Howard Stern debuting "Fighting Myself" and "More the Victim"

[RentEznor]

16 hours ago, KikiSparkle said:

 

https://player.siriusxm.com/query/mike shinoda

 

I think it's two hours into the show. You have to sign up but you get 24 hours free. 

 

Trigger warning, the questions are heavy and Stern really focuses on a small layer of who Chester was and drills down on it. 

 

Not a Stern fan but I do appreciate the way he asks questions when he's not doing any easy edgelord jokes like how he used to back in the day.

[ECzz]

22 minutes ago, Stewe said:

Full interview up on YouTube

https://youtu.be/245si_wNDuQ

Thank you very much

[RentEznor]

17 hours ago, JZ-GreyDaze said:

 

It's amazing that after 22 years people still believe that the HT demos were leaked.

 

They were meant to promote the band, their mission was to be everywhere and somehow it succeeded.

 

 

 

 By 'leaked' it means soemone had that promo material for years sitting somewhere and decided to give it for free to a friend, that passed onto others and finally ended up being sold online in the 2000s. 😜

[RentEznor]

15 hours ago, blackout said:

The quality of Fighting Myself is not good enough for me to express my opinion about the song. I will do it when it officialy drops. I can properly hear only the first verse and a half of the first chorus. I don't want to ruin my impression of the song so I will try not to listen to this radio recording at all until the release. From what I can hear, it's great. I'm not sure if there is ever going to be a Linkin Park song that I fully dislike so it was totally expected that I would like this one as well. It seems heavy, the vocals by Chester are raw and energetic. I don't know if it's a matter of quality only but I like it a bit less than More the Victim, but as I said, I will judge it when it officialy drops.

 

More the Victim. Well, I'm impressed... The instrumental is awesome, sounds so full - beautiful at times, sometimes heavy. I cannot wait to hear it in high quality. The pre-chorus sung by Chester is heavenly. I love all the changes that they made from Cumulus. The scratches are fun, the strings add another layer of sounds which fits the instrumental perfectly and the drums... well, the drums! I don't know exactly why this element of the song got my attention but I love Rob's drumming in this song. Rob's work on this track is perfect. It's awesome how he slightly changed the drumbeat in the last chorus. The transitions... Wow, the drums add so much to the track. It is probably not technically complicated, but it sounds amazing and that's enough for me to appreciate it. A lot of great ideas here and there. In general, I like More the Victim more than some of the tracks on Meteora. I'd probably swap it with Hit the Floor or Nobody's Listening. I don't know if I like the song more than Lost but it's really, really good.

 

One piece of criticism that I have towards both songs are that they are a bit formulaic. I understand that the band came up with some kind of a structure for songs on Meteora but it's a bit repetitive and predictable at times. It's the thing that made Linkin Park recognisable so I don't have anything against this formula, I like it in general. But come on, in (almost) every song?! 😂

 

Give me experimental (1997-1999 demos/songs or ATS) over easy predictable formulas, but if I hear a good easy predictable song, I'd be straight forward about it.

[Nezumi86]

23 hours ago, DylHDZ said:

Fighting Myself https://vocaroo.com/1c5LARjmsEk1

 

More The Victim https://vocaroo.com/1bzEHPsa8MKt

 

I see why Mike was so hyped about FM it’s dope af

Thank you, downloaded them and will listen them while driving to home. I am downloading the whole interview from YT also and will listen it as the table of content was very-very interesting, too much bg gossip, I love it!!!

[solidss]

Some of these questions Howard Stern asks.

"Do you remember what Chesters face looked like while singing this? Does it wreck you inside?"

[bloodbath]

3 hours ago, solidss said:

Some of these questions Howard Stern asks.

"Do you remember what Chesters face looked like while singing this? Does it wreck you inside?"

Dude, he took no prisoners. Also, very shocked when Mike mentioned that during the early days of Hybrid Theory (probably their 2000 supporting tours) he sneaked out to get wasted

[Justin]

3 hours ago, solidss said:

Some of these questions Howard Stern asks.

"Do you remember what Chesters face looked like while singing this? Does it wreck you inside?"

That's just Stern's style. I'm sure Mike was well aware of that before he agreed to the interview.

 

He asks questions like that because he knows most interviewers would never go that deep. He isn't the guy to sit down and ask a bunch of well written, respectful questions. He's blunt and seems to ask questions on the fly as soon as they come to him, unfiltered. He's been doing that for decades and, again, Mike had to be well aware. If not, he wouldn't have answered those types of questions.

 

Not everyone wants to hear an interview like that which is fine, but it's also expected at this point. Most interviewers ask about the band's favorite memories of Chester, the most fun they had in the studio, etc. Stern tends to go in the opposite direction.

[Soeffingnaive92]

22 minutes ago, Justin said:

That's just Stern's style. I'm sure Mike was well aware of that before he agreed to the interview.

 

He asks questions like that because he knows most interviewers would never go that deep. He isn't the guy to sit down and ask a bunch of well written, respectful questions. He's blunt and seems to ask questions on the fly as soon as they come to him, unfiltered. He's been doing that for decades and, again, Mike had to be well aware. If not, he wouldn't have answered those types of questions.

 

Not everyone wants to hear an interview like that which is fine, but it's also expected at this point. Most interviewers ask about the band's favorite memories of Chester, the most fun they had in the studio, etc. Stern tends to go in the opposite direction.

Yeah I really liked the depth of this interview, as I already said, it’s not the typical “Chester was the best singer on earth tell me your best memories with him” stuff, it’s brutally honest and goes right there where nobody would go. I also liked his fan attitude, his reactions to the new songs and when he blasted Numb while Mike was speaking 😂😂 my only problem is that I think he insisted a bit too much i the depiction of Chester’s bad habits, I mean it’s not that he was ALWAYS high or drunk, he insisted a bit too much on that IMO. But overall really interesting interview 

[bloodbath]

6 minutes ago, STRANGELOVE92 said:

Yeah I really liked the depth of this interview, as I already said, it’s not the typical “Chester was the best singer on earth tell me your best memories with him” stuff, it’s brutally honest and goes right there where nobody would go. I also liked his fan attitude, his reactions to the new songs and when he blasted Numb while Mike was speaking 😂😂 my only problem is that I think he insisted a bit too much i the depiction of Chester’s bad habits, I mean it’s not that he was ALWAYS high or drunk, he insisted a bit too much on that IMO. But overall really interesting interview 

Unpopular opinion, I do like those kinds of questions, sheding some light in the darkest corners. I don't think it makes any favour to portrait Chester to some kind of a perfect angel. He was a human being, with his faults and positives. I mean, some reactions I've seen from the fanbase everytime Chester is mentioned is just... cringe (guys, I don't mean ANY of the members of this forum!!)

[deanowardust]

It was also good to hear Mike mention in the discord chat that Chester would be the one to sort of shit on name ideas and keep joking when the rest was trying to be production (Mike also hinted that joe would also join in with Chester), it creates a balance of us just seeing the good stuff in LPTV. A Thousand Suns were Brad and Mike have that sort of awkward convo about the deadlines they aren't going to hit. It brings reality to the situation.

[xxHybridXeroxx]

20 minutes ago, bloodbath said:

Unpopular opinion, I do like those kinds of questions, sheding some light in the darkest corners. I don't think it makes any favour to portrait Chester to some kind of a perfect angel. He was a human being, with his faults and positives. I mean, some reactions I've seen from the fanbase everytime Chester is mentioned is just... cringe (guys, I don't mean ANY of the members of this forum!!)

I agree with you. Chester was human just as much as the rest of us. I always found some of the reactions I’ve come across as weird, It’s cringe as you said.  Yes, it sucks he’s gone, but at some point you gotta… I don’t want to say get over it, because I’ll be the first to admit I sometimes still get sad over it but it’s more fleeting than actually wallowing in despair. But the way people are making him out to be is not who he was, because honestly nobody is. 

[JerseyShore]

I appreciate almost any interview that goes outside the norm. It's why Stern has been so successful for such a long time and you see it in things like Hot Ones etc. Asking the not-so-stock questions really helps to get a better sense of the band and their music and intra-band dynamic that we would never get otherwise. I think nearly everyone here would be lying if they said they never thought about most of those questions Stern asked Mike yesterday. 

[Soeffingnaive92]

33 minutes ago, bloodbath said:

Unpopular opinion, I do like those kinds of questions, sheding some light in the darkest corners. I don't think it makes any favour to portrait Chester to some kind of a perfect angel. He was a human being, with his faults and positives. I mean, some reactions I've seen from the fanbase everytime Chester is mentioned is just... cringe (guys, I don't mean ANY of the members of this forum!!)

Totally get what you say, in fact I said I generally really like the honest tone of this interview, and I get what you say, some fans OUTSIDE OF THIS FORUM act like Chester was perfect and it’s pure cringe 

[Justin]

39 minutes ago, STRANGELOVE92 said:

Totally get what you say, in fact I said I generally really like the honest tone of this interview, and I get what you say, some fans OUTSIDE OF THIS FORUM act like Chester was perfect and it’s pure cringe 

I saw a comment on Reddit recently where someone brought up how Chester said Mike was one of the best songwriters of our generation. The response was basically "Wow! To be told that by Chester himself, I can't imagine the honor Mike felt."

 

They were peers. Chester was obviously incredible, and I'm sure they both appreciated and admired the other for their respective strengths, but he and Mike were best friends and collaborators. It's not like Chester was a literal deity among men lol. Chester would have been the first person to read that comment and laugh like "Dude what? I was complimenting my friend."

Edited February 15, 2023 by Justin

[Soeffingnaive92]

5 minutes ago, Justin said:

I saw a comment on Reddit recently where someone brought up how Chester said Mike was one of the best songwriters of our generation. The response was basically "Wow! To be told that by Chester himself, I can't imagine the honor Mike felt."

 

Like... They were peers. Chester was obviously incredible, but he and Mike were best friends and collaborators. It's not like Chester was a literal deity among men lol. Chester would have been the first person to read that comment and laugh like "Dude what?"

Totally, Chester was one of the best vocalists of his generation but Mike is an awesome songwriter and musician overall, the magic of LP was the chemistry between them and the fact they completed themselves each other. Mike was lucky to work with Chester and Chester was lucky to work with Mike. Totally. 
 

Edited February 15, 2023 by STRANGELOVE92

[Coizu]

18 minutes ago, Justin said:

The response was basically "Wow! To be told that by Chester himself, I can't imagine the honor Mike felt."

Most people think the person who is singing is also the person who wrote the song (in general, not just for LP) so for most people the main songwriter for LP was Chester.

[blackout]

As I wrote in the chatbox earlier today, I really liked the interview. It was something different than the most usual stuff. Stern put forward many interesting topics. However, I don't like the fact that he was implying all the time that Chester had been difficult to deal with. Mike denied a few times but Stern continued with his own line of thought anyway. Obviously, Chester had its problems, everybody knows that, but I cannot imagine that because of his addictions or dark past he wasn't a likeable person. I'm sure he was. Same with this question about the concerts that were ruined because of Chester's addiction - I've watched a lot of LP live shows and he always went all out on stage. Surely, he was in worse condition sometimes, but it's understandable after so many years of screaming and singing songs like Crawling. However, I totally agree with some of you who mentioned that by some fans Chester is portrayed as a perfect angelic person. This is cringey, I agree. In a sense, I like the way that Stern presented him. Everybody has their highs and lows and Chester had a lot of lows, for sure. I liked the question about Stone Temple Pilots as well. The interview kind of showed a more humane face of the band. They've all had their problems and concerns and they haven't agreed on everything all the time. Everybody always asks safe questions. It was good to listen to something different at last. Well, I still believe that some of the questions were a bit annoying, but whatever.

[JZLP-Benningstrong]

"Chester and you were the heart of Linkin Park" 

 

That's a powerful quote.

[JZLP-Benningstrong]

Holy fucking god

Victim it's a perfect LP song it has every element that I love.

 

The scratching and synths sound badass.

[martinez]

I can see some people talking about Chester as a perfect angel person because of the voice he had and not because of his problems, which those the same people might also ve aware more or less of them.

[Justin]

5 hours ago, JZ-GreyDaze said:

"Chester and you were the heart of Linkin Park" 

 

That's a powerful quote.

It is. I can tell Howard is a true LP fan and that was a really cool part of the interview.
 

I’ve always thought, and I know I’m not the first to make this observation, that Chester was the heart of the band while Mike was the brain.

 

I’m not saying Mike was smarter, but there was just a difference in how they approached things. Chester was always the most willing to speak his mind, for example, while Mike is usually very cautious in his wording. 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Justin

[gorast]

I haven't listened to a Howard Stern interview in a long time, but I still wasn't really surprised that he went in the direction he did. Like others have said, that's his style, he's not interested in hitting PR talking points or having a light conversation, he pushes because that's what he's always done. He's far, far softer than he used to be, which is a definite positive - if he did this interview in 2005, for instance, it would have gone in a very different direction. As it stood, I thought that Howard approached his questions respectfully - I saw some people elsewhere suggesting that he was trying to bait Mike into badmouthing, or trying to instigate, and I don't think that was the case at all. Addiction is something that a lot of people have firsthand experience with, after all - it read to me like Howard was simply asking these questions from his point of view, the way he would see things like Chester getting completely fucked up after shows, or something like that, and he gave Mike the space to make it clear how he saw those things. The one thing I would criticize is that Howard stepped on Mike's toes pretty frequently, particularly during that section of the interview, but that's just how he is, he hears most of an answer and plows right into a follow-up the moment it comes to mind. I'd go so far as to say this is going to stand as one of the best interviews Mike will do on this promo cycle, and I'm really glad that Mike asked to be on the show.

 

Obviously, we don't need Mike to be interrogated about Chester's demons on the regular. But I think it's something important to discuss, at least once, in an interview like this, to paint a more complete picture of the person Chester was. It was surprising to hear Mike talk so frankly about Chester's substance abuse during LP's early career, and that Chester could be a nightmare to deal with in those early days, but he was being real, and I don't think you can ask for anything more than that. The discussion on grief was enlightening, too, and Mike had some really insightful things to say on that front, especially the emphasis that the stages of grief aren't linear and aren't one-time-only affairs. Hearing that he could be angry at Chester for how he passed was really humanizing, as uncomfortable as it might have been for Mike to discuss. Howard has a dim view of depression and suicide, but I don't think there was any malice there, either, and like I said before, he gave Mike the space to clarify how he felt about it all.

 

On a lighter note, Howard's interjections during the two premieres were pretty funny, especially his "wow"s over and over on More the Victim - it's really obvious that that really was his favorite of the three, lol.

[bruh009]

On 2/14/2023 at 1:31 PM, DylHDZ said:

Fighting Myself https://vocaroo.com/1c5LARjmsEk1

 

More The Victim https://vocaroo.com/1bzEHPsa8MKt

 

I see why Mike was so hyped about FM it’s dope af

Fighting myself IS SO F... GOOD. I would place it right between Somewhere i Belong and Lying From You.

 

More the Victim is kinda weird for me because everytime i hear Cumulus chorus the lyrics in my head say "If i just let you go, i need to let you go", so is kinda weird listening to something else on the chorus lol

[Hybrider]

I like both but I like More The Victim more. It's faster, you feel more energy in it and that guitar riff is incredible. You feel like you were running fast.