"Session" - Song by Song, Let's Talk Linkin Park

Discussion in 'Linkin Park Chat' started by hawk, Jul 2, 2014.

  1. Andreina

    Andreina Proud Venezuelan LP fan. LPA Contributor

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    Yes please.

    No it's not. It had a very straight forward norm, two days, that's it. And it's very welcome that it gets done neatly, as I think this is one of the best LP threads in a very long time and it deserves to be carried on properly. It's not about immaturity, it's about being able to follow one very simple, straight forward "rule".

    No more off-topic from me. Unless necessary.
     
  2. minuteforce

    minuteforce Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance. LPA Team

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    We're gonna stay on "Hit The Floor" for another day just to make sure that everyone who's been distracted or whatever gets their shot to post.
     
  3. Tocaraca

    Tocaraca A part of me screams away silently

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    Hit The Floor:
    I love the rapping in the verses, the lyrics really put across a meaning into my heart. The chorus has a nice mix of Chester's 'screaming' and Mike's rapping, and then at the end there is a nice harmony with either doubling effects or both of them singing at the same time, and that's my favourite part.
     
  4. The Joesen One

    The Joesen One Fun-employed LPA Super Member

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    "Hit the Floor" - I do think this is a good example of their emphasis on merging hip hop and metal, but I don't really dig the riff, nor the lyrics or melody. Yet another "lies" rap by Mike.
     
  5. heafy

    heafy Member

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    hit the floor: well first i want to say that this song is underrated. it had been played just once (i just found out one live ever) and it should be in every setlist
    chester is so angry with his voice it just blows my mind. mike rap is really aggressive and together with chester's horus they make a perfect combo.
    love the bass in the song
     
  6. Tocaraca

    Tocaraca A part of me screams away silently

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    Realting the the other thread 'Heaviest LP song?' I just need to say the Hit The Floor cannot be counted as a heavy song. The verse is not heavy, and no, rapping does not make it heavy either, Until It Breaks has the heaviest rapping.
     
  7. Dekar

    Dekar swimmingsmoke LPA VIP

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    But "Iridescent"? Ô.ô
     
  8. minuteforce

    minuteforce Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance. LPA Team

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    I'd really like to hear an explanation for this ... but we need to move on. :)

    Alright -- "Easier To Run"!


    "Easier To Run" is the sixth track on "Meteora" and is fairly different from most of the others on the album. It was, at the time of its release, one of the slowest songs Linkin Park had ever written. It features drum work by Rob Bourdon that both he and Mike Shinoda considered the most "technical" drumming on a Linkin Park song to date, the latter in a 2003 interview with NY Rock:

    When asked to elaborate on this during an interview with Shoutweb in 2003, Bourdon answered:

    A few years later, during an LPU chat in 2006, Shinoda described "Easier To Run" as a "power ballad".

    "Easier To Run" is another one of those "Meteora" songs where I think that the instrumentation is at least passable and the vocal performances are all well and good ... but the lyrics ruin it. I can't even quote any particular one to make my point because I find most of them to be cringeworthy. I like Shinoda's little pre-chorus rap, though, and the way that they use it to close out the song.

    In 2003, I purchased a copy of one of the "Numb" singles and it featured a recording of "Easier To Run" being played live at an LP Underground show in 2003 - awful-resolution video of this very performance is embedded above - and I think that it sounds alright live. :) The song was left by the wayside by the end of 2003, along with "Hit The Floor"; a few other "Meteora" songs continued to be played live throughout 2004.
     
  9. polleo

    polleo You're gonna carry that weight. LPA Super Member

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    Heh, I actually like the lyrics of this song. The song connected with me at one point. I love 'Just washing aside all of the helplessness aside pretending I don't feel misplaced is so much simpler change' part. Now, that I type it, it sounds a little dumb but fuck it, I really like this song. Its one of my favorites from Meteora.

    Hey! This is from the Meteora interview where Joe Hahn gives him a lap dance or something. 'Speaking of samples, he's giving me a sample of something I don't want'. I remember this.
     
  10. minuteforce

    minuteforce Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance. LPA Team

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    I did link to a transcript of the interview above the quote. ;)

    Oh, yeah -- I forgot that one of the most interesting things about "Easier To Run" is how it twists the generic song structure a little bit. Like "Crawling", it starts out with a chorus right after the intro, and, later on, there's a bridge section rather than a chorus directly after verse 2.
     
  11. Louis

    Louis Message me if you need to talk. We love you all. LPA Team

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    Kind of like you hinted at, Tony, I think the song has moments. The instrumentation is passable, and I like Mike's portion of the song. Otherwise, it's hard song to love for me. I tend to skip it on most listens. It's not the worst track the band has made, nor is it the worst off of Meteora​.
     
  12. Alexrednex

    Alexrednex Well-Known Member

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    I really like instrumental on this track - especially the verses. The bass, turntables, guitar and drums really set a mood for this song
    I think the chorus is pretty generic so that might be the reason I often forget about this song.
    I always thought the lyrics seemed very personal(to Chester), so I have always respected the song for that.

    The last part of the song always seemed so haunting to me --> "I would take all my shame... to the grave"

    One of the more interesting songs from Meteora that is for sure.
     
  13. Tocaraca

    Tocaraca A part of me screams away silently

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    Easier To Run is the only song where Chester raps.
    'If I could change I would to take the pain I would retrace every wrong move that I made I would if I could stand up and take the blame I would I would take all my shame to the grave'
    He raps along with Mike in the second line of the rapping in the verse.
    I think Easier To Run is the softest Meteora song, but it's still quite heavy. That's why it doesn't belong in my Soft Linkin Park playlist, yet some people thought it should be in there. I like the lyrics, especially when he says:
    'Sometimes I think of letting go, and never looking back; and never moving forward so, there'd never be a path'
    Yeah. Those lyrics mean something to me.
    I like all of the songs in Meteora, and Easier To Run is not one of my favourites any more than the other ones. It's my 15 year old brother's favourite in the album though, he always says 'this one is the best'.
     
  14. minuteforce

    minuteforce Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance. LPA Team

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    I'd call that a sung part rather than a rap. And there are other, much stronger examples where you could say that Chester "raps", such as the choruses in "Papercut" or the verses in "Blackout"
     
  15. Filip

    Filip god break down the door LPA Contributor

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    Sorry to ruin it for you, but the last word is ''past''.
     
  16. Lotus

    Lotus LPA VIP LPA VIP

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    I haven't been keeping up with this thread at all.. Sorry, Tony!! (I'll try harder)

    I've always liked Easier To Run because Chester sounds so vulnerable on it. I don't mind the cheesy lyrics because they still tell a very personal story and just knowing about Chester's past makes this song so sad. It's actually one of the few LP songs where I can truly feel the emotion and I like it for that reason.
     
  17. TobinKnowsBest

    TobinKnowsBest 20.03.1976 - 20.07.2017 LPA VIP

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    damn you beat me to it
     
  18. Michele

    Michele Praise Brad Delson, our Lord and Savior. LPA Addict

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    I dont always listen to Easier To RUn, but if i do , its just an ok song for me. Maybe one of the special things on Meteora, but... it just mehhhhh to me. DOnt have a personal connection to the song.
     
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  19. Andreina

    Andreina Proud Venezuelan LP fan. LPA Contributor

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    Easier to Run is obviously not the best LP song there is.. I really like the instrumentation and Mike's part, and I do like Chester's vocal melody. Something that I really like about the old songs is the power of how Chester sings his lines, like in "With You", "Don't Stay", "Crawling", "Pushing me Away", "Lying From You", there's a certain intensity there, it's loud, it's gritty, but with a ton of melody, I just love that.

    I think we have to say though, that the lyrics were born as a rhyming and vocal melody exercise (especially on Chester's part), the thing is now that they decided to keep them in the final version. Could have they rewritten it? Maybe, but they chose not to.

    Also, as cringey as the lyrics may sound to some people, I find it as an OK song just to drain that frustration out. As farfetched as it may sound, there really are people out there who feel THAT shitty and can feel (or have felt) related to this song.

    And in the prechorus, Chester is adding harmony to the rapped verse, he's actually singing that part.
     
  20. Atticus

    Atticus Bullets lance the bravest lungs

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    Easier To Run is just one of those songs that I don't hate, but has fallen into the sea of mediocrity that a lot of Linkin Park's older material resides for me. I do like how it feels different from the rest of their nu-metal songs with a slower tempo as a few of you have mentioned, and I also really enjoy the amount of energy that comes from the chorus. The song overall is neither forgettable or memorable, it's just kind of there.
     

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