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

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

  1. Atticus

    Atticus Bullets lance the bravest lungs

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    I've got the perfect location:

    A_hut.jpg

    Someone bring the confetti
     
  2. minuteforce

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

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    Decay will handle that. ;)
     
  3. Tocaraca

    Tocaraca A part of me screams away silently

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    Take a look at what I said in my post here:
    Then you go and tell me I was saying your opinion was wrong.
    If I didn't get this out already in my original post, what I am saying is that ATS is not the best album, but facts cannot determine whether a song/album is good or not.
    If some group of people all think Minecraft is the worst game ever, then they can think that, because that opinion must be respected.
    But they can't tell anybody who plays the game that they are an idiot for liking it, because the game has many more than a million downloads. I couldn't be bothered to look on the minecraft website how many downloads it had
    So I am definitely not telling you that your opinion is wrong, I am not saying my opinion is right, and it seems like I didn't express this enough in my original post.
     
  4. Captain-EO

    Captain-EO Also Prog Nerd Now, Thanks Gibs LPA Super Member

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    No. Slapping "but I respect your opinion" does not rectify what you said. It does not take away the fact that you said: "Here's a fact for you. It's not the best album." What you said basically is: "Your opinion is wrong, and I respect it even though it's inferior to my opinion that no album is the best, which is absolute truth".

    You thought the kick with amplified bass made it glitchy? Or do you mean the rhythm of it (for lack of a better way to describe it)?
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2014
  5. GraveDigger388

    GraveDigger388 Nothing's gonna top my Jacky

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    You contradict yourself.Read yor post that started this all.Read it,and use your logic (no,common sense logic) to understand what that means.
     
  6. Tocaraca

    Tocaraca A part of me screams away silently

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    The fact that all of the albums are just as good is not a fact. Did you know that the most popular album is actually Hybrid Theory, as in it has the most people that have bought it? This doesn't make Hybrid Theory the best album. Until It Breaks is not crap because the rap is slow. Fallout is not a bad interlude because all it is is the vocals of Burning In The Skies that are distorted. I could go on with examples, but I'm not going to, because my point is that:
    Basically what Louis said.
    You know, lets just drop this entire thing. Who cares, I was merely posting because I didn't want to admit that I found it stupid that so many people loved ATS. I think I know why; because the whole structure of the album and the songs is done really well.
    When They Come For Me is often considered strange because of the distorted guitar and telephone like noises in the instrumental. That's why lots of people used to not like it but now they do like it and appreciate it, like Little Things.
     
  7. Filip

    Filip god break down the door LPA Contributor

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    Two songs to discuss, guys.
     
  8. Michele

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

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    What Filip says!
     
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  9. Tocaraca

    Tocaraca A part of me screams away silently

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    Did anybody notice the beat that u can hear at the end of The Radiance that sounds like a machine pumping something?
     
  10. Michele

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

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    Sounds more to a explosion to me.
     
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  11. Tocaraca

    Tocaraca A part of me screams away silently

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    Good point.
    And my point is I think it would go well in The Summoning.
    Isn't it also in Jornada Del Muerto?
     
  12. BTorio

    BTorio Well-Known Member

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    I love the Requiem/radiance as an opener. The requiem is really nice, I hope they bring it back to open shows/encores eventually and I can see it live. I love the heavy beat to it.
     
  13. Filip

    Filip god break down the door LPA Contributor

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    ...and then comes "Burning In The Skies"!


    "Burning In The Skies" is the third track on A Thousand Suns, which comes in after a very smooth transition from "The Radiance". It is the first song on the album after two interludes. It was released as the third single off the album outside of the United States, which is why it did not chart on any Billboard Chart. It had moderate success in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Produced by Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin, "Burning In The Skies" is a beautiful mid-tempo alternative rock song with a nice pop feeling to it. Holding a very interesting guitar part, sampled and live drums, and most importantly, incredible melody and lyrics, the song quickly became a fan favorite around the time of the album's release. An official video (labeled the "International Video") for the song was released, directed by the band's very own Joe Hahn. It was performed live through much of the A Thousand Suns era.

    After "The Radiance" is over, the song begins with a similar melody to it's predecessor, with an element that sounds a lot like a sampled heartbeat. It's not long before the album's signature synths begin to appear, accompanied by piano and a sampled drum part from Rob Bourdon. In an interview with eMusician, Mike Shinoda stated the band wanted the listeners to have a hard time separating physical instruments from sampled ones, and "Burning In The Skies" is the perfect example of this. The drums of the song carry it's 4/4 beat, and are constantly changing. The sampled drums first get hi-hat and tambourine add-ons before turning into a full live drum line. The guitar part is fairly simple, but it does it's job effortlessly, providing a chilling atmosphere to the track before Shinoda starts singing the verse. The beat over which he sings is very subtly, beautifully layered, and it can find place only on A Thousand Suns. As Chester opens the chorus, backed up by "oooh"'s from Mike in the background, the song gets a roaring bass line in the back. The second verse is very similar to the first, yet manages to feel even more upbeat. The second chorus comes, with the melody repeated twice, however with different lyrics. The song goes into something unexpected, a guitar solo from Brad Delson. Again, while not being very complex, it fits right with the vibe of the song, which is something I personally can't say for some Minutes to Midnight solos. This part is definitely backed up by a live drum line. Chester repeats the chorus once again as the song goes down-beat again. His vocal performance on this song feels very sincere and emotional, which just makes the song even better. The song ends with Shinoda repeating the first two lines, really making things go full circle.

    Lyrically, the song introduces the theme of the entire album. We know A Thousand Suns was written with a certain concept in mind, and as slim as it may have turned out in the end, it's very recognizable in this song. Directly following Oppenheimer's quote, it's possible that "blood of innocence burning in the skies" and "swimming in the smoke" are written from the perspective of those who actually dropped the two atomic bombs on Japan in 1945. And even with how many times I've said it already, I'll say it again: the lyrics are often layered in meaning. The song could be written about the way human kind treats nature, and how now we're losing what we don't deserve. It is written in first person, so it's also very easy to interpret the song as being about relationships, and how one person now has to deal with the feelings of loneliness and emptiness after destroying a friendship or a relationship. The lines "but in the end we were made to be apart/like separate chambers of the human heart", are personally my favorite the band has ever written, and greatly contribute to the theory of the song being about relationships.


    As I've said before, an official video for the song was directed by Linkin Park's turntablist Joe Hahn. The video was shot from January 17 to January 19, 2011, right before the band embarked on their 2011 North American Winter Tour. Before the video arrived, Joe Hahn described it as being "explosive", and that might just be the best way to put it. The entire video was shot in slow motion, something the band seems to be very fond of. There are many scenes in the video, showing final activities of people before being caught in the blast radius of a nuclear explosion in downtown Los Angeles. The video shows a college party, a couple in a car, an issued woman in her bathroom, a girl studying, an old man dining while reminiscing of his deceased wife and a child running with a lantern. The moment of the explosion is in sync with the start of the guitar solo. The band themselves appear during the explosion, however they're not playing their instruments or singing, as the video was shot in slow motion.

    The Making of the "Burning In The Skies" Music Video LPTV episode centered less around band members joking, as was the case with for example "What I've Done" and "New Divide", and actually gives insight in how the video was made. It shows Joe Hahn giving instructions to the actors shooting their parts, aswell as the band doing their slow-motion shots. Joe Hahn used slow-motion cameras and had the band members jump with their instruments to achieve the "falling" vibe in the time of the explosion. It was all filmed in front of a green-screen, and various special effects similar to those in the "Waiting For The End" video were applied to the band members. All in all, a very interesting episode to watch or rewatch.


    (oh look, London 2011!)

    The song was only perfomed live through the A Thousand Suns touring cycle. It had it's live debut on December 13, 2010 during the bands Melbourne stop of the 9-show A Thousand Suns Australian Tour. "Blackout" had it's live premiere during this same show. The performance I embedded above comes from the, you guessed it, iTunes Festival 2011 in London. The song was performed in it's album version, without any extended intros or outros. What's very interesting about the song's live experience is that Chester sang the entire song with Shinoda, which resulted in some incredible harmonies from the two of them. Even though that performance has it's issues, and the sound recording is not the best, trust me, it's there. The song was also frequently mashed up with "Bleed It Out", when the band performed the chorus of the song over the guitar riff of "Bleed It Out". It was a fun experience, but never actually resulted in anything spectacular, just like most "Bleed It Out" mash-ups except "A Place For My Head" and "Sabotage". You can hear what this type of performance sounded like here. The songs final live performance happened at the very end of the A Thousand Suns era, during the bands September 25, 2011 stop in Singapore for the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Hopefully the band brings it back eventually.

    "When They Come For Me" next, I'm stoked!
     
  14. Halfway Dwight

    Halfway Dwight We are the fortunate ones.

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    This is my favorite song of all time. In my opinion, it has the best lyrics Linkin Park has written.
     
  15. Filip

    Filip god break down the door LPA Contributor

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    Oh, boy, what a passionate post for your all time favorite! :lol:
     
  16. Qwerty19

    Qwerty19 Well-Known Member

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    Well.... Even though the song has certainly grown on me during those last 4 years, I still can't say it's a favorite of mine.

    On the positive side, the guitar line, piano parts, atmospheric samples, and even the solo, altogether makes for a pretty nice, chill, and progressive instrumental. As far as the singing parts are concerned, the layered Mike vocals during the verses are on fucking point. And lyrically, the song might as well be one of the most poetic, metaphorical thing the band has ever written

    But on the negative side, I can't help but dislike the poppy touch Chester vocals bring here. Also, for such an ambitious and pseudo conceptual record as ATS, I have never liked the fact that BITS is and will forever stay a simple - structured pop song. The track is nowhere as innovative and daring as the record high points, and, in my opinion, it shows.

    Still, if you're gonna make a power-ballad, BITS is the right way to do it. Very good track overall.
     
  17. hawk

    hawk because the internet LPA Super VIP

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    this song is beautiful. one of my favorites from the band.

    "and in the end we were made to be apart,
    like separate chambers of the human heart."

    <3
     
  18. Halfway Dwight

    Halfway Dwight We are the fortunate ones.

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    I didn't know what else to say :lol: I'm not good at expressing myself.
     
  19. Michele

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

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    Ahhhh Burning In The Skies. For me personally, maybe one of the best "poppy" stuff LP has done so far. The Melody, Mikes and especially Chesters singing make this song beautiful. And Brads "solo" is maybe not very special but it makes the song truely to something special in LPs "pop history". And the lyrics. Well , far away from Meteora, so far. In the "Listening Session" for me , the song stands for the first calm before the storm. A day that turns to night, especially into Empty Spaces to When They Come For Me, but to this later. Sadly that the song wasnt played at my show in 2010 :cry:
     
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  20. TobinKnowsBest

    TobinKnowsBest 20.03.1976 - 20.07.2017 LPA VIP

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    Are we not doing Empty Spaces? :kappa:

    Seriously though, this song is brilliant. "Don't apologise....I'm losing what I don't deserve" is up there with my favourite lyrics from the band.

    Mike supplying the backing vocals for the chorus really gave this a great atmosphere live, too. I hope it comes back!
     

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