Would they be where they are today without Don Gilmore?

Discussion in 'Linkin Park Chat' started by Queef, Jun 20, 2015.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. #1
    Queef

    Queef Banned

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    0



    I think not, his production is awesome
     
  2. #2
    Erica

    Erica Meh LPA Über VIP

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2010
    Messages:
    11,507
    Likes Received:
    2,327



    Maybe not as big, but definitely more respected. His production blows donkey dick.
     
  3. #3
    Alexrednex

    Alexrednex Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2010
    Messages:
    1,132
    Likes Received:
    230



    :facepalm::samuel::wat:
    I am glad they moved away from that overall sound and production.
    If they didn't, I don't think I would be a LP fan today.
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2015
  4. #4
    Queef

    Queef Banned

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    0



    Did someone shoot your ears off? lots of pseudo producers on this forum hahaha
     
  5. #5
    Erica

    Erica Meh LPA Über VIP

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2010
    Messages:
    11,507
    Likes Received:
    2,327



    Let me clarify. HT and Meteora sound great. But Gilmore dumbed the band down A LOT. He turned em into the poppiest band in the scene. If you listen to the demos, there's some amazing writing in there. But Gilmore turned it as radio friendly as possible.
     
  6. #6
    Queef

    Queef Banned

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    0



    their still the two best albums
     
  7. #7
    Erica

    Erica Meh LPA Über VIP

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2010
    Messages:
    11,507
    Likes Received:
    2,327



    I believe the majority of the forum would disagree, but that's your opinion.
     
  8. #8
    lime treacle

    lime treacle You are not alone Über Member

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2011
    Messages:
    10,907
    Likes Received:
    1,791



    That's actually a good question. I just don't know – it depends on what person you would replace Don Gilmore with.

    Though, if your question was, for example, "Would they be where they are today without Jeff Blue?", then the answer would most likely be a plain no. But you never know – someone else might have given them a chance had it not been for Blue.
     
  9. #9
    GraveDigger388

    GraveDigger388 Nothing's gonna top my Jacky

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2014
    Messages:
    948
    Likes Received:
    180



    Pidgey has the point.
     
  10. #10
    Queef

    Queef Banned

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    0



    So you think the production on the first two albums sucks?
     
  11. #11
    GraveDigger388

    GraveDigger388 Nothing's gonna top my Jacky

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2014
    Messages:
    948
    Likes Received:
    180



    ......Here:
     
  12. #12
    Queef

    Queef Banned

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    0



    you sdaid his production "blows donkey dick" wouldnt that be worse than radio friendly?
     
  13. #13
    lime treacle

    lime treacle You are not alone Über Member

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2011
    Messages:
    10,907
    Likes Received:
    1,791



    I'd say that the production on the first two albums is arguably too compressed, and I would like to hear the bass.
     
  14. #14
    Brandon

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

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2010
    Messages:
    2,362
    Likes Received:
    124



    Don Gilmore was clearly working on behalf of the interest of Warner Bros. Chester has alluded to the fact that the guy was a dick in several interviews. He gave an example about how Gilmore kept asking him to record vocals in a way that the lines would overlap (listen to Figure.09's chorus as an example). When Chester brought up that he wouldn't be able to do that live, Gilmore told him it "wasn't his problem."

    The guy only seemed to care about doing whatever he/the label thought made a song radio friendly. That meant re-writing lyrics, turning the vocals way up in the mix, a wall of guitar, and no attention to bass (this was the early 2000s remember). No real nuance in the production, just doing whatever it took to make it catchier on the radio. I'm sure people more knowledgeable on mixing could provide more examples. Did this lead to more success for the band? It probably did in some ways. But he wasn't serving the music, so I'm glad they stopped working with him as soon as they could.
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2015
  15. #15
    Queef

    Queef Banned

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    0



    where is the evidence, post these interviews
     
  16. #16
    brady

    brady I am the LPA LPA Super Member

    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2012
    Messages:
    5,550
    Likes Received:
    2,805



    Lol. Much defensive, such sceptic. :doge:
     
  17. #17
    Iopia

    Iopia Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2012
    Messages:
    702
    Likes Received:
    567



    I actually quite like the production on those 2 albums, I guess I just can't imagine those songs differently. And yeah, there were a lot of things being written at that time which didn't fit that HT/Meteora sound, and were left out. I think the albums in one way benefit from being more cohesive as a result, but I think that if they had polished up those ideas and fit them smoothly into the albums, that sense of cohesiveness wouldn't have been lost and we would have gotten more diverse and interesting albums. HT for example features no pure rap songs (dedicated, high voltage), no rapped choruses (PoA demo), no pure soft songs (she couldn't), and very few interesting song structures (forgotten is really the only one that made it into the album), which were all things the band were writing at the time. We can only assume that these didn't make it into the album because Warner wasn't interested in any experimentation from the band, and it's hard to know whether those things would have even worked well on the album, maybe the songs we got were actually the best, we might be sick of some of the other demo ideas if they were actually part of the album and we were constantly hearing them. I think the album would have benefitted from the diversity, but it's really hard to know, maybe the whole feel and flow of the album would have suffered. Who knows.
     
  18. #18
    Queef

    Queef Banned

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    0



    What? don't call me names I just want proof of what shes saying
     
  19. #19
    Brandon

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

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2010
    Messages:
    2,362
    Likes Received:
    124



    lolwat.

    http://issuu.com/one_nation/docs/onn_boysofsummer_singlepage_-no_vid

    Scroll to page 13. Chester says this: "I remember saying that to our producer, Don Gilmore, 'This isn't going to work, I can't do this live.' Don was really good at this kind of stuff, he goes, 'Sounds like your problem, not mine.'"

    In this particular interview, Chester tries to put a positive spin on it by talking about having the freedom to do whatever they wanted in the studio. He's being polite. I tried finding the other interview, which is a video interview, but I didn't feel like spending hours looking at every interview since 2012. If you want to take a crack at it, you can. In that interview, he was more negative about Don Gilmore's attitude in the studio and used the "sounds like your problem" quote to demonstrate.

    There's also the famous "10-year-old in Cleveland" quote from the Making of Meteora where Don Gilmore says the lyrics should be written so 10 year olds can relate to it. Many of Mike and Chester's frustrations with the first two albums seem to have come from Don Gilmore, as they've both talked about being frustrated with rewrites.

    Long story short: Don Gilmore was a key component of making Linkin Park a marketable brand for Warner Bros. He wanted them to make shiny, overproduced, dumbed down songs to appeal to kids. Linkin Park's image in the early days was essentially "edgy boy band." They were angry and edgy enough to make a kid feel like they were being rebellious, but they were wholesome enough that they "didn't feel the need to curse" and would be approved by parents.

    I hope I'm not blowing anyone's mind in this thread by calling Hybrid Theory and Meteora what they are: pop music. We've had discussions about this dozens of times on this forum. Don Gilmore added to that. Does this mean you can't like those albums? Of course not. But part of their pop appeal was the slick overproduction, and many mixing enthusiasts seem to have mixed feelings about it.

    So did Don Gilmore help Linkin Park achieve success? Sure. But he wasn't good for them as artists, and they will never work with him again. Why would they?
     
  20. #20
    Gibs

    Gibs The Prog Nerd Über Member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2012
    Messages:
    12,526
    Likes Received:
    5,916



    [thumb]http://i3.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/014/969/d9q75iv.gif[/thumb]
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page