Linkin Park's Best and Worst Mixes?

[YRQRM0]

Since mixing is kind of a hot topic with Lost's 2 mixes and MTV/FM mixes, I'm curious to hear opinions across the discography. What tracks have the best and worst mixes in your opinion, and why?

 

For me, Sorry For Now sounds fantastic. I love how big it sounds, how tight all the vocals are, the presence of the tiny percussion details in the verse, it all works. I also love a few ATS mixes like WTCFM, Blackout and Wretches and Kings. THP is a very mixed bag for me, but I think All For Nothing has the right kind of grit and "messy in the right ways" mix and works really well. 

 

For worst, I'm gonna have to say Until It's Gone. Chester's voice in the bridge hurts my ears sometimes, it's all so loud and squashed-sounding. I'll also say I'll Be Gone, because it all sounds squished together. There are such great strings and tones in that song, but there's no space between them, and you have to really focus to even figure out which sound is which. I think a better mix could have breathed new life into that song, as well as In My Remains

[LPLStaff]

THP and LT are mixed terribly, IMO. LT has the guitars so buried and THP is so raw. The rest of the catalogue is mixed extremely well. It isn't a reflection on Manny for LT because the band decides what they want, but Manny's OML and Lost are amazing.

[linkindan]

The biggest problem with the mixing on THP is that it’s all over the place.

KTTK and AFN are great, GATS is awful, Wastelands sounds like it was mixed for Meteora then redone for MTM and half of the songs sound somewhat empty.

[YRQRM0]

1 hour ago, linkindan said:

The biggest problem with the mixing on THP is that it’s all over the place.

KTTK and AFN are great, GATS is awful, Wastelands sounds like it was mixed for Meteora then redone for MTM and half of the songs sound somewhat empty.

I agree that it is inconsistent and with your descriptions, except GATS to me sounds like every bit of it was intentional and pulled off well. It's got the right amount of "sloppiness" to it that I imagine mimics the styles and bands that inspired that sound. 

 

UIG though, like I said, is awful. I always felt Rebellion fell short of what it could be. ALITS sounds pretty good, even though their choice of vocal presence in that song is a bit strange for Chester's chorus

[nickishere12345]

Like others have said here, Living Things is the album that suffers the most from a subpar mix.

The first four albums up to ATS are mixed perfectly. And then while THP and OML don't sound as good as the first four, they are mixed with intention (THP to sound very raw and garagey and OML to sound like top 40 radio).

 

Living Things though, is so frustrating. Because the songs are generally written in a much more 'rock' vein reminiscent of early Linkin Park, but on the album the guitars and live drums are SO LOW in the mix and the electronics are turned up so loud. With a better mix Living Things really could have been the ultimate LP album, a true synthesis of their entire career. I still like the album a lot but it has the most wasted potential imo.

[YRQRM0]

On 4/11/2023 at 10:48 AM, nickishere12345 said:

Like others have said here, Living Things is the album that suffers the most from a subpar mix.

The first four albums up to ATS are mixed perfectly. And then while THP and OML don't sound as good as the first four, they are mixed with intention (THP to sound very raw and garagey and OML to sound like top 40 radio).

 

Living Things though, is so frustrating. Because the songs are generally written in a much more 'rock' vein reminiscent of early Linkin Park, but on the album the guitars and live drums are SO LOW in the mix and the electronics are turned up so loud. With a better mix Living Things really could have been the ultimate LP album, a true synthesis of their entire career. I still like the album a lot but it has the most wasted potential imo.

 

I agree that LT has the worst mix, but I'm not sure that a better mix necessarily means it will sound more rock. I think it would be more like some of Muse's later work, where the synths and guitar sit more equally, but you can better pick apart the sounds and the song has a more lush "space" rather than sounding like a giant wall of noise. I actually think Powerless is alright on the album though, for some reason it sounds better than the others to me.