ATS vs OML Backlash

[LPLStaff]

Which album, at the time they came out, had more backlash from the fanbase? One More Light or A Thousand Suns?

[xxHybridXeroxx]

I wasn't around for the ATS backlash, but I remember the backlash for 'Heavy' being vicious. Chester even said right before they played the song at the Buenos Aires show, that it was "The most controversial song we've written"

[AParallelogramInTheSand]

I think it's just because I was more active on fan sites (was on both LPL and LPA) that I saw the backlash from ATS more than OML. People despised Catalyst, got nasty about Wretches & Kings (i.e. "I'm done with LP if they don't have the rest of the album be this style")

 

One More Light's backlash that I saw was mainly in youtube comments and well, that's self explanatory. On LPL, it seemed run of the mill of vocal users who hate everything post Meteora, with the few exceptions of "MTM is the best and everything before and after is awful". Wasn't even on LPA so there's a large chunk of reactions, good or bad, that I missed.

 

Verdict: ATS because it confirmed MTM wasn't a one off before returning to make Hybrid Theory 3. OML has contender as being the 4th "LP is going mainstream pop to appease the normies" cycle with the added detriment of them actually exploring more pop-like songs.

[LPMaskMan]

I still don't like OML because the sadness. ATS got really nice appreciation after 1 year because of the concept and understanding the experimental nature.

Edited February 28, 2019 by LPMaskMan

[Garret]

OML, IMO. ATS had backlash but they just put out MTM a few years before it and fans knew the band was going to be experimenting hardcore from what their sound was in the old days. And ATS still had some familiar elements of the band, such as rapping on several tracks, screaming on one/two tracks, etc. Although the guitar was missing on most songs, it was still present on some stuff. Idk. I feel like ATS had an overall very dark tone as well which was familiar to the band up to that point. Hell, OML is really their only album that has some uplifting songs.

 

Now OML had a lot of hate. It even prompted Chester to go on angry tirades against fans saying he would punch them in the face if they met him ‘’outside the bus’’, etc. When Heavy was first released, many hated it. Myself included. My main reason was the guest feature but many hated the actual song entirely. OML, the band really went for it. Not that they didn’t with ATS but I feel like OML was just a lot different from anything they’ve ever done, the style, and also the fact each song had writers.

 

Nowadays, I love OML, and I feel like most people who hated it, also now love the album. But it’s not my favorite from the band. 

 

Just from my own experiences being a fan and being around the fan base since 2003, I would have to say OML got the most hate out of all albums post Meteora.

Edited February 28, 2019 by GarretLP

[Michelbeats]

OML, definitely. I mean it got to a point when the band was performing Heavy at a Festival, some person threw a drink (or some object) to Chester. There's a video of it floating around the net.

[Astat]

I think ATS seemed a lot worse at the time because that was literally when LP's online fanbase was at its absolute peak size. Just a lot more people around to complain in general. Backlash against OML was a lot more uncivil though...also OML got a lot more hate from the media than ATS did.

[xxHybridXeroxx]

On 2/28/2019 at 3:30 PM, GarretLP said:

 

 

Nowadays, I love OML, and I feel like most people who hated it, also now love the album. But it’s not my favorite from the band. 

 

 

Me too. It was a "grower" kinda like ATS

[itworkedforkurt]

In terms of fan backlash, definitely ATS. I didn't pay attention to the fanbase until 2010, right around when ATS came out, and people were bashing the album and The Catalyst, slagging it off for being "techno" and because it completely subverted expectations of what a "typical" LP album sounded like.

 

In terms of media though, OML takes that spot with flying colors. The media tore the album to shreds. They wouldn't shut up about Chester's rant towards fan backlash. The fan consensus, however, was that it was somewhat decent.

Edited March 4, 2019 by itworkedforkurt

[T0MMYGUNN]

On 3/1/2019 at 4:01 AM, Michelbeats said:

OML, definitely. I mean it got to a point when the band was performing Heavy at a Festival, some person threw a drink (or some object) to Chester. There's a video of it floating around the net.

 

 

just looked it up. crowd seemed pretty lame as well (at least during this song) 

[Garret]

5 hours ago, T0MMYGUNN said:

 

 

just looked it up. crowd seemed pretty lame as well (at least during this song) 

 

Yeah that was at Hellfest which is typically a heavy metal / hard rock festival. LP’s set in 2017 didn’t cater much to the people who like their heavier rock and metal stuff so people probably hated it. Especially Heavy and songs from OML, but Heavy was the lead single so it naturally got the most attention and most hate from that fan base. Do I agree with what they did to Chester? No. But I can tell you it wasn’t a personal attack on him. They’d probably do the same to any band up there playing that style. 

[T0MMYGUNN]

ya you're right. Still a crappy thing to when Chester and LP have established a name for themselves. Either way Chester brushed it off and continued like a bad @ss. 

[Justin]

Some of the comments on that video are ridiculous. If you think Chester and the rest of LP were completely caught off guard by a negative reaction to Heavy at Hellfest, you're wrong. If I remember right, Chester actually referenced this and said he blew a kiss to the person that threw it just to mess with them even more. Close minded individuals, such as a person who would throw something at an artist because he doesn't like a song, were never people that LP cared about or took their "criticisms" to heart.

 

As far as ATS goes, I think Astat hit the nail on the head. The backlash against ATS was strong for sure, but things were kept civil and mainly focused on the music. I think the band welcomed that. It sparked DISCUSSION about musical evolution and bands choosing to go in different directions. There were people who didn't like it, but very few people actually went out of their way to get personal like they did when OML came out. OML had people not only attacking the music,  but attacking the band as people. Questioning their integrity as artists and then acting like Chester's angry reaction to that bullshit was unjustified.

 

The thing that always gets to me now is that I've seen some of the most vocal haters of OML, the people who said the most inappropriate things, become some of the most vocally saddened people after Chester passed away. Guilty much? 

Edited March 28, 2019 by Justin

[Garret]

I just hated how they had people not in the band write the songs on OML, I would have preferred it to be just the members of  LP writing the music. And it was very poppy, despite the band bashing that in the past. You can argue that ‘’oh In The End is a pop song’’ but listen to it and then listen to OML, it’s very clearly different kinds. I think those reasons are why people started attacking the band themselves. Plus the fact you had Chester telling fans to stab themselves and that he will meet you outside the bus and punch you in the face, so that further got people going. Chester wasn’t right in 2017. Seemed like after Chris died in mid May, it was the final straw for him because he literally changed on that day. If you look at OML shows before that day (South American shows and promo before it) he was different. He seemed different after Chris died. I think he decided right then what he was going to do the day he found out Chris died and he held it inside until 7/20. He planned it perfectly so he could be home by himself that night before. He spent one final vacation with his kids to leave them with a good memory and yeah.

Edited April 10, 2019 by GarretLP

[Justin]

A lot of things, in hindsight, seem like they were red flags for what would happen on 7/20.

 

Also to be honest I'm sure the backlash against OML was even stronger considering that Mike, in 2014 said: “There’s so much stuff that sounds like HAIM or CHVRCHES or Vampire Weekend that I’m full. The thing I’m hungry for is not that. I turn on the rock station in L.A. and it sounds like Disney commercial music.”

 

And then, 3 years later, Heavy was released. He probably shouldn't have said that, but again hindsight is 20/20 and I get that, at the time, he was trying to promote THP.

[Garret]

2 hours ago, Justin said:

A lot of things, in hindsight, seem like they were red flags for what would happen on 7/20.

 

Also to be honest I'm sure the backlash against OML was even stronger considering that Mike, in 2014 said: “There’s so much stuff that sounds like HAIM or CHVRCHES or Vampire Weekend that I’m full. The thing I’m hungry for is not that. I turn on the rock station in L.A. and it sounds like Disney commercial music.”

 

And then, 3 years later, Heavy was released. He probably shouldn't have said that, but again hindsight is 20/20 and I get that, at the time, he was trying to promote THP.

 

Agreed 100%. And also, I just watched an interview today from 2011, where Mike said that at the time that HT came out, bubblegum pop was dominating the radio and they didn't want to be a part of that, they wanted to be the opposite. OML has some amazing songs and I now love the album. But at the time of the release, it was like uhhh weren't you just bashing pop like 3 years ago? Releasing Heavy as the FIRST single with a literal Disney singer (Kiiara was nominated by Disney, look it up), it just seems crazy, but maybe they wanted to do that, to shock people. A song like Battle Symphony, for example, would have been a great first single, because I have always loved that song and even though it's pop, it's more pop-rock and it's just Chester singing which I feel like a lot of fans would have accepted more, not to mention it's a far better song overall. I love a lot of OML but the few tracks that I didn't initially love were Good Goodbye, Invisible, Sorry For Now and Heavy. They seemed way too Disney pop to me at the time. The rest of the album was great to me upon first listen.

 

The thing is, the band has said ''In The End was straight up pop'', well Chester did at least. Yeah, it was a little poppy. But it wasn't pop like the songs on OML were and HT had way more songs that weren't pop. OML was literally all pop, every song. If HT was ITE with every track, it would be a better statement. The band always had variety on their albums. Every album was like tons of genres all in one album. But OML was literally all pop. So I also think a lot of fans hated that.

 

The thread alone is weird to me because ATS is 100% the total opposite of OML. I'd argue that ATS is probably the farthest from OML out of every single album the band has made, even THP.

Edited March 29, 2019 by GarretLP