OML (For Kids)

[Geki]

What was going through the bands minds when they made this album? Didnt it win a Kids Choice Award or something? Haha. I think it was even on Disney radio. Do you think the band was forced to make the album? They were adamant about not making music like it just a year or two before with THP. Listen to Rakims verse in GATS. The lyrics are relatable to kids on the album, even the album cover is a bunch of kids playing. Do you think Chaz was really on board with this album while he was playing with the likes of an all star group like KOC and STP as well? He also revived Grey Daze during the time. I just cant wrap my head around it. They even had chipmunk sounds all over it.... was the reasoning behind all of this? Its so strange to me. I almost wanted to buy my young cousin the CD for Christmas because its for kids. He probably knows Heavy!

[JZLP-Benningstrong]

Mike love that kind of music, he introduced me to Grimes, Haim, Vampire W, K Flay etc.

he controls the sound of the band.

 

You just don't like that kind of music plain and simple, the band loves OML specially Chester.

[Geki]

Chester was a rocker. Look at everything he did outside of Linkin Park. Sean Dowdell & His Friends, Grey Daze, Bucket Of Weenies, Dead By Sunrise, Stone Temple Pilots, Kings Of Chaos, Camp Freddy, Sac, etc.

 

You dont think he had some kind of financial incentive to say he loved OML? Chester also let Mike have full control over what Linkin Park did, especially since MTM. So he probably just went along with it. Arent the only songs he worked on Heavy and Halfway Right?

 

OML is so commercial and poppy and kid friendly. I just find it hard for a band who just put out The Hunting Party like 2 years before to come out with a Disney song like Heavy. Its an album that I could play around a 5 year old and they would love it.

[GlassCastles]

It's almost like a band that has changed sounds every album since 2003 changed sounds again. It's also not that outlandish that someone who likes rock also likes pop. Chester raved about Twenty One Pilots all of last year. The focus this time also wasn't even the sound, it was the lyrics and the stories. I'm 100% certain that the band wouldn't put something out if they weren't satisfied with it.

[RogueSoul]

Ah, the good ol' "i'm too edgy for pop music so let's shit on it because its something everyone of all ages can enjoy and doesn't have guitars" argument. Always a good laugh.

[Geki]

My point is, how do they go from THP to Heavy and OML the album? The entire point of THP was to not make music like it!!!

[GlassCastles]

Yes, they didn't wanna make music like this when they made THP. In 2014. People's desires change with time, especially creative desires.

[thedamian58c]

You, Geki seem to not have understood the point they were trying to make during THP period, their statements were related to the state of rock music. That rock stations played music that could aswell be played on Disney Channel. OML isn't a rock album, and LP never said that it is, so there's no point to use these satements against OML.

[sotrix]

Hybrid Theory is the most kid-friendly album LP ever made.

[Geki]

Hybrid Theory is the most kid-friendly album LP ever made.

THP had mature lyrics and a mature sound. OML didn't really, at least to me. I just don't understand how they could go from THP to OML. ATS was different but it was still mature, etc. ATS and OML are different in sound, though. But after THP, I just don't understand. Was OML the ''pop'' album that they were originally going to make after LT before they reverted to THP?

[GlassCastles]

Was OML the ''pop'' album that they were originally going to make after LT before they reverted to THP?

In a sense, yeah.

 

THP had mature lyrics and a mature sound. OML didn't really, at least to me.

Maybe not a "mature sound" (whatever that means), but the lyrics were certainly mature on OML

 

I just really fail to see how you're lost here.

[Geki]

Hybrid Theory is the most kid-friendly album LP ever made.

 

How so? Not to me. HT is one of the best albums of all time in the history of all music. It had mature lyrics, stuff about emotional problems, and even the reason of life on ITE. Crawling, Papercut, PMA, and so many more, how can they relate to a kid? Look at the lyrics on OML, those are for kids.

[lpliveusername]

[GlassCastles]

 

How so? Not to me. HT is one of the best albums of all time in the history of all music. It had mature lyrics, stuff about emotional problems, and even the reason of life on ITE. Crawling, Papercut, PMA, and so many more, how can they relate to a kid? Look at the lyrics on OML, those are for kids.

Nobody Can Save Me and Battle Symphony are about overcoming your inner demons and finding ways to cope. Heavy is about the internalization of smaller issues until they culminate into larger, more severe issues. One More Light is about ensuring that all lives have value. Talking To Myself is about trying to help someone struggling mentally, but getting shut out. Halfway Right is literally about Chester's youth and the problems he faced. If OML lyrics are for kids, then Hybrid Theory's definitely are.

[Randee]

I think that change in direction is what I admire about LP the most. They make the music they want to make, whether it be hard rock, rap, pop, electronica, whatever. They had stated multiple times that they are always going to try something new, but never release anything that they weren't proud of.

 

I also don't feel that there was any financial incentive for them saying how proud they were of this album, and so what if there was? Making music is their job. At the end of the day it's how they paid their bills and fed their family.

[Geki]

Some good points being made. I wasn't trying to troll with this thread, honestly. Maybe a little but my message, I wasn't. It really seemed like the band didn't want to make music like OML, and Mike was so adamant about it. I don't even hate OML, I like NCSM and Sharp Edges a lot. The rest is kind of meh, but those two songs have stood the test of time with me. I still like those.

I know LP liked to change their sound with each album starting with MTM. But it just seemed like with THP they were really bold and trying to make a point. Before that, something like ATS, that was super different than nu-metal LP, but it wasn't commercially friendly. Do you get what I mean? OML was commercially friendly. Maybe they were trying to reach everybody with the album. I just didn't understand because that didn't seem like the message they wanted to put out with the last album.

 

I used to think THP was mediocre but I've come to appreciate it a lot. It actually was balsy of the band to put it out and it's actually pretty complex. I've been listening to the main seven albums since Chester died and I think THP is actually kind of special in that regard. It seems more ''mature'' to me even though it has a heavy rock sound. ATS and THP were probably the most mature albums.

And lastly, I know OML had ''mature'' lyrics on some songs. But so didn't THP. GATS, War, Rebellion, ALITS, all politically charged, or at least can be taken that way, and GATS talking about the music industry and shit. I love GATS man and I used to not like it as much. Now I love that song. FM is actually pretty deep of a song, if you break it down. MTG as well. Yeah, KTTK and AFN, maybe Wastelands, I can see why people don't consider those mature lyrically. But still they aren't bad lyrically. If you take away the sound from your mind and just strictly look at the lyrics of each album, THP is pretty mature lyrically, meaning it wouldn't resonate with a younger crowd, at least IMO. MTM and ATS are pretty dark in that regards. HT a little bit as well. Meteora is way more angsty than HT, IMO, except for maybe BTH. LT was half and half for me, it had a lot of lyrics that were kind of weird, but some of the songs had good lyrics. OML had lyrics that were somewhat dark or mature, but it was different for me. I'd say THP and ATS had the most mature lyrics.

[Kilmer]

When you say Chester was a rocker you're forgetting he was a huge fan of Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode and Twenty One Pilots, all full of electronic and industrial sounds. I'd rather say he had a pretty broad taste. I get the kids thing to an extent, surely the production is trap-inspired but it's not like they're talking about partying or whining about ex-girlfriends leaving them, most lyrics in the album are very dark, there's even an autobiographical description of Chester's drug abuse in the past. Also, it's not really weird to have that change from THP. For ATS they openly avoided anything that would sound like HT and Meteora, and they still put out a song like Wastelands less than 4 years later. Things just change, it's normal.

[sotrix]

Regarding content, Hybrid Theory had no cursing and was mostly teenage angst. Anecdotally, myself and many others here were hooked on LP for life when we heard Hybrid Theory as children. It was heavily promoted to teens by MTV and radio.

[RogueSoul]

You have a fundamentally wrong idea of what maturity in music is if all you can cite as a lack of maturity is the tone.

 

If you think "WAAAAR, DESTROYERRRRR" has more maturity than "I'm holding up a light, chasing out the darkness inside, tonight. But nobody can save me now," that lies in your association of maturity to heaviness/anger, which just isn't the case in music. Sorry to say.

[Randee]

You have a fundamentally wrong idea of what maturity in music is if all you can cite as a lack of maturity is the tone.

 

If you think "WAAAAR, DESTROYERRRRR" has more maturity than "I'm holding up a light, chasing out the darkness inside, tonight. But nobody can save me now," that lies in your association of maturity to heaviness/anger, which just isn't the case in music. Sorry to say.

 

maybe not, but it sounds pretty damn cool though

[Geki]

You have a fundamentally wrong idea of what maturity in music is if all you can cite as a lack of maturity is the tone.

 

If you think "WAAAAR, DESTROYERRRRR" has more maturity than "I'm holding up a light, chasing out the darkness inside, tonight. But nobody can save me now," that lies in your association of maturity to heaviness/anger, which just isn't the case in music. Sorry to say.

 

I said I actually liked NCSM, I like the lyrics in that song a lot. But War is still mature lyrically. Just because it's basically a punk rock song doesn't make the lyrics automatically shitty. War is a serious topic, and the lyrics are pretty dark, especially in the verses.

 

I just think THP is also criminally underrated by many. It's largely overlooked by mostly everyone who aren't hardcore fans, and even the hardcore fans forget about it. I was guilty of that but like I said, I've come to think that THP is actually pretty great. A song like ALITS, that just simply would not appeal to a kid friendly mainstream audience, sorry. Neither would a song like Rebellion, Mark The Graves, Guilty All The Same, etc.

 

It also goes beyond just lyrics. THP had a mature SOUND in terms of music. Just because it was rock and metal doesn't mean it wasn't complex. It wasn't just power chords and what not. It had a lot of good guitar playing and drumming. Rob was amazing on THP and Brad really stepped it up a lot. Mike was great. Look at the music on the album, listen to THP instrumentally. Didn't Mike say that he told Brad he had to step it up for the album? And also, didn't Rob have issues with recording some of the music because it was so hard? OML musically appeals to a mainstream, like anybody. That's the point I'm making.

 

And lastly, Dmitry, I wasn't saying HT was even more mature than OML in the first place. I was saying THP vs OML. The last two albums. My point was the attitude of the band during THP and then straight into OML. So compare THP.

Edited November 11, 2017 by Geki

[Twiilite]

Dark or violent does not equal mature.

 

How the hell is an album written to seem like a suicide note by Chester, and is interpreted as such by the casual fanbase (even though he wrote only a fraction of the album) appropriate for kids?

 

"Used to get high with the dead end kids, abandoned houses where the shadows lived"

 

Oh I'm sure 5 year olds would love Halfway Right.

 

Reminds me of the guy who complained the song One More Light sounds like Taylor Swift because Linkin Park used the word "flickers".

[Geki]

Dark or violent does not equal mature.

 

How the hell is an album written to seem like a suicide note by Chester, and is interpreted as such by the casual fanbase (even though he wrote only a fraction of the album) appropriate for kids?

 

"Used to get high with the dead end kids, abandoned houses where the shadows lived"

 

Oh I'm sure 5 year olds would love Halfway Right.

 

Reminds me of the guy who complained the song One More Light sounds like Taylor Swift because Linkin Park used the word "flickers".

 

If anyone bothered to read my posts, I was also talking about SOUND. Not only lyrics. Maybe nobody here paid attention to the lyrics of THP, though. Which is why I went in depth about them. A song like Rebellion or A Line In The Sand are just as mature as anything on OML is. Also, a lot of topics discussed on OML have been basically talked about in many past songs as well, just to a different degree. A song like Halfway Right for example, you say mentions Chester's substance abuse. Well so didn't Breaking The Habit, Given Up, etc. and Chester flat out said both of those did in past interviews. This band has a shit ton of albums and a lot of lyrics, but THP is just as mature as OML is, if not more. I was talking more about the sound. Listen to OML in it's entirety as an instrumental album, and listen to THP entirely as an instrumental album. You'll see that a good majority of the OML songs appeal to a mainstream, to anybody, they fit right in with the likes of music on Disney, any mainstream radio station in America, etc. Can you say the same about THP? No. Can you say the same about ATS? No. What about LT, some of the songs, yes, but not the whole thing. MTM, some of the songs, but not all. Music is just as important as lyrics are. I actually enjoy listening to instrumental music a lot. But I still think OML was a bit more kid friendly, I don't see how that's even really an argument. It is. It's not even my least favorite LP album. I just think THP was pretty mature and the main point here was that they went for a release that was the opposite of what they wanted to do just a few years ago, and I asked why.

 

Halfway Right also could appeal to a 5 year old, it's catchy and has a lot of nanananana parts as well. Plenty of songs by big mainstream artists also talk about dark things sometimes too, do you listen to the mainstream American radio???? The MUSIC is what is appealing, fuck lyrics. I could list off a shit ton of songs that were popular on mainstream friendly radio over the past like 5 years that have dark lyrics. Pop is about catching the listener's ear with something catchy; that's the entire purpose of the genre, look it up.

 

Am I the only one on this site who loves hard rock and metal and punk and hardcore? Maybe thats why I loved DBS, BOW, STP, KOC more than the LP albums after MTM.

Edited November 12, 2017 by Geki

[Jlumber]

I understand what you're trying to say, Geki. As well as the points you're making. When they said they were focusing on lyrics specifically on OML, I was very disappointed on what they came out with.

 

Maybe it's not that OML wasn't as mature, but it was waaaaay more corny.

[Geki]

I understand what you're trying to say, Geki. As well as the points you're making. When they said they were focusing on lyrics specifically on OML, I was very disappointed on what they came out with.

 

Maybe it's not that OML wasn't as mature, but it was waaaaay more corny.

Yeah....definitely. When I think of ‘’mature’’ lyrics, I think of something like ATS, Rebellion, HHH, TLTGYA, ALITS, etc.

 

There were a lot of corny and cliche lines all over OML. OML was ‘’personal’’ to the band but they’ve said heaps of songs on past albums were personal as well. Some of OML had mature moments, but I just find the lyrics of ATS, THP and some of MTM to be way more mature. But also the sound as well, like I’ve mentioned.