You hit the nail on the head. This is why I haven't bought a Sevendust album in nearly seven years, and P.O.D. in almost a decade.
I can certainly say that I grew out of alot of bands I used to listen to back when LP were at the peak of their popularity, however I've still always retained a strong enjoyment for their music. Listen, the whole point of what I was saying is that we've already seen that they're capable of creating a unique, matured sound. I just want them to get back to that. I feel like going down the whole pop-rock avenue is too easy. If Radiohead released another Pablo Honey, there'd be fucking outrage because they've moved so far past that sound now.
I've been listening, growing up with it, enjoy every type of music for my whole life, a.ka. 44 years. Listen to every type of bands and different type of styles. LP was the one band that affected and changed me in everyway. I grew to love them and no matter how they change the way how they do their music, I will always grow up with them as they grow up. I always believe as long as they have a handful, just a handful, of fans they will be what they want to be and will always have a new fan that will replace the one that decided that they were done.
I really agree with the post. I feel that every album was at a step up from the last, but I really can't say that with LT. I hate the excuse that Living Things isn't up to par/isn't better than whatever album because it wasn't supposed to be. It's a lame excuse to cover up a pretty average album following up some great music. Recharged and Living Things are just forgettable in my opinion.
Linkin Park is doing just fine. LIVING THINGS was an amazing album that gave us all pretty much chills when we first heard it just like the first time we've heard all their other albums. Songs like POWERLESS, STB, LITE, and COG broadened our horizons as to what LP can do. That stuff is not generic, you don't hear music like that often on the radio. Although many LPA users consider ATS to be their greatest album, I'd take LT over ATS any day. There is a difference between both, one being an experimental and overall softer sounding album, while its successor has a more high energy feel. ATS, though very creative and more meaningful, can also get very boring. LT is a big time combination of all their previous albums and showed that they have not lost their touch in the least bit. Its also easily one of their most popular albums, most notably outside of the LPA which definitely means something. We are simply a few thousand out of millions of fans. An album heading in a mainstream direction doesn't mean its intent is purely based on money or that it will come off as any other record. In Linkin Park's case, it was a standout album that received much attention hence all the awards they won because of it. I think the most important aspect is how much the guys enjoy the album and its creative process. In the making of LT, all the guys seemed like they were having fun while making every track which was definitely a much needed break from the stressful process that led to ATS. I think often times many of you also forget that LT was created at the same time the guys were on tour. Obviously it was made on a rough and very limited schedule. I applaud LP for pulling off a gutsy move and saying that they'd attempt to make a new album every two years. It might sound foolish to some, but if they have their mindset at a very creative point, why not take advantage of it, no matter what the result is? As for Recharged, I'll never understand why some of you are so offended by it. You question and make remarks about it being just another remix album, well what else was it supposed to be? The album was announced spontaneously and we were given glimpses as to what we would expect. Its not something we had to build up excitement for, but rather an album that Mike seems to have really enjoyed and wanted to touch base on because of all the remixes that impressed him, not us. It showed us that Mike's producing skills are as great as ever, being able to create great mixes of COG and VICTIMIZED, along with sick new verses which we didn't expect. Comparing Reanimation to Recharged is simply ridiculous because they simply don't fall under the same category, no different than comparing apples to oranges. On a final note, Linkin Park now and Linkin Park then are both one and the same. All their songs hold an element which they've easily retained throughout all their albums. What is that element? I can't say, its something you simply have to feel in their music. One thing is certain, no one album seems to ever really be the same, even HT and Meteora. The process for each album is also different so you can never expect them to create a new album in a similar manner. In some ways, it almost seems impossible, but I don't mind it because we will always get some type of surprise as an end result. The new album, though made in roughly a similar time to that of LT will in no way come out the same as its predecessor simply because it has most of their attention due to it not being made at the same time as a tour, other than STPCB, but that in turn creates more opportunities for a more disparate album.
^ There's a lot to respond to in that post but I don't want to take the time. Anyone else wanna take a crack at it?
mmhm. Learn to paragraph. Also, "A Thousand Suns" being boring has nothing to do with the music, but probably your mindset when you approach it. Success never comes easy, see ATS.
We all are. Forums would be nothing without some amount of disagreement. - Broman's post is long as fuck and comes off as making facts of his opinion. I didn't get chills from Living Things. The songs at best were good ideas but really just aren't very well written songs IMO. Sure, they're catchy but I don't really feel it compares to any of their other albums. This isn't saying that everything prior was pure gold in the form of music but they always kept a good standard of quality that I don't feel LT met. I can't quote from my phone and I'm definitely not going to sort through the post but here's some stuff I wanna say. Mainstream doesn't always mean something is good or bad. An album can be popular because it is actually good music, or it is simple and easily accessible to whoever listens. Editing of a video can portray whatever emotions the editor wants. For all we know, LT could have been more stressful/rushed than the making of shows. You even mentioned as a counter argument that it was tough making an album while touring. LT and awards? Reanimation and Recharged are easily comparable. One had work put into it and the other didn't. Both are remix albums. You say to take advantage of creativity while you have it no matter the result as a justification for Living Things. If LT is creative, what are MTM and ATS lacking in your opinion in order to be "more creative" or even comparable? Lastly, "enjoying" making an album doesn't make a good argument when comparing quality of music. In 10-20 years from now, which album do you really feel would stand the test of time the best? Not the one that was "a fun and enjoyable back to our roots" album, but the one that was written in the mindset of making something incredibly different from anything they've ever written and to be as unconventional as possible.
No disrespect to your comment, but I know more adults that like Linkin Park than teenagers. In fact, my grandpa (who is dead now) is the one who got me into Linkin Park.
And you are the one who decides whether a band is "genuinely great" or not? I may just be reading this wrong but it kinda sounds like you're saying that your opinion is a fact and no one else's opinion matters. Also, I'm not hating on your opinion. I'll respect your opinion as long as you respect mine.
Now it's not a "kids band you'll grow out of" thing, just one thing to keep in mind that even in their "most creative" peak, there were always similar sounds out there. The pop-rock avenue is easy, but one of the bands biggest hits and a huge fan favorite is In The End, a pop song if the band ever had one. When In The End came out, it was right smack in the middle of a time when "rap-sing-rap-sing" wasn't encessarily an uncommon thing to come across. Did they do a very good song in that vein? Without question. It just wasn't exactly a fresh and exciting concept at the time. I see completely what you're getting at. ATS, especially for Linkin Park, was a really ballsy move for a band that as we know had at that time stuck very closely to what worked best. However even their best album (and it was, by far) had several, pretty major problems. Interludes that adding nothing, some songs falling far, far shorter in terms of quality than others, so on and so forth. What we have left is a few choice songs that stand above the rest in an obvious way, and while the particular sounds may have shifted that's what the band's always done. That inconsistency is another thing the bad is infamous for. Breaking The Habit, at one time recognized as one of the bands highest crowning achievements (and still might be, I'm not sure tbh) and sounded nothing like anything else on that album. Or the album before it. And on none of the ones that after it. The band knocked one out of the park, only to suddenly never attempt to take a similar swing; it was over and onto a new thing. The point of this overblown history lesson goes back to my initial point. Linkin Park has a history of showing enormous skill in song crafting and will proceed to unceremoniously drop it almost as quickly as they pick it up. Knowing this habit of theirs makes it easier to anticipate not being immediately thrilled when they never again revisit that "great" territory, and to enjoy what they do come up with on their own merits that might be overlooked "because it's not good like those other songs were". I do too, and if you'll go back to the earlier post you'll notice I never said LP is a band most people grow out of. I did say that having more than a passing familiarity with them may mean they won't exactly blow your mind the way they would if they were your very first experience with techo-tinged power ballads or rap fused pop metal, and I stand by that. The point was that it's not a completely irrational theory that some people grossing overestimate the bands talent or creativity due to it being their only real basis for that kind of music, and I'm going to stand by that. And I'll elaborate further in regards to this... I want you to list a few -or even one- song that Linkin Park and only Linkin Park would have been capable of making, and write a brief summary of way that is. It doesn't need to be a grand explanation, and I'm not looking to trick you with some sort of "aHA bitch, I know more about music than you!", but a major part of being a "genuine great" is the ability to have people instantly recognize something that one band and only one band could do as well and be able to do it at least a couple of times. Linkin Park have been made several very good attempts at such a thing, but in my opinion have fallen short of the consistency (in terms of how good how often, not necessarily the style of the music) needed in my book.
They might not have many (or any) songs that maybe another band couldn't replicate but no band will ever a. Sound like them or B. be able to have such a diversity of music in single albums. The last 3 albums really do touch on genres in ways that I don't think any other bands out there replicate.
Yeah I think Linkin Park has always shown flashes of being truly great, but they never really live up to that potential because there's always a part of the band that caves in to doing stuff that's ripe for radio play, especially with collaborations with Steve Aoki and Michael Bay. I loved the hell out of A Thousand Suns, but ultimately ATS kind of feels like a patchwork of different sounds, rather than truly being something experimental. It was ballsy for them to do such an album, but everything feels like you can easily piece where it came from. Nothing wrong with that of course, it was a step in the right direction. That's why I was looking so forward to the follow-up, only to be disappointed with Living Things.
Oh, I could fill up an iPod with bands who've recorded albums just as diverse as anything Linkin Park's done, if not moreso.