Dude I'm just salty. Don't call me an asshole you fucking asshole. I will have calmed down about this in a few days and probably realized that the song isn't... that.. bbbbbad... ugh I just can't say those words
Wow...guys...really? Calm down. Next person to call anybody an asshole is getting an infraction. It's JUST A SONG. There are much greater problems in the world than Linkin Park going pop. Relax and take a few breaths. This is getting out of hand.
I'll agree that the drama ain't necessary though. It's quite likely the sound will change again after this album anyway. Might as well chill, and wait. I'll still give this beast a chance in May. Till then, lot of other music to catch up with!
Except that some of it was mainstream pop. "What I've Done", "Bleed It Out" and "Shadow of the Day" were some of the band's biggest songs ever, and it was all over radio. "In Pieces" and "Leave Out All the Rest" were pop songs with guitars. Sure it won't get played in radio now, but if it was 2007 this was the sound of the mainstream. There's a sizable number of people here who think "What I've Done" is radio trash (I think otherwise though). Unfortunately, bro, I think you'll be disappointed. Mike has said that "Heavy" represented the core sound of the album, so it's probably going to sound quite similar. Nothing wrong if you think this is the worst song the band has ever made or if you sit this album cycle out. Although I agree that heavily compterized and autotuned songs are ruining songs, you can't say that they're doing this for money. Mike made Fort Minor, and a lot them are hip hop tracks with mainstream vibes to them, just with added political and personal touches to them. The band collaborated with Jay-Z, (still) one of the biggest rappers of our time. Heck, the band fucking made an EDM remix album where some of the tracks are better than the original songs. And their songs are always a lot more pop than people would like to admit they would be. "In the End", "Crawling" and "Numb" had pop appeal - catchy lyrics and riffs - despite being nu metal tracks. But you can't say pop music has no creativity. There's a lot of pop music - even those massive, overplayed hits in radio - that practically explains why it has progressed and left a lot of rock in the dust. You're free to disagree with us, but there's you can't dismiss all pop as pure crap. It reminds me of Fall Out Boy. They're rooted in punk songs, but when they had a few pop vibes in Folie a Deux, people shit on them. When they went on hiatus, Patrick Stump made a full-on Michael Jackson-like soul pop album (an underrated one, in my opinion), and adopted a radically different look. People hurled insults about how they wanted him to make music and how they liked him better fat. It left him broken and depressed. But he reunited with his band, and they returned with two of the poppiest records they made. Sure, it's not my cup of tea and a lot of their old fans are pissed, but I'm happy that they sound like they're having more fun than they used to be. Linkin Park got me into a lot of genres - rock, blues, electronic, indie, hip hop and even pop. A Thousand Suns got me into the band in the first place, and it blew me away on how a lot of genres can be incorporated into the album. Pop, when used right, can explore a lot more exciting prospects than rock could ever do, in my opinion.
For a band that continually praises and credits their fan base, this article is surprising. I don't understand what type of "growing" Mike is referring to here. Look at their sales trends from album to album, I certainly don't see growth there BUT I do see them, most likely, "intentionally" letting fans go. Why would a hugely successful band feel the need to change their sound and continually try to reinvent themselves with each new album after Meteora?
More than just a song. A representation of what has happened to Linkin Park. This doesn't apply to me. I think that the first 2 albums are overrated but I love all Linkin Park albums including Hybrid Theory and Meteora. But then this pop song came out. Hopefully it will grow on me, but I don't expect that to happen. In fact, I actually LIKED Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay when I first heard it, and then I outgrew it. I disliked this song the first time listening through shitty phone speakers, then the second time through these actual good headphones. I couldn't even hear any guitar in the background over the poppiness. It just sounded like computer noises and computer drums to me. I don't mind the drum machines in other tracks like Session, because drum machines are different. I've heard they require a really good drummer to make a good beat with that. And at least songs like Blackbirds had an apparent electric guitar and some rapping from Mike. I don't know what the fuck I'm saying. It's just pure annoyance. None of my points are actually valid.
You know what I find funny about people hating Linkin Park for working with song writers and ones who have worked with Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez? First off, their second favorite band or probably one of their favorite bands have worked with songwriters before. It happens all the time, even in rock music. Second, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber are both very talented.
What drives me crazy is that there are literally flame wars going on in this thread and people calling each other names, all because ONE song turned out to be far more poppy and accessible than anything the band has released prior to it. This is nuts. We haven't heard the other 9 songs, we don't know anything about the rest of the album (apart from Mike saying 'it sounds like Heavy', and then later contradicting that and saying the album has 'many different' genres ), and to be flipping out this early is madness. Look, I can already tell you there's going to be no screaming on the album. That came right from Mike's mouth in a recent interview. So if screaming is what you all want, it's not going to happen. Apart from that though, we know nothing.
Well, then just listen to the 2 most succesful / mainstream records their made - HT and Meteora ;-). With which studio records did they earn the most money? Again: HT and Meteora. Imagine how easy it would be to satisfy all the old fans with another nu-metal (or similar sounding) record. LP are a brand, how many would go NUTS when they would release another nu-metal record! Would they care about the fact, that LP would earn even more money? No, of course not, because their wildest egoistic dreams will be fullfilled. Chester said one time, that they would be able to write Meteora songs blindfolded. Why waiting 2 or 3 years? They could release a record every 6 months then, the money comes anyway and faster.
For all the back and forth that's going on in this thread, at the very least we can all agree it's not as bad as on other social media sites.