well, will it be considered as bait if I'll say i like all of those versions better than the orginal? I think the band has clearly expressed what do they think about creating nu metal nowadays - they still can nail it but thet just hate it EDIT: "give kids what they want" dude, HT/Nu Metal was like 17 years ago, those fans are not kids anymore
Having been a LP fan since day 1 the band have been with me through all my ups and downs and I have embraced the changes that they have made with each album cycle. I didn't mind SIB, WID, TC, UIG as lead singles however in my humble opinion Heavy is one step too far. I'm a long term lurker on this site and seeing how divisive Heavy has been compelled me into posting here. This is my take on Heavy - Linkin Park are known to switch styles and with each album cycle they may lose a part of their fan base and attract some more fans according to the genre of that particular album cycle. That's just a natural part of the process. However when I first heard Heavy I was hugely disappointed I never expected LP to sound so different and make a mediocre pop record. What's worse is that LP drafted in writers to help write the lyrics (Tranter and Michaels) Never before have LP needed the help of other writers and this is where alarm bells start ringing. A few members quoted James Hetfield who said once a band starts bringing other writers into the creative process the band is basically done. I somewhat agree to this way of thinking. The thing that bugs me is this...Linkin Park are very talented and what compelled them to write a Pop song is something that they feel comfortable artistically and that's their prerogrative. I enjoyed the rehersal video but was dismayed by the negative reactions by certain members of LP. To disrespect the fan base that sent them to Superstardom is extremely wrong. Without this fan base LP would not be where they are now. To react in such a negative manner towards a certain part of their fans is not what I expect from LP. I am very disappointed in the way certain members of LP reacted and I now view LP differently and don't hold them in as high regard as I used to. I'm going to take a step back from LP. I just don't think they no longer can be a part of my life like they used to be. People grow and change...it's just a way of life. This is just my take on things.
I don't think they are disrespecting the fanbase, they are just joking around If anything, a part of the fanbase is disrespecting them. It's completely fine if you don't like the song, and you can share your opinion about it. However, some people have been calling them "sell outs" or things like that just because they aren't doing music like Hybrid Theory anymore. And it hasn't been only this album cycle, but it has happened for years. You tell me if you wouldn't be tired of that.
Well, if thousand and thousands of people call your band "sellout", just because you dont do what they want, then you have to expect a reaction. Not that i like what Chester tweeted, but its just human, after so many negative "shit". You dont like the song? Cool, its ok, you dont have too. But stop crying about the same shit for almost 10 years over and over again. Most people are grown up now and still act like some childish fools. The band had 2 Nu Metal albums out of 6 (till now 33%) and they still cry with every album cycle. The cycle repeated As explosions broke in the sky. They just should leave the band and ignore them if they cant live with their direction.
IMO, those fans deserve whatever they get, considering what they give. For years and years, the band members have been nothing but polite, respectful and diplomatic when it comes to people bitching them out for doing what they wanted to do creatively. At the same time, they've also stood firm when it comes to making decisions that their fans may not be okay with. What you see in that rehearsal video is clearly light-hearted, and, frankly, I'd say it's generous. Yes, LP's fanbase carried them to the stature that they're at, and those fans may have certain preferences ... but, at the end of the day, they paid for copies of the band's music and to see live performances, not the right to completely restrict the band's artistic output and potential like they seem to want to. As you said yourself: Nu-metal fans need to come to terms with this. In addition, the band's live show caters almost exclusively to people who like their earliest works. I have a feeling this won't change for the upcoming touring cycle. People who liked the band's last three albums (and perhaps this upcoming one too) are basically out of luck there. EDIT: as for the band getting some extra writing muscle on the album, I have an unfortunate tendancy to sometimes lean towards that same traditionalist "external songwriters are bad" mindset as well, but it's truthfully really unfair to artists to think that way. Songwriting, performance and production are all completely different skills and LP isn't even a traditional rock band. Definitely not a group that needs to prove any kind of authenticity to fickle rock fans or any other bullshit institution. The band just wants to learn new things from other artists, and to collaborate and experiment by doing things they've never done before. Working with that many people to that extent on a studio album, and letting those external influences really help to shape the album as a result, is all of those things. Some fans obviously may not like the upcoming album, and that's a matter of subjective taste. Even so, it will be no more or less Linkin Park than their previous albums; those fans simply have restrictive (and contradictory) ideas of what Linkin Park can and cannot be. From the beginning, they've been doing things differently from other bands. If a particular project requires LP to be a pop songwriting collective for a while, then, that's what they'll do. You can stick around as a fan or ditch them, your choice. However, you have no grounds to say that the band wronged you or anyone else. EDIT 2: also , as a side-note, there are actually quite a few music-makers on LPA and we collaborate with one another all the damn time, just out of the need for variety. Just like LP, we don't have egos telling us we're too good for that or anything.
Sigh Reading comments regarding the nu-metal version of Heavy is just frustrating. LP was parodying their earlier sound and express a clear distaste for it, yet so many are praising this as the "best version of Heavy" and begging the band to record it. "Give the kids what they want" and "there's your HT, now shut the f-" is met with "omg bEst version evr PLZ RECORD THIS!!!" Some people will never get it.
Change what it says, then. Embrace the bias! It's okay if they prefer that version and dislike other versions, though! It's just taste: you like that thing, the band doesn't. You're not the same people. There's nothing wrong with differences in taste. People only need to stop demanding that the band members embrace a style that they don't like. It's not much to ask ... except, apparently, it is.
I wouldn't even say they have a distaste for that period of their careers. Heck, they even deliberately combined 'the old and new' when they made LIVING THINGS and said during that period that they're okay with their older sound. What I feel they have a distaste for is people telling them to return to a sound that hasn't been relevant for over a decade. Nu-metal is dead and was already dead by the time Collision Course came out. Changing their sound helped them survive. I'm extremely confident that they would've likely gone the way of limpbizkit and been an act that nobody takes seriously if they didn't allow themselves the chance to branch out and innovate.
It's like they keep saying: they did it and they don't regret doing it because it felt right at the time. It's just not something they would do now. Look at the video: they're having fun, and making fun of themselves. They have a live-and-let-live philosophy when it comes to dealing with the variety of strong reactions to their albums from fans (and haters) and don't seem to look back on their past work with any sort of bitterness at all. The world as a whole, and every single person in it, has changed a lot since 2000, to say the least.
Feed the hate. Love it. On another, but quite similar note: nu-metal was great. By far my most appreciated genre.
Yep. Says what they truly feel about going back to that shit when they make a self parody to mock it. Ironically, this self parody was better than almost the entirety of Meteora.
Yeah, that's should be edited. "Very negative feedback" - Ok, it's true that it's been very polarizing and it's their most disliked video, but it's also their most liked lyric video and currently has around 125k+ more likes than dislikes. So, it's not like the negative feedback towards the song outweighs the positive, it's just that generally those that dislike something are more vocal about it. Even now they still don't get the credit I think they've earned. It seems like no matter what the band does they can never catch a break. Make an album that's unconventional for them? "Wow, what happened to this band? I wish they would go back to the way they were. Remember Hybrid Theory? They've lost their roots, what a bunch of sellouts!" If they release anything at all? "These old hacks are still around? This band has always sucked, retire already" Maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but I feel like I've more or less seen these sentiments more than I can count. And I swear I've seen some people pretend that they haven't always hated the band just to state how much they hate the new single even more. It's kind of unavoidable I guess given the position the band had to put themselves in to remain relevant, but it's so old that I try not to even argue about it anymore. The band doesn't sweat it and has never let it affect them, so why should we?
Sometime next month is the most certain I think we can be for the video. I always find it weird that Pitchfork-type music fans and journalists don't hesitate to say they thought "Hybrid Theory" was alright