Agreed! I think this is one of Chester's best songs vocally, largely because you can tell there was a lot of intentionality behind *how* he was singing. There's this tiredness in his voice, especially during the first chorus and the bridge, that adds to the beauty of it. I think, while I've been rather critical of the band's lyrics over the past few albums, the way a song is sung can really be saving grace for lyrics that seem simplistic or uninspired. I don't think 'Heavy' is totally redeemed by the vocals performance, but Chester and Kiiara's work on this album make a substantial difference.
I'll always subtly smile at the idea that Mike's rapping isn't as good as so and so, and whoever. Many times I hear a comparison of who's better, it's a rapper who's stuff I mostly don't enjoy. If people want to see what he's capable of, look to side work like "I Have Not Begun". He's even less prone to a cheesy-as-hell or super-cliche than Eminem often is ("I guess that's why they call it window pane/pain" for cheese and "Mountains out of molehills" for cliches both come to mind). Or do we want to say no, Eminem is king because of things like Rap God, where if you try to even begin to sing/rap along you'll get lightheaded and/or have a headache? Eminem aside (because he's obviously talented and I've enjoyed a lot of what he's done) I've just seen comparisons to so many rappers who I have no idea how or why they're considered any better than Mike. I think it also helps a lot (though yes, this doesn't involve skill) that Mike has a better voice than a lot of them, one you'd rather listen to, especially when many other rappers do things that annoy that actually can be controlled, like only talking about sex, drugs and money all the time, or going completely monotone like Drake (and I'm from Toronto so you'd think I'd only have great things to say about the "local boy") But I'm sure this "reviewer" has a much more valid opinion than mine... much like movie critics who bash movies like Batman Begins because it was "joyless", right?...
"I'm sure we can all agree on an album's final result when 90% of it hasn't been heard by anybody yet" That's basically what you just said. So no, we can't all agree. I'll at least speak for myself, and say I'm not going anywhere near agreement on that one.
I've seen professional movie critics talk borderline out of their ass before. So I'm not putting it past anybody who professionally reviews anything. I'm sure he knows about music, but that doesn't mean his opinion means all that much to me. Though I will admit, this is my general feeling towards critics, of anything. I have no idea who this guy is, and I don't care to know.
Be mindful not to double-post (make consecutive posts back-to-back). Edit previous posts and insert quotes into those. You can also use the multi-quote function.
Burn it Down is in my top half of Living Things (if separating by top 6 / bottom 6) Guilty All the Same, bottom half of The Hunting Party The Catalyst is top half, but I like Burning in the Skies the most on A Thousand Suns One Step Closer might make top half of Hybrid Theory. Might. Somewhere I Belong, while I disagree with a lot of the hate here, it's still at least middle if not bottom half of Meteora What I've Done is definitely top half of Minutes to Midnight, though not my favourite. That goes to Leave Out All the Rest Bottom line, I'm confident Heavy won't be the best, or at least not my favourite, on One More Light. So I agree with you that there's good reason to think that better is on the way.
Actually, I think this could top Living Things as my favorite Linkin Park album. and I would be genuinely shocked if Linlin Park, or even any band out there, released something as bad as The Hunting Party ever again
Yeah, the song's definitely been successful. I'm not a huge fan, but I'm genuinely happy for the guys. To be fair, the man's entitled to his opinions. Thinking Mike's a mediocre rapper at best isn't the most unpopular opinion, and I can see why a lot of people don't enjoy his style. Personally, I love it, but I can totally see where he's coming from. His lyrics aren't particularly great in any consistent way IMO (and I disagree that Mike's not prone to clichés ("you don't really know what you've got 'til it's gone") and cheese (KttK)), although he does have a few great verses, and his flow isn't anything amazing IMO. That being said, I still think his rapping fits perfectly for the band, and that's all I can ask for.
The instrumental work and the verses are better than the chorus, but to me the issue with the chorus is the droning sound more than the lyrics. I like the sound of the chorus as it's closing out. I think the song was pretty good, I had no issues with it. It's not an all-timer for me, but that list for me is tough to crack, when I'm not even sure I could make a top 30 list without leaving out some songs I liked. I'm somebody who doesn't think Linkin Park has ever made a bad song. And I pride myself on speaking without bias. Obviously there are songs I like more than others, but I don't think there's ever been one that I can say was bad. I also think some of Linkin Park's "worst" stuff, or stuff that didn't even make it onto studio albums, is better than the best songs for other artists' entire studialbums. Sometimes entire discography... I honestly think Eminem delivers the cliches in a worse way than Mike does; Mike tends to have it fit better, feels less forced, etc. the odd time he does throw one in. See, my problem (for lack of a better term, it's not really a "problem") isn't with cliches themselves. Sometimes it's just fitting to say something like mountains out of molehills or don't know what you've got til it's gone (it's easily fitting in "Where'd You Go" from Fort Minor) and that's fine, I'll never flat-out say "Don't say them" just because they've been coined as cliches. It's when they're delivered oddly or they don't seem to fit or flow properly, almost like you just want to say it and are making it fit. Less organic, etc. And I actually didn't find anything cheesy about the Keys to the Kingdom lyrics. I know I'm probably starting to sound biased but seriously I criticize things I love when I feel they deserve it... I really do lol I've seen you call the second half of The Hunting Party the best stuff they've ever done... so, almost by default/design... it's a little odd to use words that harsh about the album. Even if you think the first half was the worst they've ever done. Sounds like at best the album is neutral or love/hate... which is why I say bashing it this hard later on feels odd. I assure you a lot of bands will release worse (probably a lot worse) than The Hunting Party from here on out...
I don't understand why people talk about this dude. He's literally just some random dude on the internet with no credibility like all of us.
He's funny sometimes but damn it , he's not very professional as some people say , he 's just a guy with an opinion with funny and distinctive personality nothing more or less
Fair enough, I can't really disagree with any of this (especially seeing as I don't listen to Eminem ). There're definitely a lot of rappers that I like less than Mike, and Mike's raps have fit so perfectly so many times IMO that I can't really complain much.
People are also using YouTube, Twitter and Facebook likes and comments to support their case for thinking this song is bad... so... there's that.
I agree with this but switch Hybrid Theory with The Hunting Party. GATS is one of the weaker tracks while I feel One Step Closer is one of the better tracks Nah, that will NEVER happen, I can assure you of that
You're all just nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking now. Which isn't to say you weren't before, the obsession with "he called it EDM it's not EDM it's a completely different style of dance-centric electronic music!" made that obvious enough. The idea that it was a fairly original move for a rock band to do at this point in time (and then comparing it to similar sound bands who have done that...) was dead on. Are we coming up on the weird "Staunchly defend the single against it's detractors" stage already?
...this has literally nothing to do with what I just said. Like, at all. I genuinely don't think you read my comment.
You're insinuating (and I'm paraphrasing for the sake of brevity) "He heard electronics, thought it was EDM, and then unfairly dismissed it", are you not?
No one's nitpicking and defending ! We are just telling what's actually right about it! You're defending his review A full blown pop song with super electronic elements doesn't compare to HEAVY due to the very same damn fact that live instruments were tracked to produce it and they make the core sound of the song. It just sounds like a pop song due to its catchy chorus, basic progression, dominant and accessible vocals and inclusion of Kiiara. But calling it EDM is downright bullshit. EDM is A Light That Never Comes and Darker Than Blood, not this one. "Staunchly defend the single against it's detractors" - NO, just quoting what is real.