So, Brad says more than the "Toda la gente" part, there's more before. After some help from Spanish friends, they thought it might be: "Seguridad del estado Estás a salvo Toda la gente Preste atencion Escuchenme bien ahora mismo" If you listen to Megaphone Brad, it does sound pretty close.
Empty Spaces, it should really just be a part of WTCFM, and they should have used the other track space for another song. But it is definitely a great buildup to the awesome song that is... When They Come For Me. I fucking love this song. It is one of the most different things that the band has done in so many ways. The instrumentation, drumming, megaphone, chant, lyrics about fans, and allowing a fan to add a part to the end. So cool how they put it all together. I love Mike's lyrics on it and the drum patterns. Even that bass synth is cool, for just two notes that come in whenever they feel like it. Chester's part on it is interesting, and the bridge with him amd the guitar is perfect. I sure would like to hear Dingleberry. It's also fun to note that track 5 on ATS is When They Come For Me, And track 5 on LT is I'll Be Gone. If Primo were finished and included on ATS, there would have been a stronger connection. Live, it's a great song, just about the same as on the record, except for Chester going "Oh" instead of "Ah" in the chorus. Brad really likes to play everything on the song. Also, that video of them on SNL is the first black and white musical performance that SNL ever had, which is cool.
"Robot Boy"! "Robot Boy" is the sixth song on A Thousand Suns. Running at only 65 BPM, it is one of the slowest songs on the album. The title of the song, "Robot Boy", was a working title that stuck with the song during the writing process, although the band originally intended to change it. Perhaps the best way to describe it would be to call it a piano ballad. The song has over 24 vocal tracks in it, with Mike and Chester singing a three-part harmony, with each of them doubled, so through the entire song, there's always at least 6 vocal tracks going on at the same time. What this creates is something truly remarkable. Symphonic and dreamy, it is easily one of my favorites on A Thousand Suns. And it seems like this was the case for the band aswell. In a June 2009 post on mikeshinoda.com, entitled "How We Write", Mike mentioned "Robot Boy" for the first time, over a year before the release of A Thousand Suns. "Robot Boy" begins with a slow, addicting piano line. Soon enough, a sampled drum line begins to build in the background, accompanied by synths. The song then starts to get it's amazing vocal melody. The entire band starts to sing "oooh" in a fashion similar to "The Requiem". In an interview with eMusician Mike spoke on the vocal layering in the song, saying: By the time the vocals kick in, a real drum line from Rob is built. Rob used a ’60s Ludwig kit on "Robot Boy". As the first verse begins, the song explodes. With an addicting kick-kick-snare pattern in the background, walls of synths, incredible piano and 6 vocal tracks from Mike and Chester... the result is nothing short of remarkable. As the second verse begins, the band brings it down a bit, using sampled drums and overall a quiter, moodier atmosphere. But this calmness isn't permanent. It builds to the most important part of the song. The synth solo, or drop, or whatever you call it. If this were Hybrid Theory, this would be that incredible breakdown with Chester screaming like a lunatic. Chester brings a very interesting melody in the background during this solo, which continues as the band repeats the most important line of the song, "hold on, the weight of the world will give you the strenght to go". The ending of the song is a special moment in the band's discography. The synth solo keeps changing and getting faster, with Chester still harmonizing in the background. The ending is unexpected, featuring a silent guitar line and a synth from the beginning of the next song, "Jornada del Muerto". Before the release of A Thousand Suns, the band hyped it up as a record with a loose concept, revolving around the apocalypse. Now, with this being an album from the guys who brought you "you try to take the best of me, go away!", many people expected a very pessimistic record. What ended up happening is the exact opposite. A Thousand Suns is a bit more hopeful and optimistic than other albums revolving around the same theme. And "Robot Boy" is a prime example of this. There are several ways to interpret the song. My personal favorite, but this is up for you to disprove, is that the song is one of the more personal ones on the album, being about a person who doesn't express their emotions very often or very good - hence the "robot boy". The lyrics can be interpreted as advice or encouraging - "hold on, the weight of the world will give you the strenght to go". This is all very subjective, though. The song can also be about a soldier in war, and how the military sometimes forces people into things they don't want to do. These people unfortunately sometimes become puppets, or, if you will - robots. At the end of the day, you can also interpret the song as being about pony's and unicorns. What do you think? Another version of the song appeared on LP Underground 11, titled "Robot Boy (Test Mix, Optional Vocal Take)". Just like the title suggests, the only difference between the songs is in the mixing and lyrics. To this day, this is the only demo version of any song that appears on A Thousand Suns. In the LP Underground 11 track by track review with Mike, he spoke on the song, saying: For years, the band was saying "Robot Boy" would be imossible to perform live. Their main reason were the densly layered vocals and a high number of synths going off at the same time. In an LPU Chat in March 2011, Mike stated the band is open to performing a simplified version of the song live, similar to the piano version of "Pushing Me Away" played in 2008. The band also stated that if they were to perform the full song live, they "would need 6 Mike's on stage for all the synths". And so fans gave up on the idea of "Robot Boy" being played live. A special surprise happened on May 24, 2014 during the band's Tucson, Arizona show for the KFMA Day 2014. The band finally decided to incorporate [parts of] "Robot Boy" into the live show. This type of performance continued through all of 2014. Mike plays the piano intro and the incredible synth drop near the end of the song. The version embedded above comes from the Rock in Rio show on May 30,2014. I'm gonna take a guess and say that the band will continue to perform this through The Hunting Party Tour with Of Mice and Men and Rise Against in North America. What do you think of "Robot Boy" and this live performance?
To be honest, if i first listened to this song i was more like: " what is this shit?" i thought it was boring and skipped the song many times (how stupid i was ) Maybe i dont listened good enough to this song to hear how awesome is it. Now, i think its a really great song, with great synths and meaningful Lyrics, lyrics that are really personal to me. "Hold on, the weight of the world will give you the strenght to go" is such an positive and powerful line for me. Maybe the first time Linkin Park tried to make a full positive song to this date. So many thing, amazing things happen in this song and its a shame that this song cant be performed live in "full". Man it was amazing when all the people, the whole crowd clapped in the rhytm of Robot Boy, it was great. The darkness from When They Come To Me disappears to make the way free for a little light in a concept of destruction.
I'm not a big fan of this song, but I do love the instrumental version... Nevertheless, I gotta give them credit for being able to create such a unique and interesting song like this.
Not exactly sure why, but the piano intro to Robot Boy has always reminded me of "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey.
This is really a 50/50 kind of song for me. On the one end, I love how atmospheric the track is. The synths, piano, beat complement each other pretty well, and that part where Chester vocals start to sound more distant is just amazing. So is the synth solo. But on the other end, Robot Boy has to be one of the most repetitive song ever, seriously. Very, very loopy. Also, I can't help but think of the melody of "Hey Joe" when I listen to it... It's not a bad thing, but yeah...I'd have prefered if the band had crafted out a more unique melody here. Finally, I've never been a fan of how Chester sounds at the start of the track (before his vocals get more "distant"). Maybe too many layers for my liking, idk.
When A Thousand Suns first came out, this is the only song I bothered adding to my playlist besides the catalyst and Wretches and Kings. The synth drop is one of the best moments in LP's discography, and the song one of the most unique. When I think of how diverse LP is, I usually think of this song in comparison to the heavy stuff for some reason. I wish they had more stuff like this. I have never understood however why the song ends where it does, and not a second earlier at the last strum of the guitar. Would've made it so much better as an individual listen.
Guess I don't need to bother typing out the exact same sentence you got there xD, you covered my thoughts exactly. Although that live Robot Boy mix was pretty dope.
One my personal favorites on the record. A very un-Linkin Park-ish song and at the same time it feels very unique and natural for them. I feel like it is often forgotten because it is right in that "sweet spot" between WTCFM and WFTE. The vocal layers and harmonies, the positive lyrics, the synths and piano all bring a very magical, yet dark, atmosphere to the song.
Robot Boy is my third favorite track on A Thousand Suns, preceded only by Blackout and When They Come for Me. It's in my top 10 overall as well, surpassing both Qwerty and Papercut. The synth solo with Chester's frantic yelling and Mike's singing has be the highlight of the track for me (am I the only one who's reminded just a little of Hey Jude because of Chester's vocals in the outro?). The piano has to be one of my favorites in LP's discography, along with Drawbar. The vocals are glorious, with all the harmonizing going on. The synths and vocals just pull it together and make it so much more than a regular old piano ballad. As for the live version, I never have understood why they can't just make the song simpler and perform it in full. I mean, it's not like you have to replicate all the vocal tracks, nor do you have to play all the synth lines (the opening synth could easily be done without). And even if they really want the harmonies, it's not like they haven't sampled vocals before. Hell, they play the Spanish part of When They Come for Me live even though Brad yells into the megaphone on stage. Plus, if the synths are really that integral, why not just press them to a vinyl and let Joe play them? Or set them to be triggered by an MPC? I dunno, it seems like LP is just complicating it more than necessary. I want to hear Robot Boy live in full one day. Jornada del Muerto gets its own post? YES.
You diabolical, detestable, hermaphroditical, half-bred son of a swine! You shall pay for this! I will not stand for this!
"Robot Boy" was one of my favourites on the album when I first heard it. Not so much anymore. But the lyrics still speak to me and always have Although the lack of singing sucks, I really like the live version that the band have been performing. Shinoda's solo is so much cooler when you see him playing it by hand and it gets really good where the vocals would normally enter
Robot Boy is the most peculiar song in Linkin Park's entire discography for me. I can't decide whether I love the song or hate it. On one end of the spectrum, it's definitely the deepest the band reaches into the cosmic unknown in A Thousand Suns with it's unorthodox tempo and mind-bending finale. Yet on the other we have an incredibly dull first half that leaves me bored to death. I do applaud the band entirely though for crafting a song with a truly dreamlike soundscape.
Robot Boy is an interesting song, but I will admit the fact that I skipped it when I first listened to A Thousand Suns I like the new interlude-style live performance of it, especially the outro which is epic. Also, is it just me that ever so slightly prefers the demo over the album version?
Robot Boy is an awesome track, although it misses my top 5. I love the ambiance the song creates, and the vocal harmonies are amazing. The first time I listened to the song, the lyrics really hit me hard. To this day, I think they're among some of the best the band has written. I saw an article that analyzed the song that really made me appreciate the lyrics even more (this one: http://www.dabidsblog.com/2010/10/04/song-meaning-and-music-analysis-robot-boy-by-linkin-park/). I feel this song is somewhat overlooked too, which is a shame.
Robot Boy is nice, mostly for the vocal layers. The lyrics are good and some of the lines rank high in their songwriting abilities. The synth solo is a nice addition too. LT should have had some of those for all of the electronic elements to it. The demo is pretty similar other than having less atmospheric parts in the beginning and some different lyrics. The lyrics to that are just about as good as those in the final version, at least in my opinion, but they went with the better choices for the album. I'd rather see the stripped down version of it live than see this current imterlude that we have. It is just Mike playing on the keyboards for a few minutes, followed by Joe's solo. Neither of those need to stay for the Winter North American Tour. Happy Thanksgiving all!