STP 'High Rise' Leaks

[Skipees]

I learned something today, thank you Jonas.

[Geki]

No, the kbps have nothing to do with the volume, the applied limiting on the EP is just not as much as the original released Out Of Time has, which is a good thing. Now that i compared it, the free version of OOT seems slightly distorted imo.

I agree. Now that I heard the EP version of Out Of Time, it's way better than the free version from back in May. Maybe it was a rough edit or something, I don't like that version anymore.

[hahninator]

I will review the EP tomorrow and post it here. Needless to say, I am very impressed and have played the shit out of it recently. MUCH better than the 90 second samples displayed and MUCH better than I anticipated. Just goes to show how shitty samples really are....

[Jesper]

Yeah I have listened the EP now a lot of times and I really like it. Same On the Inside is my favourite for now!

[Skipees]

The iTunes version already leaked too, the songs are shorter a little bit (5-8 seconds) but I think it's only the silent parts in the end of every song. Someone can check it again?

[Andros]

The iTunes version already leaked too, the songs are shorter a little bit (5-8 seconds) but I think it's only the silent parts in the end of every song. Someone can check it again?

I will try to check this

 

The songs are shorther a little bit, for example: Out Of Time in the leaked mp3 version the length is 3:10, but in the leaked iTunes version is 3:04 and the quality is better in the iTunes version. Here are the length of the iTunes version:

 

01. Out Of Time (3:04)

02. Black Heart (3:10)

03. Same On The Inside (3:16)

04. Cry Cry (3:29)

05. Tomorrow (3:30)

Edited September 29, 2013 by MacGyver

[[AndOne]]

The mentioned time differences of several seconds are caused by the VBR encoding and not by silence at the end of the tracks. The players are not able to calculate the correct time. For example on my ipod Out of Time shows 3:04 in the album view but when I play the track the remaining time is 3:10 and it jumps to the next song when there are about 5 seconds left.

When I open the file in Audition it shows 3:04.659 as total time. There's absolutely no 6 seconds of silence at the end.

[ToddWilliamson]

This is going to be hard but I will hold out until I have a physical copy. Especially with, living in New Zealand, we have Friday album release dates. We almost always get albums four days earlier but in this case, it's three days later.

 

^{#firstworldproblems}

[hahninator]

Where are physical copies available online? Does anyone know?

[Numbrocker]

Where are physical copies available online? Does anyone know?

Amazon has it. Link

[JanekZech]

Great EP, I love it. Chester sounds awesome; also, great bass guitar parts. Now I'm hoping for European STPWCB dates!

[sublimeric]

Weak release, IMO. On its own I suppose it's a decent modern rock EP, but I can't help but compare it to STP's past work, and this reminds me more of their last album with Scott than their first with him. Too generic for me.

[Narc85]

To me, it sounds like they added an additional layer to Chester's vocals in the outro chorus on Out Of Time on the EP version... almost sounds echoed. Either way, I do prefer the EP version.

Edited October 2, 2013 by Narc85

[hahninator]

My review:

 

Out Of Time: Starts off with a bang and the lyrics are solid. I don't particularly like the chorus a lot (so many "yeaaaaah" moments) but the verses are stellar and the bridge really brings the fucking heat. Good solo right into a great breakdown where Chester really shines, slowly building it up. "You've gotta learn your lesson, see what you've been missing, you've gotta cross that line" and he just roars the last line. Some of my favorite Chester moments come on bridges of songs (A Place For My Head, Figure.09, etc....yes I am comparing Linkin Park here to Out Of Time haha) and I'm glad he jams huge in this one. Like others, I hear the differences between the "original" version and the one that appears on the EP and the original one to me seems more raw. The polished one sounds much better to me....there is a distinct difference. Overall a solid track but they aren't rolling on all cylinders here in song 1 and this isn't the BEST song they could make. 6.5/10

 

Black Heart: I wasn't really a big fan when I first heard this song but I really can "dig" songs much more when they are in the context of an album, or in this case an EP. This is a slower song than Out Of Time but it's still very quality. The way the drums come in on the intro is great and Chester has that rock and roll growl/flow shit on the verses which makes him sound really good. Chorus is nothing special but I think it's much better than the Out Of Time chorus. The lyrics again are good and really blow the Dead By Sunrise lyrics away at this point already for me (except maybe In The Darkness). The bridge just contains the guitar solo with no epic Chester breakdown but hey it goes flawlessly into the last chorus and ends a good song! 8/10

 

Same On The Inside: This song was the most surprising for me on the EP. It was also the first one I had NOT heard before I downloaded the EP. I didn't like how they stuck two songs back-to-back that started with the same kick drum beat (Black Heart and Same On The Inside) but it's not a big deal. This really sounds like a song I would expect on a "Chester Bennington Solo Album" release and this is exactly what I was expecting Dead By Sunrise to sound like. That guitar really picks up in the verses when he's jamming with the vocals and he SHINES on the chorus. And listen to that bass! I don't particularly like how "high pitched" he sounds but I think this is just his "outside of Linkin Park" singing voice when he's singing rock and roll. I will definitely say though that this is the best he has sounded in the STUDIO outside of LP in my opinion. The last line of the chorus has a fantastic effect on it and this song easily steals the spotlight from the first two. I was very impressed with this one. I can see how STP fans wouldn't like this because it sounds literally nothing like STP would make with Scott and Chester is singing it clearly in the "Chester Bennington" way (nothing Scott would ever sing like) but it's an awesome track. This song easily is better than 90% of Out Of Ashes for me and sounds like without Julien-K, it would easily fit in with Chester solo material and jam. GREAT song. 9/10

 

Cry Cry: I was looking forward to this song the most since Sean, Brad's guitar tech, said he liked it the most a few weeks ago. Again the verses remind me of something that would be on a Chester solo album. STP really seems like the perfect backing band for him, unless he's doing Camp Freddy covers. These 3 guys are a great match for him to record music with and I think they fit him a LOT better than Julien-K did for Out Of Ashes. STP also seem much more talented with rock music than Julien-K obviously, since Julien-K does the electronic thing. The chorus here is my favorite part of the entire EP. Simple lyrics but Chester really brings it hard! At this point it's getting hard for me to think this is "Stone Temple Pilots with Chester taking over as singer" instead of Chester writing his own music with a good backing band haha. I might be in the minority but it really makes me think how good his solo record could have been. Now I'm really looking forward to a full album with STP. 10/10

 

Tomorrow: Last song on the EP and I will say I like the least. It's a slower, more mellow jam. I like the verses but the chorus is weak in my opinion. Of all of the songs on the EP, this one is least likely to be listened to by me. Chester's voice sounds AWESOME before the guitar solo and at the end but the start-to-finish product is just "alright". 5/10

 

Final Thoughts: Chester and Dean really shine on the EP for me. Good drums and good bass but it's apparent that they write their songs on acoustic guitar, with the riff coming first, because that's what shines the most. And Chester really rocks here. I am a big fan of the EP. 8/10 for sure and I hope they are able to release an album next year. This FAR exceeded my expectations. Why? Because Out Of Time was alright and not something epic, and also the 90 second clips really didn't show the potential this release had. Samples of the music don't do much for me so I guess I'll stop listening to those first! Anyway, yes, I think this is an AWESOME EP by the guys and I'm a big fan of Chester with STP now.

 

Black Heart, Same On The Inside and Cry Cry are my favorite songs. And lastly, this release has about 100000x more replay value than LIVING THINGS. This easily blows LIVING THINGS out of the water with all the electronic nonsense Linkin Park is incorporating into their music these days. The only song on that album that even compares to these, to me, is POWERLESS and that's because it's a piano-driven song with Chester JAMMING at the end. I really miss Linkin Park having "rock" in their music, but I was able to get a lot of satisfaction from A Thousand Suns, so I'm not sure what exactly went wrong with LIVING THINGS other than it just seemed so rushed and incomplete. Maybe it helps that I don't like STP in general but High Rise is awesome.

[Derbyster]

Oh yeah, MTM era were the days to remember for the rock vibe.

B-sides like Across The Line, What We Don't Know and Pretend To Be. No comment:)