For those who haven't heard, Linkin Park have released a new single called "Fighting Myself" to promote the 20th Anniversary Edition of "Meteora". Like "Lost" before it, "Fighting Myself" will appear on a disc in the anniversary package called "Lost Demos", a collection of unreleased demos and B-sides from the "Meteora" sessions. The single release comes complete with a visualiser, this time directed by New York-based AI artist Jacky Lu, who previously contributed to the production of the music video for "Lost". Like that one, this "Fighting Myself" visual was created with the aid of AI software, but has a watercolour-based aesthetic as opposed to the anime style explored for the "Lost" video. In contrast to the poppier energy of "Lost", "Fighting Myself" is an aggressive rap-rock banger. The song's instrumentation begins with a reversed vocal sample (something the band did not play with heavily on the final "Meteora" tracks) before introducing the live guitars and drums with a start-stop motif. The song is built a syncopated halftime rhythm that will no doubt remind longtime Linkin Park fans of songs like "Papercut" and "Hit The Floor". True to its name, "Fighting Myself" features broadly-relatable lyrics about self-sabotage and inner turmoil, themes which have appeared frequently throughout Linkin Park's discography. Shinoda delivers introspective rap verses with a flow which harks back to his performances on songs such as "Part Of Me" and, again, "Papercut", but with the extra swagger in the delivery that differentiates his verses on "Meteora" from his rhyming on "Hybrid Theory". Per early Linkin Park, Shinoda's rapping naturally gives way to a trademark Linkin Park hard rock chorus with a searing performance from co-vocalist Chester Bennington, who adopts a syncopated flow fitting for the song's halftime pattern. The song's bridge mirrors that of "Lost" with a brand-new repeated stanza, which is blended with lyrics from the song's chorus later on in the arrangement - per his explanations in interviews, Shinoda personally structured these later vocal sections to complete the song for the "Meteora" anniversary offering. In short, there are familiar conventions used throughout "Fighting Myself" that are echoed in songs on "Meteora" and elsewhere in the band's commercial discography. Fans of Linkin Park's nu-metal side specifically can take this song as yet another good sign of what's to come when the "Meteora" 20th Anniversary Edition drops on April 7. You can check out "Fighting Myself" on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music now! Let us know on our message board what you think of the song.
Great to see that the band still has some unreleased tresaures out there for us. Cool song but i can see why it doesnt made the cut. Same with Lost a bit out of place imo.
Fun banger song for what it is but not particularly my cup of tea. The vocal loop sample is pretty cool and stands out for me immediately. I also dig hearing new Meteora-era Mike Shinoda verses. Kinda feels like “Hit the Floor 2.0.”
Great news post! Loved the detailed description of the song. It is a fun little tune for what it is - a "90% done" deal, still a demo thus. You can tell it is still missing some of those subtle details a finished song would have, and because of that, it ends up sounding a bit more simple/repetitive. That said, it's great to have it. The vocal loop and the drum beat are super cool. Mike's flow is getting closer to what we hear in Fort Minor. The layering of the vocals in the bridge/outro is my favorite part of the song, it really packs a punch.
The nu-metal fans will be all over this but I think it's one of the worse LP demos I've heard (Lost is also miles better). Can totally see why it didn't make it to the album.
This song is so so so good! Way better than Lost is. The classic nu-metal sound with both Chester and Mike and the lyrics are great. I’m surprised this song didn’t make Meteora, it’s better than Hit the Floor. Hopefully the CD has more bangers like this!
*identifying Meteora* Someone trap me in a hyperbolic time chamber until the the M2M and ATS demos are released.