At least they're understanding. Other reviews I've read just dismiss the band entirely, call them sellouts, or simply say they lost their sense of identity. Basically what their definition of what a band should be. Kinda ironic, since that's the band's point. The negative reviews I agree with are the ones that consider the new sound as safe despite being an experimental departure.
Yeah, but changing your sound on every record isn't always good especially when you turn more poppy than current pop stars. Problem is that with every release, with every song until this year I could easily say this is Linkin Park even on their weirdest tracks, but OML is the first album that doesn't sound like Linkin Park at all and it's not good. If I'd like to hear that kind of music, there are plenty of bands and celebrities out there. That's why so many people hate this record, they feel like this album should have been released as a side project under different name instead of using well known brand of Linkin Park. You can't make 180 degrees turn every time and expect people to just get the f..ck over it, but if they are happy to lose more fans following them since ages and swap them for teenagers who didn't know them until Transformers or even later then good luck with that.
Who's to say what they should and shouldn't do? It's their band, their ever changing musical taste and if they are happy with it no one is entitled to tell them what to do.
@up Who's telling them what to do ? However, without first records and people they told to get the f..ck over HT they wouldn't be where they are. Old time classics will be always most popular songs in their catalogue and these new ones will be soon forgotten even if they hate themselves from nu metal/alt rock era. No matter how hard they try to erase the past it will stay with them forever.
They aren't trying to erase their past. They are evolving as they get older, like most people do. Chester has said on multiple occassions that he is proud of every record, but everyone changes over time.
@up Evolving is when you create something totally new, when you develop yourself as a musician. With this record they just recycled everything what's trendy in current pop music, so while ATS was evolution OML isn't
When a publication caves in to viewer pressure and changes reviews/coverage to please others, they lose all respect and integrity in my opinion. I've been called a 'shill for Linkin Park' and told I have no integrity because I gave OML a positive review, but I will never ever back down from my score or any other review/opinion I put on there. Publications need to stand behind what they pub,ish. End of.
Evolving on an individual basis does not have to mean creating something totally new in general, it means creating something you haven't explored before.
From what I've observed, the founder of Consequence of Sound still likes the band. It's just that he's not the writer writing about/covering the band anymore, plus he doesn't review for the site that much. It's the people under him that dislike the band a lot. So you can't really fault him from having a different opinion than his writers. He's actually the guy who wrote the news post about LP announcing OML and releasing "Heavy", which shows he still keeps the band in his radar at least.
Nobody Can Save Me and Talking To Myself sound mind blowing on Dolby Atmos. Loving the Guitar layering (esp. NCSM) on both the tracks. And Ilsey Juber can be heard on the chorus of TTM and Jon Green on NCSM much better now. The backing tremolo throughout OML is so soothing. Great production.
Thanks for the hint! And since we should celebrate the parties as they come: 4th day in a row No.1 (Worldwide ITunes album charts: http://kworb.net/aww/) While strong music markets like the US, Germany, UK, etc. are already start to struggle with holding the top positions we have to say thanks to our friends in Brasil to keep the total lead!
For basically every Linkin Park album, there are people saying that it's derivative and that it doesn't sound like the Linkin Park they know. People get off the ride at different times.
OML is a good record though there are some flaws but overall it's a good record from the band. I hope they will get an external producer next time, though.
I wouldn't mind them bringing someone new in next time. They arguably created their best material with Rick Rubin. Though I don't always care for his production, I think he worked quite well with the band. They brought in many songwriters to help them on this album and many agree it benefitted, I think getting a new producer instead of doing it all themselves would also help.
Yes.. Rick Rubin did an amazing job on pushing the band outside the box back then. I'm not saying OML didn't push the boundaries but the input and details in songwriting isn't that captivating and memorable. Remember how many times they rewrote Bleed it Out back then? That's why BIO is unique though short.
I've taken this album in ever since it leaked and I think I can finally articulate a certain distinction for this album: Its a very mixed bag. Song highlights for me include Sorry for Now, One More Light, and Sharp Edges. Honestly at this point I'd say those are the only worthwhile songs that I'll be listening to. This is 100% not because of the direction. Pop can be amazing at times. Probably my favorite pop album, Currents, released by Tame Impala, highlights this perfectly with how inventive and diverse a pop album can be and not have to cave to typical verse/chorus routines. Take for example of the song "Let it Happen" that clocks in at over 7 minutes for Tame Impala. This is not say this was a necessity for Linkin park to have: song length does not matter if the songs are good, but I sadly don't think There's that much going for it here. I don't agree with the notion that this album was experimental, let alone experimental for Linkin Park. This is very much the same Linkin Park that has been around since Hybrid Theory but slapped on with different instrumentals and more positive songwriting; the focus is on the hooks and how catchy the song is, something that's been a part of their repertoire since Hybrid Theory. How can this album be considered experimental when there are albums that actually make immense leaps in experimenting such as Ok Computer to Kid A? Linkin Park's change of genre here is much more akin the Maroon 5 taking a full jump into pop music. To this day, their most experimental albums have been A Thousand Suns, an album that still holds a special place in my heart, and The Hunting Party, an album I have not cared to listen to for quite a while and consider a weak album, but at least first adventured in collabs in an rock oriented album and handled song progression very differently compared to most of their different work; Mark the Graves is a very good example of this, in my mind. This album was safe for them to make despite the fact that there has been a very outspoken animosity towards the direction. This has been nothing new for Linkin Park anyway, ever since their collab with Jay-z and to a larger extent, Minutes to Midnight. To me,this album is largely an appeal to Top 40, which is nothing bad in itself, but really makes me call back to Mike's lyrics from Step Up: "It sounded like the only hip-hop you heard was Top 40". Despite this song being release well over a decade ago, its the perfect summation of One More Light in terms of their choice of pop style: preposterously safe, but not the least bit self-aware. Tell me that ain't insecure. 5/10
I've been listening to it more and to me I'm hearing something along the lines of: Nobody __-__-__ ___ my demons, but me-ee-ee! Something that could make sense would be: "Nobody can save me from me demons, but me!" But the blanks just don't sound like those words.
Guys the pitched-up vocal thing in Nobody Can Save Me is just an assortment of clips of vocals from elsewhere in the song. It's Melodyne'd to hell with a bunch of the vowel sounds manipulated.