Well, I really like the intro. Chester sounds lovely, and the melody is sweet. However, I can't stand the chipmunk vocal part afterwards. Definitely has a real negative impact on the song for me. Mike's rap verse has great power to it in terms of delivery, but the lyrics themselves are pretty basic and honestly a little cringey; sound like a dumbed down version of previous rap verses he's written. Pusha T's rap verse is pretty decent for what it is. No issue with it, although I do prefer the sound of Mike's voice. Stormzy's rap verse I have a love-hate relationship with. As a Brit I usually enjoy hearing the UK drill style, and I do like the tone that Stormzy has. But the "now I've got a tune with Linkin Park" line is incredibly cringeworthy. The featured rap verses IMO do make the song feel a little bit incongruous, and while it's not bad, the song ends up being my least favorite in Linkin Park's discography. It speaks to how consistently good Linkin Park's catalogue is. I would give this song something like a 6.5/10 rating. Maybe even higher, as I actually quite like the Imagine Dragons-y chorus unlike many LP fans. EDIT: I also agree with Gibs that this song should have probably just been a standalone single, and Friendly Fire should have taken its place on the album. I am however also of the belief that the album could have benefitted from an extra song though anyway, and if Good Goodbye's chipmunk vocal part was changed/removed (which I could easily take care of using Audacity as the instrumental of the song is officially available) I wouldn't have any desire to skip the song, and Friendly Fire could just be added as an extra track.
Writing this gave me at least a little more appreciation for where Mike was coming from when writing the song. Chester apparently had no conception of the basketball thing and viewed it more like a "When They Come for Me" type song as a middle finger to the haters. I find that incongruity kinda funny personally. I still don't like it very much. It's very jarring going from what I think is one of the best songs on the album to this. I think the chorus is kinda unremarkable, and the lyrics in general just don't do much for me on an album where lyrical work is otherwise very high quality. Stormzy and Mike's verses sound great, Pusha's is decent, but when I listen to the words they're actually saying it just doesn't work for me. Lines like "Good goodbye, good riddance / A period is after every sentence" or the Linkin Park line from Stormzy Toca mentioned just don't click, and I have never been the biggest fan of Mike's battle rap (it has been pointed out by two members that the better term is "braggadocious") style being in Linkin Park overall. But I will say that rhythmically this is one of Mike's better flows with the band. It's definitely down there with Lies Greed Misery as one of my least favorites. Doesn't make it a bad song, but definitely not one I go out of my way to listen to. Unless I'm writing a post about it for the Session thread.
As a former OP, happy to see the revival of this thread! I think "unremarkable" is a great description for Good Goodbye. I always enjoy it enough when I play the album, but I never seek it out intentionally. Add me to the petition for replacing this track with Friendly Fire 100%. However, without it, we never would've gotten the Shakespearean line of "linking tings in parks" and for that I am forever grateful.
The first thing that comes to mind with this song nowadays is how the beat could have been much punchier and more interesting, sonically and rhythmically. I didn't mind it so much back in 2017 but, over time, it's irked me more and more and that's really the main reason I don't return to the song much anymore. I have similar problems with the production/instrumentation on most of the "One More Light" songs. I also don't like the pop-rap nature of this song, which calls for the verses to be brief and free of harsh language. I really like Shinoda's triplet flow, something we hadn't gotten very often prior to this song and "enemies trying to read me / you're looking highly illiterate" is actually one of my favourite bars he's ever done. I like the delivery there and throughout the whole verse. Push is one of my absolute favourite rappers but I'd been really disappointed with his "I'LL BE GONE" verse. His "Good Goodbye" verse here, while it has a better flow going on and the lyricism is a bit more substantial, is still really low-caliber compared to what we know he's capable of on both fronts. I think he just doesn't do his best work on guest verses for songs of this kind, which is for a much broader audience than what he usually attracts. I also think he's not at his best rapping over these halftime trap rhythms, but that's what he's gotten both times LP have called on him. One of these days, Shinoda ought to make him a cold boom-bap track to go off on. Stormzy feels much more at home on this song, and proves to be a great pick for a final verse. I really liked how easily and naturally he adapted to the parameters the song demanded, I liked the inspirational angle in the lyrics, and I feel like he just made the absolute most of the turn he was given. I know a not-insignificant subset of Linkin Park fans clutched their pearls over some of these bars (and probably the fact that they had to hear black artists at all, let's be real ), and I say those people can really go and get fucked.
Good Goodbye is in my opinion the worst song the band has ever released. Mike's verse is cool, his second verse performed live is also cool, everything else is terrible. The worst track of their worst album.
Yes, me neither. I really don't see the point and it's certainly not an original way to approach rapping. Ideally I'd hope the band dropped this completely (even if that meant no songs with rapping whatsoever), but as soon as I heard the first lines of TEM, it made me feel like Mike hadn't left that headspace/approach, even though he's technically not rapping in that one.
I don't have much to say that hasn't already been said. It's definitely in my least favourite 10 or so LP tracks, although I don't hate it as much as some people here do. Whether it was a mistake to include it on the album or not, I don't know. It's certainly distinct from the rest of the album, which adds diversity to arguably the least stylistically diverse LP record. But it does feel a little bit at odds with the tone of the other 9 songs, and it's still my least favourite track on the album. I am glad LP did a track with Stormzy though, because that's not a collaboration I would have seen coming.
I kinda liked the song when the album released, it was stupid fun, kinda like Lies Greed Misery. But nowadays i think its just bland and boring, but the whole album never really grew on me. Mikes part is fire though.
"Good Goodbye" is alright, it has a fun hook. I like the instrumentation behind the third verse. To be honest, it's one of those tracks that hasn't left a big mark in my memory. The only times I come back to it is when I go for a full OML re-listen.
I do miss the conscious rap style that was more congruent with Chester’s parts on early LP projects because 1. I don’t think he’s really even had a conscious rap verse on a LP album since Waiting For The End? 2. It does make a lot of songs feel more like one-off bangers (also is a reason I’ll never understand parts of the fanbase wanting a collab with Eminem who’s made battle rap his bread and butter for 15 years when there are so many more rappers who have a conscious style similar to Mike’s). That being said, it does give Mike a chance to flex a little bit on a technical level when he puts the effort in and that has its merits I think. I just wish he would switch it up more frequently so we can get more verses similar to Hands Held High, the storytelling tracks off The Rising Tied, or shit, even that Sorry For Now demo verse.
I almost forget there was someone complaining on this forum in 2012 about Mike making “gangsta rap” with Until It Breaks In retrospect, he’s right. Machine Shop got more hits than YSL (double entendre don’t ask me how)
Everytime I hear Shinoda’s last line: “come get us at the end of this twelve” on Respect 4 Grandma, I’m like “damn”
EDIT: That moment when you forget you have a draft saved and try replying Requesting a ban for this guy in this thread
Good Goodbye is meh but I like the music video, was a nice change seeing LP do a funny music video for the first time
Talking to Myself "Talking to Myself" is the third track off Linkin Park's One More Light. The song was released as the second single from the album on July 25, 2017, after positive reception during live performances. However, promotion for the single was sadly canceled following the death of Chester Bennington prior to its release. The song was written by Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson, along with songwriter/producer J.R. Ratem (Destiny's Child, Sean Kingston, Fall Out Boy) and songwriter Ilsey Juber (Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé, Shawn Mendes). "Talking to Myself" was produced by Shinoda, Delson, and Rotem, with additional production from English songwriter Andrew Jackson and producer Andrew Bolooki. Unlike much of One More Light, which is heavily layered with synths and electronic elements, "Talking to Myself" is driven by a mid-range electric guitar hook, something that would be at home in previous Linkin Park offerings but distinguishing in the case of this album. The production feels more open and spacious, emphasizing the electric guitar and bass lines, which give the song its energetic pulse. Some early comparisons were made to the Killers, highlighting the strong bass presence and melodic lead guitar sound. In its instrumental composition, the track features rich guitar layering, including steel-string acoustic guitars, Ebow effects (prominent in the intro's guitar fade-in), and multiple electric guitar parts of varying distortion that weave together to create the song's main melody and rhythm guitar parts. The lead guitar's signature melodic hook utilizes strong reverb effects, which along with the playstyle give it a bright, almost surf-rock quality. The melody is straightforward and melodically-focused, utilizing sustained notes, quick slides, and gradual bends that build in intensity. In addition to the guitar work, the song prominently features a pulsing rhythmic synth line. This synth line carries throughout the song, manipulated and filtered in the verses to create a more subdued atmosphere that focuses the vocal performance before opening back up in the choruses. Additional synth voices include an organ synth beginning in the second verse with offbeat accents, continuing on to providing chord layers under the choruses, as well as synthesized brass found in the final chorus. In an interview with digital audio company Waves, Mike described that the drums on this particular song took some extra effort to get right as well, and how mixing engineer Manny Marroquin helped: Lyrically, "Talking to Myself" focuses on the frustration of watching someone make destructive decisions and feeling helpless to intervene. Chester stated that this particular lyrical focus reflected his relationship with his wife: Chester performs the bulk of vocals on the song, with Mike providing backing harmonies. "Talking to Myself" was debuted in a stripped-down format at a private showcase at Warner Bros. Records in Los Angeles, featuring Chester on vocals, Mike on keyboard, and Brad on electric guitar. It later became the opening song for every headlining show of the One More Light touring cycle, as well as the majority of festival appearances, where it was performed after a playback intro that incorporated elements of the A Thousand Suns track "Fallout" and the Living Things track "Roads Untraveled". The song was also included in the setlist of the Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington tribute show at the Hollywood Bowl. This performance featured co-writer Ilsey Juber and Jon Green of the Bonfires, and also featured an extended bridge incorporating the Bob Dylan classic "All Along the Watchtower".
Talking to Myself is definitely one of the stronger ones on One More Light, in my opinion. Thinking about it makes me want to mention though how much I LOVE the live version on the OML Live record. The Roads Untraveled intro into TtM makes me excited and so ready to sing along. The Studio version is also very high on my One More Light list. Ilsey has a very own style of singing this song, although needing to give her credits, I do think Chesters way of singing the song fits way more. (And i am actually not only talking about his voice, but also pronounciation and his pauses etc.)
I feel like Talking to Myself is a song of extremes. The chorus riff is a fucking banger but the verses feel hollow and meandering. The lyrics are also pretty repetitive, though I love the line "lights are on but nobody's home". As with the rest of the album, Chester's dynamic vocals are the highlight and the southern inflection is unique. I find myself putting it on my everyday playlist with good intentions but I always just skip it in the long run for something else. Still, it's on the stronger half of the record for sure.