Again, the vast majority of Linkin Park songs, like, basically all of their songs, prominently feature pop music characteristics. Bickering over which ones do and don't is pedantic. "Midnight" shows off these conventions more strongly than "The Hunting Party" with a stronger focus on melody and a stronger adherence to standard pop song structures and lengths.
Minutes To Midnight was Linkin Park at their creative peak in 2007, however eight years have passed since then. Hypothetically if Linkin Park were to write a direct sequel, there would be no challenge at all to writing 90% of the album. Say what you will about The Hunting Party, but the album is instrumentally superior and far more cohesive. Although there is no concept, one can piece together elements from one song to another. Hell, the first verse in Keys To The Kingdom feels like a direct foreshadowing of A Line In The Sand. Songwise, Given Up has a legendary 17 second bridge but Keys To The Kingdom is literally Linkin Park in overdrive for 3 minutes and 39 seconds. Shadow Of The Day is a powerful five minute rock ballad but Mark The Graves does so much more sonically in the same timespan. The progression between What I've Done and Until It's Gone, both instrumentally and vocally is impossible to disregard. Wastelands throws far more punches than Bleed It Out, although the latter does have some great screams. Final Masquerade destroys every ballad on Minutes To Midnight that is not called In Pieces. No More Sorrow can hold its own, however not under the overwhelming magnitude of Rebellion, War, AND Guilty All The Same. The Little Things Give You Away vs A Line In The Sand however, is a noteworthy battle. Don't get me wrong. Minutes To Midnight is a passionate album showing a band at a very vulnerable yet creative point in their career. The Hunting Party to me is just on a whole other level.
12 tracks each, I'm gonna do this the old fashioned way #1 Wake < KTTK (0-1) #2 Given Up > AFN (1-1) #3 LOATR < GATS (1-2) #4 Bleed it Out > The Summoning (2-2) #5 Shadow of the Day > War (3-2) #6 What I've Done > Wastelands (4-2) #7 Hands Held High < Until It's Gone (4-3) #8 No More Sorrow < Rebellion (4-4) (Wow that was a tough choice) #9 Valentine's Day > Mark The Graves (5-4) (This will probably get hate, but I LOVE VD) #10 In Between < Drawbar (5-5) #11 In Pieces < Final Masquerade (5-6) #12 TLTGYA > ALITS (6-6) (Very close, two of the best songs the band has done) It's a tie! SO, after all that, I haven't come any closer whatsoever to answering any questions. Fantastic.
Surprising, really, because we all figured that comparing "Leave Out All The Rest" to "Guilty All The Same" would be the way to resolve this whole thing.
Agree with Faint into Pieces that overall instrumentally THP is superior, however disagree on a couple of the track comparisons. For me Bleed it Out is far superior to Wastelands, which is a pretty bland effort with weak lyrics and chorus. To say it throws more punches is just wrong, yes the instrumentation is heavier but the song never really goes anywhere whereas BIO has an awesome bridge section and a much more powerful and memorable, albeit simple, chorus. It seems that the band must think so too as they have already dropped Wastelands from their setlists whereas Bleed it Out is still an integral part of the show, often as the closer, and is a fans favourite. Until it's Gone is let down by it's lyrics, and again it's standing with not only the fanbase but also the band themselves in comparison to What I've Done is clear to see, with it already being dropped whereas WID is still going strong. Instrumentally UIG is perhaps better overall, but for me the bridge/solo section on WID especially live with Chester's added screams completely blows UIG out of the water. Comparing Given Up to KTTK is not the best comparison, I'd probably rather compare it to War in which case for me Given Up is superior, as War is just basically a tribute song to old school punk, not particularly original with typical structure and lyrics to suit. GU's chorus and that massive scream make it epic as fuck. I would say overall you could make an awesome album using 6 tracks from each, namely, in no particular order, KTTK, Given Up, GATS, WID, Rebellion, BIO, FM, In Pieces, MTG, HHH, ALITS and TLTGYA. That would be better then either album imo.
All songs on THP are good, but that's it. MTM has some unique and awesome songs, but also some straight up bad and mediocre ones. But I would take an album with few great songs instead of album full of "okay" songs. Two albums from now, I don't see any of the THP songs being played at every show, like Bleed It Out or What I've Done. Or at any show. Plus, MTM has some of the best lyrics LP has written.
(I don't expect anyone to read all of this crap, but here's my 2 cents) Minutes to Midnight was the band reinventing themselves and formulating an entirely new sound, they weren't the same band from then on. I have nothing but respect for Minutes to Midnight, it was the album that got me back into the band and made me realize there's much more to them than I gave them credit for. With it we got a much more mature form of Linkin Park, more self reflective, personal, cohesive, and balanced. From then on they've experimented with a multitude of genres and formed into essentially a mixed grab bag. Something everyone could put their hand in and find at least one song to their liking. Because of this it is my personal favorite LP album. From the day I heard Guilty All The Same I knew I wasn't likely to appreciate The Hunting Party in the same way I've done with the three albums before it. While I respected the theme and message they were trying to incorporate, it consisted of a genre I was never particularly fond of. However, like usual LP put their own twist and spice in it resulting in a number of tracks I've grown to like. I think it's their weakest album cohesively, it felt more condensed and less complex than their previous few albums, but again I feel as though that's an intended result given the album's genre. It's meant to be in your face and of course, #VISCERAL. However, with that they left behind what made their last few albums special, all this #VISCERAL yet I can't help but feel it's their most shallow and weakest work. Still, I've been much harsher on the album in the past, but after listening to it again and understanding where they're coming from with it, I feel a bit more lenient towards it now. It's still personally my least favorite of their studio albums, but I can understand why many love it. For me, it was one step forward, but two steps back. There is one thing that makes the two alike though, they both seemingly caused a conflict within their fanbase. MtM was pretty obvious why, and with THP it was the same, but the opposite. They stepped away from the fans that have come accustomed to their newer, softer, and experimental sound, but regained the fans that wanted a more "Return to roots" hard rock style. At least with LT they gave everyone a bit of everything, here they didn't even throw a bone to those of us who prefer the non #Visceral side of LP, unless the acoustic version of FM counts. That's a given though, with a band as diverse as them they're not going to please everyone. Fortunately for me they never seem to do the same thing twice anymore, and I expect something completely different next time around. Especially since THP was more or less just a message to the current state of rock. What they'll do next, for better or worse, is what makes their next album wait so exciting to me.
I read it and i think you summerized it pretty good, also my opinion to the both albums is a different. But yeah, it wasnt really a album for the ones, who got into the more mellow sound. I woulnt agree with the one step forward and two step backward. I think they did one step forward and one step backward. They came back with a heavier sound that was good liked by the more "hardrock" fans, but it also distanced from the ATS and LT fans. Let us see what they will do next
Perhaps "One step forward, two steps back" wasn't the best wording. I guess what I mean is that I appreciated the more condensed, solid, and straight forward record they made with THP. Yet, I didn't like the heavily apparent weaker effort on the lyrics front. It had to be that way though, because again the lyrics are supposed to be in your face and simple, that's the whole point of the record. I clearly have a bias towards that style though, so the album clearly wasn't for me. One thing I will say is that the album is good fun, even with the #Visceral theme I don't think it takes itself too seriously, especially in songs like Rebellion. It both mocks and pays homage to the genre they took from. I do like the album, I just happen to like all of their other albums even more.
I think that "The Hunting Party" and "Midnight" are both cohesive and internally consistent in their own ways, and that "The Hunting Party" does see the band really working on their riffs and drum parts, which, IMO, makes up for the lack of experimentation in other areas. I love that it's a Linkin Park album which simply pummels from start to end, and so purposefully too. Granted, ~rock~ is far from my favourite music genre (as far as sonic aesthetic, I prefer the "Mall" score over "The Hunting Party", really) but it's still Linkin Park taking commercial risks that other bands of their stature wouldn't dare to.
I agree 100% From HT-THP, LP is ina class of their own. They are one of the biggest bands of the 21st century. If not the BIGGEST and the most successful bands of this century.
That's true also. I mean I doubt LP will ever be as big as the Beatles or Metallica. But I think LP will still be relevant in the next 30-50 years.
Somehow its sad that they didnt continue the Nu-Metal stuff, i mean , who wouldnt like to hear some Nu-Metal by people in their 60s sometime