Damn it Filip, you did it again. Great post, if i could honor you in some way, just tell me Now to the songs: "Fallout": Well, not much to say about this. Is the beginning of the end of the world, sending the messege of the coming apocalypse. Its a cool different to "Wisdom, Justice And Love" where the human voice turns into a robotic one and here its the opposite how Filip said. Well i would interpret it the way, that also in a "unhuman" time there is also something human. It shows, that the pure chaos will finally come to end it, there will be a "Fallout". Musical, i like this dark atmosphere. Nothing more to say about it. "The Catalyst": The most chaotic song (with Blackout) in LPs career until yet. The beginning is catchy and Joe Hahns scratching makes it a lot cooler. Mikes performance here is one of his best ones. Finally Dave have some really important part in a song The changing vocals of Mike and Chester are great and catchy. The song is a powerful and chaotic electronical-rock song with great images "[...]where oceans bleed into the sky[...]". And the Shynth-Drums-Solo is just an explosion of energy. The fast part of the song ends after one of the finest shynth-drum lines in LPs careaer, for me its a image of an atomic explosion (because after the bombs drop, there is silence everywhere). After this explosion, the song slows down and the "Lift Me Up/Let Me Go" part starts. Hopes of people suffering in a atomic disaster who trying to survive the chaos. The ending with the many vocal tracks is a great ending of this song. Chaotic, like how the world would be after such a disaster. Which this song shows. The most chaotic power of the human being. The video is in my opinion one of the best ones LP (or Joe Hahn) has done so far. It gave me the ame atmosphere like the song (dark and more dangerous) with the band playing in a chaotic enviroment. Chester drowning while singing gives me everytime such chills and Mike with his dark appearances is just bosslike With the synth-drum solo all starts to break and this is maybe one of my favorite parts of a LP video. With the ending with the "colour fight) (thanks here to Filip, thank you for the informations about it, good to know it has to do with this india thing). And at the end, how should it be, Chester "drown" into the water while singing his parts to show the dying part after such a disaster. I really wish the would play it every night in full at concerts, such a great song for be played live. Happy that i got the chance to see it #ATSWORLDTOUR2010 A great closer from the chaos ATS has brought (over their own Fanbase ) to the peaceful end called "The Messenger"
The end of the song is what the whole album builds up to!! I always find it weird that it was the lead single, since I honestly feel like it's kind of the most epic moment on the album. I remember when I listened to the preview on YT and was passively interested, and completely fell in love when the full song dropped. I still remember lying in bed blasting the song amazed at how good "Lift me up let me go" was. I didn't even know the deluxe version existed for about a year, now I can't even listen to the radio edit. Definitely one of the main reasons I'm as big a fan as I am. The beginning, as in everything before the bridge, has gotten a little boring over time, the beat after the first "where oceans bleed into the sky" is really dull and dry sounding, but I guess that makes the live drums all the more impacting when they finally come in. Still, I think everything before the bridge could be a little more interesting, as I feel bored when I listen to it now. The "ticking" drum stick sound has no variety, Hahn's scratches start to sound repetitive, and the bass just goes between like three notes. Maybe some glitch effects ala Breaking the Habit, some random piano riffs, or just a cooler drum beat would help. The synth after the second "bleed into the sky" is really nice though. Still, wouldn't hurt to have a few more elements in there. Bummed that they didn't play this song when I saw them at SSMF and that they dropped it for the carnivores tour, but the refrain in BIO is pretty nice. This song seems to be Mike's most consistently impressive singing. Though, I'm not really a fan of the vocal effects live, perhaps it sounds better in person though.
I have no words to say for Fallout. As for The Catalyst,CALL ME THE CATALYST FANBOY GUISE!!! When I first watched the MV,I got this mixed feeling when I hear the first part.And then BOOM!!.Those kicks by Rob caught me by surprise.Decided to rewind the song,so that I could feel the build up,it was the most amazing experience I've ever felt.And the ending....DAMN!!...Goosebumps everytime..The moment where they are throwing powder at each others is soooo majestic!
the catalyst is probably one of my favorite songs by the band, if not the favorite. i remember waking up super early to listen to the live premier, it was an oddly brilliant morning. i absolutely love the song.
Fallout, the final interlude to A Thousand Suns brings the entire message of the album back to a full circle, foreshadowing the upcoming climax. Shinoda robotically beckons the chorus of Burning In The Skies, linking the front of the album to the end with a chilling grace. As he repeats the words, his digital vocals strip away, leaving only his natural voice and his humanity in the wake of the album. A looming electronic synth is heard in the distance, almost omniscient in its influence on the track. This electronic soundscape unravels in the symphonic calamity that is The Catalyst, a nearly six-minute behemoth that seems to take the entire journey taken of A Thousand Suns and condenses the experience into a singular entity. Shinoda chants the opening verse, once again linking the album, this time to The Requiem, by announcing the same haunting message as found in the beginning. Bennington explodes into what can be interpreted as the chorus. His vocals are tinged with inklings of digital influence, causing his delivery to sound chaotic and desperate. Suddenly the song raises the bar as an electronic symphony concocts itself as an instrumental companion to the madness that unfolds while Shinoda and Bennington repeat themselves once more. The Catalyst reaches farther as the song enters a malevolent electronic solo, almost instigating an increased heartbeat for the track as it truly comes alive. Returning to one last cascading chorus from Bennington the song feels ready to erupt into nuclear fallout. However, with brilliant elegance, The Catalyst resolves its radioactive meltdown by dissolving away all electronic tension and aggression in favour of an organic piano riff accompanied by Shinoda’s calming voice. He beckons “lift me up / let me go” repeatedly until Bennington joins the uprising until finally, A Thousand Suns reaches its inevitable climax. Bennington reaches to the heavens with brilliance, backed up by a stunning instrumental. It is without a doubt, easily the greatest moment in Linkin Park’s entire discography, capturing an elating, utopic and passionate landscape of musicianship. Surprisingly, Shinoda take the reigns from Bennington and reaches higher peaks, as the latter vocalist returns to the refrain from The Requiem to close off the masterful piece of work.
Ah yes, Fallout. The second most pointless track on ATS... after Empty Spaces of course. The Catalyst is alright, but I listen to it when I'm listening ATS in full. The instrumental is good and vocals are good too, but together somehow they don't fit... dunno. Joe's solo in the middle is pretty dope.
I can see the hate for ES , but Fallout is not just a 15 sec criquet noice Other people, other opinions
What I find most intriguing about Fallout is how the synth follows Mike's singing. And then in segues so perfectly into The Catalyst. It's a cool transition. I remember when The Catalyst dropped. I was used to the MTM stuff and everything, but nothing could have prepared me for the electronic assault that The Catalyst was. It was so amazing. The build-up instruments leading to the synth solo, an all-out chorus, then a sudden shift a piano and Mike singing, which triggers another buildup for one of the most amazing outros LP has done, alongside TLTGYA.
I personally feel The Catalyst is one of the most 'important' songs in LP's library for 2 reasons (1) If you listen to all of LP's released singles chronologically, this song really is the 'catalyst' of their new sound away from a rap/rock band. I know M2M was different from HT/Meteora but this one really smashed it out of the ball park. (2) On the journey that you are taken on with ATS, I feel like the album is about a man; a soldier that has killed blindly for his government and has slowly realised the error of his ways. Leading from "The Requiem" of this journey, he's taken through a range of emotions from sorrow, regret, anger, rebellion just to name a few. After realising that to clear his conscience, he has to just "let it go" (as the last track, Iridescent, tells him to). After "letting it go", he reaches the 'fallout' of his entire journey. They say that your entire life flashes before you right before the end, right.. Well this flashes back to the first actual song of this journey, Burning in the Skies. With Mike's voice changing throughout the track to show he's not just a mindless killing robot of society anymore, he's actually human and can think for himself. This leads on to the 'Catalyst' of his journey. As the OP referred to when he gave the definition of a Catalyst, this is the moment it all 'reacts', it all comes together. This man is looking for peace, not just in the world, but more importantly he is looking for peace within himself. What comes after this mayhem that is the 'catalyst'? Conveniently enough the most peaceful song on the entire album...... Maybe I'm just spouting this nonsense because I'm drunk, but this all makes sense in my head, hopefully somebody can see where I'm coming from
Fallout sucks. The Catalyst, however... YYYYEEEEEAAAAAAHHHH gREAT SONG. mIKE SIGNS WELL IN this, so coes Chester. I love the way the ending is the verse and the bridge mixed together, like what they did in Papercut. I would love to make a mashup of Papercut and The Catalyst. The only mashups I've seen are terrible, and I don't have the right programs and skills to make the type of mashup I want to make.
Fallout is alright as an interlude, I like how it reuses BITS lyrics and the effects on Mike's vocals go back to just him, as a mirror of WJL serving as the comedown after Iridescent. It does a good job of setting the stage for... The Catalyst, one of their most unique productions in the band's history. The way it opens really lets you know how it will be different, with the synth sounds and the first words sung on it. The gang vocals are good on here and lyrics are solid. Mixing is awesome on this song too, everything is heard at the right levels and different tracks fade in and out at just the right times. The electronics on this song are spot on as well. Chester and Mike do wonderful jobs on lead vocals with high energy. The song really ties the whole album together with its connections to the other songs on the album. The video is pretty good too, I like the apocalyptic vibe of it. MOH isn't very interesting other than for the different mix of the song for it. Live, it is a good one as well, just too exhausting for the guys. The did a good job incorporating parts of it into the intro, UIG mashup intro, and BIO bridge on the summer 2014 tour. Merry Christmas everyone!
The Catalyst is awesome. Epic. Badass. If there's one song that I would be stuck to listen to forever, this would be it. The continuation from Fallout is nice, and then when the organ and the drums get in, you know something is coming. An element that I especislly like is the addition of a new layer of sound ocassionally. It cones out as an epic build-up, and then comes the breakdown. It is one of the best snippets of music LP has ever written. Mike's vocals are spot-on and the piano line is soothingly good. When played live it is epic, and I also like Mike's slight alteration on the chorus at the end. My favourite performance of it was at the iTunes Festival. I suppose that The Catalyst/The Requiem intro is cool, they go quite well together, and I LOVE the No More Sorrow/The Catalyst intro that they played to begin the encore bsck when THP came out. I wish that they'd play it in full again, even though I like the shortened ones. A solid 10/10 from me. Also, Fallout. Yeah. It's okay, I guess. At least I don't skip it very often.
I honestly don't know if this thread is worth keeping up anymore guys. That's was a ridiculously low number of responses for "The Catalyst", and I would like you guys to suggest a better schedule/better way for this thread to keep going, because a post like the one for "The Catalyst" takes hours to write, and... I don't feel like doing that if there's not even gonna be a productive discussion after that (no one should ever feel like doing this, but... I'm weird I guess...) So yeah, something needs to be done I guess. Moving on, "The Messenger". (fanmade) "The Messenger" is the fifteenth and final song on A Thousand Suns. It is a slow, quiet, acoustic number that effortlessly draws the album to it's finish. The very first scenes in the Meeting of A Thousand Suns detail the making of "The Messenger", with Chester, Mike and Brad being in different rooms, Brad recording guitar, Mike on the keyboard and Chester recording his vocals. What really makes the song come to life is Bennington's flawless, emotional performance, which makes sense because he's the one who could relate to the lyrics the most, as he wrote the song for his children. Critics and fans alike were both confused with the song's inclusion on the album, especially as the closer, with Spin Magazine calling it the "most unexpected track on the boldly conceived A Thousand Suns". The way I see it, personally, is that the song acts as an epilogue to the album, after the victorious battle cry that "The Catalyst" is. In early September 2010, Phoenix sat down for an interview with Artist Direct, in which he spoke on the song, saying: Musically, "The Messenger" is basically as simple as it gets. Starting off with a simple guitar chord progression, Bennington kicks in with the first verse, which gives the song some muscle. The chorus kicks in, after which Mike Shinoda's keyboards are introduced to the song. The second verse feels like a step up from the first as Bennington's vocal performance is even more raw and imperfect, in contrast to the polished, beautiful instrumental beneath it. In the second chorus a regular wall of synths is added, before Chester's "ooh"'s close the song, as the piano melody starts getting a bit more playful. Simple, yet effective, this short ballad manages to give you the feels in just over three minutes. Amazing if you ask me. Lyrically, it's one of my favorite Linkin Park songs ever. Through the entire song, Chester speaks about "you" and "us" which really helps get the listener emotionally connected to the song, and closer to Chester and the band in general. The lyrics in the song are great advice for anyone out there feeling alone or hopeless. It certainly shows growth for the band, they are speaking about the same thing they spoke about 10 years ago, only this time it's not "poor me, everything's shit", it's "get back up, everything's gonna be alright". However, for Chester, it's a different story. From the first moment, he knew the song is going to be a letter to his kids, and a reminder on how to live their life. And boy, he did one hell of a job. "The Messenger" carries a simple point of love and understanding, yet it draws you in emotionally more than most other songs about the same subject do. At least for me it does. Speaking about the lyrics, and the song, Chester said: Being pretty much the only acoustic song to ever make it on to a Linkin Park album, "The Messenger" live was a weird moment in the live show. Weird, but beautiful. It had it's live debut on October 7, 2010 in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the first of the bands three South American shows of the year. When performed live, the song would get a drum line from Rob Bourdon at the end, which definitely enhanced the song's live experience. Through the next few years, the song became LP's go-to acoustic song to perform, which means it was often performed during the band's radio or charity performances and LPU summits. And because of that, there are several cool performances to mention. One of the best is this live performance with just Chester and Phoenix at Primary Children's Medical Center in Utah during a charity appearance. What was fun about that, is that Fox News, known for their spot-on accuracy (/s), credited it to Chester Bennington and the members of Stone Temple Pilots. For this performance, the song was played in a different key to better fit Chester's vocal abilites. Another personal favorite of mine is this performance by Chester during his interview with X1039 KCXX. There's nothing special about the performance, but the video is priceless. The mic stand completely covered Chester's face and... what in the hell is that woman in the background doing? Wrestling a child? Boyfriend? We'll never know. That same day, after the performance, Chester did something that truly shows what a great guy he is. He met a homeless man after leaving the studio, chatted with him for a while, and gave him some money. I'll drop a cool little article about it below. "The Messenger" was retired from the live show on August 31, 2011, although Chester sang the song over a pre-recorded instrumental on September 9 that same year, during the bands A Thousand Horizons art/charity show. After it's retirement, it was still performed on LPU summits and radio shows, as I mentioned above. That brings A Thousand Suns to a close, is there any song besides "Issho Ni" to discuss before Living Things? And... do you want to discuss "Issho Ni"?
The way I always saw it, The Catalyst and The Messenger contrast with each other. The Catalyst is deeply layered and has a little over the top pessimistic theme. And then you have The Messenger, its just acoustic guitar, Chester and piano and it is over-optimistic. And, thematically, its a great way to end A Thousand Suns. And it's okay Filip if you feel frustrated Also, this is an interesting performance I think because of how "zoned out" Brad looks. That guy is barely noticeable in most live videos I've seen and I don't know, he just seemed kinda like he's on drugs:- [video=youtube;af6j17docMQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af6j17docMQ[/video]
The Messenger. Why I love this song so much is because of how it sums up the album and gives a message of hope in spite of the 44 minutes of music about disaster. It's a really fitting way to close the album. As I've said, many people are probably busy. But everyone values the time you put into these posts. It's great to read about all the live performances and whatnot. You've only got two more albums, hold on. The weight of the world will give you the strength to go. I don't think Issho Ni is worth discussing. It's pretty much all Mike, isn't it? The only noteworthy thing about the track is its title.
The Messenger is in my "don't care about it" bunch of LP songs... I get what they were going with it, but I always felt that it didn't fit on the album... For me ATS ends with The Catalyst. The song itself is okay, nothing special. Very Beatles-esque if you ask me.
The Messenger is one of my favorite LP songs. Does it feel out of place on ATS? Sure. But I view it as more of an epilogue to the album, rather than the "grand finish." When taken like that, I think it works very well. I appreciate it so much for it's style. It's one that LP doesn't delve into often. I just wish Chester's performance wasn't so, how do I put it, raw? I much prefer the Live in Mardrid version that Filip posted above.