely special at the time of it's release. However, the three albums since Minutes To Midnight have featured Mike in an even more impressive light. 7 years later, the magic is beginning to fade from this one, ever so slightly.
I actually don't like how Mike sounds on that song. I don't know why. Also, I was about to say it but everyone already did. Mike's not a great singer live. Just listen to Rebellion live. His voice sounds shaky and weak.
I think you guys didn't understand what I meant by 'Why doesn't he do more'. I meant why doesn't Linkin Park make more songs where he sings like that? Because IMO that is the best singing I have ever heard from him. I like his voice in Roads Untravelled, but it's just amazing in No Roads Left. Also, I don't care about lyrics. Rebellion's verse isn't by Mike. it's sung by Daron Malakian. I think he may be in the chorus, but I can tell Chester is in that chorus. Generally I think that Lost In The Echo actually features more on Mike's rapping than Bleed It Out, as the bridge in Lost In The Echo is rapping while in Bleed It Out there is no rapping after the second verse, which is disappointing as Bleed It Out is the best rap he has ever done IMO.
@Tocaraca: nice double-posting there Are you joking? Or do you just not know how Shinoda's singing sounds? go here, type "no roads left" into the "Keyword(s)" bank; in the dropdown menu to the right of that bank, select "Search Titles Only" and, then, click "Search Now".
The Hunting Party was the first album that had features. 1. Page Hamilton playing tambourine on All For Nothing. 2. Rakim playing guitar on Guilty All The Same, Brad Delson rapping. 3. Daron Malakian singing on Rebellion. 4. Tom Morello screaming on Drawbar. We also had rumours Harry Styles would contribute a guitar solo to an unreleased song, "One Direction Left To Run".
I'd make fun of you for not being able to recognize Mike's voice and not knowing how Daron's singing sounds like, but I'll just post this video to show how wrong you are. [youtube]_iTZZD9RZtM[/youtube]