I'm not going to go through my brain and count how many songs have screaming, because I don't find that as important of a facet to the songs as a few of you do on here . It's only one part of the Linkin Park sound, and to focus on that one part and ignore the others would be doing the album an injustice. What I will do to satisfy your cravings is let you know that there are no shortage of aggressive and raw angry vocals from Chester on this album. Many of the super hard tracks have him taking his vocals in new directions (doing things he really didn't do on hard songs before) and even when he's not screaming but being aggressive he still sounds fantastic. I honestly feel he isn't "weak" on this album, and I'll be stunned if the "how many screams" crowd thinks this album sucks.
Derek, how does the album gel together? Is it packaged as well as ATS? Or does it have a more scrambled feel like LT and MTM?
Correct. These were pure, uninfluenced impressions. I wasn't paid by Warner to review this, nor did they whitewash my review to be glowing. I can promise that.
It doesn't seem like a hard question to answer. Oh well EDIT: just saw Derek's answer. Thank you for that! I'm still curious though. Some LPA members are going to listening parties tomorrow so maybe they will know the answer
I would be more positive if this review didn't lead me to believe that my ears are going to have an orgasm for the duration of the cd when I am 99% positive that won't be the case based on what I've heard so far. If he had included any indication that there were some songs that he was "meh" about , I would find these words more credible. It is very rare to listen to a CD and be crazy about every single song. There are certain songs on some of my all time favorite CD's that I would have no problem telling people "yea that song sticks out like a sore thumb on this album. The rest of it is great." That didn't happen in this review.
Your logic is flawed here. You're making an assumption that there has to be at least one bad song on an album. If a band or musician is doing their jobs correctly, that shouldn't happen. Case in point: There isn't one song on The Fragile by NIN that I could honestly tell you is skippable or "meh". Each piece of that album is fantastic. Same with Stadium Arcadium by RHCP. There isn't a bad song on that album, and it's a double disc. Maybe, based on Derek's opinion, each song is killer. That's fine. That's absolutely okay. Respect that first-listen opinion. Hell, people think songs from Meteora are good, and that's a perfectly legitimate, if wholly incorrect opinion to have.
I think it also depends on the person. I know for me personally, there a quite a few albums that I like every single song on. I'm also not surprised Derek liked every song. It's not hard IMO to find CDs that every song is likeable. I know this Is just for me and that you have a different opinion. But I just don't find it hard that he liked every song. Different people like different things. As for me even when it comes to LP, they have 4 albums where I like every song (HT/M/MTM/ATS). So I wouldn't be surprised if THP became the 5th as its sounding like it will. P.s. Tahnk you for this review Derek! It was very well written and I'm thankful you got to share it with everyone!
There are some people that hate The Beatles. But critics won't make negative reviews of Beatles albums just as to warn people" Hey! You might not like this!". My point is : If one think an album is great, then he should make that very clear in his review. There's no point in diminishing an album rating just to fit with the opinions of those who don't like. Because there will always be people who won't like it. Always. So, I think the best way of doing a review is just by staying honest to yourself and your own opinion.
I don't really get the fascination with wanting to know if Chester screams, how many times and when. But I've complied a list for anyone who would want to spoil themselves. Songs You Haven't Heard with Chester Screaming: Keys to the Kingdom War Rebellion Mark the Graves A Line in the Sand Songs You Haven't Heard with Chester Not Screaming / Shouting / Singing Aggressively but Still Singing: Final Masquerade Songs You Haven't Heard with Chester Shouting / Singing Aggressively: Keys to the Kingdom All for Nothing War Rebellion Mark the Graves A Line in the Sand Every Fucking Song on the Album: Pt 1 Not Final Masquerade: Pt 2 Songs You Haven't Heard with Chester Saying Words: Keys to the Kingdom All for Nothing War Rebellion Mark the Graves Final Masquerade A Line in the Sand Songs you Haven't Heard where Chester Probably Took a Smoke Break During Recording: The Summoning Drawbar Songs You Haven't Heard with Chester's Vocals Being Mixed to Sound Like He's Been Put into a Blender to Close the Song in a Glitch Style Effect: The Summoning Songs You Haven't Heard where Chester Probably Ate at the Local Mexican Restaurant That Day of Recording: War Mark the Graves The Legitimacy of this Post:
I am very excited to hear this album now! I think FM, ALITS, KTTK, War, ah screw it I'm excited for entire album! Thank you Derek for posting this! Hype meter is at 2000%
Everyone is different I guess. I won't let my negativity for what's been released so far ruin the rest of the album for me, or anyone else. Song criticism aside, Derek's review has given me a clear idea of what to expect sonically and instrumentally from this album, and I appreciate that.
Plus Derek already said that War will be a hit or miss for many people. So that might be the one song that you don't like, meaning this is a legitimate review and an awesome album.
Fuck me, your compiled list had me more excited than Derek's review to be honest. Now you're telling me there's a chance what you said isn't credible?!