Damn it , this song is pretty cool. I think its pretty good to put the speech on the beginning and at the end of the song, for me , it shows how the people become machines (atleast i would interprete it this way). The way, the bass dropps in... Defintly one of my favorite raps by Mike. The way he says "GET DOWN" is pretty hard and thats why i love it. CHesters singing is to be honest a bit weird , but fits in the song perfectly. The lyrics are pretty anti goverment and this is another point, why i think this song is pure epicness in Hip-Hop way from LP. And the end. Oh god the end "From the front to the back and the side to side If you fear what I feel put 'em up real high" with the following "closing speak" is one of the best outros LP has done so far. Because, how they it turns into WJAL (oh god, i failed at this point on my Blackout post ) its just genius. Dont know if important , but i think as part as the "Mike Solo" it works pretty well (especially with the IMR Synths in the background). Live its just a firework of LP Hip-Hop. I know, how it opens in Dortmund 4 years ago THIS BASS WAS FUCKING CRAZY. Great Job as always Filip. Pls continue this.
This song was my freaking jam when it came out. I listened to it sooo much, and I still love it, just listen to it less often. The bass is amazing, Mike's raps are some of my favorite, and Chester's vocals are freaking awesome. I love the drums right before "from the front to the back and the side to side), too. Hopefully they bring this song back, instrumentally at least, so I can hear it live. Definitely one of my fav LP instrumentals. The scratching after the speech in the bridge is easily my favorite scratching ever. That outro is absolutely perfect.
Am I the only one frustrated about the second Mike's verse not being in the A Thousand Suns (regular edition) booklet ? But really I like Wretches and Kings a lot, although this is not one of my favourites from the album.
The "Wretches" beat is, for me, one of the best things the band have ever made. It's one of the things that first comes to mind when I think of the band's music. EDIT: also, of all the songs that have been used to follow after "The Requiem" during a live show, "Wretches" is far and away my favourite.
Wretches and Kings is the worst song on the album, and that includes interludes. (Because the interludes are awesome) So there is that.
i thought the catalyst was new and exciting when the single dropped, but i wasn't ready for this. this first time i heard this song, i was thrown right the fuck off. after hearing this, i was truly excited for what the album would bring.
This really isn't correct. For starters, the Savio speech wasn't dropped in favor of the Oppenheimer speech. It's the other way around. The Radiance instrumental would play, but Joe would sample the Savio speech and mess with it by scratching. Wretches and Kings also wasn't played "through, more or less, the entire [ATS] cycle." It was dropped entirely February 28, 2011, so about halfway through the cycle. I wouldn't exactly call that being played through almost the entire thing. Regarding Mike's Solo Medley, he'll rap a "hybrid verse" of Wretches and Kings (part of v1, part of v2, then end on v1). In regards to my opinion on the track, it's a pretty sweet track. Mike's verses are easily in my top 10 verses from him, and Chester's vocal delivery is unique in a good way. The usage of the Savio speech in the bridge is also a really nice touch.
The bass on Wretches. That's enough to make this song amazing. That first bass drop when the other instruments kick in is glorious. The scratching is my other favorite part of this song.
Everything you said is true. I half assed this post because the Blackout posts, for which I tried to make it really good, barely collected some replies to fill up a page. The Blackout post took over two hours to write, this one took less than an hour. As I mentioned before, it's annoying when I write this shit for so long and there's no conversation.
Too bad I missed Blackout and Waiting for the End, those easily belong to my favorite songs from the band. Anyway, Wretches is cool I guess. Nice beat, and I like the slightly Jamaican accent Mike has in the bridge. The chorus is interesting as well, as it's pretty much the only time Chester showcases his raspy vocals through through the whole ATS experience thing. And the scratch ending is killer. Overall I can't really say anything negative about the track, but for some reason I don't love it either. Right now, I'm just imagining two very short live shows. One only consisting of WAK, and the other one only consisting of Ther Radiance (or Fallout or WJL). Somehow I'm pretty sure I would enjoy the first show more. Ok, that was a weird argument, but anyway I totally disagree with your opinion.
maybe open the floor a little longer, an extra day or two. people aren't always able to drop a reply, myself included.
I was really surprised that this was the track they dropped after the Catalyst. I remember listening to it the first time and loving Chester's performance on this one. I really wish Chester's chorus on this song was expanded more because the way he sings the chorus is just so invigorating. Like you said I was really curious about what kind of album A Thousand Suns would bring. I thought it would be better mixture of their past elements but man was I wrong. I am really glad the band brought it back even if it was only for the rap medley because when Mike raps on this song, you can't help but get taken in by his awesome flow.
Agreed. I had a lot of work, and barely got in my Blackout comments before it closed. Just because we don't discuss the topic doesn't mean we don't appreciate what you do. I've learned a few things about some of my favorite songs from these posts. It's not always easy to write out a giant post, you know. People have other things to do.
I remember listening to this for the first time... they released it around the same time as "Waiting for the End", I think. That same day, I had the two tracks on my phone (or whatever else) and was listening to them while riding my bike in the street, super hyped for the upcoming A Thousand Suns. Good times.