Awful review. Seriously? Comparing the rap-heavy "Good Goodbye" to NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye"?! Why, because both lines have 3 syllables and contain the word "bye"? Give me a fucking break.
Worst part about that is that it's from the Associated Press and literally every website is using that review. It's on Washington Post, Mail Online etc etc etc. Basically any site that couldn't be arsed to write their review is using that one, lol.
is it possible to say the songs that are out so far are risky in any way? people still use the same old argument that anyone who doesnt like the album was expecting new metal, this is nonsense. the songs released so far are the most safe music that the band could do right now, the lyrics are as bad as they were HT/meteora. there's barely a "band" playing, everything about this album (or the songs released so far) is as safe and unchallenging as it could be. and i wasnt even expecting any especific sound, surely not new metal. nor am i a "pop hater". new metal was also a very generic genre, it was hated by the "true metal fans" (im not saying that i am part of the "group" or that i support their ideas about new metal). MTM and ATS were a change in direction, LT was not, and now OML is as generic as "old LP" in that matter, the lyrics are even worse than they were 20 years ago, the instruments are nearly nonexisting. how is this album risky? the most disapointing thing about it is actally the bands atitude,its hard to believe that they actually believe in what theyve been saying in interviews. for comparision, i know some people here know devin townsends music, when he released epicloud he did not brag about it being risky or about how much time he took to write the songs or that he completely changed the way he writes music or whatever. it was the exact opposite, he did not have to lie about it or pretend that it was musically challenging interesting. he said that he felt like writing simple songs, cherfull lyrics and pop melodies. it's been 15 years since meteora, LP has not been a new metal or a rock band since then, making a pop album in 2017 is not risky or creatively challenging in any way, the songs we heard so far are among the most unninspired in the band's career.
I don't think anyone thinks they're like The Offspring levels of "Oh, they're still around?" fallen out of mainstream notoriety, but the long and short of it is that your average music fans likely isn't thinking about them as much. OML has been written about as a "comeback album" several times. Comeback from... barely 3 years ago? Burn It Down was one of their bigger hits of the last few years. If you asked anyone "Quick, name me the last Linkin Park song you've heard...", think that's going to be in the top 3 things coming out of their mouth? I don't think anyone here doesn't believe the band is successful, but it could be argued just as much of that has been Linkin Park related business endeavors just as much as musical output. Non-fans don't even seem to realize how many post Minutes albums they've made before now. A lot of their popularity these days actually seems to come from India and Asia, since we're bringing up social media, which is still great, but something to be considered if you're talking about 'mainstream success' as it means in the US. Again, I highly doubt you'll find many people who don't know who Linkin Park are. But that doesn't mean a lot, or even most, of those people would be able to tell you what number album they're about to drop, the name of the one before it, or (aside from cases it's notable for being so drastically different like Heavy is) their more current radio singles.
Yea I found it to be awful as well just wanted to see how you all felt about it, rock sound did a review also gave the album a 6/10 with mostly positive remarks.
No, I don't know. What are you inferring? A "safe" album would be relying on the proven formula and putting out an album the majority of core fans are going to be happy with. But then they'd be criticized for not progressing their sound, losing their creative edge, etc. Calling this derivative, safe (etc.) seems to me you've made up your mind about this album before even hearing the entire thing. They make it sound like the entire band has frosted tips and matching jumpsuits. smh
I'm inferring that if the band doesn't intend to make an album that caters to the pop masses, but they do end up making an album that caters to the pop masses, then...they've made an album that caters to the pop masses. Intention only means so much vs the final product. It's not like they slipped, fell on a drum machine, and a pop collab with Kiiara fell out either. As far as me making up my mind about the album before hearing it, I'm not sure how to respond. I've already heard 6 of the 10 songs, assuming Talking To Myself and One More Light aren't insanely different from the live versions (we'll see). And secondly, I can think music is safe and derivative while also enjoying it. Invisible and Talking To Myself are great. One More Light and Battle Symphony are good. I'm actually really looking forward to Sorry For Now. I cannot stress this enough: I'm not trying to hate on the album. Once I sit down and listen to it start to finish, I may very well like it. But that doesn't mean I'm going to call it something that it isn't. If we're talking about "proven formulas," again, the music we've heard is filled to the brim with pop music cliches of 2017. If you're eschewing your large fanbase for another large group of music fans, by making the exact type of music you know they like right now, what are you ultimately risking? Again, in 2007 I'd be agreeing with you. But Linkin Park have established themselves as pop-powerplayers many times over. This music just isn't risky. And if I'm supposed to think highly of the band for risking how nu-metal fans view them, in 2017, I just honestly could not care less of what those people think. And I don't think the band does either (for the past decade). I'm not going to let that group of people define the band. I'm going to let the music define the band.
"though the slow-burning, electronic-driven ‘Nobody Can Save Me’ and ‘Invisible’ still see Chester Bennington staring into the darkness." Good lord. Mike sings "Invisible". "Sure, the relative absence of co-frontman Mike Shinoda saps some of the band’s unique character" He's hardly absent on this album, based on what we know. He sings two full songs, for Christ's sake.
I feel like you're driving at something here but not fully delivering your point. Seems you're talking about risk within the context of where the new LP music fits alongside mainstream pop music, and I'm talking about risk within the context of Linkin Park and their fanbase. To suggest that the band is eschewing a large contingent of their fanbase to target another large group of music fans is disingenuous.
The stuff in bold is basically the issue of intention vs outcome. I am not suggesting that Linkin Park sat down in a room, maybe with a white board, drew up a graph, ran the numbers and said something like "for every nu-metal fan we lose, we're going to gain two Ellie Goulding fans." I do not think they are that cynical. I think they started making music, and it was very poppy music, and they decided to run with it (until putting it on pause, doing THP, and resuming). What I'm saying is, even if Linkin Park didn't sit down and calculate a plan to replace their nu-metal fans with Ellie Goulding fans, that's still the outcome we seem to be heading towards. Intentional or not, that's the road we're headed down. And in the year 2017, risking nu-metal fans vs fans of Ellie Goulding (or whichever pop artist you want to use) is absolutely no contest. That's like trading in an old piece of shit clunker for a brand new car. And yeah, I am strictly talking about "risk" as in Linkin Park music and how it fits in mainstream music as a whole. At this point in their career, I just don't see the intra-fanbase music-taste debate as particularly relevant. This is who the band is and has been for a long time. If we're defining risk as making a subset of their hardcore fans sad, literally any genre of music would constitute a "risk" at this point. Hybrid Theory Part 3 would be a risk because all the ATS/newer fans would be put off.
Can't take a review seriously when they can't even tell it's not Chester singing on Invisible. The vocals aren't even close to sounding like Chester. Descriptions are way off. Owl City is Sorry For Now, NCSM sounds nothing like that although 'airy' is the only thing they got right. Sharp Edges sounds nothing like Shawn Mendes...whatsoever.
What? You're literally proving yourself wrong with your own comment. You're saying that Linkin Park is making a pop album with a mainstream-like single to attract mainstream radio, but then go on to say they've had many mainstream singles in the past... That's exactly it, they've always been mainstream, so what makes this time different? Is it that you don't like this pop sound so its not okay and its not risky now? I refer back to my older post, sure its not that experimental, but its still risky. They're not appealing to the masses and mainstream, they're sticking to their guts and taking the risk to push out a pop record.
Can't believe this is Linkin Park's 7th record. I was introduced to LP in the Winter of 2001 Well then the reviewer says this: "The title of the first single, "Heavy," featuring Kiiara, might give fans of "Hybrid Theory" hope." Hybrid Theory is the opposite of Heavy, this reviewer has no clue.
...Yes? How is doing exactly the thing you've been doing a risky artistic move? The difference between now and 2007 is 10 years and 4 albums. When they did it back then with Minutes To Midnight, it was novel and a new idea for the band to move into a more traditionally pop sound. Now, it's just more of the same, but with an extra special appeal to today's chart-toppers. ..............................what
I wasn't going to get involved (I think both sides have very valid points), but what you're saying only adds to his point. He's saying that he doesn't feel it's risky for an already mainstream band to continue making mainstream music.
So do I, to an extent. I'm not saying One More Light isn't risking the band's reputation with some of their hardcore fans. That's a fact. I'm saying that risk is just so mitigated by, 1. the amount of people who love the type of music One More Light is and 2. the band has made a living the past 10 years making pop music with different coats of paint, that it isn't all that worthy of praise. The fact that One More Light seems to have an especially glossy, very hip coat of paint doesn't change a whole lot.
I think you're misinterpreting. The point was that a single called "Heavy" sounds like it would be heavy, which would give HT fans hope. I had to re-read it too. Poorly constructed sentence.