The Love for "Final Masquerade"

Discussion in 'Linkin Park Chat' started by lime treacle, Jul 13, 2014.

  1. #1
    lime treacle

    lime treacle You are not alone Über Member

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    Let me put it simply – why does everyone love this song so much? :lol: Even those who prefer the experimental side of Linkin Park are crazy about this song, yet there's nothing, in my opinion, that sets it apart as one of the better songs on the album. The structure is the same ol' same, the chorus melody is nice but weary, there is no proper bridge, and the first half of the last chorus is stripped down... only to climax into a woah-oh-woah outro. For fuck's sake, where have I heard this before?

    This is one of those songs the band could write in their sleep everyone keeps complaining about, but for some reason (that happens not to be obvious to me at all), this is not the case with this song. Enlighten me as to why. If you ask me, this track is the only thing restraining the "Rebellion"-onwards part of the album from not being... flawless. Or nearly flawless, anyway.
     
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2014
  2. #2
    Blackee Dammet

    Blackee Dammet Feminism Is My God Now

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    Remember the thing I said that "formulaic" songs keep happening for a reason, and that sometimes those formulas are for success?

    Final Masquerade is a prime example of how "standard rock songs" can still pay off big. Chesters voice? Great. The lyrics? Some of their best, hitting the old Don Gilmore standard of being able to be listened to dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of times without getting corny or obnoxious. It's an "anthem" type song, but one that doesn't fall apart into an embarrassing grand spectacle. It's Linkin park doing a rock song that's actually a rock song.

    There's very little to be done to convince you that it's a good song if you don't aren't think so, though I have to say your criticism that it's an "Every band could do it in their sleep" song is weird because some of your other problems are that the song... isn't checking off enough boxes for a quality song. Which shit, can probably count as another reason it's so good; it doesn't seem like they sat down to deliberately craft the way they did with Numb and What I've Done.
     
  3. #3
    Brandon

    Brandon I was Ree's 100th follower on Twitter.

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    For me it's the melody. Linkin Park's melodies are usually more monotonous. For instance: hum the chorus melodies of songs like Faint or The Catalyst or Until It's Gone or Numb. There's a lot of note repeating and not a lot of inflection.

    Final Masquerade actually has a nice range of notes, it's not just Chester belting out the same note as hard as he can. Another song that has a more inflective melody like this is Waiting For The End. So I'm not actually sure if this song is something the band could write in their sleep. :lol: Take that how you will.

    Also the guitar tone and ambient synth noise sound pretty cool. Lyrics are pretty good too.
     
  4. #4
    Louis

    Louis Message me if you need to talk. We love you all. LPA Team

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    Blackee Dammet explains it well. Granted, I'm not personally a fan of the song for the reasons you explained Robert, but that's my opinion.
     
  5. #5
    lime treacle

    lime treacle You are not alone Über Member

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    *not sure if should continue reading but does since it was him who made this thread*

    This song stands as the opposite of what the band was trying to achieve with this album, so... :disgust: *sigh* Brandon will know what I'm talking about.

    Technically, that's not what I said, check my post.

    Beauty is in the imperfection, you say? Oh no, this song is perfect. It's absolutely perfect. Deliberately perfect. Which I've been tolerating (even liking) so far all these years, being a fan of Linkin Park (who make Linkin Park songs), but that's because there'd always be something about the track that sticks out... which is not the case with this one.

    ~

    @Brandon: as I said in the OP, I find the melody quite weary. I heard that silly whistling cover of the track on YouTube before "Final Masquerade" officially came out, and it immediately seemed a weary melody to me. I do see why you appreciate it though.
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2014
  6. #6
    Blackee Dammet

    Blackee Dammet Feminism Is My God Now

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    It was an expression. The point was that the lyrics are written in such a way that they don't get old. I namedropped DG because of an often cited quote where he had the band re-write lyrics so they could be replayed on the radio repeatedly without getting old.

    I'm not entirely sure it does. Clarify, but if anything it's one of the best examples of what they were trying to do with their whole "carnivore" mantra.

    Paraphrasing. Not, that's not technically what you said, but what I took away from it was you thought the song was essentially crafted by numbers, like "any band could do", but then thought it weird that...

    And I'm not sure I follow. How? Because it's... lighter? Has a "catchy" chorus? It's too perfect, barring its obvious flaws? I'm not following your train of thought, that the song is too crafted but is missing a "proper" bridge and ending seems contradictory.
     
  7. #7
    lime treacle

    lime treacle You are not alone Über Member

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    It doesn't need a proper bridge or ending for what it is. It's a perfect, catchy song for the radio. But there's nothing in it for me.

    The "proper bridge" argument is irrelevant anyway, I was basically expressing my astonishment that there is not one sung bridge on this album (unless you count the switched-up final ALITS chorus), but this doesn't really even matter for this thread. So why did I say it? I don't know, fuck me, I just did.

    On the other hand, that ending has been done so many times before that to me it's just another pointer that this track has nothing new to offer. It's cringe-worthy.
     
  8. #8
    Bennington_Hahn

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    To be honest, that was my first reaction to FM too. It's a great song that I fully appreciate the work behind it, yet it doesn't ofer anything new or have a point of interest in it.

    I feel the same way as you, although there have been many LP songs like this on each album that I like but aren't my favourite. on HT it was "Pushing me away" (always loved the remix more) on Meteora it was "Numb" (though I orginally adored it, but in recent years I've grown out of it) On MTM it was "Leave out all the Rest", on ATS it was "Iridescent" (though I grew to love this one over time), on LT it was "In My Remains".

    As far as I'm concerned, these 6 songs have a lot in common with one another. There big rock ballads. Primarily lead by Chester, with little to no rapping, have powerful choruses, with the classic song structure. In many ways, an LP album wouldn't be complete without a song like that, it's just for me, I prefer the more experimental and Heavy Side to he band. Always have.

    Final masquerade is growing on me the more I hear it however :bradwink:
     
  9. #9
    Michele

    Michele Praise Brad Delson, our Lord and Savior. LPA Addict

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    Its a Linkin Park ballade, the songs i prefer over the "harder" stuff. Love the emotion in Final Masquerade, especially after the bridge. Maybe its a standard type LP song for someone, but i love it, like most of LP ballades (SOTD, Iridescent, Roads Untraveled). I am happy about the fact, that they did atleast one "real" ballade on there "#visceral" album.
     
  10. #10
    Avo

    Avo Don't Stop Running

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    I don't get the fact that it seems almost universally loved. There are always people who enjoy LP's ballads (hell, I'm usually one of them), but Final Masquerade seems to appeal to everyone for some reason. That's the one thing I don't quite understand. It personally does nothing for me, and I find it to be in the same category of songs like UIG and Wastelands. But hey, for those who love the song, more power to them.
     
  11. #11
    minuteforce

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

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    The thing that I personally like most about "Final Masquerade" is Chester's singing in the highest parts of the verses. Similar in what I hear in "Until It's Gone", there's an earnestness in that vocal performance that kind of hits me :)

    I know that I would've found it disappointing if it were the closing song on the album, so I'm glad that it isn't.
     
  12. #12
    Quack

    Quack Well-Known Member

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    I think Final Masquerade is a fantastic song. It's very powerful, emotional and well-written (lyrically especially). I even showed it to a friend of mine who isn't too fond of rock music at all and even he's been jamming to it. It's just a great song. Chester puts in one of his best performances on the album into this sing and of course, #ThatMelodyTho

    On a side note, I'll never understand why people will write off songs completely just because they have a verse/chorus structure. You can still write a great song within that structure and write a crappy song without it. A song can still feel fresh and creative while having a verse/chorus structure, and in my opinion, Final Masquerade does just that. Heck, plenty off other renowned bands (Foo Fighters or Muse for example) use it, but I never see them getting shit for it.

    But real shit tho, all the OP needs to be "enlightened" about is that you'll like music other people won't and other people will like music that you won't. It just comes down to opinions, tastes and preferences. For example, a person may not like Final Masquerade but other people might.
     
  13. #13
    lime treacle

    lime treacle You are not alone Über Member

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    ^I know that it comes down to opinion. Doesn't mean you can't justify it.
     
  14. #14
    Filip

    Filip god break down the door LPA Contributor

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    Agreed. To me, there's absolutely nothing special in this song. As someone who doesn't care all that much about the lyrics, not even that makes up for it. Definitely my least favorite on the album.
     
  15. #15
    Alexrednex

    Alexrednex Well-Known Member

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    One of the best Linkin Park ballads.
    Is it the most generic song on the album? Debatable(UIG/W/AFN).
    Is it radio friendly as hell? Yes
    But what saves the song is how good it is.

    Lyrics and melody: Relate able and not too cheasy. Catchy melody to go along with it.
    Vocals: One of the few songs with clean singing from Chester on the album - A nice fresh breath of air. Feels natural and powerful. The last wooaah wooAAAAwooo really hits home for me.
    Instrumentation: Really nice lead guitar melody from Brad, great drumming from Rob. A slow song but still has some kind of punch to it. Love the atmospheric synths in background during the pre-chorus.

    I get that it comes with nothing new but it is a much better ballad than Powerless. Much more poppy and catchy than Iridescent. Better instrumentation than Leave Out All The Rest/Numb/Pushing Me Away.

    You could argue it is their best ballad ever(if you define a ballad as a catchy ass pop song with a radio rock/stadium rock sound)

    Proof: My mom and sister loved it the first time they heard it. Lol.

    I don't feel people need to justify liking the song to be honest. I get why people don't like it - and I personally don't feel like it fits the album that much but yeah. Good song.
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2014
  16. #16
    lime treacle

    lime treacle You are not alone Über Member

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    They don't need to do anything, it's not like I'm forcing them to post.
     
  17. #17
    minuteforce

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

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    This is really debatable, haha, but, even if I think that the lyrics are "cheesy", I can look past that in this case.
     
  18. #18
    Aden

    Aden Well-Known Member

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    Agreed with the OP, this song is overrated and I don't get why people are hating on UIG for being generic when this is even more so. However, I admit that, just like pretty much the entire final third of the album, this song has been growing on me. It's still far from the best song on the album but I like it for what it is, a catchy alt-rock ballad with some nice vocals. I also find the intro really cool, not sure why. If I were to rate all the songs on the album, this would be in the bottom half, but it definitely wouldn't go on the bottom (that honor goes to Wastelands, the only dud IMO)
     
  19. #19
    RyRy

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    It's a great song. It's simple, but it doesn't feel like a simple radio song. It has far more emotion in it and great song-writing in it.
     
  20. #20
    Lotus

    Lotus LPA VIP LPA VIP

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    The first time I heard it I was pretty disappointed, thought it was a bit generic and boring, but on the third listen I loved it! The vocals and the melody are the best things about it. The vocals are so passionate and the melody is just catchy as hell. The lyrics aren't amazing, but they're still good and paint a nice picture. This is probably my favorite song on THP :)
     

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