1. A Line in the Sand(just so epic, wonderful closing song) 2. Keys to the Kingdom(great opener, solo at the end has so much energy) 3. Drawbar/Final Masquerade(has a certain feeling to it, just nice to listen to) 4. Rebellion(dat intro, and Daron Malakian is one of my childhood heros) 5. Mark the Graves(different from the other LP songs, sounds a bit like Blackout) ---------------- 6. Wastelands( generic LP song, nothing unique) 7. Guilty All the Same(was good when it first came out, but now it's a bit stale) 8. The Summoning/War(I don't really like punk .-.) 9. All For Nothing(horrible lyrics and bad chorus, solo is a bit good) 10. Until It's Gone(boring and cliché, enough said)
I still want an explanation as to why people love War so damn much. Just the title is so hackneyed that it lacks any kind of originality. Don't even get me started on the lyrics.
But they weren't trying to write an original heartfelt song about war. The lyrics are simple and direct because that's the point of the song. Its not about the lyrics of the song. Chester wrote the song in five minutes or something. Personally, I love the drums on the song(Rob said he nailed most of it in one take I think). I don't know much about guitars but that solo sounds random as fuck but it suits the song. I like Chester's vocals too. I also like how the summoning builds up to War. I personally have a problem with AFN. I like the instrumental(Makes me think of a kingdom with a classy queen for some reason. Yeah, that's weird). I love Mike's flow on it, he packs a punch(Maybe, Mike is the classy queen ) but the rest of the vocals and all of the lyrics I can't stand. It's as bad as SIB's lyrics or OSC's lyrics.
Because it's not meant to be the next When They Come For Me or Blackout in terms of substance or innovation in sound. War was strictly meant to harken back to the days of classic angry punk in every way possible. People bash the song because it sounds nothing like Linkin Park, yet that's the point they were going for. Chester's overly raspy voice is him intentionally going for that punk vibe. In my opinion, the fact that they nailed the sound is what makes War such a success.
It's not the sound that I'm against. I love the sound. I can listen to the instrumental all day. And I like the style Chester does his vocals in. But the lyrics in my opinion are complete trash, and it makes it no different from any other anti-war punk song you can find. The fact that most of the chorus consists of Chester either screaming or singing "War" just bores me to death. Those kind of lyrics have worn out by who knows how many other bands. It feels they wrote out one set of lyrics and left it as is while they refined the instrumental portion.
But that's precisely the point. The band wanted to see how far they could dive into pure punk territory and that meant making it as cliche an anti-war punk song as possible. At least, that's the way I see it.
I guess. But think they could have put a nice LP spin on it if they wanted to. Shoot, had they done some scratching on War, like a scratch solo or something, it would have been freaking awesome. I have just the sample in mind too.
Final Masquerade is the best song on the album imo. There's just simply no understating how perfectly written of a song that is, and it's a crime it wasn't a bigger single. It's literally in the top 3 songs the band has ever written. Yes, they had outside help...but it's still a flawless track.
Really? I think when you compare FM with other LP ballads, it pales in comparison. I know SOTD sounds derivative of U2 but it's still a phenomenal song. Chester's perfomance on LOATR or SOTD is beautiful and he sounds so whiney(sorry to say that) on FM. And Iridescent and SOTD have great instrumentals too. Besides, it doesn't have the lyrical strength of Iridescent or Roads Untraveled It's not a bland song by any means but to me, its that song in every album that LP is very easily capable of making, like WID, BID or Numb. Although FM is a good song, it doesn't stand out to me enough to think its great if that makes sense. Which is why I don't get why everyone thinks the song is so amazing I mean, is it so good that its better than most songs on ATS or MTM? I don't know.
I don't get the love about FM. Ok, both verses are great, there is definitely some nice stuff going on there in terms of synths, drums, and melody. The first chorus is alright. But once the power chords kick in, that same chorus just become beyond generic radio-rock in my opinion. And I don't even have a problem with powerchords in general, it is just that... For that particular song, they weren't really needed.
What do you want, Van Halen? You want Brad to start tapping all over his fretboard and doing pinch harmonics or something?
Totally agreed. FM is a good song, without questions. But it dont give the feelings that SOTD or Iridescent give me.
Final Masquerade is just so raw and unhindered compared to Iridescent/Powerless' studio perfection. At this stage I'm not sure whether it's better, worse, or on equal playing ground with the others but it is a brilliant alt rock ballad. With Drawbar as an extended intro it becomes even greater. But I would never go so far as to say it's the best song on The Hunting Party.
If they had included the piano from Drawbar I would love FM so much more. I love the combo of Drawbar + FM.
But that's the thing. It depends whether you get that emotional connection or not. I've always liked Iridescent and SOTD, but I've never felt anything special with them mainly because I just don't have that emotional connection with those songs. But with Final Masquerade, I do, which puts Final Masquerade as one of my all time favorite Linkin Park songs.