Friendly Fire / Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023)

[Somebodyangry]

8 minutes ago, sublimeric said:

I like “Friendly Fire”, but as is the case with most LP studio tracks, I HATE the effects on Chester’s voice. It sounds more like AI than Chester himself. 
 

Thankful we get to hear unreleased music, though, and finally have QWERTY on streaming services. 
 

I hope the band never stop releasing material, especially if they want to open their live recording vault, which we know has hundreds of shows in it

I love the song, but yeah there are some weird effects on it

[Rasputin 93]

8 hours ago, martinez said:

And just like i thought - Numb/Encore is the only one with new mastering, other songs are untouched.

 

EDIT: also New Divide.

How do you see this?

[LPxDBZ]

Always an emotional experience hearing Chester on these unreleased songs, especially here where it's one of the last Linkin Park songs he ever recorded. I don't think FF would've disrupted the flow of OML given how short the album already is nor do I think it's too similar to any other song on the album, but I'm sure they had a good reason to cut it. 

 

The tracklist is odd, in a greatest hits release that should represent every era of the band, omitting THP is an interesting choice. While the record label likely pushed for this release to follow up the success of M20, I'm sure the band had the final say in the tracklist and the lack of THP was their choice. And yeah, songs like Given Up and The Catalyst that are important songs of their respective eras probably also should be included, but it's subjective and when you're limited to 20 songs for whatever reason (19 not including FF) it's not an easy decision on what to include. That said, I'm happy that QWERTY will be hitting streaming services and is a song that newer fans may not have heard before. Greatest hits/compilation albums aren't really for me anyways, I'm just ecstatic to get Friendly Fire out of this, I legit didn't expect to hear this song for many more years.

[thigolpbr]

20 minutes ago, sublimeric said:

I like “Friendly Fire”, but as is the case with most LP studio tracks, I HATE the effects on Chester’s voice. It sounds more like AI than Chester himself. 
 

Thankful we get to hear unreleased music, though, and finally have QWERTY on streaming services. 
 

I hope the band never stop releasing material, especially if they want to open their live recording vault, which we know has hundreds of shows in it

I hope that one day the band opens this vault of live audio and video records. It's my dream!

 

[Justin]

If we’re being realistic about “opening the vault”, we’ll probably get a slow drip of material from it forever.

 

The Beatles’ full rooftop concert, their last live performance as a group, wasn’t released until 2022. It took 53 years.

 

LP will have enough live material for many decades worth of occasional special releases, and that’s probably how it will go.

Edited February 22 by Justin

[bloodbath]

The band played it safe with Papercuts. 90% of the tracks scream "you know us for this". Rather to try to impose their own tastes. ATS is the band's favorite record but they know casual fans still doesn't like it, it makes sense that WFTE is included, since it's very amicable. Even though tracks likeCatalyst and WTCFM are GREAT, somebody used to "classic" LP might find it weird. WFTE is a good teaser for those who really have curiosity.

 

The saddest part, of course, is that they even don't trust in THP. I don't think they hate it, but everything related to that album was a trainwreck. It makes sense that omitted it. 

 

But the biggest oddball is Qwerty. I have the theory that, thanks to the success to Lost, LP knows that casual fans crave for that heavy-yet-catchy sound. Giving them an obscure track that reminds to the Nu Metal era, makes some sense. 

[RYG4R]

3 minutes ago, bloodbath said:

The band played it safe with Papercuts. 90% of the tracks scream "you know us for this". Rather to try to impose their own tastes. ATS is the band's favorite record but they know casual fans still doesn't like it, it makes sense that WFTE is included, since it's very amicable. Even though tracks likeCatalyst and WTCFM are GREAT, somebody used to "classic" LP might find it weird. WFTE is a good teaser for those who really have curiosity.

 

The saddest part, of course, is that they even don't trust in THP. I don't think they hate it, but everything related to that album was a trainwreck. It makes sense that omitted it. 

 

But the biggest oddball is Qwerty. I have the theory that, thanks to the success to Lost, LP knows that casual fans crave for that heavy-yet-catchy sound. Giving them an obscure track that reminds to the Nu Metal era, makes some sense. 

 

What makes sense is that THP is the least of WB's concern, the label did not like THP at all. It's like the band's black sheep of their catalog. That's fine. It's the most annoying record, IMO. The vocals, the arrangements, etc. nothing stands out when you listen to that album. I always snoozed when I'm listening to THP and that is weird because I always jam to their other albums but THP doesn't hit me like the other releases. Sometimes, I lower down the volumes because it gets so loud that is quite irritating to the ear.

[LPLStaff]

It doesn't matter if people like THP much or not. There are songs on it that are solid, but there are songs on it with a lot of streams. 126 million for Final Masquerade isn't exactly a small number. It may be compared to other LP songs but that's a legit amount of streams. What does matter is choosing to exclude one of the main studio albums on a "Singles Collection" (they intentionally are not calling it a Greatest Hits). There are only seven main studio albums. There is plenty of room to include 1 THP song (a single) somewhere, somehow, especially when there is time left over on the CD for more music. Again, this is coming not even from a place of thinking THP is epic - it's coming from "excluding an entire album on a Singles Collection is a very weird move."

[RYG4R]

3 minutes ago, LPLStaff said:

It doesn't matter if people like THP much or not. There are songs on it that are solid, but there are songs on it with a lot of streams. 126 million for Final Masquerade isn't exactly a small number. It may be compared to other LP songs but that's a legit amount of streams. What does matter is choosing to exclude one of the main studio albums on a "Singles Collection" (they intentionally are not calling it a Greatest Hits). There are only seven main studio albums. There is plenty of room to include 1 THP song (a single) somewhere, somehow, especially when there is time left over on the CD for more music. Again, this is coming not even from a place of thinking THP is epic - it's coming from "excluding an entire album on a Singles Collection is a very weird move."

 

We'll see what Mike Shinoda would say to the press when Friendly Fire premieres. 

[JZLP-NaughtyNottingham]

5 hours ago, LPLStaff said:

Hmm. Zero THP while putting 2 OML songs on, when there is room left in the tracklisting is a pretty odd move, especially if you are including QWERTY.

 

Mike's comments before were that he wasn't interested in Greatest Hits, so it will be interesting to hear what the band says in the press about this release.

 

They should have at least included one THP song. Could definitely understand zero THP and zero OML, but 2 OML and zero THP is odd.

What is the strangest omission for this? Catalyst was #1 globally in many charts, Shadow is huge, Given Up is pretty high on streams, Iridescent is big.

 

I don't think that the tracklist is about numbers exactly.

 

I've been around since the release of Crawling I don't really care about the tracklist but if you close your eyes and go back in time you'll remember that every song on this compilation was huge in the moment that was released.

 

This release is just a big excuse to release Friendly Fire.

 

Who is going to buy a OML boxset in 2037? Seems unlikely.

[LPLStaff]

8 minutes ago, JZLP-NaughtyNottingham said:

This release is just a big excuse to release Friendly Fire.

 

Friendly Fire is just included so hardcore fans buy this and they can also market it with an "unheard Chester Bennington song."

 

It makes much more sense to include Given Up in that spot, or literally any of those earlier mentioned songs. GATS.

[RYG4R]

9 minutes ago, JZLP-NaughtyNottingham said:

 

I don't think that the tracklist is about numbers exactly.

 

I've been around since the release of Crawling I don't really care about the tracklist but if you close your eyes and go back in time you'll remember that every song on this compilation was huge in the moment that was released.

 

This release is just a big excuse to release Friendly Fire.

 

Who is going to buy a OML boxset in 2037? Seems unlikely.

 

Can LINKIN PARK still make huge singles post-Bennington era?  Not with the unreleased Chester vocal songs but with Shinoda-led LINKIN PARK new singles.

[YRQRM0]

What is the order of play counts for all the singles across streaming devices? I feel like we're wasting a lot of time debating THP's inclusion when no one has bothered to pull those numbers, and we don't even know what other data the label might be using (radio plays for example which we'll never have)
 

[DavideLP]

10 minutes ago, RYG4R said:

 

Can LINKIN PARK still make huge singles post-Bennington era?  Not with the unreleased Chester vocal songs but with Shinoda-led LINKIN PARK new singles.

In my opinion I'd answer yes with no doubt. The only thing I'm begging to get it's the band clarifying if they will continue being active with pre-2017 stuff or if there will be some new production. The doubt kills the fan base at this point after 7 years of hiatus

[RYG4R]

8 minutes ago, DavideLP said:

In my opinion I'd answer yes with no doubt. The only thing I'm begging to get it's the band clarifying if they will continue being active with pre-2017 stuff or if there will be some new production. The doubt kills the fan base at this point after 7 years of hiatus

 

I think pretty much of the majority of fans wanted LP to continue with a fresh direction post-Chester era.

[DavideLP]

7 minutes ago, RYG4R said:

 

I think pretty much of the majority of fans wanted LP to continue with a fresh direction post-Chester era.

I don't know. There's a great quantity of people that are against this idea. But from my perspective it doesn't imply to not be respectful to Chester. He will always be celebrated through memories (photo, videos, recorded studio & live music). The legacy can still live while the band create some new magic. I find also cool to keep giving us unreleased stuff with Chester while they create some new art. It would be a sweet approach to feel even Chester closer

Edited February 22 by DavideLP

[JZLP-NaughtyNottingham]

1 hour ago, RYG4R said:

 

Can LINKIN PARK still make huge singles post-Bennington era?  Not with the unreleased Chester vocal songs but with Shinoda-led LINKIN PARK new singles.

 

Highly unlikely. To 95% of the people even the ones who dislike them C was LP.

 

Mike has been trying to have a hit as the main vocalist and has failed every single time. (Waiting For Tomorrow, Aoki collabs, Invisible etc etc)

 

The last track that i remember that had success was It's Going Down that one was always on MTV.

 

But nothing it's impossible in my mind the only thing that could work for him is that if he createa tracks that sound like Papercut.

 

Fans would go crazy for that.

[DCrecelius]

1 hour ago, RYG4R said:

 

Can LINKIN PARK still make huge singles post-Bennington era?  Not with the unreleased Chester vocal songs but with Shinoda-led LINKIN PARK new singles.

it’s extremely possible, i think the band could continue and be just as successful as ever, especially in this age of alternative, it just depends on if the band WANTS to continue post Chester. 

[blackout]

I've just listened to Friendly Fire for the first time. What a song! I love it. The minimalistic beginning is awesome. The verses and chorus are powerful and catchy. The bridge is probably the weakest part of the song. The production of One More Light album is incredible and it's visible with this release as well. Polished, clear sound - beautiful! The acoustic guitar and drums here sound great as well. I hope we'll be able to listen to some more songs from OML sessions - we know that they worked on the vocals and lyrics first so I think there's a huge possibility that they have a lot of songs with vocals.

[Subs]

I dont get THP hate, or it being called boring, uninspired etc

 

The album is melt your face off exciting. Never understood why it isnt considered by the hardcore LP fans  a hidden gem and underatted, people usually shit on it. 

They could have just put Until its gone on this. Wonder if its because we might get a 10 year HP anniversary, doubtful but possible.

 

[Hybrid1988]

1 hour ago, RYG4R said:

 

Can LINKIN PARK still make huge singles post-Bennington era?  Not with the unreleased Chester vocal songs but with Shinoda-led LINKIN PARK new singles.

Doubt it. just going off the Shinoda releases, they never got close to the hype of an LP release. The rest of the members aren’t big rockstar personalities so their contributions won’t add much to the casual fans. 
Now, that’s not me saying they can’t continue with Mike as a sole vocalist and be successful. They surely can. It just probably won’t be as big as anything with Chester. 

 

16 minutes ago, Subs said:

I dont get THP hate, or it being called boring, uninspired etc

 

The album is melt your face off exciting. Never understood why it isnt considered by the hardcore LP fans  a hidden gem and underatted, people usually shit on it. 

They could have just put Until its gone on this. Wonder if its because we might get a 10 year HP anniversary, doubtful but possible.

 

Same here dude. It’s crazy to me. Tons of LP fans were begging for a more hard rocking album from them and when they finally delivered, nobody bought in. I thought the album was going to be huge in the rock world. Feels like I’m the only one who dug it sometimes. 

[bloodbath]

16 minutes ago, Hybrid1988 said:

25 minutes ago, Subs said:

I dont get THP hate, or it being called boring, uninspired etc

 

The album is melt your face off exciting. Never understood why it isnt considered by the hardcore LP fans  a hidden gem and underatted, people usually shit on it. 

They could have just put Until its gone on this. Wonder if its because we might get a 10 year HP anniversary, doubtful but possible.

 

Same here dude. It’s crazy to me. Tons of LP fans were begging for a more hard rocking album from them and when they finally delivered, nobody bought in. I thought the album was going to be huge in the rock world. Feels like I’m the only one who dug it sometimes. 

They didn't want a harder LP album, they wanted a Meteora 3. Nothing else. 

[Hybrid1988]

6 minutes ago, bloodbath said:

They didn't want a harder LP album, they wanted a Meteora 3. Nothing else. 

 

Ha! Fair take. I still see comments to this day: " I stopped listening after Meteora". Like, ok dude. 2004 wants their opinion back.  

[martinez]

FF physical single: https://www.emp.de/p/friendly-fire/568831.html

[linkin_boss]

1 hour ago, Hybrid1988 said:

Doubt it. just going off the Shinoda releases, they never got close to the hype of an LP release. The rest of the members aren’t big rockstar personalities so their contributions won’t add much to the casual fans. 
Now, that’s not me saying they can’t continue with Mike as a sole vocalist and be successful. They surely can. It just probably won’t be as big as anything with Chester. 

 

Same here dude. It’s crazy to me. Tons of LP fans were begging for a more hard rocking album from them and when they finally delivered, nobody bought in. I thought the album was going to be huge in the rock world. Feels like I’m the only one who dug it sometimes. 

I think a good chunk of Mike's not getting a lot of success is that whenever he comes to conversation a lot of people have no idea who he is. I run into this pretty often, until I say ahh the guy that raps in Linkin Park, and then everyone goes "Aaaaaaahhhhh....." I think just by carrying the Linkin Park name, whether they get a singer to deal with the parts Mike can't reach or if they do new stuff just with him, it would be more successful than his solo career.