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

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

  1. Josh

    Josh Met LP 8-13-14 LPA VIP

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    Roads untraveled is a good song from LT. I do like it better than other songs like in my remains or should I dare say LIES GREED MISERY.

    Roads untraveled is a very mature song which makes it very good because it isn't just the anger that you might have. This is the internal pain you feel after something happened. Overall, great balance of a song. I'll admit the first couple of months I skipped this song, but now I look back at it and grow upon it. The lyrics strike me as very deep and personal, and that is what makes it stand out two years down the road.

    I'd like to point out that this is one of the more unique LP songs, one of those songs that you can't really compare to another. All I can think of that is similar is BITS.

    For some reason, in my opinion, I always thought BITS and roads untraveled were similar. Idk if anyone else thinks this but I do.
     
  2. TheZlajaZlo

    TheZlajaZlo Closing LPA Super Member

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    Roads Untraveled has great lyrics but it's a bit boring and uniteresting. And the "oh oh" chorus feels lazy. I have a feeling that they wanted to write words to it, but said "fu*k it" and kept just the melody, since we know how they write the demos...
     
  3. polleo

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

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    Man, I love the lyrics on this song. And the vocals to me, feel so emotional and genuine. It's wonderful, one of the songs on LT that has a soul. The intro is really nice too. Overall, I love this song, I used to keep listening to it when the album came out. But the wall of guitars and the "oh"s are really annoying.
     
  4. minuteforce

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

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    Shinoda and Bennington nail the emotions in this song with their vocals. It all sounds so earnest and heartfelt, which isn't something I notice too often in Linkin Park songs. The instrumentation could have done with a bit of variation but the vocals and lyrics alone make this song a big highlight on "Living Things". A top-ten favourite for me. :)

    I wasn't terribly happy with the rmx, even though I usually enjoy Troublemaker's work and Bun B's verses.

    EDIT:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDOTs9vP-QQ# :p
     
  5. Alexrednex

    Alexrednex Well-Known Member

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    The transition from Victimized to Roads Untraveled is my favorite moment on LT.
    Both songs are great, while neither of them are flawless.
    Victimized has a cringeworthy chorus and a kind of "random" drum and guitar "riff".
    Roads Untraveled has some boring guitar work and the whole "wooah" part is just... meeh.
    The worst part is that RU's formula is going to return for Powerless...
    With that said - I love the lyrics on RU, very positive and heart warming.
    I also love the lyrics for CoG but that song is a bit too tedious and uneventful.
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2015
  6. GraveDigger388

    GraveDigger388 Nothing's gonna top my Jacky

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    Finally!!
    This is my favorite song of LT,numero uno baby...This song is so emotional,I've never felt so emotional by listening to a song before.I remember the first time I was listening to this,it was raining outside,so it made my feeling even stronger towards this song.Those "O-Oh" parts add the emotion even more.I always find myself singing along to those.That last line,makes me wanna break into tears every damn time.
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2015
  7. TheZlajaZlo

    TheZlajaZlo Closing LPA Super Member

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  8. Moridin

    Moridin Death Contagious Deity

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    RU is potentially a very good, or even great song. Unfortunately it sounds more like a rough demo than a finished song (something that happens a few times on LT, like with Skin to Bone, UIB, CoG). Like they ran out of time to work on it because of their self imposed deadline and thought, "fuck it, we'll just have to release it as is".

    It's a pity LP went with the approach they did for LT. They really compromised a bunch of songs that could all have been very good/great.
     
  9. Knt.Slbs

    Knt.Slbs Well-Known Member

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    This! 100x

    Majority of the songs of LIVING THINGS shared the same fate of being under-utilized, restricted to develop to become a better song because of deadlines or whatever shit was going on back then. I prefer the folk-influence theme but they drowned it again with electronics to please the masses.
     
  10. Filip

    Filip god break down the door LPA Contributor

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    Very enjoyable song and the best proof of how much of a better singer Chester is than Mike.

    COME AT ME BRO
     
  11. minuteforce

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

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    Well, the verses are equally good, but Shinoda's outshined in the chorus sections. That's really all it is to me
     
  12. Nicholas

    Nicholas Well-Known Member

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    RU is in my top 20 LP songs, and is a tie for my favorite song on LT. There's nothing I don't like. Chester & Mike are just amazing here. I can't really think of anything that others haven't already said, but I really can't express enough how much I love this song.
     
  13. Captain-EO

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

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    Roads Untraveled is a good song, no doubt. Is it the highlight of LT for me? Not even close. The song is just good, it's not wonderfully amazing or anything and urging me to listen to it. Won't skip it, but I won't go out of my way to listen to it. It sounds half-polished, half-unfinished.
     
  14. Tyler

    Tyler Well-Known Member

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    Oh man I love Roads Untravelled. The lyrics are so great, the chords and instrumental are really good, and the layered vocals send it far. The lyrics hit just about anyone in some way, and for most (and me) it's about relationships that have ended. The jingling sample is a strangely good backing track to the piano. Mike and Chester do a great interplay on the vocals and I'd really like to hear a demo version of it with its folk roots. I'm surprisingly fine with there being no lyrics in the chorus. And it looks like there was an intentionally left-in guitar picking noise JUST after the "alongside me" part and before the wall of noise comes back.

    This NEEDS to be played live. Maybe even as a part of the Ballad Medley.
    It would have done well as a single too, like the SOTD or Iridescent of that album cycle.

    I don't really care for the remix, it is what you would expect for an EDM remix of it, but I do enjoy when Bun B. comes in and does his verse.
     
  15. lime treacle

    lime treacle You are not alone Über Member

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    I loved it when I first heard it.
     
  16. Michele

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

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    Roads Untraveled is an amazing song, the transision from Victimized into RU is great. The bells in the beginning and through the whole song give the song an beautiful, mellow atmosphere. The lyrics are maybe with the CoG lyrics my favorites on LT. Mikes singing is one of his best and Chesters "Ohhhs" with the guitars in the background are cool. I prefer Mikes verse to be honest, but Chester did a good job too. Another example that we need more songs with Mike and Chester singing. Thats one of the things i really love on Living Things. Not also the Nu-Metalish Rap-Scream Combo like in Lost In The Echo, but the singing combo of both are really amazing.




    There is one remix out there we all should know and should be mentioned here:
    [video=youtube;KhMf-yjkBhM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhMf-yjkBhM[/video]
    The remix from Reflectionist is really great, i would go as far and say that its almost better than the original. The song is so much more powerful with this new instrumental. Also if i prefer the original vocals.
     
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  17. Atticus

    Atticus Bullets lance the bravest lungs

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    SKIN TO BONE
    “Ash to ashes, dust to dust, skin to bone and steel to rust”


    041612-102017_lp_livingthings.jpg

    The folklore inspirations continue on LIVING THINGS with Skin To Bone, the ninth track featured on the album. Like "Roads Untraveled" before it, the track maintained the same title from its conceptual inception of what was believed to be a folky-campfire sing-a-long to its eventual release as an electronic jam. The song has been noted to be influenced from the likes of Bob Dylan.

    Starting Skin To Bone is a riding synth that sounds right at home in many of Linkin Park’s older hip-hop tracks or even Shinoda’s side-project Fort Minor. In fact, the intro sounds very similar to "Remember The Name" before Shinoda quickly enters the fray of Skin To Bone with a deep and despairing vocal tone for an opening verse. Almost mimicking "Lies Greed Misery", a jarring, thunderous electronic wall thumps into the sonic landscape alongside a supporting digital drum pattern as Skin To Bone truly kicks into gear.

    Shinoda returns immediately for another verse with a faintly harmonizing Bennington while the electronic instrumental storm churns in the background. Bennington takes the spotlight for a soaring chorus as he wails the first half of each chorus line before singing lyrics in the second half. This wailing is more akin to the animalistic "When They Come For Me" than the passionate "Roads Untraveled", as he sings with “ahhhhhs” rather than “ohhhhhs”.

    Skin To Bone does not deviate much from this structure. The second verse features both vocalists again, possibly with a more prominent harmonization from Bennington. Buried in the mix before the second chorus however, is a raspy, grinding scream by the lead vocalist – a strange added feature considering the scream is nearly drowned out by the instrumental. The electronic beats themselves do not evolve or develop further, nor are added layers thrown into the mix, which is normally a staple in Linkin Park’s writing process. The only true change in the song comes in the final seconds when the intro synth disappears for an outro that sounds extra dirty.

    In a MusicRadar interview, guitarist Brad Delson explains Skin To Bone’s intentional lack of folk elements:

    Delson further explains the arrangement as something wholeheartedly in the world of folk music:

    It’s clear that Skin To Bone follows this folk-inspired arrangement Delson speaks of, as rather than the verse merely building up to the exploding chorus, the chorus in Skin To Bone feels like a natural extension of the verse – a section B to the section A.

    Lyrically, Skin To Bone is extremely metaphorical. Looking at the album title LIVING THINGS, the song can likely be interpreted as a humble acknowledgement that all things die eventually, whether living or not. The song also makes reference to the mechanical, saying that even things that do not live can decay in the form of rust over time.

    Looking at the song in terms of a relationship, it can also be demonstrating how all good things come to an end, whether a breakup or someone eventually dying and leaving the other alone in the world. At the same time, there’s a conflict occurring between the central figure of the song, and an opposing individual who has broken some form of trust. However, the central figure believes that a certain judgment will befall his associate.


    The Skin To Bone (Nick Catchdubs Remix feat Cody B. Ware and Ryu) found on Recharged feels like a new-age Fort Minor track with Reanimation vibes. Featuring a newly interpreted electronic beat from Skin To Bone, Shinoda is reacquainted with a brigade of loyal hip-hop artists who flavor the remix with opening rap verses. Bennington’s chorus is played just once to remind us that this is indeed a Linkin Park remix before a never-before heard verse from Shinoda instantly highlights the remix. His delivery is relentless and dirty, with rhymes and lyrics worthy of praise.


    Another interesting take on Skin To Bone is the rock remix found by Linkin Park remix-veteran zwieR.Z. His reinterpretation is a visceral, organic capture of the song that features guitars and drums in place of all the electronic waves in the studio version. The remix overall adds a much needed atmosphere to Skin To Bone, making it a dark and brooding ballad.

    Skin To Bone has never been played live, which is interesting considering the enthusiasm the band had about playing the song prior to LIVING THINGS’ release:


    The closest thing fans have gotten to seeing Skin To Bone live is Shinoda’s remixed Recharged rap verse which has been consistently thrown onto the end segment of his new hip-hop medley in 2014. Much like several other songs found on LIVING THINGS, whether Skin To Bone will ever see the light of day fully onstage remains to be seen, with its chances slimming by the year.
    _____________________________________________________________

    Overall I find Skin To Bone to be the weakest song on Living Things. For a two and a half minute song, it is far too repetitive for its own good both lyrically and instrumentally. I’ve found myself listening to the rock remix posted above more often than the real version as I find the song just overall lacking in a much needed substance.

    That said, I would LOVE to hear an early folk demo of the song - before it got butchered by Mike’s computer…
     
  18. Captain-EO

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

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    Skin to Bone is my least-favorite Living Things song. Period. The lyrics are really, really bad.

    "Right to left, left to right
    Night to day and day to night"

    Like how much more cliche can you make that? It sounds so...uninspired. It's also incredibly repetitive, as noted. It never really goes anywhere. The entire song just rest upon this "opposites" theme that is really just awful. I absolutely love the remix, it's so much better than the original. I love Mike's rap verse.
     
  19. Michele

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

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    Skin to Bone is like Easier To Run to me. There is something i like and much i really dislike. Here i think the electronic elements and beats are cool, but the lyrics and the vocals are.... mehh. Dont like it that much.

    You do a great job with this posts :) Like to read it. :)
     
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  20. brady

    brady I am the LPA LPA Super Member

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    Aw, I was just about to make my Roads Untraveled post. Oh well. I love that song. Definitely in my top 10 Linkin Park songs.

    Onto Skin to Bones, I love this song as well. The lyrics and electronic beat really make this song special. A contributor on the Skin to Bone genius page does a very good job at describing the first few lines of the song (though some of his other annotations are debatable). Those two lines were a very creative way to capture the theme of betrayal on this song.
     
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