Discuss The Emptiness Machine here! Story time: My 3-year-old kept asking for the "pink shoe song" in the car, and for a week, I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Then, one day, while driving around listening to The Emptiness Machine, he said, "It's the pink shoe song!" I looked at the From Zero album art on my car's display, and sure enough, it could be mistaken for a shoeprint in pink paint. He's graduated to calling it "The Entiness The Machine" and bellows the song all the time. He goes wild in the back of the car banging his head and kicking his feet whenever it comes on. It's so cool that a band I fell in love with at 13 years old is now a bonding moment for me and my son. The Emptiness Machine slaps after 200+ listens. Usually I get sick of the lead singles from Linkin Park albums, but not this one.
Loved the story ahah The moment when Mike said "It's good to say you again", after which the band started playing TEM on 5/9... If I'm being real, I think no piece of music, no matter how beautiful, had ever given me such an intense sudden rush of emotions. That's something I'll always remember. When Emily started singing that 2nd verse, the emotion only grew stronger. And when she hit that 2nd chorus, I was sold. 2 months later, and TEM hasn't aged one bit. It is on its way to become one of the band biggest hit ever, and on a personal level, I can see it becoming one of my favorite LP songs. It is a monster of a tune, and the best comeback single the band could have come back with. Really, what an amazing triumphant song.
This song will always be special, not just because its a fuckin' absolute banger, but because they way the debuted the song, and the way the brought Emily out on the livestream. This song is just as important as One Step Closer was when the band had their breakthrough in 2000. It has that same type of feel, not that they're the same song or anything, but because it will always be the song that ushered in this new era of Linkin Park. And I'm happy about it all, and personally, this all came at the right time for me. This band has always been there.
What a way to hit re-ignition on this colossus. I love the drum flourish that opens. The subdued, dwelling instrumentals that introduce the track, the piano pounding out chords that feel like hopeful anticipation under every second, then the signature wall-of-sound guitar coming in full force. So good. The structure of the song is incredibly thoughtful, like everyone points out, and feels like an honest display of artistic chemistry every time. The final “-cut me open” from Em gives goosebumps
This song reminds me of the good old days. The world has changed a lot in the time that's passed since this classic released.
I've been reflecting on this one a bit. The first several listens of this one were a little emotional, largely because of how I felt being there on September 5th when they came on stage and started playing that song. That was an overwhelming feeling, and it was surreal. And really even up to this moment, the song just makes me think, "Wow, they actually did it - this is a new Linkin Park song." The song, to me, is a really important introduction to the record (if you're not counting the opening interlude, which is nice and kind of sweet). For a lot of us, over the last seven years we really got used to hearing Mike singing on songs through Post Traumatic and other releases. And at least for me, it opened the door to the possibility that if the band ever elected to come back, Mike could front it (though it would leave much of their discography questionable in terms of live performance). So, Mike starting the song feels really natural, especially because the guitars don't quite kick in just yet. And when they do, and you start to hear a little bit of Emily over the top before she ultimately comes on with the second verse, it feels like a page turn. Here we are, here's the new singer, here it goes. And it just works. We see two sides to Emily on this song almost immediately - a strong, well sung verse with a more intense chorus. And that balance takes place during the bridge too - Mike leading a softer introduction and Emily countering with a larger, louder sound. It's just good contrast. The song to me bridges the sounds of Minutes to Midnight and The Hunting Party. The song has a very alternative rock vibe, but it leans into a heavier edge during Emily's choruses. The guitars are very Linkin Park, especially from those two eras. It's the first example on this record of, "This feels familiar, but it's very refreshing." A lot of the songs take that route - familiar, but refreshing - and this one is just a very nice introduction to that theme. Finally, I think the record very clearly follows the trend of many Linkin Park songs - including this one - where the lyrics are intentionally vague. This is nice in that the songs can take on many meanings depending on the listener, but it can soften the effect of some of the metaphors the band chooses to use (e.g., "blades," "the emptiness machine," etc.). To me, "The Emptiness Machine" is perhaps the internet, or a society with social media. Every line to me connects with some critique of how people behave and treat one another on the internet, and lends itself to this message that we are looking for a sense of belonging in the community spaces that the internet offers, only to find ourselves feeling empty. This is just my interpretation, but there are so many ways to read this one that work equally well. All in all, a solid track, a good opener to the album, and I think the right choice to bring the band back into the mainstream.
Always liked TEM, but I was definitely overlooking it a lot recently since it was the lead single and I was so familiar with it, and it's the opening song on the album to boot. I naturally wanted to focus more on songs which were newer to me, but I'm really coming back to TEM now, and regard it as a big highlight. I think this is a great example of the band totally refining the approach they were taking on The Hunting Party. It hits a certain sonic mark for me where the band took this thrashy, punk-indebted direction, and made it firmly Linkin Park in terms of the dynamics, the strong focus on the melodies and vocal performances, and the really tight structure. TEM is a Linkin Park hit single, one that deserves a spot in the pantheon, because it really is on par of any of their biggest hits when it comes to being loud, energetic and catchy, all at once. I'd like to add that TEM feels like it builds on THP songs like "Guilty All The Same" and "A Line In The Sand" in terms of sound and style, but, crucially, the band just gave us the song without specific comment on its sound and style. They never had to overhype sell us on the song with grandiose statements on how visceral heavy it is or anything. Instead, they just did it and showed us, and really let us come more naturally to our own responses. In this way, it reminds me of "White Noise", because I remember comments when that song came out saying "this is what The Hunting Party should have been"
Core LP songwriting on TEM, fucking amazing, instant classic. If I had to rank it among the LP catalog I'd place it just under the timeless classics. It's not ITE or Papercut or WFTE or The Catalyst but I love it, in a top 5 "post ATS" songs definitely
The Emptiness Machine, conceptually, almost feels like the Papercut of this new chapter. The calling card of From Zero. "This is our band. This is what we do." And they do it so well.
TEM is by far my favourite of this new era and soon to be a top 5 or top 3 LP song. The Album is great but this song alone, because of how we discovered it, because of the high level of emotions that this song made me feel when Emily stepped on the stage and started to sing ... I can't recall any song, that has made me so emotional. So, only because it is impossible to separate the emotion from that song, it will be my number 1 FZ song probably forever.
I'm honestly kicking myself for my initial reaction to this song. I think I was just in a weird place at that time and taken by surprise, because I love it now. It is a really brilliant lead single, and I think LP has a track record of releasing mostly decent-to-bad lead singles. Either they're some of the weakest songs on the album (SIB, Heavy), or they lean more toward being solid radio hits rather than singles that really put what the album is about on blast (OSC, WID, BID). I think this one sits with "The Catalyst" and "Guilty All the Same" as what I consider their best lead singles. It does the same things I appreciate about those two: TC sums up the core ideas of A Thousand Suns, and GATS embodies the spirit they aimed for with The Hunting Party; both are also great songs to boot. Some might disagree my assessment for GATS, but I heard it on local rock radio the day it released, thought it was kickass, and it got me sufficiently hyped for the album because it was clear that THP's core idea was "we're moving from LT to do an album of gritty rock." All this retrospective thinking to say: "The Emptiness Machine" works brilliantly as a mission statement for From Zero and the new era of Linkin Park the album has brought. While From Zero is a bit less focused thematically than the very pointed concept elements of ATS or the narrowed vision of THP, TEM still represents it well, combining new (Mike solo influence) with old (earlier LP sprinkles) in the same way the album tracklist does. And obviously, it is very intentionally structured to introduce Emily in a really dramatic and effective way. It's the perfect opening number both as a lead single marketing tool and in terms of album sequencing. *chef's kiss*
Heard this song playing on shop speakers today, first time I've ever heard LP playing in public since What I've Done in 2007(and even then it was rare to hear come on) They've never been played much on the radio in Ireland, maybe that's why they won't come here, they probably don't chart or sell well maybe.