We already have that basically with The Mall soundtrack. All of the vocal tracks with the exception of White Noise are pretty much full Shinoda. And as much as I love Shinoda's voice on record, his voice live is unpredictable. I can't see him doing full time vocals for a whole set like Chester does (and he probably wouldn't want to either).
I'd rather him make another hip-hop album. He's not really all that good when it comes to singing live with the few songs he sings on already, couldn't imagine him doing a full set. He would melt. I do enjoy his singing on the albums though. Would be cool to see him do another hip-hop album and also through some singing in with it.
I'd rather him make a singing album. He's not really all that good when it comes to rapping period with the songs he's rapped on already. Couldn't imagine him doing a full album. It would be lame as fuck. I don't enjoy his rapping on the albums. It would be much better to see him do a singing-centric record with no rapping at all.
Touche. EDIT: "Tellin' me to quit rapping, "Just play the keys". That my band had a singer, they didn't need me".
Although I too would prefer more Shinoda singing than rapping on record I don't get why everyone's against him rapping now like he was never any good at it? I agree his verses on LT and THP are some of his weakest material, but you can't discredit some of his earlier work so easily. To me his best raps were on HTEP, dedicated, ITE demo, Hands Held High. Put some of those verses up there with the best. I played "Part of me" for my friends at work the other day, most people hadn't heard it, but they all agreed that his flow and lyrics where on point.
I think for the most part, his flow on THP was great, but it was just the lyrics that were boring, seems like we've been hearing lyrics like that (Cocky lyrics) since WTCFM, though that was an actual great song with great rapping. Rhyming "Ya" with "Ya" is just lazy and he can do better.
I really like It goes through (Luna) That was the direction that LP should have gone instead of ATS and LT if they wanted to shoot for that Electronic sound.
I actually like all the song's that features Mike's vocals on The Mall OST. Luna The Last Line (I like it, it sounds very raw and personal.) Devil's drop. Think Devil's Drop is my favourite, seems very folksy and it has some of the best lyrics the band has ever written. If this is the type of album LT was originally supposed to be I'm sort of annoyed that it didn't turn out that way in the end. White Noise is "Ehh" to me.
i would, hopefully, love it. mike was an amazing rapper. but i feel as though his time/prime has passed. the major hip-hop artists going around these days are on a whole different level.
When They Come for Me should have been the end of Mike's rapping career, put simply. It would have been a fitting end.
It's tough, because I actually think some of Mike's best rapping came on LIVING THINGS. Sincerely, I think he flows very well on that record. Sure, it's the same old cocky rapping that Mike tried throwing onto The Hunting Party unsuccessfully, but there's just something about his raps on that record that sit better with me. I think "Until It Breaks" is quite good for the kind of song that it is, and all things considered I thought his verses were at least fun to listen to. In terms of Mike going forward, it's hard to say. I think it's been said in various contexts on this forum that Mike's raps are far more enjoyable when they evoke some sort of imagery. He was a really great story-teller, and I also just appreciated the rawness of his raps in the early days. I think of "High Voltage" and the tail-end of "And One" off of Hybrid Theory EP and it's just hard to ignore how good those sorts of raps were. "Dedicated" is another example of when Mike writes and raps really well. I just don't think we'll see that again. For whatever reason, Mike is just swagging out as a rapper and it's not really fitting for him. I also think none of it sits well on the album, especially on The Hunting Party. I sincerely don't get what he thinks he's doing on "Keys to the Kingdom," "All For Nothing," "Wastelands," and so forth. It's quite annoying to me as a listener. He had his time on LIVING THINGS and I could jive with that, but it's really hard to keep liking the product when it's the same over and over again. As far as Mike singing on a solo record, I really don't think it would be very good. With no disrespect to Mike, the studio is a luxury for his voice. He is not as well-trained in vocals and just doesn't have the knack for it that Chester does. Granted, that is an apples and oranges sort of comparison, but a solo record would mean that he could not perform it live. Like others have said, he's very hit-or-miss live. His voice wavers too much (and it does on the album ever-so-slightly). If it was a one-and-done type deal where all we would really know is the album, then maybe it would be okay. But the truth is, I would want an album that I could see performed live as well. As such, why? Additionally, even with experimental albums artists lean toward their strengths. Mike could do something highly experimental, but do you think he'd shy away from hip hop? What Mike ought to do, I think, is get into the producing game. He's produced a few tracks for other artists that have been really good (e.g. "Never Lies," Lupe Fiasco). I think he could do a lot of that sort of work. Or, it'd be really interesting to see him create an instrumental album. If he wants to sing, I'd want to see him do something experimental and mellow along the lines of Beck's Sea Change. Otherwise, I don't really know what he could do that I would really enjoy. I know that's harsh, but I'm just thinking honestly as a fan.
Hey, I'm sure if Mike rapped about other things, I'd be fine. LP always prides on doing something different for every album but is it true for Mike's raps as of recently? I don't think so. FM had bad lyrics yes but there are LP songs where Mike shines, like Louis said, Mike is a great storyteller. But, he doesn't do that now. But, I'm sure another FM album won't be as lame as you guys think. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, Mike is kind of a safe singer. I used to take classical Carnatic singing lessons and I used to be pretty bad but I can always sing along and hit the notes Mike hits. With Chester, most of the time, I sound like a squealing duck. Even, Chester said Mike likes to play safe. So, I don't think a full album wouldn't sound that great. Although, Mike has this gift where everything he sings sounds so genuine. I know a lot of people here made fun of his BTH demo but I couldn't help liking it- he sounds so silly and genuine. So, I'll probably love if he makes such a solo album. Although, from that self-management article, it seems the band has some "innovative" ideas for LP. But then, they kinda said something like that for THP but THP was probably the least special album cycle. We didn't even get a making of. You know what, the normal version didn't even come with a proper booklet. There's that pamphlet with their faces where they all look old and fucking exhausted
There you go, Mike singing. [video=youtube;L1W13oiYATo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1W13oiYATo[/video]
That track really shows his versatility... Especially his Bee Gees impression that he pulls for a lot of the track, really beautiful Mike is a fantastic studio performer when it comes to singing, and I've been loving his recent singing contributions. His life presence definitely needs some work, but I think with some effort he can probably perform very well live.