You honestly think they'd worry about some whiny losers on social media peeing their pants cos it it isn't NU METALZ? This song is getting them WAY more publicity then they've got in ages. It will chart well, get a lot of airplay and they will still sell out shows all over the world. Why would they worry about a few keyboard warriors?
People were gonna bitch one way or another, so it's a net gain. I'm sure the band were fully prepared for a full range of responses
Sorry, I didn't really mean you regarding this criteria and despite some awful comments I think it is actually amazing what is going on here. How long ago is it that we were that active. When the album drops it will be insane
The thing is, this band has changed their sound and style of music so many times over the last decade alone, that they're bound to disappoint someone along the way or make a fan feel like the band personally 'let them down'. It's unfortunately impossible at this point to satisfy everybody because Linkin Park's fanbase in itself is a very diverse bunch. You have people who wish the band would return to the sound of their first two albums, people who wish mike would rap more, and others who wish he would rap less (and sing more). Then you have the people who want another ATS, or the people who felt THP 'grew stale' quickly and were hoping for a poppier Linkin Park this time around. There's not one majority opinion in the fanbase as to where this band should go, and I honestly feel that's why the band stopped caring about angering people a long time ago. Because no matter what this band does musically, even if they didn't release a pop song and went as experimental as their creativity allows them to do, will still leave someone dissatisfied. It's just part of being a Linkin Park fan. Some albums you'll feel are incredible, and others you'll ask "WTF was the band thinking?", and which albums those are will differ between each fan. I honestly don't think Heavy is even close to being as 'awful' as some people have made it out to be. Yes it's a bit more simple and perhaps not as experimental as other songs in the band's catalog, but I think accusing the band of having no integrity (as I've seen a few times in this thread) could be a tad bit hyperbolic. Maybe they just wanted to write pop. It's certainly not a genre they've ever fully explored (at least not as the 'main genre' on a track) and besides, we all know the next record after this will be a 180 from this record. The band does that crap every album .
People fret about Heavy being representative of the entire album but the singles never really represent the albums they come from because Linkin Park love to experiment so chances are, Heavy could just be your basic track in an album full of stranger songs.
To everyone crying because they don't like Heavy: f**king CHILL. Sit this album out and wait for the next one. The world will not end, I promise.
This may be long. I feel like I need to rant. Posting on LPA after ages. (Last was during the Lost in the Echo video thread) I"ve been an LP fan ever since I heard Bleed it Out 10 years ago on television and almost immediately LP became my favourite band. I loved every song of theirs from HT to THP and of course, the amazing demos from pre-HT days, Grey Daze, Fort Minor. This band became a huge part of my life. Their music has influenced decisions I've made, my philosophies in life. Literally, nothing LP could do was or bad, I remember arguing how In Pieces has the best guitar solo ever with my brother. (A fudging kickass guitarist) Linkin Park has always been a fan's band to me, you can see they really love the fans because of how they continue to share music with their fans ever year (LPU) which no other band has done. (As far as I know). I love Linkin Park. Right now, after listening to Heavy and the current behind the scenes on the new album, I feel a bit disappointed. The way they spoke about the process behind this album, the songwriting, the lyrics, etc. It feels like a letdown. Honestly, I have no expectations before any album cycle and I love a good surprise, but Immediately after listening to Heavy, I randomly switched to listening to And One, Dedicated and a couple of pre-HT songs. I dont know if its' the right word but those songs felt a lot more genuine to me. It felt like there was a lot more heart and soul into those songs. This feels like the band wants to be popular again, wants to be relevant and of course as they've said they want to do something refreshing and new. Which is cool, I can respect that. BUT it's difficult to watch a band that has so much, so much potential not push the envelope and make something truly artistic, we saw glimpses of this in ATS and a bit in LT, THP and MTM. There are so many songs like Heavy in the 2016/7 era, it doesn't feel special like the way The Catalyst did or Guilty all the Same did when they first released. We know that Chester has that lyrical and vocal potential, Mike has the production skills, Rob, Brad and Pheonix can do something amazing with their instruments and Joe has literally been passive since LT. Maybe the other songs will be better... maybe. I hope Heavy will grow on me over time and I won't skip it in the playlist a few years from now. "I'm holding onto what I haven't got" P.S. The LPA has probably been the second best thing to happen in my life after discovering Linkin Park. Much love LPA team and LP community.
Guys who are crying about Heavy, take notes. That post by Shelton, along with many others in this thread, are how to have a reasonable and constructive negative opinion about the song without overreacting.
"Some whiny losers"... wtf is wrong with you? As much as I love the band experimenting, the reason for them to be in the situation to do so was the success of their first two records. They are in the fortunate situation that they do not rely on massive sales or their first fans. But they should at least respect the fans that bought and love the first records (which I think they do if you look at their setlists). It is not whiny to dislike this song and talk about your feelings on Facebook, YouTube or this Forum. And there is a difference between people that just want GUITARZZ and NU-METAL and people that actually loved stuff like A Thousand Suns, loved to see the band going in different directions and appreciated their courage to incorporate their uniqueness in different styles. We do not have to like our favorite band turning their back on every statement they made two years ago, turning their back on the mindset of a record like A Thousand Suns (Remember them talking about some What I've Done Shit? This is so much worse than that). I am not telling them what to do, but as this band has been part of my life for the last 16 years, being my number one inspiration for my own music (not only stylistically but regarding their approaches and mindsets) it just hurts seeing them working with 30 songwriters to create stuff like this. There is hope for the album, but heavy is crap (in my opinion) and I will share this opinion as much as I want to.
I've decided to avoid LP related social media the past 24 hours so I could form my best, cohesive, unbiased opinion on the single. Basically, it doesn't suck. But it's not the strongest single they've released, and probably on the weaker end of the spectrum. I think they've experimented on this track in some really neat ways for the band, but to me it sounds like another "Until It's Gone" type song. And I'm not dogging on LP by any means, they're one of my all time favorite bands, I guess my music taste is expanding so much that Heavy doesn't feel fresh. I'm still on board for this album, no doubt. However, I feel like when it's finally out and we look back on it, Heavy will be one of the weakest tracks on the record.
Just read some old reviews/comments on amazon for example. People have already been bitching about LP when Reanimation came out. Some weren't quite satisfied with LP redoing their iconic debut songs. (too much Hip Hop, too electronic etc.) Some found Meteora boring since it was basically a rehash of HT. And let's face it. Even back in the days they weren't exactly received with a warm welcome within the die hard Metal community, since many labeled them a simple pop group with metal guitars. (lol just read some old comments) People claiming sell out or pop shit isn't something new. It's not like they went from Napalm Death Grindcore to straight pop. They've always had a lot of pop influences.
Sonic direction aside, I'll be looking and hoping extensively at the lyrics and songwriting. While I do know 'Heavy' might not be a representation of the entire album, I just hope most of the songs aren't written like that. I'll probably get used to the sonic direction of the album after a while, but I hope the band really does deliver in this aspect!