The way I look at is, he plays guitar parts that a fun, and that in turn are fun to listen to. A lot of times I prefer a fun catchy guitar part or even In Pieces guitar compared to an 6 minute long Metallica solo or something. Yes a lot of solos are nice to listen to, especially the one Mike E has been doing but sometimes I just prefer stuff that sounds good. Sure, the solos are harder to do and more complex, but it doesn't always mean they are better to hear. That's just my opinion anyways.
You know, if Beethoven had played Mary Had A Little Lamb on the piano, would people assume he sucked? Now I'm not saying Brad is like Beethoven, however a lot of this fanbase seems to be under the impression that if someone does not show their skill in a 90 minute show, they clearly must not have any. That has never made sense to me. Not to mention Brad is a big part of LP's songwriting, so even if he was the worst guitarist, I'd definitely prefer him over someone who writes shit songs. But that's just my opinion.
You know, after 5 albums, I thought everyone already got the impression that complicated songwriting is not really LP's style. It doesn't make them bad musicians. Some of the best songs in history are simple, yet memorable.
Not bashing simplicity. LP's simplicity is one of the reasons I've come to love them. Sometimes its good to have just a small amounts of a lot of different things to add together to make something more complicating. Linkin Park is very good at that and theyre good at covering it up in a fashion that helps them appear as though they put more into it than it seems. Which is fine, cool. But from a musicians standpoint. The majority of LPs hit songs, new and old.. are those damned C-G-Am-F songs. They've finally taken a few steps forward in Living Things (ie. No Roads Left, Skin To Bone) by introducing somewhat uncommon chords/progression that they've never used. I think my point is.. that with Mikes genius producing, writing intricate music, whether it be on guitar or piano or anything, could easily be something that LP could do.. and do very well. Sure its the simple music that's easy on catching an ear, but having Brad play an entire show/album with one finger on the fretboard is no different than LP hiring on a fucking Triangle player. Oh, and there is such a thing as complicated music that's between LP and Metallica. Metallica is just obnoxious with their intricacy. LP is obnoxious with their simplicity. They are polar opposites.
Well Metallica was just one example. My point still stands, LP makes guitar riffs that are fun to listen to and very enjoyable. At least IMO
If Brad was ever replaced, I would no longer be a fan of Linkin Park. Same goes for any member, but especially Brad. Actually, I may still listen to LP if they ever replaced Phoenix or Joe, but not any of the other members. Anyways, this whole thing is just stupid. Who honestly is going to think that LP got a ''new guitarist'' based off of an episode title of LPTV? I know some people may be joking around, but it seems like some people honestly think Brad was replaced by Mike E. Wow. Haha.
unless you're talking about youtube comments or something idk. But what I meant is that I did not see LPTV in the title of thread, so all I say was 'Linkin Park gets a New Guitarist" but anyways, you probably weren't referring to me. Just wanted to make myself clear.
Well, then that is purely an opinion, not a point. Surely I agree with you, its fun to listen to and its enjoyable, but its musically shallow and its gotten quite old (hence the only thing that's changed about the guitar playing since Hybrid Theory days is volume. A great example of a band that plays music in a very simplistic way, along with being heavily intricate, is Coldplay. Their music can have a lullaby's simplicity, but a masters intricacy. Well that's not fair. What if he died? xD I can see what you mean though, partially. Many die-hard Red Hot Chili Pepper fans grew angry with the band when John Frusciante left. And I'd probably stop listening to LP if Mike left.. But the difference between Frusciante and Brad.... I feel like I'm harming nature by using the two names in the same sentence. My bottom line is.. I'm sure Brad can bring more to the table, musically. I'm not wishing that he becomes this crazy solo player every chance he gets.. but just surprise a few people by taking the guitar out of Drop D.. and playing some chords that a 5 year old should have a little trouble with. Aside from that, I still love Brad. He just needs to do the above. And lol yeah. As soon as I saw the title I immediately doubted it. Even if it was true, they wouldn't have announced it over LPTV. Brads been with LP way too long for them to discard him via a 4 minute video.
@lolnub: I just want to point out that Brad contributes more in the studio than he will ever get credit for. I'll take someone who wants to contribute to a song by making it better than to force in a solo because it's in some unwritten rule book that you have to include a face-peeling solo wherever you can in order to be credited as a good guitarist. Brad has done solos, albeit, they are nowhere near the flashy style that Einzinger has, but, they do contribute to the sound and tone of the song. If we are talking about studio albums, take the solo from "The Little Things Give You Away" for example. It's not crazy and outstanding, but it fits the tone and adds to the song. He also does some fun stuff live too. Look at how they do the end of Faint live now. That's about as flashy as I think he will get and I'm okay with that.
the thing with Brad is that he is talented, and he does have good guitar skills, but he doesn't show it nearly enough in their music. If the song doesn't demand an intricate guitar part, then fair enough. But he (Mike too) should stop falling back on old ways, with traditional powerchords/octaves. Thats what was good about ATS, is that they got rid of most of these and replaced them with synths and other instruments. and when he did play guitar, he played it differently ala BITS (some fresh and innovative playing in this). Yet songs like the catalyst still had a predictable guitar part which wasn't really needed. I don't expect them to go like "Tool" on their next album, but they just need to step out of their comport zone a little further!
Kirk Hammett is, for the most part, a very melodic player and as shown below he, like Brad, plays to the song. It's just he's a much more capable player than Brad*, so what he plays is generally more difficult. Maybe someone like Yngwie Malmsteen would be more suited to the point you're making. Because Brad has very poor technique. His strenght has always been a great ear for a hook, his riffs & solos almost always reflect that. For that reason, when LT was about to be released and we were hearing LP were bringing together all their "tools" I was hoping that they would merge the songwriting of ATS with the riffage of the early 2000's, but it ended up the other way around, much to my annoyance. That's both a gross over statement and a massive generalisation. While maybe in the mainstream they might fall on the more complex side of things as a band overall, in the grand scheme they're somewhere in the middle when it come to complexity/technicality. And for every ...And Justice for All, Frayed Ends of Sanity or Master of Puppets, they have a Hero of the Day, Minus Human or Seek & Destroy to balance it out. What tuning you're using has no bearing on the complexity of what you're writing. What I've Done is in standard tuning, IIRC, as is Smells Like Teen Spirit. Not exactly noted for their complexity. Conversely, Ghost of Perdition by Opeth & Up In Flames by Joe Satriani are both in Drop D. *Keep in mind difficulty is relative to the players ability. What Brad would find difficult would be a breeze to the likes of Hetfield or Akerfeldt. Likewise Satriani would have no problem playing anything I listed above, he's just that fucking good. Also, lol @ people thinking Brad left.
First off, face peeling solo? I was suggesting something a little different and creative. It certainly does not require any such noise to be credited a good guitarist. It takes pure finesse, musical theory, and raw creativity to make you a credited guitarist. Fooling children with easy ABC-123 riffs for 5 albums is a joke. Couldn't agree more. Well said. And the day LP starts making music like Tool... Ha.. that'l never happen. The closest LP's ever been to tool was Jornada Del Muerto's 9/8 time signature. (by the way.. I shit a brick when I heard an LP song not in 4/4 or 6/8) Perhaps it is an overstatement/generalization. I guess my statement was more of which.. in comparison to each other. On the musical spectrum of the conversation at hand Metallica was referenced as the extreme for 'face melting' rock music while LP was referenced as the extreme for nursery rhyme simplicity. Nothing against Metallica, not my kinda music.. but they are legendary. Very much agreed so. But clearly the reason Brad uses Drop D is for powerchords. Many bands use Drop D naturally, but are actually creative with it.. rather resort to that simple 1 fingered bar chord that just so happens to be in 95% of LP's songs. Also. I take this time to extent props to LP for songs such as What I've Done, Pretend to Be, BITS, In Pieces, QWERTY, (and a few more I'm sure) that have broken the Linkin Park code and gone against that overpopulated powerchord mess. Linkin Park has always talked about stepping up and trying different things/getting rid of old habbits. Well heres a great place to start.
If Brad died and got replaced, it would be a different story. I was just saying that I love the original LP line up and it will never change, especially this far into the career. I am almost positive that if something really tragic happened to the band, they would call it quits. They already are getting sick of touring and are kind of caving into the fans, it was showcased a tad with LIVING THINGS. I don't expect LP to be around forever. Especially the touring LP we all know. They have families and you can't expect them to be on tour for years every single album cycle. And btw Blake, I was not referring to you. I was referring to YouTube commenters.
To you first statements I agree. I feel if something bad happened to one of them they would just quit, or at very minimum just not replace that member but still make music. But i do feel if something tragic did happen they wouldn't last much longer, that's just how close they are. And to your last statement, that's what I figured.
Kind of like with Hawthorne Heights, when Casey died, they never replaced him, their guitarist just learned to scream. I really admire that and I think that is amazing. I don't even like Hawthorne Heights too much to be honest, but that was really cool to me. I think if something really bad happened to the band, they would never replace a member, no matter what.
I disagree. Simply on the fact that they are signed to Warner and are undoubtedly under some horrific contract. Hell. I remember reading that LP didn't even like the song Numb but Warner forced them to put it on Meteora because it would sell. If an LP member died it would be a horrible time *knocks on wood* but they would certainly continue making music. And they would probably have no need to replace Brad.... cuz he doesn't do anything anyway.. =P jk. I don't know. Its honorable in some ways to not replace and move on, but if you'd think about that the deceased one would want, I doubt they'd want all the grief to continue on through the rejection of their replacement.