The description you give of each part of the song haha. So many adjectives. Keys is one of my favorite bangers from THP by far. The drums are the standout on this track for me personally, especially in the outro. Absolutely love how furious and filthy Rob's parts are on this song. Nearly everything in this song is so intense and chaotic and I love it.
What can I say - I enjoy the challenge of bringing a song to life with words. Combine that with the fact that I still find immense pleasure in The Hunting Party two years later and you get the post above haha. Although I may have gone overboard with Keys in particular, as I've had it waiting in the wings for months now, and it's arguably my favourite.
I love everything about this track except the rap verse(in theory, I like it being there) which was pretty underwritten (however that strategy actually worked for the chorus). I feel like the main riff of the song gets a little stale after listening to it a hundred times, but the beautiful first sung verse, hardcore chorus and explosive bridge makes the song stand out as one of best songs from THP. Has it lost some of the magic it had when the album first came out? Yeah, but it solidifies that Linkin Park can still go hardcore if they want to. Also: Chester and Rob are the true heroes of this track.
This song can get me pumped so hard, mostly for the outro. The drums in this song are just monstrous, especially when they bring in the final chorus. I love the way the fill just becomes the beat as the final screams come in, and the fill after the second to last "casualty" is freaking insane. Rob is definitely the backbone of this song. While Brad's solo is fast, I think it's over-praised a bit in the write-up. At least, I don't think it's technically challenging or anything, or that groundbreaking. That's not to say it doesn't fit perfectly, because it does. In the end it's pretty simple though, and the heavy stuff is just power chords as usual. This song, to me, is held back so hard by Mike's rap verse. Everything else in the song is awesome, and the instrumentals during his rap are great too. It's just the lyrics are so meaningless to me, I can't take that part seriously. When I listen to the awesome lyrics in Castle of Glass, or Burning in the Skies, I can't believe the same guy would say "let the bass bang low" lol. The worst part is there's not even a nice bass effect to go with that... I just dread that part every time I listen to it. For me it's a standout on THP because of just how freaking intense the end is, but the rap verse keeps it from being a top LP track for me. Maybe if they had repeated the singing melody or something, or had Chester do a blackout-like verse there, it would've worked a lot better. Or if Mike just changed his lyrics it would be better too. In the end I love the track a lot, just because I think it expanded LP's discography further than ever in the heavy/chaotic direction. Maybe some songs are more "heavy", but this one is the most....energetic? Something like that.
KTTK isn't my favourite track on the album, but I really respect what the band did with it. It's arguably the most interesting track on THP, and it's a fantastic way to open a 'visceral' album. While I personally feel that the album as a whole wasn't quite as heavy and intense as it was sold to be, KTTK certainly has no problems delivering exactly what the band promised, with a healthy dose of sounds, elements, and surprises that make it more than a generic rock song.
This is pretty much me too - I like Shinoda's performance in the verse, just not the writing. That's all that keeps "Keys" from being one of my favourite LP songs.
I really like the song itself, but the lyrics are pretty boring imo. Not that bad, but not interesing. As i heard it first, Chesters scream really surprised me The intro is pretty cool as all the intruments in the song.Especially in the bridge. And i like Chester in the song. Just Mikes lyrics are meh to me, even if i enjoy his performance.
It's an ok song. Chester's performance in the chorus is cringe-worthy, and it's really the first time I've ever felt worried for Chester on a studio album. Yes, I know it was intended to be that way, I just don't like that decision. The song is pretty meh until the bridge, where that last minute or so with the solo and Rob's tremendous drumming take the song to a whole other level. That part is easily an album highlight.
I still remember, when I first listened to THP and the opening screams of KTTK started, a smile went to my face. I didn't listen to it before, just read the reviews. Therefore I knew of the opening screams, but didn't knew how exactly it would sound. I sat down and listened to it without any particular expectations, but I have to admit, on the first listen, THP didn't fully catch me, in particular also because of the opening track KTTK. Somehow there were many highs and downs for me. Many details made me sad about the songs. For example, I just hated that Mike's and Chester's singing were just cut off sometimes in KTTK. This kinda destroyed the song for me on the first listen, as weird as it may sound. You know, normally we are kinda spoiled by the perfect mixing LP delivers, but THP was certainly different in that aspect. And combined with that, Chester's rough voice felt kinda frightening. Well, when the enormous bridge started, it made the song great again. I loved the feeling of that guitar and melody. But continuing through the album, it just went on like that: Many ups and downs and when I was finished, I was kinda left unsatisfied, despite I felt the album was actually good. On the second and third listen I liked the album more and more, and my first, mixed impressions soon passed by. So looking at KTTK now, I can say it is a very good song. I love the second part with the solo and everything, but the first part just lacks something, maybe better melodics? So there are songs like GATS and MTG which I certainly like much more. In the context of the album, KTTK is very nice, but I didn't really listen to it separately very often.
I remember listening to this song on Youtube for the first time, and heard the robotic intro. I thought the uploader intentionally edited the song that way to avoid copyright. Fucking weird ass intro. Then the main riff kicked in. I knew that time, shit's gonna bang. I grinned. The charming first verse is just beautiful. The bridge...man that solo.... Overall, it's really a banger to me, and it lives up to the expectations. Oh, Rob is the MVP on this one. So is Brad.
I'd agree with everyone that Mike's verse is a low point, but honestly everything else about the song is just post-hardcore perfection IMO. It's undisputedly my favourite 3-minute length Linkin Park track. But in the context of Linkin Park's discography, the solo is absolutely jarring, and actually carries a decent melody rather than just fast strumming ala Faint and GATS. It may not be incredibly technical, but nobody expected even this level from the band.
Keys To The Kingdom almost summarizes Linkin Park. It has Chester's screaming, Mike's singing and Mike's rapping, the only thing it lacks that is usually found in LP is Chester's singing (as opposed to his screamo). I agree with everyone else that everything after the second chorus is amazing. The build up to the guitar solo is amazing, and then the guitar solo is amazing, and I love the harmonised vocals that start in the solo, then they mix with Chester's chorus and it just ends on a great note. I like the song but it's not my favourite on the album. Unlike everyone else here, I don't care about the lyrics in Mike's rap verse. I like the rapping, and that's all that really matters in my opinion.
Keys to the Kingdom is a great track. It reminds me of Victimized, with Mike's first verse having him sing, the chorus being screamed, and the second verse being a rap. It's a great way to start an album.
I remember I was slightly disappointed with Keys at first, since Lost In The Echo was IMO the best opening to an LP album but Keys is definitely a great track. The song is a pure banger. I agree with minuteforce that Victimized has a nicer rap verse, but Keys is a much better song overall. Just pure energy.
I love the first verse and Rob's drumming. I hate the rap verse and chorus, I love the final section of the song, starting from 2:20.
Playing The Hunting Party for the first time and immediately hearing Chester screaming into my ears made me go "HOLY SHIT". The song is simply put, a roller coaster. Chester screaming at the top of his lungs until his voice cracks, Mike's singing followed by his fast paced, frantic rapping, Rob killing it on the drums as the song progresses, etc Right when you wonder if the band still has any tricks up their sleeve, they pull another one out of the hat. I gave this album and Mike lot of shit for the "tough guy" rap verses, and I still do find them bad (particularly All for Nothing), but Mike's "flow" has improved remarkably over the years. WTCfM, UiB, KttK, etc It's this instilled confidence in Mike's tone that makes him more exciting to listen to than the old, monotone drab we've heard in songs like Somewhere I Belong. This entire album shows that they had genuine fun making it, something that they wanted to get out of their system. That's why now days I feel like I understand the lyrics a bit more, so I excuse them. They were dissatisfied with the current state of mainstream rock, and over time I've grown to really appreciate the rebellious nature of this album. Despite this being their latest album, I don't think Linkin Park has ever sounded more youthful. This song made me realize that Mike has much more potential as a rapper than I had thought, which makes me really excited for what he could do on LP7.