I really wish you guys would stop the whole "conventional = bad" shit already. You know who else does 'Verse-chorus-verse'? Foo Fighters. Circa Survive. Thrice. Great bands. You guys enjoy songs like Blackout and KttK because they're unique, if they did entire albums of nothing but that you'd get tired of it fast and you know that. And that's not even touching the point of the bands own competency to even make a lot of those songs. The dreaded "radio sounding singles" are a constant source of derision around here, but have you ever taken a step back to think maybe they're actually significantly better with that style than they are with most of their stabs at really risky shit? Lost in the Echo? Conventional. Also essentially flawless. Until It Breaks? Dogshit.
I really don't care where they go next honestly. I'd love them to blend the raw agressive energy of THP with the genre-busting approach of ATS, but I doubt it'll happen so yeah... Though, one thing I wouldn't like would be a full-on folk/ mellow record similar to some songs of the Mall soundtrack. I'm open for some songs like that, but a full record of that would be way too much for me... just personnal tastes here. Edit: and yeah, agreed with Blackee's post anyway. The "conventional = bad" thing is ridiculous.
Although I wouldn't call UIB dogshit, It reminds me of a really rough and jarring mash-up with sharp breaks between like 3 or 4 songs which don't really flow together at all, I have to agree with Blackee here, guys.
A good song is a good song, weather or not it has a unique style or a conventional style. A bad song is a bad song, weather or not it has a unique style or a conventional style.
Opinions, not facts. "Breaks" is one of my top favourite songs by the band so I definitely disagree here. And I don't particularly like "Echo" but not because of its song structure.
I'll say this about covential structure. They did it with this record but it didn't feel like that. I was worried about it but they really did a good job making radio structure seem not so boring. As far as the future of the band goes... I don't know. And that's what makes LP exciting and nerve racking at the same time. Guess only time will tell.
As Tony said, it all comes down to opinions. Most of Linkin Park's "slabs at really risky shit" (a la ATS) are, in my opinion, a lot better than the conventional stuff; "UNTIL IT BREAKS" is, in my opinion, ten times better than "LOST IN THE ECHO". I'd agree with you... but you spelled "whether" "weather", so, fuck that.
I honestly couldn't care less about structure or style. If it's a good song, it's a good song. Judging songs strictly based on structure or style is stupid IMO.
Because the songs themelves are better, or are you giving them more credit because they're "risky"? It really does appear most of the time that a lot of the grading done here is on some kind of curve that unconventional songs are superior simply because they're unconventional, rather than the end result being any good.
This. For me, because the songs are just infinitely better. Don't get me wrong, songs with a generic structure can be fucking awesome like Across the Line or In Pieces, where the song builds and throws some different things at you. But shit like What I've Done, I'll be Gone, or Until it's Gone go exactly where you think they're going to, and follow the annoyingly-rigid standard Linkin Park structure to a tee. That's just way too boring for my taste not what I want in a song. So I would gladly take an album of Blackout's and Keys to the Kingdom's, over one full of Lost in the Echo's any day.
Yeah, it could work. But this is Linkin Park, you'll either get a Wastelands or a Lies Greed Misery. Same structure, and such a difference. One guitar driven, other completely electronic. They rarely do both in one song. Yet, the vast majority of this forum will chose ATS as their favorite album. But yeah, we'd get tired of it fast. Right. Can you really say songs like Until It's Gone are significantly better than say, The Catalyst, their most famoust stab at really risky shit? I honestly can't say which of these remarks made me laugh more. Actually, it's gotta be calling LITE essentially flawless.
Newsflash - opinions: they Exist. While I don't consider Until it Breaks to be dogshit, in my opinion it's pieces are definitely greater than the sum of it's parts. I'd back up Blackee in saying that Lost In The Echo is nearly flawless in execution for a conventional Linkin Park anthem. Songs can be amazing even if they aren't uber zomg risky.
LITE is waaaaay up there in my LP rankings. I agree, I don't really care about song structure too much. A good song is a good song. I would love the folk/soft album, with stuff like Three band Terror, mall sounding songs, etc. And you know they whole thing wouldn't be soft, they would throw in a couple of songs that are at least Burn it Down level energy. But it would be really cool if they produced a hit piano ballad single, with Chester really showcasing his vocal ability.
Stylistically speaking, the beats and lyrics in "Until It Breaks" are way more up my alley, so to speak, than those of "Echo". I like dub music with a bit of grit and harsh-sounding hip-hop production ... and basically every single element of the beat (particularly the bass in vs1 and the contrast between the lo-fi drums and the ambient-sounding gtr in vs3), the vocals and the lyrics. In many ways, it's my kind of song and no other band but my favourite band could have delivered it. I don't mind "Echo", but it's the kind of song I would've liked a hell of a lot more if it had come out a decade back when I still felt that "Hybrid Theory" and "Meteora" were still the freshest things out. Whether one song is "better" than the other, I don't know - I just like one more than the other. By a long shot.
I'd say that most people would agree on a "Mall" soundtrack type of album, Or a ATS pt.2/ATS mixed with more aggressive