Here is mine: The Requiem - 8.5/10 - That shit gave me chills through my spine The Radiance - 8.5/10 - Great segue from The Requiem with Oppenheimer to Burning in the Skies - 9.5/10 - I adore this song, it is definitely otherworldly along with some of the other tracks. Empty Spaces - N/A - Can't really rate this song, since its just an interlude, but it adds onto the album quite well When They Come For Me - 9.3/10 - Here is some Donkey Kong shit right here! I love the beat to it, and Mike's rap is definitely strong in this one. Robot Boy - 8.9/10 - I was definitely not expecting this at all. It seems otherworldly as well, and has a nice ambiance to it. With a nice piano intro. Jornada Del Muerto - 8.9/10 - Seems like a continuation of Robot Boy, with Mike singing in Japanese I believe, as noted in previous pages. Has a nice build up in it. Waiting for the End - 9.5/10 - Sounds like 311 meets The Beatles in my opinion. Blackout - 9.4/10 - HOLY SHIT THIS IS AN INSANE TRACK! Chester and Mike seem to trade roles on this song. Chester screams like he is losing his mind on it. Wretches and Kings - 9/10 - This seems to be a great mashing of Public Enemy meets Nine Inch Nails. Mike is definitely going back to 90's hip hop roots, while Chester sounds like a mix between Benji Webbe from Skindred, and David Draiman from Disturbed. Wisdom, Justice, and Love - 9.3/10 - THEY TURNED MLK INTO A ROBOT, HIDE!! just kidding. This track is another that gave me chills after I listened to it. Iridescent - 9.8/10 - Wow, Mike's singing on this song is just incredible. It gives me a warm feeling every time I listen to it. The whole band singing on this song is just amazing. I can't wait to see what they do with this song live. Fallout - 8.5/10 - Not sure who is singing in this song, it's a little weird for me, but haunting nonetheless. The Catalyst - 9/10 - We all know what this song sounds like, so I'm not going to give a description on that. The Messenger - 9.7/10 - WTF? There seems to be too much hate on this song. It felt really emotional to me, and I just adore it. Chester seems to be singing his heart out on this song. It doesn't feel totally part of the album, but it was a great way to end it in my opinion Overall - 9.5/10 Best I have heard LP since Minutes to Midnight, and I can't wait to see what they do next.
I tried ranking the songs in the news thread after my first listen, not including the intros/outros/interludes: 01. When They Come For Me 02. The Messenger 03. Burning In The Skies 04. Waiting For The End 05. Blackout 06. Iridescent 07. Robot Boy 08. Wretches and Kings 09. The Catalyst I might try writing an actual review another time.
01. Burning In The Skies 02. Robot Boy/Jornada Del Muerto 03. The Requiem/The Radiance 04. The Catalyst 05. When They Come For Me 06. Blackout 07. Waiting For The End 08. The Messenger 09. Wretches and Kings 10. Iridescent
1. Iridescent 2. Waiting For The End 3. Wretches and Kings 4. Blackout 5. When They Come For Me 6. The Catalyst 7. The Messenger 8. Burning in the Skies 9. Robot Boy
Seriously, the main riff to Robot Boy is a direct rip of 'Hey Joe' by Hendrix. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65b1R6rYUvM&feature=fvst Listen!
yeah its so blatant I feel ripped. Its a great album for me but I can see how all the HT and Met fans will hate it. Im a practicing musician so I love to hear people do new things. In saying that though, they have taken a lot of stuff from others but its not stealing, just taken inspiration.
My review, ranked from best to worst (without interludes). 1) Robot Boy - I'm in love with this song, and I'm not sure why. I just find it incredible, and I know not everyone feels this way about the song, but it's definitely my favorite. 2) When They Come For Me - This is nothing short of awesome. I love Mike's lines about making the same music over and over. The middle eastern vibe is really cool and unique, as you never hear anything like this. 3) Wretches and Kings - The Mario Savio speech fits perfectly with the beat of the song. The vocals from both Mike and Chester are really great, and there's no doubt that this song will be fun in concert. 4) Waiting For The End - Incredible. Chester's soothing vocals really make this song special, and Mike's Reggae-like rapping works well alongside Chester. The beat at the beginning kinds of reminds of "New York State of Mind", which isn't a bad thing at all. 5) The Catalyst - Since the first clip I heard, I liked this song, but I like it much more now. It was definitely the right choice as the first single. 6) Iridescent - Beautiful song. Mike and Chester are definitely at their best here. It's a great follow-up to "Wisdom, Justice, and Love". 7) Burning In The Skies - Good song, but not the best song to open the album with. I really like "I'm swimming in the smoke of bridges I have burned / So don't apologize, I'm losing what I don't deserve" line. It's very catchy, and this would make a good single down the line. 8) The Messenger - My only problem with this song is that it's too short. I wish it was a bit longer, and I believe it would sound a little better if Chester calmed down on the vocals. 9) Blackout - I like the song, but for some reason, I don't feel a connection to it. It's very odd, and I'm hoping it will grow on me, but for now, it's just okay in my book.
I'm just rating the songs, rating the interludes seems a bit pointless (even though I liked them): The Requiem: Nice intro. Doesn't sound anything like Mike. The voice does sound a bit artificial though, a real female voice wouldn't have hurt. Burning In The Skies: I liked it. I expected a heavier song opening the album (even MTM had Given Up as the first long song) and it caught me totally by surprise. It has a nice shoegaze vibe to it. It has single potential. When They Come For Me: One word to describe this song: AWESOME. I liked everything about it. Robot Boy: The weakest song imo. Too poppish and mellow. Anyway, that doesn't make it a bad song at all, I actually liked it quite a bit. Waiting For The End: Just perfect as the second single. The 30 second clip didn't really caught my attention but the full song is definitely much better. Blackout: This song is crazy. I really liked it, but there were moments when I was waiting for some guitar power chords to jump in. Definitely a grower. Wretches & Kings: We all heard it already. It sounded a lot shorter when listening to the whole album, when it ended I was like "really, so soon?." Iridescent: Great one. Loved the gang vocals and the climax. This song will be so epic live, it reminded me a bit of Muse. Wasn't there supposed to be a guitar solo on this song? The Catalyst: moving on. The Messenger: A great final to a great album. Chester sings his heart (and his lungs) out on this song. I loved it. I would give the album an 8/10. A lot better than MTM on a first listen.
After more listens, I switched the last two spots: 01. Waiting for the End 02. Blackout 03. When They Come for Me 04. Wretches and Kings 05. The Catalyst 06. Robot Boy 07. Iridescent 08. Burning in the Skies 09. The Messenger
The Messenger Waiting For The End Iridescent Blackout The Catalayst Wretches and Kings Robot Boy When They Come From Me Burning In The Skies Ahh that was hard; I don't think I dislike any track on this album.
okay, Here's my review: The Requiem - A totally different opening to an LP album. Very erie and ambient. Part that creeps me out is when the voice starts singing the lyrics from "The Catalyst". Very creepy. I'd give it a 9.5/10 The Radiance - Nice, short little interlude with a speech and some haunting sounds. 7.5/10 Burning in the Skies - One of my favorites off this album. Love the softness and Chester's vocals. Mike did a good job also. 8.9/10 Empty Spaces - Short, sweet, and to the point with a sudden stops that fits perfectly. 10/10 When They Come for Me - Another favorite. Mike does excellent rapping in this song. Love the beat. 9.0/10 Robot Boy - My least favorite song on this album. Sorry, to all you "Robot Boy" fans. It just dosen't hit me as hard as the others did. 5/10 Jornada del Muerto - My favorite interlude. Love the synth part after the reversed vocals. 9/10 Waiting for the End - Definately, a favorite of mine. Nice structure and I love the lyrics. Chester was amazing in this song! 9/10 Blackout - MY ABSOULTE FAVORITE! This song is nuts! Chester screams his taint off!! 100/10 Wrecthes and Kings - Awesome song. Nice beat and rapping done by Mike. Chester sings weird but makes it awesome! 9.2/10 Wisdom, Justice, and Love - My 2nd favorite interlude. The piano and MLK's voice turning into a robot, how better can it get?!?! 9/10 Iridescent - Pretty good song. Love Mike's sad singing. The whole band singing at the end is sweet! 8.5/10 Fallout - Love how they used lines from "Burning in the Skies" while using a distorted voice. 8/10 The Catalyst - We all know this song. Amazing in everyway! 10/10 The Messenger - Love Chester's vocals. So raw and so up in your face. Definately, a good message in this song. And, great closer. 10/10 I give this album...... 100/100!! One of my favorite LP records ever!
Cant decide whether I like the album or not. It seemed to put me asleep through half of it with no heavy parts except W&K. I feel like there were to much experimental going on in the album and sometimes felt like nothing was holding me on to it. Really slow(bad kind of slow). Kinda like how the album had a small theme going through it but then it seemed like they were repeating the same thing over and over. Probably gonna have to give it another listen. Wasn't expecting something this soft from them. After first listen it seems to be a big let down..... IMO
All I can say at this stage is that this album is as if they channeled U2, The Beatles, and Public Enemy and Fort Minor in one single album. It's a very definite sound, in a very good way. It's like the progress of MTM but driven forward about ten times and given a more cohesive shape. The seamlessness of this album didn't quite sink in to me until Robot Boy "ended" and Jornada Del Muerto picked it up. I was completely unaware of the track change. I noticed the great flow before then in the album, but that really drove it home. The only real break in action I noticed was between Blackout and Wretches and Kings. Basically all the "main" songs are standout tracks, with the interludes being great supplements. This is overall an absolutely incredible album. It's evident at first listen. Even Wretches and Kings which I thought was awkward and corny at first has a great new sound to it in context that really allows me to appreciate it. Also: recurring lyrics? They've found my weakness. I just about came when I heard The Catalyst's lyrics in The Requiem.
my top ten: 1- burning in the skies 2- blackout 3- the catalyst 4- when they come for me 5- wretches and kings 6- the messenger 7- waiting for the end 8- iridescent 9- the requiem 10- jornada del muerto
Personally I love all of the tracks, easily the best LP album so far for me. Is it just me, or did LP use the same explosion sample on Robot Boy at 1:00, as Remember The Name did at about 11 seconds in? just something I seemed to notice
The Requiem 9/10 - Damn fine intro. It sets the mood well. The Radiance 3/10 - I'll be up front here, most of these interludes to me are useless. This one starts the trend to me. I wouldn't mind it as much if it wasn't a stand alone track. Burning in the Skies 5/10 - Not terrible, not great. Very boring to me. It just drags and doesn't really go anywhere. Killed the expectations from The Requiem. Empty Spaces 1/10 - Just useless. I would understand if it led into When They Come For Me, but it doesn't. When They Come For Me 7/10 - Better than Burning in the Skies. Mostly just because it is so much more energetic. I love the drums and the bridge? is just awesome. The "motherfucka"s just seem unnecessary. Robot Boy 9.5/10 - Easily the best song on the album in my opinion. This is also where the album begins to really shine. Although I will admit the piano part does sound a lot like Hey Joe. Jornada Del Muerto 8/10 - The only other interlude I like. I honestly didn't notice the shift between this and Robot Boy. Waiting for the End 8/10 - I was afraid to hear this one but the clips do it no justice. It has nice transitions between it's parts and overall I enjoyed it thoroughly. Blackout .../10 - I don't know yet. This one just really made me stop and wonder what the hell I just heard. It's all screaming with a happy-ish electronica/piano that eventually just freaks out, then sounds completely different before going back to the first part. Wretches and Kings 4/10 - Total sore spot. I would love this track if not for the guitar, at least I think that's a guitar with effects. I don't have a problem with effects. Just the guitar part in general is annoying. Wisdom, Justice, and Love 4/10 - I love the piano part but the whole thing just drags on and on. Iridescent 5/10 - Like Burning in the Skies, boring; although, the ending is quite nice. Fallout 4/10 - It fits in well but another interlude that just drags on and on. The Catalyst 9/10 - Second favorite track on the album The Messenger 7.5/10 - I would give this an even eight but it sounds really out of place. the whole album uses a lot of effects and various bit and pieces. A stripped down track just seems odd. I like it but it should have been earlier in the album in my opinion. The Catalyst would have been a better album ending. Total 6.5/10 - This is really hit and miss. When it hits it's amazing, when it misses; I truly couldn't care less. Most of the interludes just seem tacked on, and the songs themselves seem a bit disjointed like they had no direction in mind. I will give them immense credit for pushing the envelope, but sometimes it just doesn't work well.