I'm a much bigger fan of bubblegum pop than I used to be, so my opinions of this song have only improved over time. It's not perfect; I don't think the main riff sits very well in the mix... it's not that it's too quiet, or too loud, it just doesn't sound right for some reason. I feel like it would lend itself better to a more intense backing track. I really like the pre-chorus hook of the song, and I love Chester's vocals in the final chorus. 8/10 rating for me.
Much needed on the album, both in terms of instrumentation and energy. Great melodies, as with most of OML. Always loved the ending of this song (Chester's performance from 3:06, the deep sound that comes in around 3:21, the flash of acoustic guitar at the end). I also enjoyed the Ilsey Juber tribute concert version (with the All Along the Watchtower mashup). As an aside, I wonder if OML would have been received a little better if it had more tracks like Talking to Myself (high-energy, rock adjacent). I imagine it's one of the most palatable songs on the record for those who prefer the first 3 records.
When One More Light first released, Talking to Myself was a track I didn't really care for. It felt like a song that was a half-measure by trying to be both a more rock-oriented and trying to fit into the pop mold the album was going for. It's only been recently in the past few weeks where I've begun to revisit the album that I've come to appreciate it. The biggest draw for me is Chester's vocals. It's a song that's really well tailored to his vocal talents. He gives a great performance, and it is absurdly catchy. It's been stuck in my head for days now!
Glad to see this thread up and running! Missed Good Goodbye, don't really have much to say about it anyway. A real low spot in the LP discography. Talking to Myself is better, but it's never been my favorite either. The final chorus and ending sound good, and it was a nice live song!
That's the synth brass I referenced in my write-up! It's very nice. There was a video at one point on YouTube with just the synths from the multitracks where you could hear it. Probably still up. I turned heel on this song recently as well. Used to be one of the low points of the album for me and I didn't understand the praise it got. In fact, it made me kinda aggravated how much I kept hearing about it over some of my other favorites from OML Recent listens have definitely made me kinder to this song. I still really wish there were some different production choices (drums), but I can appreciate it for what it is much more now, and for the very polished layering of guitars here. It sounds very good and not too wall of sound-y. EDIT: idk how I botched that quote so bad but there it's fixed lol
I really like "Talking To Myself" on a conceptual level, the way they approached this theme in a very direct and accessible way. I do feel it's a bit light on the lyrical side, particularly how the bridge is just the pre-chorus again, so I wish there was a tiny bit more in that area. In terms of how it sounds, I love how it makes a beautiful contrast to "Good Goodbye". It's a simple example of Linkin Park's versatility that reminds me of the sequencing on "Minutes To Midnight". I like all the melodies and the little robot ad-libs in the verses and pre-choruses. I do think the bass guitar is way too loud and prominent, and I've also always thought the song needed a rhythm guitar part to fill it out. In the alternate mix, the bass guitar is pulled back, which gives the drums in particular more space, instead of them sounding a bit muted like they do on the album mix. This gives the song more grit and energy and makes it sound a little bit heavier, which I feel is called for. Like some of you have said, the song's biggest strength is obviously Chester's performance, and this is the case with most of the songs throughout "One More Light". The last chorus is easily one of my favourite moments on the album. I wish there were more unexpected moments like that on the other songs. Last thing I'll say is that I never felt that this song was the best choice to start the shows with. It just doesn't have that "opening song" feel to me
Talking To Myself was always a favorite of mine from OML. Propably Chesters best performance on the album and the whole feeling of the song is so nice. If they would have choosen to go more in the energetic but still poppy direction, i think i would have liked the album in general a lot more. As other have already mentioned, the last chorus is one of the best things on the whole record.
While Talking to Myself isn’t my favorite song in LP’s discography, nor on OML, I still find it to be a pretty enjoyable track that adds some needed punch to the album. While I agree with what others have said about it being a bit weak lyrically, it still fits thematically and helps keep the song cohesive with the rest of the album (despite it being really the only “rock” song on the album). Chester sounds great on this song, the hook is really catchy, the progression of the song helps keep it from getting too stale by the end, and I personally like the guitar during the bridge (it just sounds nice to my ears lol). I’d give this song a decent/10
It was just too mid-tempo, especially after the ominous Fallout/Roads Untraveled intro. It would be like if the band opened with Castle of Glass for the Living Things cycle, or Burning in the Skies for A Thousand Suns.
As it happens, one of the reasons I don't like "A Thousand Suns" much is because "Burning In The Skies" is the first track after the intro
^ D: I really appreciate the approach they took with the perspective shift. It's on my mind whenever I listen to the song—impactfully.
Talking to Myself is a nice little track. The main riff is really cool, the chorus melody is catchy. Otherwise, there is nothing that really makes it standout to me. Not a fan of the verses in the studio version. I feel the overly polished sweet pop sound of the studio rendition was not really the best fit for the track, but that it was produced that way to match with the rest of the record. The alternative mix immediately packs a bit more of a punch, but yeah, I get why they didn't go for it.
I dispute the idea that Burning in the Skies is not a fitting intro to A Thousand Suns. That album is flawless from start to finish. I wouldn't change anything about the pacing of that album (except I'd remove one or two of the repeated lines at the end of "Wisdom, Justice and Love")
To be clear I also love Burning in the Skies on A Thousand Suns (although I was thinking today how insane it would've been to open the record point blank with When They Come for Me instead.) I was referring to the sleepy idea of BITS opening a show during the ATS touring cycle. It would've landed like a wet fart.
I'm not saying there's a better choice among the other songs, necessarily, at least for the arc or narrative the band wanted to have across the album. I just don't like the anti-climax of following up the hype of that big intro with that kind of song. It's a moment where the build-up is cooler than the payoff.
Yeah, I agree with that. If they specifically did a show where they played all of A Thousand Suns in order then it would obviously only work to have The Requiem + The Radiance + Burning in the Skies as the opening but for regular shows Burning in the Skies definitely wouldn't be the best choice for an opener (although maybe would work as track 2 or 3 in the setlist) I always feel like The Requiem + The Radiance is its own song. It already has its own buildup and payoff. Not conventional, but it feels like Burning in the Skies is an entirely separate song imo.
Battle Symphony "Battle Symphony" is the fourth track from One More Light. The song was released as an exclusive download on March 17, 2017, for those who had pre-ordered the full abum. It was written by Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson, alongside English songwriter Jon Green of the Bonfires. Production was handled by Shinoda, Delson, and Andrew Bolooki. "Battle Symphony" opens with and revolves around the chopped-up melody that opens the song. This melody is a heavily effected vocal from an early demo, which Mike resampled to create the final hook found on the studio version. This resampled vocal melody repeats through almost the entirety of the song, with filtering applied for the verses to emphasize Chester's vocal delivery. The song is very heavily electronic-driven, with the synth layers and sampled percussion taking the forefront in the mix. "Battle Symphony" also features a thematically appropriate marching snare rhythm, which appears most prominently in the first chorus. Most of the prominent percussion, however, is programmed, with trap-style hi hat rhythms heard throughout. Live drums performed by Rob are present but mixed lower than the programmed elements, giving some ambience to the percussion while still keeping the polished pop feel. Surprisingly, despite a large part of the mix being occupied by the main hook, synths, and programmed percussion, "Battle Symphony" contains multiple guitar tracks, buried deeper in the mix. These include several rhythm guitar parts playing chords and octaves, as well as some defined lead guitar, including a mid-range muted staccato melody in the hook and a melodic arpeggiated figure which starts in the bridge and continues into the final chorus. Lyrically, the song goes for an empowering message, and stays true to its title, using a lot of imagery to evoke the idea of battle or a war. The song focuses on taking conflict and adversity and meeting it head-on, and coming back from setbacks. While Mike originally recorded the vocals for demos of this track, in the final studio version Chester is the main focus, with Mike only contributing backing vocals. "Battle Symphony" was debuted in a piano ballad form during a Paris promo appearance by Mike and Chester in March 2017. The full band version was debuted at the first show of the One More Light World Tour, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. "Battle Symphony" was another song to feature a rare Chester performance on electric guitar, as he would play the rhythm guitar parts while Brad played the leads. In live performances, the guitars were much more prominent than on the studio recording, bringing them to the forefront. "Battle Symphony" also became infamous during the tour for technical difficulties during the intro. It was also performed for the Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington tribute show, where Jon Green joined the band. The aforementioned intro slip also occurred during the tribute concert, prompting Mike to have the band start the song over—he remarked he would "pull a couple of Adele's" if he had to in order to make sure it went right. Mike originally cited "Battle Symphony", along with "One More Light" and "Nobody Can Save Me", as too emotionally charged for him to perform when embarking on his solo tour in promotion of Post Tramautic. In March 2019, however, he performed the song in London with Jon Green—this was the only time Mike performed the song live on his solo tours.