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

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

  1. Bawa

    Bawa Could wait to see tomorrow.

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    Oh god, I never even considered that... Even if those were just seeds, I would love to hear them.


    Well who's stopping you from being the all-mighty conversation starter, hmm? :rolleyes:
     
  2. Michele

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

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    He is afraid of the thing , that if he post something and nobody answers, he cant continue the songs :kappa: (Because of the forbidden Double Posting :WTF: )
     
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  3. Nicholas

    Nicholas Well-Known Member

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    I'll have to agree with everyone here, New Divide really felt like a natural progression from Minutes to Midnight. It sits comfortably between their third and fourth albums by combining the essence of both Minutes to Midnight and A Thousand Suns, whether intentional or not it really does make it the perfect transition between the two. At the time, it showed this whole added layer of depth not often seen in their previous work. I was surprised during my initial impression of the song, there's so much going on it caught me off guard.

    At the same time, they also really did nail catching the idea of a Transformers themed song, it's the perfect fit for the film.

    As for the music video, it's quite bizarre, but in a way that makes it unique in its own right, distancing itself from other Linkin Park music videos.

    It's definitely a memorable song in their discography. One that will go down as a "Linkin Park classic"? I don't know, but it will for me.
     
  4. Bawa

    Bawa Could wait to see tomorrow.

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    I honestly feel that it has gone that route. It's one of the more known and popular songs, especially due to it's link to Transformers. It's one of those songs that is so well known, that people who know nothing about the band itself or have never tried to listen to their material specifically, still know very well.
     
  5. Elaine

    Elaine The One They Call Elaine. LPA VIP

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    Unregistered Hypercam 2 is my favourite Linkin Park song. :kappa:

    Seriously, though, New Divide is alright. Nothing special. Nothing bad.
     
  6. hawk

    hawk because the internet LPA Super VIP

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    there isn't anything special about new divide, but that doesn't change the fact that it is one of
    my favorite songs from the band. it's just ... good.
     
  7. lovablepanda

    lovablepanda Well-Known Member

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    New divide is one of the three songs that I feel incorporates the most of what Linkin Park can do. Its got a fantastic chorus, the high energy, amazing synths and a great instrumentation overall for the entire song. Its in my top ten songs from them so I love it. I remember getting the news Linkin Park was making a new song before their new album and was so excited when I first heard the snippets.
     
  8. Tocaraca

    Tocaraca A part of me screams away silently

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    I'll Be Gone demo.
    New Divide is really good for a song that wasn't even recorded for the band itself.
     
  9. Michele

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

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    They should defintly do something like this more often in my opinion. Single songs for not studio albums.
     
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  10. Tocaraca

    Tocaraca A part of me screams away silently

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    NO.
     
  11. Filip

    Filip god break down the door LPA Contributor

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    Moving on, "Not Alone"!


    "Not Alone" is a song by Linkin Park written in 2010 for the Music For Relief compilation album Download to Donate For Haiti. The story behind the song is truly remarkable. In 2010 a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, a country that was already suffering from extreme poverty and environmental degradation. As always, Linkin Park were one of the first to get involved with helping those affected by the earthquake, as their charity, Music For Relief had set up an innovative fundraising program in just a few days. "Not Alone" was finished within 48 hours of the earthquake. Unfortunately, the song was never performed live. The demo of the song comes from the Minutes to Midnight sessions, but it was re-worked and re-recorded at the time of the earthquake, when the band was recording A Thousand Suns. The Download to Donate For Haiti album included songs from Dave Matthews Band, Weezer, Jack Johnson, Alanis Morissette, Slash, The All-American Rejects, Hoobastank, The Crystal Method, Kenna, Enrique Iglesias and Lupe Fiasco among others, and raised over $270,000. Hats off to the band for such a quick and effective response.

    As are most songs from the Download to Donate For Haiti compilation, "Not Alone" is a slow, gloomy synth-rocker. It begins with a haunting synth line which quickly turns into a piano line before Chester opens the verse. Through the verse, silent drums keep playing in the back of the song. In the chorus, a nice, slow guitar line from Brad Delson kicks in as the song slowly begins to build. The second verse is much more powerful than the first, being backed up by a guitar line and a fitting, beautiful drum line from Rob Bourdon. Chester sings the second chorus a bit louder than the first, which goes nicely with the song. After the chorus, the song goes into a nice, synthy breakdown done by Joe Hahn, before slowing down as Chester repeats the chorus once again. In my opinion, this song is one of Chester's best performances when it comes to slower, more lowkey songs. The song ends with a minute-long instrumental. The synth line from the breakdown is repeated once again before kicking back into the drums, supported by a bassline and atmospheric synths.

    Lyrically, the song obviously connects to the victims of the Haiti earthquake, and it was definitely re-written to fit the theme better. The lyrics of the verses describe how hopeless the people affected by the earthquake feel, while the chorus comes in as a light of hope for the people, as Chester proclaims - "you are not alone...". A video was shot for the song aswell. The video features footage of the band recording the song and some cool performance shots of Chester, aswell as stock footage courtesy of UN Visual Library, Department of Public Information and the Ricky Martin Foundation. The video begins with shocking images of bodies in the streets, ruins and severely injured people. In the very beginning of the video, you can hear a person saying "we need more people down here", referring to the ruins, however this is referenced later in the video when UN forces and the Army come to help the affected, bringing food, water and medication. Carrying such a simple message of equality and caring, the video comes across as one of the most powerful the band has ever done. It was directed by Bill Boyd, a long time collaborator of the band.


    And I guess that, as the song was never performed live, the last paragraph goes to the making of documentary. The documentary shows footage of the band recording and reviewing the song, aswell as reporting about the situation going on in Haiti at the time. They mention how to donate to the charity, and reveal the song was finished in those 48 hours right after the band found out about the earthquake. Chester gives a very nice speech about how in hard times like the earthquake, people don't seem to overthink what they are doing - they just do it. A very cool moment was caught on tape in this video, as the band named the song right there in front of the camera. Besides this, there's another very cool moment. While Mike is in the vocal booth for some reason (his vocals aren't featured on the song), he gets a call from Lupe Fiasco, the world famous rapper for who Mike has produced and with whom he has collaborated on in the Fort Minor era. He tells him to try to lay down a verse on an existing song Mike had wrote in 2006 with Ethiopian singer Kenna. This song was also released on Download to Donate For Haiti, titled "Resurrection", credited to Lupe Fiasco featuring Kenna, with production from Mike Shinoda. In 2013, as part of LPU XIII, a new demo was released titled "Universe (2006 Demo)", leaving many fans surprised to find out it is the "Resurrection" instrumental. I'll drop the video below for your viewing pleasures.

    As if I wasn't pissed off enough that you guys reminded me to do "New Divide" and "Not Alone" (I'm glad you did) before moving on to A Thousand Suns, I myself have recently remembered that "Blackbirds" was also released before A Thousand Suns, so we're going to be doing that one next. Hopefully after that, we can kick off the next era.
     
  12. Gibs

    Gibs The Prog Nerd Über Member

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    Song is underrated. Yes, it is a bit sappy, but It's done well. I love the simpleness and intimacy of the instrumental.
     
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  13. Michele

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

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    A nice song , with a great meaning.
     
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  14. Tocaraca

    Tocaraca A part of me screams away silently

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    I love this song so much.
    May be one of the softest songs they've ever done.
    The lyrics are nice, and it's like Chester is talking about somebody travelling from their home, to lead a new life, which is sad but happy at the same time. Maybe Chester is saying that he has also left his home before.
    I love the guitar solo part after the second chorus.
    Go
    Leaving all you've known
    You are not alone
    Hopefully next we move on to ATS, like Filip wants.
     
  15. polleo

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

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    I love Chester's performance on the song. Its a beautiful song. I wish I could've supported the cause or still could.
     
  16. lovablepanda

    lovablepanda Well-Known Member

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    The instrumentation on this song is so freaking good. I would love to hear this song live because I really think the band can really make this sound even better live.
     
  17. Wizardofozil

    Wizardofozil Well-Known Member

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    Love mike and Chester harmony in this song its beautiful
     
  18. Bawa

    Bawa Could wait to see tomorrow.

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    Nope, we've still got Blackbirds! :D
     
  19. minuteforce

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

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    It kind of showcases Shinoda's production style 'cause there's this lo-fi crunch aesthetic that permeates his synths and drums. I don't even think that there are live drums so it's pretty reasonable for me to assume that "Not Alone" is just Shinoda and Bennington and no-one else.
     
  20. Tyler

    Tyler Well-Known Member

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    I check the thread every day, but usually only get around to posting on the weekends. Oh well, here goes two songs :p

    New Divide:
    Not on my list of favorites, but it's a good electronic rock song. The toms in the second verse are good and the breakdown is a cool new thing that they did. It would have been even better if they had used guitar on it, because it is lacking that a lot, giving us a good hint towards what ATS would be. I wouldn't mind hearing a demo, if it is fairly different from the version we have. Yeah, the lyrics are cheesy, but at least the verses aren't about pain and suffering for a change.
    The partnership with Transformers really solidified them as the "Transformers band". It fits so well in action scenes and the video was cool. You can tell that the band had a lot of fun making the video and the song.
    Live, I don't really have a favorite performance because I don't care for it live and I hope it gets dropped from setlists, but it is one of their signature songs, so that won't be happening in the near future. But early performances of it are good, I remember when I began getting into LP seriously that I saw an MTV World Stage of them performing at what looked like the TF2 premiere.


    Not Alone:
    I have only listened to this a few times, but now I think I will start listening to it more. Chester gives a good performance on it and the song is very fitting for the situation. I wonder how much they had in that demo before they reworked it after the earthquake. Also interesting to see Phoenix playing guitar for a second in that video, is there even any real bass in that song? Same goes for Joe and the synth break, which may very well have been Mike.
    This was another great thing that they had done with MFR and it makes me feel proud to be a fan.

    Also as a suggestion for when we do ATS, why not do The Requiem and The Radiance in a single post, maybe even with BITS?
     

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