Rate The Post-MTM Released Tracks!

[hahninator]

I thought since we finally got the last piece of music from the MTM era (I believe), I could make a thread talking about the music. How about this...rate these songs in order of favorite to least favorite and why.

 

01. Lockjaw

02. New Divide

03. Across The Line

04. Not Alone

05. Blackbirds

 

Lockjaw, New Divide, Across The Line, Not Alone, and Blackbirds. Heck, you can include No Roads Left if you want too since it wasn't on Minutes To Midnight, and if you really think one of the LPU 8 tracks (but not LPU 9) was great, throw that in too! I'm excited to see what you guys thought was the best song released, the worst song released, and why.

 

Ready, go!

[hahninator]

Mine:

 

01. Across The Line. Track just does it for me. One of my favorite all-time Linkin tracks. The vocals and lyrics bring it and the song structure is excellent. A Rob Bourdon drum roll, Chester screaming, I love it. No idea why it wasn't on MTM...this is a QUALITY song that I absolutely love.

02. New Divide. Didn't really like it the first few months. It took me seeing this one live before I liked it. The intro in Graz was REALLY loud and the crowd just blew. the. fuck. up. when Joe started the song. Then in Stuttgart, jesus christ the entire crowd just lost it on New Divide when LP came back out since they thought LP was done due to DBS playing 3 songs. New Divide into Faint into OSC was the most epic LP encore I've seen and after witnessing the orgy of New Divide live in the encore, I started liking the song a lot more. Nice Trent Reznor bridge and the intro is classic Linkin.

03. Blackbirds. Hmm, odd intro but once again proves Linkin can bring it in the song structure category. Starting with Easier To Run and then Valentine's Day, I am getting more and more impressed with the way they compose songs. Sweet lyrics in this one but Chester singing over the beat is ehh. I can definitely see why it's not on the CD. It lacks in the length department and is a bit repetitive with no climax. Not my favorite but it's tolerable. Mike's rapping on the bridge is nasty. Brad coming in with the beat is cool though. Did Rob have anything to do with this song?

04. Lockjaw. I know this is entirely a Mike Shinoda production with a little Rob Bourdon, but it's still cool. I like the sample with piano and guitar over it, slowly progressing to the climax. Always had something for Lockjaw ever since I first heard it. Just clicks with me and actually comes close with Blackbirds but due to the length is number 4. Pretty sweet little composition.

05. Not Alone. Charity song, yeah. Not a big fan of this one. Not a big fan of the singing in this one, Chester sounds a bit whiny to me. It's cool for a Haiti song but I would NOT like to see this one live. It sounds like a 100% Mike Shinoda production (lol @ the intro reminding LP fans of Shadow Of The Day) with the beats and all. I'd like less drum machine stuff and more real drums from the Rob department. Best part comes on the ending (yay for more song structure experimentation by LP) where Joe is scratching. Yes, it's small but it's big for me since I was very upset at barely any Joe scratching on MTM. Welcome back, brotha!

[Legend]

01 // ACROSS THE LINE : One of my favorite LP songs ever. I don't know why this didn't make the album. It has so much energy, and the screaming is badass. Get's me so pumped. Good workout song. I see myself constantly humming Chesters verses randomly.

 

02 // NEW DIVIDE : I am not a Transformers fan at all. (Though I am a hardcore Megan Fox fan, but who isn't?). So when I heard Linkin Park was making a song for Transformers, I didn't think much. At first, I thought they were just going to score the movie with some instrumentals, like mike did for the VMA. When I heard a full song, I was surprised but not interested. I would have been embarrassed to say my idol singer was screaming about Megatron. Who want's to hear a 15 seconds scream of the word "Megatroooooon"? Also, seeing how LP got softer, I wasn't really waiting on this. They blew me away with what they came out with. And they did it live 20000x better with the badass intros by Mr. Hahn. Love this fucking song.

 

03 // LOCKJAW : If you don't like this song, go fuck yourself. Point blank. This goes to show how Mike can fucking mellow someone out and pump them up in one instrumental. In this song, I just want to close my eyes and relax, and then I want to break shit. Love Lockjaw. I blast this every time I hear it.

 

04 // BLACKBIRDS : I honestly do like the song. The rapping is sick (if they let me hear the first 30 seconds of it). Chester sounds amazing in this song. The vocals are powerful. Rating is so low because I expected Blackbirds to be soft, and I was right... And I don't want soft songs anymore. .

 

05 // NOT ALONE : Shitty song, but it was for a good cause. Only LP song that is not on my iTunes.

[Biggiee2180@aol.com]

Mine:

 

01. Across The Line. Track just does it for me. One of my favorite all-time Linkin tracks. The vocals and lyrics bring it and the song structure is excellent. A Rob Bourdon drum roll, Chester screaming, I love it. No idea why it wasn't on MTM...this is a QUALITY song that I absolutely love.

02. New Divide. Didn't really like it the first few months. It took me seeing this one live before I liked it. The intro in Graz was REALLY loud and the crowd just blew. the. fuck. up. when Joe started the song. Then in Stuttgart, jesus christ the entire crowd just lost it on New Divide when LP came back out since they thought LP was done due to DBS playing 3 songs. New Divide into Faint into OSC was the most epic LP encore I've seen and after witnessing the orgy of New Divide live in the encore, I started liking the song a lot more. Nice Trent Reznor bridge and the intro is classic Linkin.

03. Blackbirds. Hmm, odd intro but once again proves Linkin can bring it in the song structure category. Starting with Easier To Run and then Valentine's Day, I am getting more and more impressed with the way they compose songs. Sweet lyrics in this one but Chester singing over the beat is ehh. I can definitely see why it's not on the CD. It lacks in the length department and is a bit repetitive with no climax. Not my favorite but it's tolerable. Mike's rapping on the bridge is nasty. Brad coming in with the beat is cool though. Did Rob have anything to do with this song?

04. Lockjaw. I know this is entirely a Mike Shinoda production with a little Rob Bourdon, but it's still cool. I like the sample with piano and guitar over it, slowly progressing to the climax. Always had something for Lockjaw ever since I first heard it. Just clicks with me and actually comes close with Blackbirds but due to the length is number 4. Pretty sweet little composition.

05. Not Alone. Charity song, yeah. Not a big fan of this one. Not a big fan of the singing in this one, Chester sounds a bit whiny to me. It's cool for a Haiti song but I would NOT like to see this one live. It sounds like a 100% Mike Shinoda production (lol @ the intro reminding LP fans of Shadow Of The Day) with the beats and all. I'd like less drum machine stuff and more real drums from the Rob department. Best part comes on the ending (yay for more song structure experimentation by LP) where Joe is scratching. Yes, it's small but it's big for me since I was very upset at barely any Joe scratching on MTM. Welcome back, brotha!

Lockjaw. I don't really consider Lockjaw a M2M era song. It came out well after the album did and it showed Mike and Rob recording it for the whole digi design thing. But I love the instrumental nonetheless. Definitely up there with A.06 and Wake. It had potential to be a very good LP track.

 

New Divide I loved this song from the first listen. It did everything it was supposed to and so much more. It generated the perfect levels of intensity and angst for the movie, and most importantly it stuck to the boundaryless style of LP and created even more room for them to explore. I was amazed by how good the song sounded live, not that I'm never not amazed by their live work, but for being such an electronic driven song I was surprised with how well it kicked ass live. Definitely the best track they've released since M2M.

 

Across The Line. I was really surprised with how much this song grew on me over time. The first half of the song took some time for me to truly appreciate, because the 2nd half kicked so much ass and made me wished the made the entire song that heavy. After a while I realized that was just a very creative approach to building up the intensity of the song so kudos to the guys for that. Chester's 10 second scream is what made me like that song from the get go. I remember growing up I wasn't too big of a fan of Chester's screaming, but after listening to them for 10 years I've grown to really and truly love it. Its amazing how he can create the perfect hybrid of melodic singing and intense screaming. This song's in a close contest for the number 2 spot.

 

Not Alone. I have to admit, I was one of the many fans who thought since we were all getting another in between album track from LP that it was gonna kick ass like always. Not so much with this one. I understand why the song was dug out of their archives and worked the way it was so I give them mad props for creating such a beautiful song that fits it's cause perfectly. On that note, the song is definitely good, but not one of their bests, not by a long shot. What makes it so good is how well it fit for Haiti.

 

Blackbirds. This song is definitely the most creative song they've released since M2M. I like how the song doesn't fit the stereotypical LP format that includes Mike's rapping. The Lo-Fi vocal intro caught me by surprise (and I actually thought it was because it was a shitty audip rip from the game lol) and it actually grew on me. Chester's vocals are stellar as always, and the heavy beat-driven bridge overdubbed with Mike's vocals is what made the song for me. Overall, it was a pretty good song. And deserving of my number 3 spot.

No Roads Left. After hearing all the hype that there would be less Mike rapping and more Mike singing on M2M, this song really did that claim justice, and made me pissed that there weren't more songs on there like this, or at least this track didn't replace In Between. I can understand why this was released as a M2M B-Side because its the most deserving out of the post-M2M tracks to make the album. Mike's vocals blew me away with the first listen, which only fueled my opinion of this making the final album cut. This song really showed how good of a vocalist Mike is, and how creative, underrated and versatile of an artist he truly is. This track is fighting ATL for the number 2 spot.

 

All in all, I'm more than satisfied with LP and the work they've put into keeping us occupied and happy in between albums. Not many bands do what they do, and it really shows how much they love their fans and how our love for them has shaped them as a band altogether. With that said, its been a great 3 years since M2M. I've learned to branch out into different genres of music, and it made me appreciate LP's music in general. Now its time for the new album! I'd love some serious album news sometime in the next month. That would be awesome!

[eyesburning]

01 Lockjaw

02 Across The Line

03 New Divide

04 Blackbirds (may change after listening to it for a few weeks)#

05 Not Alone

[danielpsoad-09]

01. New Divide : I think it's one of the best LP songs to date. I love Chester's vocals. It's a simple but catchy song. The bridge kick ass It should be a MUST in every LP show from now on.

02. Across The Line : What I like about this song is that it starts very quiet and it grows up second after second, and then it explodes with the climax after Chester screams. Great atmosphere from beginning to end. The song structure is great IMO.

03. Blackbirds : I think the song is ok, nothing spectacular. Mike's part at the beginning doesn't make any sense to me cuz when it's over, it seems like the song starts again. There's not emotion on Chester's vocals, and there is no climax at all.

04. Not Alone : I'm not a fan of this one. It's a charity song and it has a specific purpose, but I don't think LP put their heart into it.

05. Lockjaw : It's an instrumental and it's good, but it's probably my least favorite instrumental by LP.

[Spin]

1. New Divide - there's nothing specific I like about it, but I think it's a great track.

2. Across the Line - great demo, if a bit raw. It builds up really well to the bridge, where it just breaks out.

3. Blackbirds - odd intro, good beat, good vocals. Mike's verse was pretty cool.

4. Not Alone - great song for the cause, but outside of the charity aspect, I don't like it all that much.

5. Lockjaw - instrumental song that was good in my books, but that's all it is. Nothing too terribly special about it to me.

Edited April 27, 2010 by Spin

[sublimeric]

1. "New Divide" - Like "What I've Done", but better. Love the bridge.

2. "Across the Line" - I love the beat. It's LP, but different.

3. "Blackbirds" - Just because Mike is rapping again. Would have been killer with a kickass rock/metal/scream ending, but oh well.

4. "Lockjaw" - Does this even count? I thought it was for a Protools demo? Still cool.

5. "No Alone" - If they ever play this live, it will be labeled "Bathroom Break" on the setlist

[ernieball003]

1. Blackbirds

2. Across The Line

3. Lockjaw

4. New Divide

5. Not Alone

[mvaug002]

Best- NEw Divide. Definitely the best song out of them.

Worst- Across The Line. Just doesn't seem organized or finished

[LPPRJKT4]

1. New Divide- Not because it's the fan single, but because it's old school LP, and not old school in the Hybrid Theory sense either, but they once again show that they can combine heavy without metal, experimental with a ton of edge, and pure awesomeness. Plus it's killer live.

 

2. Across The Line- This song is a bit personal to me, so I am putting it as number 2 even if it's a demo. Great verses with Chester and Mike on dual vocals (or Mike just very audible on backup), and awesome DJ'ing by Mr. Hahn

 

3. Lockjaw- Loved the amazing instrumental, would be great if played live at some point XD.

 

4. Blackbirds- The Man (Mike Shinoda) returns with his Fort Minor free style raps, while Chester delivers once again with a Breaking The Habit esque singing style, great song.

 

5. Not Alone- This one was ok, good attempt at hip hop, but reminded me too much of Shadow of the Day which I don't really like.

[Michael]

1. Not Alone - love the slow tempo of this song, fav part is the end

2. New Divide - great intro and bridge

3. Across The Line - love the keyboard thingy in the back ground that was mainly used in the demo

4. Lockjaw - great instrumental, love the climax

5. Blackbirds - still new so still has to grow on me

[florez411]

To be fair Mark, there are still a couple unreleased songs, remember out of the songs from the MTM sessions, only 15 out of 17 have been released. The twelve album tracks, No Roads Left, Across The Line, and now Blackbirds (this one can be considered because it can be heard on the MTM DVD), that leaves two more songs to be released from those sessions as BRad said that 17 songs were recorded, but out of the songs released and the other non-album songs I'd say that New Divide is the best with Lockjaw being my least favorite. They're all great songs though

[ChuckCheese]

1. Across the Line

2. New Divide

3. Blackbirds

4. Not Alone

5. Lockjaw

[Jay_Sensei]

1. Across The Line - This song is sick, i love the heaviness of the track, and fell in love with it from the beginning, it remains in my top ten for LP

2. Blackbirds - I was expecting more rapping in it from Mike, which was probably to be expected from the preview they gave :/, but it was still a kick ass track and i love it, i just wish i could have it transfered on my iPT from the game itself, but i guess we will have to wait.

3. Lockjaw - This instrumental was great, it definately put greatness back into the LP sound.

4. Not Alone - This track was just ok for me, the vid was good, it kinda had a U2 vibe when they showed Chester singing into the mic. Its not great tho, but it was for a great cause, so it passes.

5. New Divide - This song is waaaaaay too overplayed everywhere, this song is one of the main reasons why i dont even listen to radio anymore, because every hour i would hear it and be like, what the hell, i want to listen to something else.

[LPPanther]

1. New Divide

2. Across The Line

3. Blackbirds

4. Not Alone

5. Lockjaw

 

This was hard cause I have major love for all these songs for some reason lol. And if you're including No Roads Left then that's my number 1!

[thesungoesdown]

1. New Divide- Top 5 LP song ever for me. I love the lyrics. I love the breakdown towards the end. Its not your typical structure for an LP song. I still hear it all the time 1 year later.

 

A VERY distant second.

 

2. Across the Line- This song feels incomplete to me at times. I know it's a demo but i just feel it had the potential for more. Good song though

 

3. Blackbirds- First impression was so-so for me. Just feels like a typical song lyrically from LP. There should have been more Mike.

 

4. Lockjaw- The instrumental that had potential. Too bad its just a quick thing put together to test out protools, but it should have been used for something bigger.

 

5. Not Alone- Absolutely hate this song. The only LP song I didn't even bother putting on my itunes.

[Astat]

Across the Line

New Divide

Not Alone

Lockjaw

Blackbirds

 

I've probably given reviews of all of these songs with the exception of Blackbirds at one time or another, so I'll just throw my Blackbirds review in here:

 

I really don't understand the purpose of the intro. It's interesting and different, sure, but it doesn't really add to the song, nor does it have any relevance to what comes after it. I think the song would honestly be better if they just cut that part off and had it begin with the synth part that precedes Chester's vocal entrance. It would increase the impact of Mike's rap part later in the song too, because it would be more unexpected. It kind of just sounds like they were like "Hey let's try this...oh we don't really have a place to put it...eh, let's just tack it on the beginning of this song." It's really detatched.

 

As for the rest of the song, it has a good melody and the lyrical content is a bit different than usual, but the whole thing just seems very unrefined, particularly in the instrumental department. Out of all the released songs from the MTM era that didn't make the CD (QWERTY, Announcement Service Public, No Roads Left, Across the Line, Not Alone, Blackbirds), Blackbirds definitely sounds the most unfinished. It's an interesting song with enough replay value to make it worth having, but I can definitely see why this one didn't make the album. I'd give it about a 6 out of 10.

[KATHYxx]

1. Across The Line: Just excellently done. The first of the only two songs in this set that actually get me really really excited enough to set them on repeat for forever.

2. No Roads Left - I'm including this despite, or because, no other songs left that big of an impact. I <3 mike on here.

3. Blackbirds - This song is good, its nice to listen to.. and it calmed me down when I was in a rage. The lyrics are good. On the whole, just not as impressive.

4. Lockjaw - just barely lost to Backbirds. It gets discrimination because its an instrumental. It was still a pretty sweet christmas gift.

5.New Divide - i've heard a lot of arguments against this, but none of them have made this song sound any less than What I've Done part II. I was underwhelmed.

6. Not Alone - it bears strong marks from being hella rushed. It is my #1 worst rated LP song, sharing the spot with Shadow of the Day and Given Up for the only 3 LP songs i dont like. The fact that this songs exists means that one or people are not dead... with power like that, i can't really berate it too much.

 

 

This post has been brought to you by the inabilty to click on this text box and proofread.

[LinkinParkHotspur]

I'm going to edit my post later and add in the reasons why I ranked the songs the way I did. For now though, from best to worst, I will just say:

 

1. No Roads Left (I don't count this as post M2M because it was made during the M2M recording process. I'm throwing it in the mix anyway though since you gave us the option.)

2. New Divide

3. Across The Line or Blackbirds (haven't decided yet which one is better. It might be a tie.)

4. Not Alone

5. Lockjaw (Poor lockjaw. Not sure if it belonged with the rest of these. I have to rate it last because it's an instrumental, even though it's a bad ass one)

[cstebila]

1.) New Divide 2.) Across The Line 3.) Blackbirds 4.) Lockjaw 5.) Not Alone

 

"New Divide" is catchy melodic and fun, Across The Line speaks, Blackbirds is soothing, Lockjaw though kinda promo-ey displays at least the smallest hint of some old school LP, and Not Alone, well I just didn't like it.

[Yakimoov]

1.Across the Line

2.Blackbirds

3.New Divide

4.She Couldn't (i know it's a hybrid theory song but it's still new for me)

5.No Roads Left

6.Lockjaw

7.Not Alone

8.Brad's Yo (the best song ever !)

Edited April 27, 2010 by Dani

[cstebila]

1.Across the Line

2.Blackbirds

3.New Divide

4.She Couldn't (i know it's a hybrid theory song but it's still new for me)

5.No Roads Left

6.Lockjaw

7.Not Alone

 

Putting She Couldn't on there is kinda cute in an odd sort of way.

[roni781]

1.New Divide : the most powerful of these songs, with an awesome mix between electronical stuff and classic rock intstruments. Not my favorite LP song, but if you consider that this mix was the goal of the band, the song is very good. The LP song I had the most listened in 2009.

 

2.No Roads Left : a beautiful song, I love Mike's vocals and the violons during the 2nd chorus and the bridge. I think this song could have been on M2M, but not to replace In Between.

 

3.Blackbirds : I really like the song, lyrics and Chester's vocals are amasing (better than Not Alone). I think putting mellow-pop vocals with hip-hop tempo is a very good idea. The end of the song with Mike and Chester that sing together with violons is beautiful IMO (you know, "whaaaat I gaaaaave"). I'd like to see it live.

 

4.Lockjaw : a simple instrumental song but it's working. Love the drums on this one.

 

5.Across the Line : sorry guys but I'm not enthusiastic about this song. At all. Verses and the bridge are OK, but the chorus is awful, it just kills the song. I'm not surprised it didn't make the cut for M2M.

 

6.Not Alone : like I said when it was released, great cause but bad song. Don't want to hear "that" LP anymore.

Edited April 27, 2010 by roni781

[DKB1994]

I suck at explaining things so im just going to list them.

 

 

1: Blackbirds

2: Across The Line

3: No Roads Left

4: New Divide

5: Not Alone

6: Lockjaw