Mike Shinoda - "Happy Endings" (Feb 19, 2021)

[LPLStaff]

But the Post Traumatic mixing by Manny is good. Remember Mike has final say over all mixing - everything he's put out solo has sounded good.

 

The clip of the new song sounds great.

[PizzaPino]

5 hours ago, RYG4R said:

 

IN MY REMAINS

I'LL BE GONE

 

You name it.

whut, in my remains is one of my favorite songs and I think it sounds amazing. 

[Somebodyangry]

IMR sounds awesome IMO

[vinifeijo]

2 hours ago, PurpleFlinstoneVitamins92 said:

IMR sounds awesome IMO

Everything is so loud. You can't really tell things apart. 

Think of yourself making a plate of food for your lunch. Mashed potatoes, meat, sauce and vegetables. You put all of that in a different corner of the plate, you can see them all and taste them all separately. This is A Thousand Suns.

And then your friend just put everything on top of each other and mix everything like prison food. This is Living Things.

[Somebodyangry]

12 minutes ago, vinifeijo said:

Everything is so loud. You can't really tell things apart. 

Think of yourself making a plate of food for your lunch. Mashed potatoes, meat, sauce and vegetables. You put all of that in a different corner of the plate, you can see them all and taste them all separately. This is A Thousand Suns.

And then your friend just put everything on top of each other and mix everything like prison food. This is Living Things.

Lol I like the comparison. I acknowledge that ATS is mixed better, It SOUNDS better yeah (like you can hear every single sound on Robot Boy), but i’m not so annoyed by how songs like IMR and IBG sound. Maybe I’m not as sensible as you on stuff like this 😊

[martinez]

Both version of the song are already on iTunes.

 

HQ Covers: Explicit | Clean

[felipeintheend]

Not sure what to think or say about it YET.

[Somebodyangry]

I’ve heard the full thing right now... it’s the bottom for me, Mike is barely present in the first 2:30 minutes... the chorus is repeated like 6 times, sounds like a generic pop tune anyone could write ... I wasn’t expecting much but pheeeew this is really forgettable, considering who is Mike and what he did in the last 2 decades. 

[LPLStaff]

The good news: Mike can create a poppy, catchy track pretty quickly with a great production sound. Regardless of how anyone feels about the song, this is great news regarding LP (in case anyone had any doubts, which they really shouldn't). The song is fine, it isn't bad, it isn't great. But Mike has put out a pretty consistent repertoire of solo music since 2017 - Post Traumatic EP, Post Traumatic, fine, Open Door, and Happy Endings all sound good and are solid pieces for his solo catalogue.

 

Looking forward to whatever LP is cooking up. If the OML production sound is anything to go by, they are probably making some GREAT sounding music.

[Coizu]

35 minutes ago, PurpleFlinstoneVitamins92 said:

generic pop tune anyone could write

If it's that easy you should do it. It makes good money.

I don't want to be rude or anything, but being dismissive like that is not nice. Writing catchy pop tunes is most probably not as easy as people think it is, otherwise more people would do it and people wouldn't get rich from doing so. Also there is a reason those generic pop songs have like 10 songwriters. I would argue that if it sounds like a generic pop sound,  it's probably more of a compliment 😄

It's totally fine to not like pop music and everything but I think it's still important to have respect for the craftsmanship.

 

21 hours ago, RYG4R said:

Why Mike is keeping this Marroquin to mix? His mixing on LIVING THINGS was horrible!

Mike is keeping Marroquin because he is probably one of the best mixers you can get right now. Marroquin is not forcing anything on Mike, he just executes whatever Mike wants. If you don't like the mix, it is most probably because Mike or the band went for that direction, and not because of the execution of Marroquin.

Edited February 18, 2021 by Coizu

[ARS]

Imo the song’s fine I guess. It might grow on me, or I just forget about it like with Open Door. I miss the more dramatic tones of Mike’s music like with Post Traumatic, Fine, and even some of the songs from Dropped Frames like Crystalina and Dog Whistles.

 

Also I REALLY want a new album from Mike. And I want Linkin Park to finally make a new album. I guess when Mike tweeted “something big is coming”, and it just turned out to be yet another upbeat single, and nothing more, I was kind of let down...

[LPLStaff]

 

[Hybrid1988]

Sounds like something that would play inside the H&M at your local mall. Basically just sounds like background noise to me. Oh well. Haven't really liked Mike's one off songs. He's at his best for me when he's in the album mindset. 

[Somebodyangry]

7 hours ago, Coizu said:

If it's that easy you should do it. It makes good money.

I don't want to be rude or anything, but being dismissive like that is not nice. Writing catchy pop tunes is most probably not as easy as people think it is, otherwise more people would do it and people wouldn't get rich from doing so. Also there is a reason those generic pop songs have like 10 songwriters. I would argue that if it sounds like a generic pop sound,  it's probably more of a compliment 😄

It's totally fine to not like pop music and everything but I think it's still important to have respect for the craftsmanship.

 

Mike is keeping Marroquin because he is probably one of the best mixers you can get right now. Marroquin is not forcing anything on Mike, he just executes whatever Mike wants. If you don't like the mix, it is most probably because Mike or the band went for that direction, and not because of the execution of Marroquin.

Anyone = any pop singer/producer. I’m not insulting Mike, but this is really not for me 

[OKCrew]

I love the new song. Catchy, genuine, and the artists compliment each other well

[xeroboi]

I'm loving it 

[Cesar656]

Top song, Mike hits again.

Whoever expected something more Rock or LPlike is just delusional, Mike is having fun meeting new writers and singers and getting out of his comfort zone, and he is damn good a it

[Bambitt]

We've got something we could really expect. Overall the song is meh. PT is mostly great, I really enjoyed "fine". 

[Somebodyangry]

2 hours ago, xeroboi said:

I'm loving it 

 

56 minutes ago, Cesar656 said:

Top song, Mike hits again.

Whoever expected something more Rock or LPlike is just delusional, Mike is having fun meeting new writers and singers and getting out of his comfort zone, and he is damn good a it

Wow I’m really glad you guys enjoy it so much. Again another proof of tastes variety in LP fanbase. 

[PizzaPino]

i really like the song. I can imagine my younger self being uplifted while hearing this after a rough day. My younger self wouldn't have put it into a generic pop tunes category but I do understand if older people do and find it generic.

[Somebodyangry]

1 hour ago, PizzaPino said:

i really like the song. I can imagine my younger self being uplifted while hearing this after a rough day. My younger self wouldn't have put it into a generic pop tunes category but I do understand if older people do and find it generic.

Don’t know if it’s a young/old thing, but I do like Invisible a lot more than this song (comparing pop to pop, it wouldn’t make sense to compare non pop songs with this one). 

[RentEznor]

It's okay I guess? Catchy but not a fan of the not so subtle internet 'memes' references, a bit forced. Not sure if that was on purpose trying to sound funny or serious.

Edited February 19, 2021 by KlaytonShinoda

[Coizu]

So after listening to it throughout the day I think it is an average song. It's not bad, but it's also not outstanding. It will probably end up in a random playlist and I will listen to it from time to time but I certainly won't be like "I really want to listen to Happy Endings right now!".

 

I was always wondering what a more positive/happy song from Mike would sound like since that basically never happened with LP or FM. I am really happy that he explores that direction more and that we get to hear some of that. I really love the melodies and the chorus. It's really catchy. I feel like the whole instrumental is kinda lacklustre though. It's a solid production, but nothing exciting or unexpected is happening. Nothing that grabs my attention. 

 

In general the release as a whole felt super unexciting to me though and I think a lot of that comes from Mike's stream. In a certain way I feel super oversaturated from his content and more importantly hearing new music from him kinda lost its magic. I really like his stream and I still have it running in the background every day while cooking or gaming or doing something else, but I wouldn't mind him streaming only one or two days a week or maybe take extended breaks for like 2-3 weeks. I think having the mysterious silence for months and then slowly getting hints about something new, without having any idea what direction we can expect builds up so much more interest and hype while being able to see Mike just grinding it out every day seems too... normal.

I also disliked the direction he took yesterday in the stream when he said that he has a bunch of songs and if people want an album, he could maybe make one. That's now how it should work in my opinion. In my head Mike should have a vision for what type of release he wants to go for, and then do it. What he said yesterday felt to me like "oh I have random songs, I guess I could just release them, like whatever". We had 3 "whatever" releases with Dropped Frames already last year.

Nevertheless I am very curious to see what direction he takes in the future and what other things we will see from him. I am totally fine with him going a really poppy route, but I would be even more happy if it was a little bit more experimental.

[YRQRM0]

I think it's tons of fun, and I'm glad Mike's continuing to branch out and create new sounds. His desire to constantly try new things is one of the big reasons I admire him.

 

I also look forward to the more cinematic, dramatic music in the vein of ATS, some of LT, etc. but for now I'll thoroughly enjoy this for what it is. Imo this track is stronger than Fine and Open door, and I hope he continues to work with other artists that let him push his sound a bit further than what he can do with his own voice. And honestly, a vocalist like UPSAHL or Lights (like on Last One To Know) singing on every other song's chorus is totally what I would expect on a new LP album as well. I think they're great compliments to his production, same with Kiiara and K. Flay

 

52 minutes ago, Coizu said:

In general the release as a whole felt super unexciting to me though and I think a lot of that comes from Mike's stream. In a certain way I feel super oversaturated from his content and more importantly hearing new music from him kinda lost its magic. I really like his stream and I still have it running in the background every day while cooking or gaming or doing something else, but I wouldn't mind him streaming only one or two days a week or maybe take extended breaks for like 2-3 weeks. I think having the mysterious silence for months and then slowly getting hints about something new, without having any idea what direction we can expect builds up so much more interest and hype while being able to see Mike just grinding it out every day seems too... normal.

I also disliked the direction he took yesterday in the stream when he said that he has a bunch of songs and if people want an album, he could maybe make one. That's now how it should work in my opinion. In my head Mike should have a vision for what type of release he wants to go for, and then do it. What he said yesterday felt to me like "oh I have random songs, I guess I could just release them, like whatever". We had 3 "whatever" releases with Dropped Frames already last year.

Nevertheless I am very curious to see what direction he takes in the future and what other things we will see from him. I am totally fine with him going a really poppy route, but I would be even more happy if it was a little bit more experimental.

 

I feel the same way overall, and I think he definitely has at least one more concept album in him where he's gonna do what you say and really hone in on a feeling or sound to make an album out of it. But I doubt it will be totally solo work, unless some tragedy or war or something sets that off (hopefully not).

 

But with regards to his attitude there, I just don't think we'll ever see that type of project come from him continuously. He had an amazing run of doing that with LP, has done 2 solo albums, and I think he's just more interested in having fun and keeping up with the changing paces and trends of music today, which is a lot more about singles than big cohesive album drops imo. He also has more and more lines like "what the f is left to author anyway when I've basically been writing since the raiders ran LA" which show something we already know about him - he wants to do new things and gets frustrated repeating himself. I don't see him doing a super serious, purpose-driven solo album like what you're describing again tbh. 

 

I think the most realistic thing we would see in this vein is something like Taylor Swift's folklore album with Bon Iver/Jack Antinoff. Mike could be a producer for an entire album and really help an artist hone in on a sound or mood and be a producer for multiple songs the way the guys were for T Swift (at least as I understand it). Like, I think he's basically gonna take on more and more of a producer role to help artists achieve things because artists' innovative sounds (like those of 100 gecs) are his gateway to be able to make new things, which as I said, is super important to him. 

[Somebodyangry]

21 minutes ago, YRQRM0 said:

I think it's tons of fun, and I'm glad Mike's continuing to branch out and create new sounds. His desire to constantly try new things is one of the big reasons I admire him.

 

I also look forward to the more cinematic, dramatic music in the vein of ATS, some of LT, etc. but for now I'll thoroughly enjoy this for what it is. Imo this track is stronger than Fine and Open door, and I hope he continues to work with other artists that let him push his sound a bit further than what he can do with his own voice. And honestly, a vocalist like UPSAHL or Lights (like on Last One To Know) singing on every other song's chorus is totally what I would expect on a new LP album as well. I think they're great compliments to his production, same with Kiiara and K. Flay

Wow, I find “Fine” vastly superior to this song and I like Open Door demo more than this song too. The final version with the fans singing is on the same level to me. I’m happy to see that so many fans are enjoying the tune and happy to see Mike channeling positive energy in a new song, but I’ll wait for something that fits my taste better 😊

Edited February 19, 2021 by PurpleFlinstoneVitamins92