Review: Mike Shinoda's New PT Vinyl Tracks

[xxHybridXeroxx]

I will never understand the hate against Living Things it has a lot of great fucking songs

 

Lost, COG, Powerless, Victimized, UIB and the new fan favorite Roads Untraveled and the rest of the songs are good.. Pretty good album also.. Damn the tour cycle for it was probably their best ever!!

I agree, The touring cycle was awesome! Although it needed more dates in 2013

[Garret]

The touring cycle was fine, I saw the band 3 times in 2012 and 1 time in 2013, they were some of the best shows that I’ve ever been to. And the album is amazing and always has been. Is it their best album of all? No, but it’s amazing. Tinfoil/Powerless is probably my favorite closer to any album from the band, Powerless is such a great, powerful and emotional song. Skin To Bone, Until It Breaks, Victimized and Roads Untraveled are all experimental as fuck and great tracks. Roads Untraveled especially now that Mike revived it in recent years. Castle Of Glass, Burn It Down and Lost In The Echo are all great singles and amazing live songs. Huge energy. And it’s clear that the band loves those singles. In My Remains and I’ll Be Gone are pretty good songs, even though Primo was a little better than I’ll Be Gone, I’ll Be Gone is still a great song. In My Remains is a beautiful song.

[RYG4R]

LT should've been straight folk, acoustic record. I don't like the electronic elements reallly.

[JZLP-Benningstrong]

LT should've been straight folk, acoustic record. I don't like the electronic elements reallly.

12 versions of Final Masquerade (acoustic) ?

 

Fuck no

[blackout]

Mike just said on Twitter that What The Words Meant isn't about LP, it's about another band that he always loved their songs, and he later found out that it was about the loss of the person's sister. So now we can clear up any speculation about that song, and if he was talking about Chaz.

 

That is extremely disappointing. I've already expressed that a couple of times but I will say it again - I don't like the fact that almost none of the tracks from Post Traumatic are about Chester. I mean... Mike is not obligated to write about him but it should be kind of natural. Well, okay - we have "Looking For An Answer" but it's not even an official studio track. Mike's already released 18 songs since Chester's passing and there is no song about him. When I was listening to "What The Words Meant" today, I was almost certain that it's about Chester, about the lyrics that he wrote and how they were working on the songs together. And it was such a nice feeling, really! However, when I read on Mike's twitter that these lyrics are not about Chester, the song got a lot worse in my eyes. You know, I felt that it's finally THIS song and when I saw the news, it was like... just disappointing, yeah.

And don't get me wrong - I love Post Traumatic and I love every song Mike releases but it's a bit strange that he just hasn't wanted to express his loss in any song. Okay, almost every song on the album is about a loss in a way but I feel like there is no song about Chester as a person - why he was a friend of Mike, why he misses him, etc. I think that Mike on Post Traumatic focues mainly on Mike's own thoughts and feelings as well as his career. I'm not telling that he doesn't miss Chester but I can't understand why he hasn't expressed it yet in any of his solo songs.

Edited December 7, 2018 by blackout.

[RentEznor]

I agree, the LT tour cicle was probably the only REALLY good thing from that, VICTIMIZED/QWERTY was something truly fucking amazing to remember. Short and sweet.

[JZLP-Benningstrong]

I agree, the LT tour cicle was probably the only REALLY good thing from that, VICTIMIZED/QWERTY was something truly fucking amazing to remember. Short and sweet.

One lf their biggest jams ever.

Mike just said on Twitter that What The Words Meant isn't about LP, it's about another band that he always loved their songs, and he later found out that it was about the loss of the person's sister. So now we can clear up any speculation about that song, and if he was talking about Chaz.

 

 

Oh crap.. The song lost its mojo to me..

Mike just said on Twitter that What The Words Meant isn't about LP, it's about another band that he always loved their songs, and he later found out that it was about the loss of the person's sister. So now we can clear up any speculation about that song, and if he was talking about Chaz.

 

 

Oh crap.. The song lost its mojo to me..

[Garret]

That is extremely disappointing. I've already expressed that a couple of times but I will say it again - I don't like the fact that almost none of the tracks from Post Traumatic are about Chester. I mean... Mike is not obligated to write about him but it should be kind of natural. Well, okay - we have "Looking For An Answer" but it's not even an official studio track. Mike's already released 18 songs since Chester's passing and there is no song about him. When I was listening to "What The Words Meant" today, I was almost certain that it's about Chester, about the lyrics that he wrote and how they were working on the songs together. And it was such a nice feeling, really! However, when I read on Mike's twitter that these lyrics are not about Chester, the song got a lot worse in my eyes. You know, I felt that it's finally THIS song and when I see the news, it was like... disappointing, yeah.

And don't get me wrong - I love Post Traumatic and I love every song Mike releases but it's a bit strange that he just hasn't wanted to express his loss in any song. Okay, almost every song on the album is about a loss in a way but I feel like there is no song about Chester as a person - why he was a friend of Mike, why he misses him, etc. I think that Mike on Post Traumatic focues mainly on Mike's own thoughts and feelings as well as his career. I'm not telling that he doesn't miss Chester but I can't understand why he hasn't expressed yet in any of his solo songs.

I agree with some of the stuff you're saying but you’ll probably get slaughtered for having an opinion like that in the LP fan base. A lot of people online are saying it seems like Mike was upset about losing his career and his band more than he was about losing his friend to suicide. But yeah, LFAA is the only song really speaking about losing Chester, and it was just a live one time thing, I'm starting to think. Someone asked him about the song on the Europe tour a few months ago apparently and he said that he doesn’t even remember the song.

Edited December 8, 2018 by GarretLP

[Justin]

As a whole, is the impression really that if you have a negative opinion of LP/LP related music that you will get slaughtered by the LP fan base? I never see that happening unless the negative opinion is full of personal insults, a la Gekis reviews of anything after MTM.

 

I also dont know where multiple people are getting the imprsssion that Mike is more upset about his career than losing Chester. Do you think every time he talks about Chester, its just a business thing for his own career? I mean, Jesus, yall act like LP and WB looked at Chester as a dollar sign that could sing.

[AParallelogramInTheSand]

As a whole, is the impression really that if you have a negative opinion of LP/LP related music that you will get slaughtered by the LP fan base? I never see that happening unless the negative opinion is full of personal insults, a la Gekis reviews of anything after MTM.

 

I also dont know where multiple people are getting the impression that Mike is more upset about his career than losing Chester. Do you think every time he talks about Chester, its just a business thing for his own career? I mean, Jesus, yall act like LP and WB looked at Chester as a dollar sign that could sing.

 

I think Geki is the only person I've seen who believes that LP fans are all "you can't say anything bad about any song!" I know I've said that I like one song, or don't like another and never felt attacked. The main thing he is missing in the post above yours was people didn't get angry at him for not loving a specific song, it was because he got hostile and downright mean unnecessarily in his 'critiques'.

 

Seeing Mike speak on Chester at his show, he's definitely not doing everything trying to make a buck off him. If he is, well, his performance has been so damn convincing that he deserves to get the money for "duping" everyone. Granted, WBR is a company, so money will play into decisions (OML Live was greenlit because it would sell enough to not be a loss), but they also understand the damage that would occur if word got out they were using Chester as a cash cow

[Justin]

Thats what I meant. If you say things that are way over the line then of course people will step in and defend the band members, because that is not just having a negative opinion of the music. There are LP songs that I dont like that much. Thats normal. I would never insult the band as people or get unnecessarily mean with my opinion though.

 

And yes, the label makes decisions based on money of course. I just mean that I dont think Mike or the label execs were, in the aftermath of July 20th, mad at Chester because they felt there was still money to be made.

 

The label is a business, but I still believe they looked at Chester as a human being and felt that loss on a human level first. I do resent anyone saying that Mike was more worried about his career than anything else

Edited December 7, 2018 by Justin

[lpliveusername]

Is Prove You Wrong the song Mike played during soundcheck in New York?

[RentEznor]

As a whole, is the impression really that if you have a negative opinion of LP/LP related music that you will get slaughtered by the LP fan base? I never see that happening unless the negative opinion is full of personal insults, a la Gekis reviews of anything after MTM.

 

I also dont know where multiple people are getting the imprsssion that Mike is more upset about his career than losing Chester. Do you think every time he talks about Chester, its just a business thing for his own career? I mean, Jesus, yall act like LP and WB looked at Chester as a dollar sign that could sing.

 

Gekis was a troll that changed his mind all the time. Who said here we bash people who have different opinions? He was just trolling all the f*cking time, not even trying to be consistent, he was banned because he was annoying, and it seems he was very annoying on LPA too.

Edited December 7, 2018 by KlaytonShinoda

[blackout]

Okay, guys - I want to make things clear. Someone said that I would be attacked by the fanbase for criticising Mike but honestly, I don't deserve to be attacked in any way. Mike has always been my biggest idol, Linkin Park has always been my favourite band, I literally love them. Look, you don't like everything in your siblings or in your parents but you still love them, despite all these drawbacks that they have. So even though I like everything that Mike releases, I can express my thoughts about what I don't like in his actions. And I simply don't like that he hasn't released any song about Chester yet and I won't change my mind. But he is still my idol and my inspiration, no matter what. I just don't like some tiny things in him and that's nothing wrong.

One more thing - I don't think that Mike treated Chester as the business only. I've never said this. Mike was a friend of Chester and nothing ever will change it. However, basing only on his solo songs, I don't see it in any song. The first tracks on Post Traumatic were supposed to be about the most traumatic and the most tragic moments. And even on the very first song, the lyrics are about his own feelings. Then we go to the loss of his career and other stuff. It seems like there is no place to remember Chester. You know... I don't think that it's true - I feel like Mike really misses Chester but I just cannot understand why he's never wanted to expressed it in a song. And please, don't get me wrong. Post Traumatic is one of the best albums I've ever heard and it's full of emotional stuff. I just don't like Mike's attitude towards Chester's passing in some songs. He could have expressed his loss differently, at least in some tracks.

Edited December 7, 2018 by blackout.

[Justin]

Okay, guys - I want to make things clear. Someone said that I would be attacked by the fanbase for criticising Mike but honestly, I don't deserve to be attacked in any way. Mike has always been my biggest idol, Linkin Park has always been my favourite band, I literally love them. Look, you don't like everything in your siblings or in your parents but you still love them, despite all these drawbacks that they have. So even though I like everything that Mike releases, I can express my thoughts about what I don't like in his actions. And I simply don't like that he hasn't released any song about Chester yet and I won't change my mind. But he is still my idol and my inspiration, no matter what. I just don't like some tiny things in him and that's nothing wrong.

One more thing - I don't think that Mike treated Chester as the business only. I've never said this. Mike was a friend of Chester and nothing ever will change it. However, basing only on his solo songs, I don't see it in any song. The first tracks on Post Traumatic were supposed to be about the most traumatic and the most tragic moments. And even on the very first song, the lyrics are about his own feelings. Then we go to the loss of his career and other stuff. It seems like there is no place to remember Chester. You know... I don't think that it's true - I feel like Mike really misses Chester but I just cannot understand why he's never wanted to expressed it in a song. And please, don't get me wrong. Post Traumatic is one of the best albums I've ever heard and it's full of emotional stuff. I just don't like Mike's attitude towards Chester's passing in some songs. He could have expressed his loss differently, at least in some tracks.

Nobody is going to attack you for not being a fan of the songs, that's what my point was. There's this misconception that the LP community accepts nothing less than glowing reviews for anything LP related, or Mike related since 2017. That's not true. All opinions are welcome here so long as they aren't intentionally disrespectful on a personal level.

I also know you didn't say that about Mike being business only about Chester. GarretLP said that.

 

 

Honestly, and this is me speaking my own opinion: Mike is, and has always been, intensely private. For him, sharing a song like Over Again was huge. I don't think he will share any more raw emotions than that. He put out PT, and he talks about Chester at every show, but I think that's about as far as he's going to go. At least with the public.

[GlassCastles]

"I knew I was in a dark place in the months following Chester’s death. Eventually, a few wise friends told me, 'there’s no changing what has happened. The only thing you can do is find a way to see what new paths this loss opens up.'"

 

Mike grieved in his own way, and he is under no obligation to make that part of the process public. Post Traumatic, the tour, the speeches every single night he plays a show; that's what he feels comfortable making public.

[Justin]

"I knew I was in a dark place in the months following Chester’s death. Eventually, a few wise friends told me, 'there’s no changing what has happened. The only thing you can do is find a way to see what new paths this loss opens up.'"

 

Mike grieved in his own way, and he is under no obligation to make that part of the process public. Post Traumatic, the tour, the speeches every single night he plays a show; that's what he feels comfortable making public.

Imagine being criticized for not grieving publicly enough.

 

Isn't this literally what Watching As I Fall is about?

[Garret]

Imagine being criticized for not grieving publicly enough.

 

Isn't this literally what Watching As I Fall is about?

People weren’t saying he didn’t grieve publicly enough. It was what he was grieving for that was the question.

[GlassCastles]

People weren’t saying he didn’t grieve publicly enough. It was what he was grieving for that was the question.

Yeah and anyone who thought he was grieving for anything other than his friend is so out of touch it's astounding

[DexLP]

There were a lot of shows during his PT tour where you truly saw that he was in a really dark place when he played LP songs. Especially in Cologne you can really see him holding back tears while talking about Chester.

 

Non of us know how many songs he wrote about Chester. Just because he didn't release one, it doesn't mean he didn't write some.

 

Crazy that some people want to tell him to grief in a specific way. After all he did for us.

Imagine how the fans would feel if we would have heard as much from Mike as we have from Rob since 7/20.

Mike is keeping everything alive - for him and for us - and we should be grateful af for that instead of hating him for every little detail. His music, tours and social media activity saved our all ass here

[Garret]

People weren’t saying he didn’t grieve publicly enough. It was what he was grieving for that was the question.

 

I'm not even saying that I personally believe that. But ever since Chester's sister came out with that info and stuff, it's just thrown everything into a frenzy for a lot of fans. I was mainly just saying that's what the original post I had was about.

[xxHybridXeroxx]

 

There were a lot of shows during his PT tour where you truly saw that he was in a really dark place when he played LP songs. Especially in Cologne you can really see him holding back tears while talking about Chester.

 

Non of us know how many songs he wrote about Chester. Just because he didn't release one, it doesn't mean he didn't write some.

 

Crazy that some people want to tell him to grief in a specific way. After all he did for us.

Imagine how the fans would feel if we would have heard as much from Mike as we have from Rob since 7/20.

Mike is keeping everything alive - for him and for us - and we should be grateful af for that instead of hating him for every little detail. His music, tours and social media activity saved our all ass here

 

Agreed. Mike doing this has helped me so much, and dare I say, has kept me alive on some extremely rough days this past year. I appreciate him a lot for it.

[blackout]

You've all misinterpreted me. I'm extremely grateful to Mike for keeping everything alive. He helps the fans and music that he's been releasing is great. I will repeat it again - Mike is my biggest inspiration and idol. I simply don't like one little thing about his actions and I'm being attacked for my opinion. Mike is not obligated to write songs about Chester and I still like his solo songs, even though they're not directly about Chester.

I don't know what to say more about this case but I think that you are all too sensitive, guys. Every critical word about something related with Linkin Park is a reason to attack. C'mon, nobody is perfect and even though I love Mike and his music, I can express a negative opinion about him or his songs.

[tfae]

You've all misinterpreted me. I'm extremely grateful to Mike for keeping everything alive. He helps the fans and music that he's been releasing is great. I will repeat it again - Mike is my biggest inspiration and idol. I simply don't like one little thing about his actions and I'm being attacked for my opinion. Mike is not obligated to write songs about Chester and I still like his solo songs, even though they're not directly about Chester.

I don't know what to say more about this case but I think that you are all too sensitive, guys. Every critical word about something related with Linkin Park is a reason to attack. C'mon, nobody is perfect and even though I love Mike and his music, I can express a negative opinion about him or his songs.

 

I completely get what you're saying. Lyrics like

"Well thank you genius, you think it'll be a challenge
Only my life's work hanging in the fucking balance"

may seem that he's only concerned about his career and not about the loss of Chester.

But if we think deeper… if we think that as soon as he accepted that his friend passed, what's left for him? His whole life's work.

He couldn't do anything for Chester, but his work was still "in the fucking balance". He couldn't neglect it and it was killing him.

That's my reading about the theme. I was completely wrong on my reading about What The Words Meant, so I can be totally wrong here too.

 

Overall I think that the whole point of Post Traumatic, starting from the album's title, is that Mike wanted to talk about his grief, what he felt, his concerns, how he overcome it, and not about Chester or his — undeniable — friendship with Chester.

And we have to thank him for doing it. He could have followed the path of the other band members and kept his grief for himself, but he decided to share it with us.

Edited December 9, 2018 by tfae

[GlassCastles]

Mike has said quite a few times that Post Traumatic was his journey out of the darkness, so putting a huge focus on his immediate grief surrounding Chester would sort of conflict with that. The first few songs on the album are about that grief (namely the EP songs and NMSA), but most of the album was meant to be him trying to find ways to move forward and make something out of a tragedy.