2025.04.26 - Austin, Texas

[Qwerty18]

Brad studio solo takes on THP are the biggest proof Brad is not the most technically clean player

 

And I say that, but I love those THP solos, the fact they're a bit sketchy at times give them some kind of chaotic character, different from what most clean players would play.

[LPLStaff]

Not to keep harping on it since we aren't able to change it, but this doesn't sound completely off to you? https://youtu.be/miQ9Y5UW08g?si=5mx-PqIcJ0b6m281&t=233

It sounds... "chunky" or something, like the rhythm is off. Like... "chunka, chunka" and not smooth or something. I don't play guitar. But I can immediately notice at the show that Papercut, LFY, POA, APFMH are really sounding different on guitar. Thats just how it is now. Listen to that and compare it to like Rock am Ring 04 and you can hear a night and day difference. What exactly it IS, I am not sure, because I don't play or speak in guitar terms - but I can hear it audibly very easily at the show.

 

 

[Qwerty18]

7 minutes ago, LPLStaff said:

Not to keep harping on it since we aren't able to change it, but this doesn't sound completely off to you? https://youtu.be/miQ9Y5UW08g?si=5mx-PqIcJ0b6m281&t=233

It sounds... "chunky" or something, like the rhythm is off. Like... "chunka, chunka" and not smooth or something. I don't play guitar. ... Listen to that and compare it to like Rock am Ring 04 and you can hear a night and day difference. What exactly it IS, I am not sure, because I don't play or speak in guitar terms - but I can hear it audibly very easily at the show.

 

 

 

Regarding Papercut, I compared the recording from that video  and the one from RaR 2004, and there is indeed a very noticeable difference. Now, when I hear this, I believe it is .... intentional?   

 

Far from a guitar pro and I didn't check in details, but I'll try to explain.

 

On Rar 2004, Brad let the string ring continuously and just kind of strum through them, creating that smooth wave effect.

 

In the above recording, Alex play that part in a staccato / syncopated way (a bit like on the reanimation version actually), and that creates that start-stop effect.

 

That's definitely a deliberate choice here, because from a pure technical standpoint, I believe Rar 2004 is actually easier to play, no need to worry so much about keeping in sync or muting strings. So I think, either Alex just learned the song a bit different, or was told to play it that way. Who knows.

[Trumtram]

41 minutes ago, LPLStaff said:

Not to keep harping on it since we aren't able to change it, but this doesn't sound completely off to you? https://youtu.be/miQ9Y5UW08g?si=5mx-PqIcJ0b6m281&t=233

It sounds... "chunky" or something, like the rhythm is off. Like... "chunka, chunka" and not smooth or something. I don't play guitar. But I can immediately notice at the show that Papercut, LFY, POA, APFMH are really sounding different on guitar. Thats just how it is now. Listen to that and compare it to like Rock am Ring 04 and you can hear a night and day difference. What exactly it IS, I am not sure, because I don't play or speak in guitar terms - but I can hear it audibly very easily at the show.

 

 

Regarding "Papercut": Alex seems to follow the album version which has this kind of stop/go rhythm (might be more bass related, can't say for sure). So if anything, he keeps it close to the source material, I guess?

Edited April 30 by Trumtram

[KeysToTheLinkinPark]

21 minutes ago, Trumtram said:

Regarding "Papercut": Alex seems to follow the album version which has this exact stop/go rhythm (might be more bass related, can't say for sure). So if anything, he keeps it close to the source material, I guess?

That is true. Same goes for the verses. Apart from the palm muting technique, Alex plays the second verse plam muted like the album version. Brad played around way more. You can hear that in a show from 2017 where Brad doesn't really stop between any of those palm mutes.

 

It's played liked this in the 2nd verse: 

C# |1-----1-----3-----0-----0-----0-----------------8-----------8--8--8-----7-----7-----------------------------------|

Between the last 0 and the first 8 is a clear stop on the record and here Brad just runs it through and creates way more guitar sound with it. He barly palm mutes the lowest string either. It's a stylistic choice tbh. I play around with the 2nd verse as well when I play guitar. Sometimes I like it a bit more open, sometimes a bit darker with more palm muting.

 

 

44 minutes ago, Qwerty18 said:

In the above recording, Alex play that part in a staccato / syncopated way (a bit like on the reanimation version actually), and that creates that start-stop effect.

Bridge on the record: you hear some strumming,

Bridge 2004: You hear like zero strumming
Bridge 2025: Clear strumming pattern

Bridge 2017:  strumming pattern is the closest to record in the beginning of the bridge but Brad runs it through towards the middle/end

 

I would say that Alex may put a bit too much energy into the strumming which leads to almost a full stop of the notes. On the other hand, Brad just never really played it like the record as well and created way more guitar sound.

 

Edited April 30 by KeysToTheLinkinPark

[Trumtram]

9 minutes ago, KeysToTheLinkinPark said:

That is true. Same goes for the verses. Apart from the palm muting technique, Alex plays the second verse plam muted like the album version. Brad played around way more. You can hear that in a show from 2017 where Brad doesn't really stop between any of those palm mutes.

 

It's played liked this in the 2nd verse: 

C# |1-----1-----3-----0-----0-----0-----------------8-----------8--8--8-----7-----7-----------------------------------|

Between the last 0 and the first 8 is a clear stop on the record and here Brad just runs it through and creates way more guitar sound with it. He barly palm mutes the lowest string either. It's a stylistic choice tbh. I play around with the 2nd verse as well when I play guitar. Sometimes I like it a bit more open, sometimes a bit darker with more palm muting.

 

 

Bridge on the record: you hear some strumming,

Bridge 2004: You hear like zero strumming
Bridge 2025: Clear strumming pattern

Bridge 2017:  strumming pattern is the closest to record in the beginning of the bridge but Brad runs it through towards the middle/end

 

I would say that Alex may put a bit too much energy into the strumming which leads to almost a full stop of the notes. On the other hand, Brad just never really played it like the record as well and created way more guitar sound.

 

Great stuff, man! Thanks for that. The RAR version sounds so sloppy, holy shit. Never realized that.

[KeysToTheLinkinPark]

55 minutes ago, Qwerty18 said:

That's definitely a deliberate choice here, because from a pure technical standpoint, I believe Rar 2004 is actually easier to play, no need to worry so much about keeping in sync or muting strings. So I think, either Alex just learned the song a bit different, or was told to play it that way. Who knows.

For me it is way easier to play it like Brad. Both the bridge and the verse. You don't have to think too much about palm muting to strumming. You can fake the rhythm by letting the strings ring a bit and then hit the next chord instead of strumming it.

[LPLStaff]

Really great technical analysis here - greatly appreciate it.  

So it's really just Alex learning the songs slightly differently than Brad played them - you could argue he learned them more accurately and in relation to the studio version, sure. All I meant to point out from Sept 5 to now is the guitar indeed sounds quite different to me in those specific spots when Alex is playing. I of course know he is a very talented guitar player. 

[Fleur de Lys]

Yes, it's true. Alex palm mutes more than Brad did live on specific parts, maybe a little more than the studio versions too. I don't mind it for most songs, but on APFMH, it does sound kind of wrong. Tho I think he did ease off a little bit in recent performances, which is good, but it's still a little too much imo