Billboard have published a news article covering a recent charity poker tournament hosted by Music For Relief which was attended by Linkin Park band members Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson and Joe Hahn. Among the topics covered is, of course, Linkin Park's upcoming seventh studio album, and though there is no truly new information, the band members nonetheless provide a bit of an update, with Delson describing the process as "organic" and Hahn mentioning that the band has developed a good number of songs. On the idea of the new album having deliberate recurring lyrical motifs, Delson reveals that there are indeed recurring themes coming up in the new songs, but stressed that the band are still in the midst of shaping and defining the album in that sense. Most importantly, the Billboard article tells us that, out of the three band members, Delson was the "last man standing" in the tournament, which earns him the title of "best poker player in Linkin Park". In a separate interview with Front Row Live's Robert Herrera at that same event, Delson discusses working without longtime producer Rick Rubin, and also reveals that Linkin Park have been collaborating with a "widespread" list of artists the develop the album's sound, described (vaguely) as "expansive and open". Finally, a 2016 release for the album is hinted at. You can watch the video below: [YOUTUBE]rCTJa14hR2c[/YOUTUBE] Source: Billboard / Linkin Park Fan Corner
So we are gonna have to wait at least 5/6 months to hear a song ... But I m really glad they have tons of material and guests
Seems like they're starting to focus and add details at some specific songs, not just randomly write new ones. This really got me stoked. They're already selecting the best ones to turn them into final songs. Soon we'll know more about the album's style/genre.
I'm calling it now: Brad Delson is going to reveal his "true" form and play guitar like never before. We will all be worshiping the Modern Guitar God in all His magnificence. On a more serious note, this is a small but insightful update. The fact that Brad is pleased in particular with how the production process has turned out so far hints that Brad could have a larger role, like in THP. I say this because why else would he be so excited and optimistic if he only had a minor role to play in this new album? I have a great feeling that we will be hearing new things instrumentally from Brad, not necessarily ultra-complex guitar parts, but something that will indicate he is continuing to step up his game. Lastly, I hope that this will be the album where Brad can break away from that "not very good guitar player" stigma and show us what he is truly capable of achieving with his instrument of choice.
At this point, I just hope they find a way to coordinate these different guests and song ideas into a cohesive and good flowing album, so we don't end up with another MTM. The feeling I got from the recent two interviews is that the album will be kind of sonically similiar album to LT but without the firecracker mentality and hopefully a lot more originality (for LP standards).
Trust me, Brad's level of excitement about something really doesn't have much to do with how guitar-oriented it is. He thinks more like a producer than a guitarist. His favorite song to play live on the Living Things tour was Lies Greed Misery...the one song in the set where all he did was push buttons on a sampler while Mike played all the guitar parts. Unless Mike's still pushing him to play guitar like he was on the last album, Brad may have wandered off to some other form of writing exploration already, like he's done in the past (he didn't pick up a guitar at all for the first couple months of ATS songwriting and wrote all his ideas on piano, then on Living Things he primarily wrote folk-y acoustic guitar stuff).
IDK why but this reminds me of the MTM cycle when we were expecting a late 2006 release and we had the album at may 2007. Before MTM they also said the same things, that the album was going to be organic and etc. I don't want another MTM. Please no!!
I don't think they are going to repeat themselves, but at this points it really seems likely that the album could have some similarities to MtM (e.g. in terms of diversity).
Yes please. To be fair Thrice has always been heralded for their beautiful lyrics. Now that Linkin Park has headed into a "vocals first" mindset, that could be a closer prediction than one would think.
Yeah, but Brad talks about "not overthinking it" and he seems to be a major part of the production/writing progress (like he was on THP). While I still think THP is a superior album overall, lyrically LT actually hold up pretty well(IBG, RU, COG, UIB). Please, LP, try to overthink your lyrics just a little.
Just listened to it waiting for something magical... and it was just emo music. Felt going back to 2006. - If this is the question, i think they should go into a more polyrhythmic writing. Close to progressive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKUA54hVtSo
If there are more demos like that I hope they survive and make it to the album (and not in the way three band terror got thrown into UIB).
Not gonna lie, when brad says "the magic words" @ 3-50 I was like "HUH?!!" Lol I really just did say that out loud.
https://twitter.com/mikeshinoda/status/718557301901103105 We're lucky to have Zane as a member of LPA. Hopefully, they can arrange a studio visit soon, and he can share his thoughts on the new material.
You brought some great points about Brad's roles in LP, other than being the main guitarist. Since THP happened, I actually did forget that Brad previously took a backseat approach with the guitars and tried other things prior to THP. You're probably right that he has been helping out with the current album production process in more ways than one, not just contributing guitars (electric or acoustic). I just hope that he doesn't semi-ditch guitars again and continues to hone and improve his current skills.