'From Zero' Album Discussion

[MMM]

For me GTG is one of the most touching songs in whole discography. Instant tear in eye. 

 

I will review whole album after official release but generaly I'm full of positive emotions first time since LIVING THINGS.

Edited November 11 by MMM

[Jani]

S Tier: IGYEIH, Emptiness Machine

 

A Tier: Stained, Over Each Other, Good Things Go, Overflow 

 

B Tier: Heavy Is The Crown, Casualty, Two Faced

 

C Tier: Cut The Bridge 

Edited November 15 by Jani
Updated

[drackslayer]

Copying the same "First listen review" i posted on LPA and Reddit:

 

I think the biggest mistake people could make is going into this album expecting a new Hybrid Theory/Meteora. As an LP fan that listen to all the albums i was happy to find traces of every LP era in a single album.

 

IGYEIH, Two Faced, HITC - Hybrid Theory/Meteora

 

Overflow, Stained - A Thousand Suns

 

OEO, Stained, Cut the Bridge - One More Light

 

TEM, Cut the Bridge, Good Things Go - Minutes to Midnight / Living Things

 

Casualty - The Hunting Party

 

The album reminds me a lot of Minutes to Midnight, both in pacing and in its variety of sounds. It feels like an alternative version of LP post-Meteora, with “less hesitation” to sound nu-metal at times. If I could choose the band’s path, I believe this balance is perfect for continuing their legacy.

 

Some things I found interesting: Emily sounds very much like Demi Lovato in some songs, though I can’t recall exactly which ones, but the last track is a good example. And that’s not a bad thing—in fact, I believe she’s worked with Demi before.

 

The non-nu-metal songs flirt heavily with modern pop rock, similar to Twenty One Pilots and Imagine Dragons. I find it interesting to go from 2000s-style rock to what today’s youth would consider rock.

 

In the end, Mike remains an exceptionally talented songwriter, and the band embraces not only its roots but all its post-Meteora work as well. A reminder that LP is "One Step Closer" and "A Place for My Head," but it’s also "Friendly Fire," "Heavy," "Waiting for the End," and "Lost in the Echo."

 

Finally, Emily brings excellent vocal variety. I think very few current vocalists could span from "Casualty" to "Good Things Go."

 

Just two months ago, I thought the band was over, and now I’m seeing an album that celebrates all their phases.

May they keep going this way.

Edited November 11 by drackslayer

[OfLefty]

The ending of IGYEIH sounds like it came off of Aenima lol. Similar riff to Forty Six

[thor3]

3 minutes ago, drackslayer said:

 

 

 

 

Finally, Emily brings excellent vocal variety. I think very few current vocalists could span from "Casualty" to "Good Things Go."

 

 

that's why she was the perfect chose. someone who is not like Chester but can sing like Chester, if that makes sense. 

[Bebro]

1 hour ago, YRQRM0 said:

Two Faced - WOW! This sounds like Mike worked on M20 and was like "let's make another song like this". Like HITC, instantly catchy and very nu metal. I wouldn't say it's OSC part two necessarily, that literally belongs to Figure 09 and imo also Don't Stay, but it definitely fits the HT/M era. They'd be insane to not make this a single or promo it with some game/movie or something EDIT: It's a single haha

 

 

 

Good Things Go - Probably my favorite, I LOVE that chorus. For me, this one was super undersold. This feels like the best of what they learned during OML. The melodies are dynamic, the lyrics feel super heart-felt, the soundscape feels grand...this is Sorry For Now 2.0 for me, which is my favorite track off OML. Emily and Mike's harmonizing here is the best use of 2 vocalists on the album for me. If you like OML and OEO, you'll LOVE this track. The intro sounds and guitars are so nice. I feel like this song couldn't have happened without his work on PT either, really beautiful stuff. I wonder if the "Halfway apologized" lyric is an intentional reference to SFN/OML era 

Two faced is totally Meteora ear. Like Fighting Myself 2.

Good Things Go intro guitar sounds like typical Mettalica light acoustic guitar, for example in Nothing else matter, there's just chorus effect to it. Chorus is very very, like if you listen to first Grey Daze albums, there's this kind of specific chord change in chorus.

Overall just like Mike said, this is a lot Pre Hybrid theory stuff.

My favouristes are Emptiness machine, cut the bridge, two faced and good things go

[Soeffingnaive92]

Only listened to the intro and casualty. I don’t like Casualty, blunt mess Mike sound badly weird 

[DylHDZ]

Hard to choose a fav at this point but I do love Overflow and Stained has potential to be big on radio. Of course I love the heavy songs as well

[Stubakka_99]

The ending of Overflow - There's a whole generation not going to know that those nosies at the beginning of the track is someone flipping the cassette tape over 🤣🤣

Edited November 11 by Stubakka_99

[unksoldier2000]

wanted to point some of the easter eggs so far

 

1- Casualty ending contains a sample of a beat from Joe's Tasty Gas Station Breaks From The Orient vinyl (It was used in Papercut intro from what i've heard)

 

2- at the end of Overflow a snippet of Xero's Fuse plays

 

 

3- the beginning of Two Faced has an inverted sample of the bridge "I can't hear myself"

 

4- IGYEH has a Step Up sample at the beginning "so the question must be asked"

 

[demoncarnotaur]

Almost all these songs are growing on me, but especially Good Things Go. That one stings but in a good way.

[max91]

1 hour ago, drackslayer said:

In the end, Mike remains an exceptionally talented songwriter, and the band embraces not only its roots but all its post-Meteora work as well. A reminder that LP is "One Step Closer" and "A Place for My Head," but it’s also "Friendly Fire," "Heavy," "Waiting for the End," and "Lost in the Echo."

They're actually "One Step Closer" and "A Place for My Head," it’s also "Friendly Fire," "Heavy," "Waiting for the End," and "Lost in the Echo", and now they're also "The Emptiness Machine", "Overflow" and "Stained".

 

 

27 minutes ago, Stubakka_99 said:

The beginning of Two Faced - There's a whole generation not going to know that those nosies at the beginning of the track is someone flipping the cassette tape over 🤣🤣

Plus some people that think that the song snippet you get to listen from that tape before they stop it is not a random song exactly.

[DylHDZ]

Honestly I feel like every song on this album could be a single 🤷🏻‍♂️

[sckofelng]

First listen is done. As someone who is a hardcore HT/Meteora LP fan I'll say this: This album is a proper mix of the band's eras but in a much more guitar driven style and, in my humble opinion, I'll say this: Casualty, Two Faced and IGYEIH are up there for best songs since Meteora.

Really happy after my first listen.

Edited November 11 by sckofelng

[max91]

17 minutes ago, unksoldier2000 said:

wanted to point some of the easter eggs so far

 

1- Casualty ending contains a sample of a beat from Joe's Tasty Gas Station Breaks From The Orient vinyl (It was used in Papercut intro from what i've heard)

3- the beginning of Two Faced has an inverted sample of the bridge "I can't hear myself"

4- IGYEH has a Step Up sample at the beginning "so the question must be asked"

I was aware of point 2, but i didn't knew about the others.

 

Also like we talked on this same post, the ending of the album (GTG) connects with the FZ intro if you listen it in repeat.

(But as @martinez said, is like the song ends a little before its suppoused to (maybe will be fixed on streaming platforms when it launches or after that) and sounds weird, i liked that actually)

[aaaaaaA]

For me, except The Hunting Party, I could not find an LP album to like at least 5 songs out of it since Minutes to Midnight, so I'm on the Casualty and IGYEIH style of it.

Since No Roads Left I haven't heard Mike do something that special with his voice, like on Casualty. And the fact that there are some songs where we can barely could identify Em's voice, it's spectacular. 

And I think that Colin's drumming skills give a more natural heavy sound to this band. I remember Rob's drum kit in 2012 which sounded sooo damn pop-ish - I can't even talk about One More Light - that was a flop for me.

 

Edited November 11 by aaaaaaA

[max91]

*BTW, if i can talk about even the intro, i love how they're talking about the album name, and Emily asks about it, and Mike afirms the answer. Then a silence and she finally realizes it.

 

The first time i heard it, i thought it was the song having a wrong cut, but the fact that she starts to realize and then the audio cuts made me laugh so hard 🤣

Edited November 11 by max91

[GreyFox-AFCA]

2 minutes ago, max91 said:

*BTW, if i can talk about even the intro, i love how they're talking about the album name, and Emily asks about it, and Mike afirms the answer. Then a silence and she finally realizes it.

 

The first time i heard it, i thought it was the song having a wrong cut, but the fact that she starts to realize and then the audio cuts made me laugh so hard 🤣

It's not Emily who's talking in the intro.
According to MIke, Dave and Colin when asked about it at the Paris listening party it's someone else.

[aaaaaaA]

2 minutes ago, max91 said:

*BTW, if i can talk about even the intro, i love how they're talking about the album name, and Emily asks about it, and Mike afirms the answer. Then a silence and she finally realizes it.

 

The first time i heard it, i thought it was the song having a wrong cut, but the fact that she starts to realize and then the audio cuts made me laugh so hard 🤣

That voice sounds like a kid's voice to me, not Emily's. Or was Em having a cold or something because you can hear some moisturizing nostrils   

[martinez]

11 minutes ago, max91 said:

I was aware of point 2, but i didn't knew about the others.

 

Also like we talked on this same post, the ending of the album (GTG) connects with the FZ intro if you listen it in repeat.

(But as @martinez said, is like the song ends a little before its suppoused to (maybe will be fixed on streaming platforms when it launches or after that) and sounds weird, i liked that actually)

 

No one will fix it because it is how it supposed to be so get used to it. I think I'm sure about it because I compared both, the intro (From Zero (Intro)) starts differently and you can't really combine it with what is at the end of GTG so yeah it looks like this is how it supossed to be.

[max91]

6 minutes ago, GreyFox-AFCA said:

It's not Emily who's talking in the intro.
According to MIke, Dave and Colin when asked about it at the Paris listening party it's someone else.

Oh, thanks for letting me know that. I thought it was her in any case.

[DylHDZ]

8 minutes ago, GreyFox-AFCA said:

It's not Emily who's talking in the intro.
According to MIke, Dave and Colin when asked about it at the Paris listening party it's someone else.

Yep def not Emily after hearing a decent quality on headphones. Sounds like it might be one of their kids, maybe Mike’s son?

Edited November 11 by DylHDZ

[Chris]

Overall this album makes me really happy to be a fan of this band. It seems very clear from the interstitial moments and the specific sonic elements that they really took a good retrospective look at the band's career and crafted something that both draws from the myriad of things Linkin Park and Mike has done (Stained is dripping with Post Traumatic style!), while also slightly moving into different territory with some modern influences.

 

I'm really glad that it seems that there's no longer this air of being "over" Hybrid Theory like we got with OML cycle, though I think a lot of that may have been reactionary to the backlash.

 

The sample work, turntable-based and otherwise, has been a highlight for me. It's always what I thought separated HT and Meteora from the other albums of the genre, and it didn't really pop up as much on the last few albums.

 

Emily sounds great across the board and between Casualty and Good Things Go, this has solidified my opinion that she was the right pick.

 

Overall, this has really made my day, combined with the general vibe the band has been giving of how comfortable and happy they are with this new era. I'm inspired! Now we need the tour dates.

 

1 hour ago, unksoldier2000 said:

wanted to point some of the easter eggs so far

 

1- Casualty ending contains a sample of a beat from Joe's Tasty Gas Station Breaks From The Orient vinyl (It was used in Papercut intro from what i've heard)

 

2- at the end of Overflow a snippet of Xero's Fuse plays

 

 

3- the beginning of Two Faced has an inverted sample of the bridge "I can't hear myself"

 

4- IGYEH has a Step Up sample at the beginning "so the question must be asked"

 

Yes, I loved all these throwbacks. A treat for the fans who know and also shows really just how much digging they did. Most of the scratch samples on the album sound like they're from Hahn's early Hybrid Theory-era sample collection (both of the bridge ones on Casualty are definitely from TGSB).

 

The opening scratch sample from With You is also briefly featured at the end of Casualty!

Edited November 11 by Chris

[Hybrid1988]

Standout tracks for me based on a first listen: Casualty (I’ll always be in the minority that loves when LP goes balls to the wall aggressive), Two Faced, Stained, Overflow, IGYEIH. 
 

Overall, a really solid album that sits right in the middle of the discography for me. Definitely better than OML (which is all I was wanting) and I might even put it over Living Things to be honest. It’s got a lot of the signature LP sound while still having elements or a couple of songs that change things up and expand their catalog. 

[nickishere12345]

Two Faced is crazy man. Like the band has flirted with their classic sound here and there over the years but we've never gotten a song that LITERALLY sounds like it could be on the first two records. That song could sit after Hit the Floor on Meteora and no one would notice. I'm a fan of LP at their more experimental but I'd be lying if i didn't say how cool it is to hear a classic LP track one more time.