I totally agree with that. That's why this is possibly my favourite guitar solo ever: [video=youtube;pTZpQet2-4Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTZpQet2-4Y[/video] Brad's solos in my opinion lack both technicality and feeling. But that's just me.
Well I think it`s high time they focused on something more progressive and technical. They're not a hip hop group.
I enjoy what they are doing right now, don't get me wrong. ATS is the best thing they could have released after Minutes to Midnight. But I would like to see them try longer songs, with tempo changes, complex arrangements, focusing more on Brad, technicality and I think they would actually do these if it wasnt for the record label.
As a Linkin Park fan, all I care about is how catchy the riffs are. SIB, Faint, POA, In Pieces, OSC, APFMH, the list goes on. Perhaps Brad is the suckiest guitar player of all time. If he is, so be it.
I don't understand what's the big deal for people if LP even decides to put out their next album with ABSOLUTELY no guitars. It doesn't make or break an album. So long as it sounds good it shouldn't be a "problem".
Thing is, that's subjective; to some people, what sounds "good" is heavy, distorted guitars. Me, I'm happy with the way they've used guitars on this new album.
If they haven't used guitars in this album (not saying that they didn't) The Catalyst film clip is one big misadventure law suit.
They recorded heavily-processed guitar and play it using, umm, what do you call that gadget that you press? Like how they play Wretches and Kings live...
fair enough dude, but does that make me a shitty guitarist if I can't play that solo all the way through to save my life?
If you think a guitar should only sound like a power chord, or a solo should sound like something Metallica came up with, then you're an idiot.
You rang? The 4 songs that immediately stand out as far as guitar goes are The Catalyst, The Messenger, Iridescent, and Burning in the Skies. Then when you dig a little deeper (and go off of the live performances so far), there's also guitar in Jornada Del Muerto, Wretches and Kings, and Waiting For the End. As far as the other songs go, there's a droning sound with a flanger effect on it at the beginning of The Requiem that I think might be a guitar, but Mike's said The Requiem is pretty much an "overture" consisting of sounds found elsewhere on the album, so if it is, it would likely be copy-pasted from somewhere else. When They Come For Me is iffy, a lot of the distorted stuff in it sounds like synth to me (for comparison, the main part of Wretches and Kings is a lot easier to identify as guitar), but there might be some textural stuff in the background too. There's a staccato part at the end of Robot Boy that I'm about 50/50 on being guitar or keys, I honestly can't make a call on that one. Blackout definitely has some guitar in the bridge, but I can't tell if it's just the scratching noises or if the chords in between are also guitar. It's one of those songs I can see being played without guitar live, but then again, I felt the same way about Waiting For the End, so who knows? I believe, by definition, a "guitar solo" is any instance where the guitar is the focal point of the song (in a manner that doesn't reoccur elsewhere in the song, so things like the guitar break in Iridescent don't count), and there isn't any vocal accompaniment. Say what you want about the quality of the solos, but it's indisputable that In Pieces, The Little Things Give You Away, What I've Done, Shadow of the Day, Waiting For the End, and the current live version of Faint have guitar solos in them. You say that like the pentatonic and blues scales are difficult or unique. As good as some of the blues/rock-based guitarists out there are/were (Slash, Angus Young, Eric Clapton, and even some of my personal favorites like David Gilmour and Jimi Hendrix), they can pretty much all trace their roots back to Keith Richards, who can trace his roots back to Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, who can trace their roots back to Robert Johnson...I don't think that diminishes the quality of any guitarist who chooses to go that route, but any way you slice it, their playing will be derivative in some manner.
I think he's not a good guitarist in Linkin Park. I learned all of Linkin Park's songs in about two months when I first started playing. I've been playing now for about 5 years and I think unless he never plays it's near IMPOSSIBLE than on a skill level he'd be worse than me. I think he could play Master of Puppets just like I can, I just think he's one of those rare artists that isn't fulfilled by that. And some people can't believe that there are musicians who aren't fulfilled by that. But within the realm of Linkin Park, no. Mike could replace Brad. I've never heard something by him and thought "holy crap" except for maybe In Pieces (but it's just a lot of hammer-ons and pull offs) and Faint Live Solo (but it lost it's magic because it's just a tremolo pick solo up the scale). Linkin Park will always be a jack of all trades, master of none. They do hip-hop but will never be as good as a guy like Lupe. The dabble in metal but will never be as trippy or techy as Tool. etc etc
Who honestly cares about these rock legends who pull off 10 minute guitar solos? Brad does a great job at adding an atmosphere and texture to all of their music. He busted out his best solos in Minutes To Midnight, and hey just because someone else can play them doesn't mean he is a horrible guitar player. Hell his job isn't to steal the show it's to add an extra layer of energy to their music.