I have no problem with simple riffs (or music in general). Some of the most iconic riffs in rock are simple as balls - Smoke on the Water, Iron Man, Teen Spirit, Enter Sandman, Back in Black, Whole Lotta Love, etc. Meteora has a bunch of great riffs & melodies (be they vocal or instrumental). It definitely doesn't lack for great hooks, but a good song, in my book, needs more than a hook. It's the lyricism and uniform formulaic structures that eventually turned me off (for the record I loved Meteora when it came out, though I didn't relate to the lyrics, I just loved the way it sounded. Also, I have no problem with that ababcb structure by itself, it's when it's abused it gets irritating). Establishing a sound with your second album it totally fine, and totally natural & expected, but there's no reason you can't advance your songwriting at the same time. It's not "stay the same" or "do something totally fucking different", there's a vast spectrum in between. Meteora not only didn't progress their songwriting, it regressed it (HT is more varied and overall better written). That's my baseline problem with it, reguardless of their motivations or goals for it. It's not without merrit, but for me the cons outweigh the pros.
When Minutes to Midnight came out I didn't go back to Meteora. When A Thousand Suns came out I didn't go back to Minutes to Midnight. Living Things has been out for two weeks and I've already gone back to A Thousand Suns. Just to check myself though I listened to them both back to back on a road trip. On the way to my destination I listened to Living Things first and A Thousand Suns second. On the way back home I reversed the order. Both times my mind floundered during most of the Living Things songs, but I was completely in tune to every word, sound and beat in A Thousand Suns despite having listened to it endlessly. This isn't to say I want ATS part 2. I'm glad Living Things is what it is and they continue to not repeat themselves. The last thing we need is for them to get stuck in another Hybrid Theory/Meteora rut. It also confirms for me that ATS is really just that good, and while Living Things is enjoyable, its not necessarily a step forward. And perhaps a step backward is too harsh as well because there are songs on the last half of the album that are really interesting and ear grabbing. The album is simply at a standstill. There's something about Living Things that just isn't as captivating. The staying power isn't there. Maybe its that the songs are so short. Maybe its that I'm so used to Linkin Park changing their sound so radically that when something is familiar, like some songs on Living Things, I'm turned off. Or maybe the wait for this album was so short in comparison to other Linkin Park records that it didn't feel as special. Whatever the reason is, Living Things is just a good album, but not a real spectacle from Linkin Park. When the smoke clears, Hybrid Theory will be the iconic debut, Meteora will be the monstrous sound-alike follow up, Minutes to Midnight will be the album that changed their sound, A Thousand Suns will be the controversial game changer and Living Things will just be "album #5". That's it. Sometimes its better to be "the worst album" because at least there's something interesting about that album that makes it so bad. But when an album is just kind of sitting there, neither great nor terrible, like Living Things, that can be worse. It becomes easy to forget. I hope they do something more daring for their next foray.
I think the lenght has a lot to do with people getting bored of LT already Thinking about it, ATS had 10 more minutes to offer. But yep, even if I'm "bored" of LT at the moment, I still prefer it over it's predecessor. By far.
See I keep wondering about it being short, but Hybrid Theory was short as well. You nailed it about being interesting. I kind of fall asleep during the first half of the album and wake up around Victimized or Roads Untraveled. Castle of Glass is interesting just because it sounds so much different than the prior songs, so I guess I'll lump it in there too. Honestly, right now though, I'm still spinning ATS in my car like it was just released and LT is left next to HT and MTM. God knows where Meteora sits... It can stay there. Hopefully I'll have a desire to go back to Living Things later in the week.
Or because they have been overplaying it for a month? If it's short and overplayed, it becomes boring really fast, I can guarantee it.
I couldn't agree more. Honestly, this band has staying power due to two things: an amazing debut album and their dramatic changes in sound. If LP kept being safe with their records, they would end up like Limp bizkit or Korn - two bands that tried to comeback but massively failed. And they did realize this fact; if they didn't, the label disputes wouldn't have happened nor the shift in sound. If Linkin Park puts another record that is safe, their staying power could really diminish. Living things is a record that does not satisfy the fanbase; it's like a democrat or a republican trying to get in the exact middle of the spectrum to satisfy both parties. In the end, almost no one is satisfied. The old school fans wanted an even more return to their "rootz", so this album is behind HT and Meteora. For the people who prefer their experimental sound, this was a step back for them. By making another safe record, they could seriously lose a lot of their fanbase. Barely anyone finds this album satisfying, to be honest. Now, if Linkin Park actually sells out like Maroon 5, they could become huge for a little while. Then again, their image isn't really suitable for pop.
Depends. I can overplay things for a year and still be interested in it. Depends on how interesting it is to begin with.
On this forum maybe. Now, check other sites and even youtube, and you'll see there are a lot of people who are more satisfied by LT than by ATS. However, I must admit I feel alone at defending LT at the moment
We are two here Qwerty19. I'm listening to the LT at most once every two days, just to not get bored quickly.
I don't know where you're seeing these people at, the general consensus I've seen by a lot of fans, former fans, and people that don't really like them at all, is that this album is vastly superior to the two before it. I've seen the album criticized for not doing enough to really try something new, so I can agree with that part of what you said, but everything I've seen so far is that most people think it's a competent and sorely needed step. At any rate, I guess I'm another that's not yet bored of it. Although I disliked a lot of it at first listen and grew to like it more as I went on, whereas I think most of you loved it immediately and then started noticing the rougher parts after the fact.
Going to be be flat out honest here, I'm getting bored very quickly. I get bored of even the funnest video games and cannot replay them over and over as quickly anymore. I don't really know how to explain it, I can still listen to A Thousand Suns a hundred times, as well as Minutes to Midnight and still not be bored. It's truly only Living Things for me that i'm getting bored of, quickly. I do agree with some people, it isn't the bands best effort, at least lyrically. Still a really good album, a step below A Thousand Suns/Minutes to Midnight now that I've had time to listen for weeks. Has some of the best songs from Linkin Park to date like Until it Breaks, Tinfoil/Powerless, Lost in the Echo. A few songs are just getting really repetitive for me like Castle of Glass and Skin to Bone. The other are still listenable still, just not as much as I thought they would be. Don't get me wrong guys , i'm still a huge LP fan and always will be. Just this album didn't hit me in replay value like the last 4 have. I do consider it a better comeback to the general crowd of Hybrid Theory and Meteora cause of all the mixing and guitars present, however it just seems kind of lazy. I even see it in the making of this time around, they were just like whatever about half of the album and very chill. While that's good, they seem a bit TOO chill and it's making an impact on some of the album I guess for me at least. Sorry if this may piss people off, it's just what i'm seeing and how I feel about it. Not sure about anyone else but Lost in the Echo, Tinfoil/Powerless, Lies, Greed, Misery.. hell even Burn It Down seemed better produced. They had a lot of layers of music and sound, lyrics that didn't have a paragraph or 5 lines like some of the songs on the record do. Some of the other songs feel like they weren't plain worked on as hard and just feel bland and repetitive in comparison.
I hate how when Living Things leaked, everyone said it was their best album and now everyone's bored of it and hates songs like IMR, BID, IBG and so on? Yes, the first half of the album may even sound a little poppy, but from Castle Of Glass until the end it's pure awesomeness. Castle Of Glass - absolute perfection Victimized - great, rap, screaming, guitars... Roads Untraveled - you can't say this is LP from 2003, this is so much better Skin To Bone- I srsly don't understand how someone can not love this song Until It Breaks - may be the weakest track of the second half of the album, but still awesome Powerless - electronics, guitars, singing, lyrics, everything in this song is perfect
I find this album much more enjoyable than ATS. LT is FUN to listen to where I feel that I have to listen to ATS when I want to relax somewhere.
Whenever a new Linkin Park album is released, or any album from any band for that matter, its going to be over-hyped upon release. Their best album? Hardly. It's a good little album, just not something the band is going to be remembered for. There are at least two to three songs from the last four CDs the masses will remember. Living Things? I can't really pick out that stand out track. I'd say Burn It Down but I really believe that was their weakest lead single to date. It didn't exactly make the impact What I've Done had or shock the hell out of people like The Catalyst did.