Thanks for the link, Broman. I just need to ask, though, is this a safe and reliable SoundCloud .mp3 downloader? I had a bad experience once when I tried to download a full soundtrack from a file-sharing site (I know that isn't quite the same situation). I typically download from sites that I know are safe or are supported by the band somehow. Sorry for going a little off-topic. Now, as for LP7, I really cannot say that I have any definite predictions, let alone expectations. I ultimately hope that the band will be just as inspired when they wrote THP but will be even more creative this time around with unconventional elements in their music.
I get why people are arguing over technicality within their music and style, but LP has always been a pop-oriented band. They're unique in the sense that, at times, they've taken steps within and without those pop bounds, but it always comes back to LP wanting to be creative while also appealing. I don't expect Mike to be Kendrick Lamar or their poignant lyricism to rival Sufjan Stevens, because these things will likely never happen. That being said, I would be more than welcoming if they did these things, and created more depth to their music. I would like an industrial LP album, but that would likely end up sounding too nu-metal for them and would be canned. I suspect LP7 will be closer to LT, although I hope it has better lyrics and more variety (varying how much electronics are used track-by-track). And my biggest hope, although it will never happen, is that their tours stop becoming 'play the hits' tours. HT-ATS were such exciting tours because it was always up in the air what they were going to play, and they got creative with the way they presented the music show-to-show.
Quite a few bands that I listen to are pop-oriented on some level and I don't feel the same way about their lyrics. Could be that we're just too close to LP's music as fans and we're more critical than we need to be as a result And also because they were custom-built to be natural extensions of the album experiences.
You've got me there. LP definitely has a certain cringe to some of their lyricism that other pop bands don't, and I think it's partially because, while they claim to have distanced themselves from the "angst" of HT and Meteora (and to some extent, they have), I do think there's a level of "How do we make these lyrics appealing and relatable while also fitting under the banner of LP?" that trips them up. They've proven on other tracks, and a fair portion of ATS, that they have the ability to write really compelling lyrics, and as is the case with Waiting for the End, also remain relatable and poppy. Very true. I especially remember loving the ATS tour because it felt so much like a singular experience. EDIT: Honestly, going back and listening to their shit, I wish I could just take WTCFM, hold it up to LP's face and go, "You hear that? Make more of that please." But that's probably also the antithesis to LP.
I honestly have to disagree, there are so so many bands out there, poppy or otherwise, who have super cringeworthy lyrics. Since Meteora, outside of a few complete turds (KTTK, LGM Chorus), LP's lyrics aren't that bad. I think that when you listen to a band a lot, you tend to hold them up to a much higher standard than you do other bands, I know I personally find myself criticising most of my favourite bands' lyrics, but I don't think I'm particularly attracted to bands with poor lyrics, I just think I hold my favourite bands (who often have average quality lyrics) to a much higher standard. There are so many bands out there with absolutely crap lyrics (IMO), so I don't think LP are too bad. EDIT: Typo
...I would take Keys to the Kingdom's lyrics any day over most, if not all, of Hybrid Theory and Meteora's lyrics (see: Don't Stay, Hit the Floor, Runaway, Crawling, etc).
Yeah but we're not really talking about HT and Meteora, it's given that those albums aren't lyrical masterpieces. I'm comparing MTM onwards. (And honestly I still think KTTK's lyrics are worse than anything on HT, maybe that's because I expect more from guys going on 40 than I do guys going on 25, or maybe that's just because bad lyrics + swearing is more cringy to me than just bad lyrics on their own, I don't know).
I thought the lyrics for the KTTK chorus were alright, especially as they were improvised by Chester, works with the angsty drive going on in the song.
A combination of their improved musicianship on Hunting Party combined with the experimentation of A Thousand Suns and the melodic strength of Living Things.
I mean, sure. Comparatively, yeah. That doesn't mean LP's are good, necessarily. I actually love both those songs and think the lyrics fit those songs. I'm talking more uninspired. Stuff like In My Remains and I'll Be Gone just feels like LP phoning in the lyrics to me. LGM is supposed to be a fun "fuck you" song, which the lyrics fit, and I, personally, enjoy. Again, sure -- but if we're going comparatively to other bands that we hold up to high standards, out of all the bands I highly regard, LP definitely fall short in the lyric department against almost all of them. Some examples: Depeche Mode, Grimes, Foo Fighters, Phantogram, CHVRCHES, White Reaper, Silversun Pickups. Again, you can point to any band and say that. That there's worse out there. Sure, I agree with you there, but that doesn't automatically then qualify LP's lyrics as being good or inspired.
Let's just assume the band won't be taking a THP-type sound with the next album. I'd love to see the next album have a bit more of a lo-fi aesthetic, in music and artwork alike. Linkin Park is the definition of polished, but it'd be really cool to see the band drop that for once. I'd love to see the band do a few tracks with glitchy, messy programmed drums, something like Mike's remix of Victimized. There's also that great drum glitch before the final chorus of Burn It Down that just makes the entire song better for me. I've also accepted the fact I'll never hear bass on a Linkin Park album without taking all my brain power to concentrate on finding it, so why not replace the bass with a bass synth doing a progression in the back? And mirror the lo-fi aesthetic in the art, if they were to take on this route. The last two album covers have been... nice, but pale. The last 4 album covers have been basically black and white, and it's really getting boring. Put your Linkin Park CD's one next to another, you just get some motive slapped on a white background. It's not a good representation of the music. I'd love to see a cover as good as this. Also, as much as I love it, the font the band uses (Bebas Neue) has become so overused everywhere, it just needs to go. I guess the point of this post is basically I'd love Linkin Park to tear themselves down again and rebuild the band from the ground up, like they did with ATS. And I can wait a few years for the next album. No pressure, no rushing, no "18 months" please.
I couldn't agree more with this. In comparison, I'd say most of the recent LPU albums, hell, most of the LPU albums have had more interesting covers than their recent official records. Then again, that might be stupid, but when I see those recent HT shirts with some shit slapped onto a white or black background (and yep, I know those were collaborations and stuff), I'm not the most optimistich here