AltWire Reviews One More Light

Discussion in 'News' started by Derek, May 13, 2017.

  1. ragsta

    ragsta Well-Known Member

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    Even if OML is a dissapointment (which I doubt it wil be for me), I would never just be "not a fan" anymore. Simply because the band already gave me so much pleasure and joy over the years with wonderful music. All that history doesn't just dissapear after "a" or "a few" bad album(s).
     
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  2. eunyoungg

    eunyoungg Well-Known Member

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    OML is the kind of song I'm into in these last few years. I can still enjoy some angry music, but I realized and accepted that I grown tired of it. Being 100% honest, I can't wait for the album to be released so I'll have some chill songs to hear in the next months.

    I disliked THP badly, I think I heard it around 4 or 5 times only and even the songs I liked aren't in my favorite all-time songs from them. But I wasn't disappointed because I know they gonna release a different record each time, so I waited. And now I'm happy with the route they took on this one.

    Linkin Park is part of my life, they were one of the first artists I started listening with the thought of "oh, I like their style and their music", they are, in a way, responsible for everything I started listening since 2004.
     
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  3. Blake

    Blake Leave a Trace LPA Super Member

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    "Every" is a big word. Definitely not every band. Some bands are really THAT consistent with classic, quality albums throughout their careers.

    Only 27 bands?

    That's too low :halfkappa:
    I was about to respond to this post but I realized it was you and you very well know my opinions on this subject ;)

    However, I will say that the second half of THP was a step in the right direction. If the whole album was like the second half (starting at Rebellion) it would have been their best album to date instead of their worst.
    It won't leak until Wednesday or Thursday. Album don't leak days or weeks in advance anymore.

    Kendrick Lamar's "Damn" leaked 6 hours before release
    Ed Sheeran's "Divide" leaked less than 24 hours before release
    The XX's "I See You" leaked a day before release

    Albums, especially big artists, don't leaked super early anymore.
    This is exactly how I feel! The Hunting Party is the only Linkin Park album I don't like and I feel like One More Light will be their second worst album but I will always be a fan. I've spent too many years with them and on forums like this to just stop. I personally feel Linlkin Park has released 5 great albums and all 5 of those were in a row, that's better than what a lot of bands can say. I personally feel like LP's music might be on the decline but I will ALWAYS consider them a top 10 act of all time for me.
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2017
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  4. eunyoungg

    eunyoungg Well-Known Member

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    I believe they can release an album as good as ATS, but I guess they don't feel like doing that for now (even though the album is already 7 years old). It probably was A LOT of work and they didn't find another subject they considered to be worth all that work until now. Just a silly opinion. :)
     
  5. Virgocore

    Virgocore Well-Known Member

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    It's funny, because the band always said during interviews that Mike said he would never do another Reanimation because of how difficult it was ultimately. Reanimation, alongside A Thousand Suns, are both two releases that I've seen many LPA members praise. I do think A Thousand Suns was hard for the band to create, but it paid off to their advantage. I don't even like A Thousand Suns, the last album that I enjoyed from the band was Minutes To Midnight (which is my favorite album of theirs), but I understand that A Thousand Suns is an epic record. Living Things, to me, largely seemed like a quick little release of songs that would pack a punch and please fans that they may have alienated with A Thousand Suns, and also would appeal to the label and radio. I think Burn It Down was a successful single, actually. They then went into making the next record, which was originally going to be a ''pop'' album, according to the band, but at some point, Mike decided he didn't want to make that kind of record anymore and they eventually came out with The Hunting Party, which was a heavy rock album. It really wasn't all that heavy in terms of rock and metal, but for Linkin Park, it was pretty heavy. You can see on the second half of that album, as well as a a few other tracks on the first half, that they wanted to sprinkle some of that A Thousand Suns vibe on it, just with an opposite genre of music. I don't think the band felt fully comfortable with The Hunting Party ultimately, something just didn't feel right. And after that cycle was done, they went back into the studio for a while and finally came out with One More Light, which was that pop record they were originally going to make after Living Things. One More Light is actually a nice evolution of Living Things in a way. I think The Hunting Party was just a one-off random idea that Mike got obsessed with, because the band even said that most of the band didn't want to make a heavy rock album, but went along with it anyways. The Hunting Party was really Mike's idea. The problem with all of this is that Living Things did not feel like an evolution of A Thousand Suns at all. We never got the next chapter after A Thousand Suns. If you listen to all 7 albums in a row, it seems like maybe the band ''ended'' after The Messenger closes out, in a way. So I think you're right, I think they didn't want to make the evolution of what A Thousand Suns was.
     
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  6. Mario007

    Mario007 Well-Known Member

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    I read the review...and it looks very much like a review where the reviewer wanted to give the album a given score and worked back to justify it. Even if that is not true, spending about half of the review telling people that "pop is ok" and "if you only think rock is good than that's bullshit" isn't that great to be honest. It's basically a review that is not confident enough to be what it wants it to be - ie a simple review of an album which assesses it, and instead it gets bogged down trying to explain its score and get more people onboard with the idea "pop is good guys really". So basically a fansite review and not a professional one.

    With regards to OML as a whole and people on this board making comparisions to ATS and how some nu metal fans didn't like it I don't see the similarities at all. For ATS the non nu metal fanbase were very supportive of the album as it was clear from the beginning the band had a vision, the songs were interesting and unlike whatever they did before and most of the songs released prior to the album were unilateraly liked.

    For OML most of the songs released beforehand have been disliked, form fans or critically. The criticism on this board hasn't been "I want more rock" but rather "this sound is bland", "this is not how you make pop" or "same old structure again". Basically, the band tried to make a pop album but didn't seem to fare too well in this regard. Vision from the band is also missing, as you have them stating they wanted to focus on the lyrics only to release the same type of ballad lyrics they've been releasing all the time. They said they wanted to focus on the melodies, but again the musical background and melody have been nothing spectacular to write about. Chester tells fans to "move the fuck on" from wanting them to be heavy only two or three years after telling other rock bands gone pop that LP are here to get them like the hungry Carnivores at a Hunting Party.

    And I actually like some of the songs released. But overall the persecution complex on this forum seems way over the top.
     
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  7. eunyoungg

    eunyoungg Well-Known Member

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    All I remember from ATS cycle is people complaining and making jokes about the band and the album. I didn't see people praising it or recognizing how good the album was. And I didn't see people praising the album for a long time after its release.

    The fact that this album have songs about their kids is more than enough to me. Some lyrics may sound generic, but they were being personal on them, so to me it's worth it. For me, it has a soul. For me, it has a meaning. Anyways...
     
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  8. Virgocore

    Virgocore Well-Known Member

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    I actually think this is a really great point. My favorite album by Linkin Park is Minutes To Midnight, and a lot of the songs were a bit poppy on that album, but I loved them. Tracks like Leave Out All The Rest, Shadow Of The Day, What I've Done, Valentine's Day, etc. I don't dislike the new music because it's pop.

    It seems like the band is just writing off the people who don't like this album as people who hate pop and only want to hear ''rock''. I've seen fans who love A Thousand Suns and Minutes To Midnight saying they don't like the music, so that pretty much invalidates that claim completely. You're also pissing off the fans of indie music, alternative music, etc. with this album, not just the ''rock'' fans. Yes, Linkin Park has ALWAYS been mainstream, but it felt like they really tried to shy away from that with every album since Minutes To Midnight. Now, they're basically just making music that fits with the mainstream and they don't care. It's just weird. I also hate to bring up the fact that Mike Shinoda was saying a few years ago that he didn't want to make a pop record with Linkin Park and was insulting many bands and artists in the genre... I think the band is just all over the place and it might take a few more albums to truly find out who they are.
     
  9. SuperSaiyan4Kev

    SuperSaiyan4Kev Well-Known Member

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    When you take their sound dating back to the 90's and early 2000's, the song writing style that Chester has had has always been present in LP's albums. Going back to his Grey Daze days and even Dead By Sunrise, Chester has always given his heartfelt lyrics and that's what makes each LP record so special. Then bring on the rest of the band and it becomes genius music.
     
  10. AkirraKrylon

    AkirraKrylon LPA VIP LPA VIP

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    I agree with pretty much all of this. It is not a "omg I want more guitarzzz" thing. At all. Everything we have heard thus far just sounds uninteresting and bland, and like it's trying to match a current trend.

    Add to it that the band is coming off kind of condescending with their "get over it" attitude and it just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth personally. I've never ever felt this way with a LP record, even ones I didn't like as much as others. I am still "hyped" because I think there may still be a song or two on the record that I like but based on the released songs so far plus previews of the others, my expectations are as low as possible.


    This may be the first LP album that is dead-on-arrival for me. *shrug*
     
  11. Minus

    Minus ohai LPA Addicted VIP

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    Yeah, no. See the leak thread for ATS and the heaps of praise it got: https://www.lpassociation.com/forum/threads/a-thousand-suns-leaked.31821/

    And to address another point:

    Well, to fly in the face of everyone above saying that fans of indie music, alternative music, pop music, ATS, MTM, or have been a fan since the beginning don't like the OML songs...

    Hi, I've been on the LPA since 2003. If a baby boy was born the day I joined the forums, he would have a face full of acne and be masturbating furiously to the thought of the cheerleaders at his high school.

    I also like indie music (Neutral Milk Hotel, arguably Radiohead), alternative music (the kings of alt rock Jane's Addiction are one of my favorite bands of all time), pop music (Carly Rae Jepsen is the bae, I can sing most all boy band [and some girl groups] songs by memory), ATS (best LP record hands down), and MTM (second best LP record hands down).

    I really like the songs we've heard so far from OML.

    Feel free to say you don't like the songs for being bland, though instrumentally there is actually a lot happening in all the tracks (just subtle), so that's not really true. But don't go wholesale "you're pissing off fans of X with this album", because it's absolutely not true.

    And the band HAS figured out who they are. They figured it out during recording for Minutes To Midnight. They figured out that they are a band that can do whatever they feel like doing, and that's what they've done since that point. Just because it's in a direction that you don't necessarily enjoy doesn't mean they've somehow lost their way.

    I'll be honest. I can't stand listening to the nu-metal albums now. I abhor half of Living Things. I only think 1.5 songs on The Hunting Party are worth listening to, and even then it's a 50% chance of skipping. But I would never say they didn't care about the music they were making then. They obviously do care, otherwise they wouldn't have put out those records.

    The band has never been about "not being mainstream". I don't know where some of you are getting that idea. The band records what they want to record. If it's a mainstream sound, it's a mainstream sound. If it's not, it's not. Then after the product is complete, they come up with a mission statement for THAT album. It's not a career-wide mantra. When Mike said he was tired of pop, it was for THAT record. Not the guiding principle for their next decade as artists.

    It's like when you say you're sick and tired of pasta and decide to eat steak instead. A week later if you have pasta, it'd be stupid to call you out on something you said last week.

    One More Light is, based on interviews and reviews, an extremely personal record. It just so happens to be poppy as fuck. Don't think of it as the band deciding they wanted to make a poppy record, think of it as the band writing the record they wanted to write and it just happened to be poppy as fuck. There's a pretty sizable distinction there.

    P.S. If you want to insist that the OML songs are bland, I would be glad to point out how, instrumentally, the songs we've heard have a lot of interesting and ever-shifting shit going on in them. Try me.
     
  12. Derek

    Derek LPAssociation.com Administrator LPA Administrator

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    To counteract your criticism, let me copy and paste something I received from Reddit the other day:
    Your opinion is subjective and certainly not the opinion of everyone :). You don't have to like my article, but I am definitely a professional writer, not a fansite writer...and I've done this for a living for three years. Thank you.
     
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  13. lilj4425

    lilj4425 Well-Known Member

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    Conspiracy time: I think Warner Bros wasn't happy with the Hunting Party not selling well or getting a lot of radio play so they told Linkin Park to make an album more mainstream (i.e poppy) that would sell to the masses. Money talks especially when it comes to record labels. Sorry Mike Shinoda.
     
  14. Derek

    Derek LPAssociation.com Administrator LPA Administrator

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    Wrong, wrong and wrong. Warner was worried when they got these tracks because they were different than the label was expecting. They were worried the pop elements would lose the band their rock fans.

    Source: Adam - Someone who actually worked on the promotion for this album.
     
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  15. Minus

    Minus ohai LPA Addicted VIP

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    That makes no sense.

    If Warner Bros wanted to make more money off of Linkin Park, a poppy album isn't what the label would ask for. The label would ask for Hybrid Theory Part 3.

    Why do people not understand that?
     
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  16. Derek

    Derek LPAssociation.com Administrator LPA Administrator

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    And even if the label asked for it, why do people think the band would even listen? :lol:

    They completely change their sound on MTM, and rather than go back to the HT sound to win back the lost fans, they go even further down the rabbit hole with ATS. Then after their last album, they go pop and do a complete 180 from the heaviness of THP. The band has showcased that they don't do anything that the label would actually want them to do to win fans back:lol:.
     
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  17. Blackee Dammet

    Blackee Dammet Feminism Is My God Now

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    I think people cling to this idea of LP being these brilliant, cutting edge artists who could crank out Floyd level brilliance every two years... but the MAN keeps preventing that from happening!

    The fact that the band hasn't really been this huge mainstream presence since about 2009, and thus there would be next to no need for big bad Warner to be constantly dictating their every move when a better alternative would be to focus on a new band -or even cutting Park from the roster entirely-, seems to never factor in that theory.
     
  18. tripleh3lix

    tripleh3lix Well-Known Member

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    They just did what they wanted to do. They're exploring every territory making themselves about every genre. They want to play something new, they want to enter and explore every edge and every opportunity of their career. As much as everyone hopes and wishes for Meteora and HT part 2 -- you think they would've survived this long? That music is GOOD sonically. But it's not up to today's standards.

    And that is why they're still successful today. Because they're choosing to do something new. Recreate themselves every album. When they find a happy medium in the future in 2-3 albums from now... imagine a hybrid of everything they've ever done.

    They're the ones that are still going to be standing and successful. Because they still are and are going to be. People can't handle change and they can't handle this. While I respect people's opinions and UNDERSTAND that they will hate this record -- come back in an album or two if you're not willing to accept they're pop this cycle.

    I'm sure there's going to be something there for you. I'm happy I opened myself up to pop 3 years ago. Makes my brain open to this new world of Linkin Park, open into more genres as I've gotten older. Actually excited to hear this new shit
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2017
  19. lilj4425

    lilj4425 Well-Known Member

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    That's good. :) Just a conspiracy theory on my part. No proof obviously.
     
  20. Derek

    Derek LPAssociation.com Administrator LPA Administrator

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    [​IMG]
     
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