Mike: "Haters And The Converted: ATS Release"

[SpikeMinoda]

And a word from Mike Shinoda...

 

"Hey guys. I’ve been getting some questions about my thoughts about the album release, so I thought that I’d try to answer them here.

 

To start, a quick review: about a year and a half ago, we made a conscious decision to take our music in a new direction. We predicted the album’s release would be incendiary; the new direction would be welcomed by some, and fervently resisted by others. Looking back, I wanted to address both factions.

 

Let’s get the simple part out of the way. To the fans who like the new album: thanks for your support. There are some of you that have been with us for a long time, and are thrilled about the new sound. There are others who weren’t sure of the new album at first, but have given it a chance, and are now reaping its rewards. And there are others who have never been fans of Linkin Park, but are interested in the band for the first time with A Thousand Suns. We’re happy to have all of you on board, and we appreciate your support.

 

A friend of mine told me a story from his childhood: when he was a little kid, his dad, who never had any facial hair, left for a trip and came home with a beard. His son took one look at him and ran away, demanding, “what happened to my real dad?”

So let’s talk about “haters.”

 

[...]

 

Find the whole updated post by Mike here. For some reason, he removed the entry right after posting it.

 

The blog post has been taken down. Mike on his Twitter said, "sorry abt taking down blog update; wanted to rework a couple things. will repost later."

 

But thankfully you can still find the full old text here.

 

Thoughts?

[Xero21]

It looks like it's been removed.

[LPFreak64]

You beat me by one minute! I got the full text on mine over at Got News?

[MONDREUS240]

"Hey guys. I’ve been getting some questions about my thoughts about the album release, so I thought that I’d try to answer them here.

 

To start, a quick review: about a year and a half ago, we made a conscious decision to take our music in a new direction. We predicted the album’s release would be incendiary; the new direction would be welcomed by some, and fervently resisted by others. Looking back, I wanted to address both factions.

 

Let’s get the simple part out of the way. To the fans who like the new album: thanks for your support. There are some of you that have been with us for a long time, and are thrilled about the new sound. There are others who weren’t sure of the new album at first, but have given it a chance, and are now reaping its rewards. And there are others who have never been fans of Linkin Park, but are interested in the band for the first time with A Thousand Suns. We’re happy to have all of you on board, and we appreciate your support.

 

A friend of mine told me a story from his childhood: when he was a little kid, his dad, who never had any facial hair, left for a trip and came home with a beard. His son took one look at him and ran away, demanding, “what happened to my real dad?”

So let’s talk about “haters.”

 

Not surprisingly, the sound of the new album (and the absence of heavy guitars and Chester’s screaming vocals) seemed to upset some folks. As I write this, the most popular iTunes (US) review of A Thousand Suns is by Janxrod, who gives the album one star and asks “What happened to the real Linkin Park?”

 

A knee-jerk reaction might be to assume that people who dislike ATS simply love heavy metal and hate alternative / electronic music. I don’t need to tell you that the internet is a sad breeding ground for filthy-mouthed negativity. But, in their defense, many of the “one-star reviewers” are not brainless cynics who talk shit because they’re bored. They’re real fans who were expecting to walk into a movie theatre to see “A Clockwork Orange,” and they got “2001: A Space Odyssey.” I don’t like the idea that all these folks are all lumped together as “haters.”

 

I’m a curious guy, so I did some research about Janxrod. Although 8/10 of his favorite albums include heavier stuff like Disturbed, Shinedown, and Dethklok…he also likes Daft Punk. He’s not opposed to electronic music. So what bothers Janxrod so much about A Thousand Suns?

 

One reason is that, according to his page, “They write songs about how pissed off they are at their old fans, telling them to go f*** themselves. That’s not mature, that’s just disrespectful.”

 

Know what? I agree. That’s a bad message. The problem is: it’s not really our message.

 

The other guys and I have said many things in the past, not all of it thoughtful or respectful (sorry, we’re human too). But under it all, here’s where we’re really at: If you don’t like this album right now, that’s your choice and it’s truly OK with us. But we stand behind the work we put into it, and we think it’ll be a rewarding listen if you decide to give it a chance. Our door is open.

 

Lastly, I need to address a comment I occasionally see (and have seen every time we put an album out)–that the band has “sold out.” As far as I know, “selling out” means compromising the integrity of your band/music in exchange for money or popularity. Since inception, A Thousand Suns was designed to go against the grain, built with an understanding that it would likely polarize and challenge the fan base at first. This is the opposite of a “sell out” album; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Do the math: if money and popularity was the goal, we would have made Hybrid Theory again.

 

Furthermore, outside our studio walls, the climate for music is different. According to Nielsen SoundScan, of the 97,751 albums released in 2009, only 12 of them sold more than one million units last year. People everywhere buy it by the song, not by the album. To stand behind what many people call a “concept album”–asking the fan to listen to the whole thing rather than a couple songs–is unquestionably a big a request. Some people want to color that request as a “marketing tactic,” that we are asking people to buy the whole thing instead of a couple songs. If that was the case, we’d be the worst marketers ever. Clearly, a collection of 12 “hit singles” is a better reason to buy a whole album than a concept record. The singles sell an album. A concept album requires a leap of faith. The whole argument is wholly illogical.

 

So why did we make such a big change? “What happened to the real Linkin Park?” We’re still here. We look and sound different, but the intention behind the music is the same as it has been since day one: in the studio, we are constantly in search of new sounds that excite and inspire us. And hearing that our album debuted at #1 in 15 countries gave us all a massive feeling of gratitude, but if being in this band has taught me anything in the past decade, it’s that you can’t base your happiness on things that are out of your control.

 

The truth is, we’re believers that good, honest art will triumph at the end of the day. Real success isn’t about sales, numbers, and chart position. It’s about a connection with a dedicated fan base and a chance to introduce people to a sound that we can call our own.

 

See you on tour, where we’ll be playing songs from “Hybrid Theory” through “A Thousand Suns.” Fans of every era are welcome."

[SpikeMinoda]

thats really strange that he removed the post at his blog

[Xero21]

He probably removed it because he called that iTunes guy out by name, but doesn't want to give him the attention.

[LPFreak64]

thats really strange that he removed the post at his blog

Very. Maybe he is scared of the fan reaction?

[dark_master]

Thanks God you saved it, guys. Awesome read, I'm showing it to all ATS-haters from now on.

[CZGroove]

Mike's twitter: "sorry abt taking down blog update; wanted to rework a couple things. will repost later."

Edited September 27, 2010 by CZGroove

[hahninator]

Wow that's crazy he took it down lol

[Xero21]

Mike´s twitter: "sorry abt taking down blog update; wanted to rework a couple things. will repost later."

Yeah, I'm thinking he doesn't want to have a bunch of people going to over to that guys iTunes Ping or something and bashing the hell out of him. We'll see.

[maik_gianino]

Mike Shinoda = God

 

Agree with Mike, Linkin Park is Linkin Park, Genre Linkin Park.

 

 

Another sign that Mike is human... Looks angry.

[Numbrocker]

Great post by Mike! I can't wait till he reposts so I can show it to some people who are "haters".

[Adam]

Wow. Nicely put. I don't get why people are so up in arms over this record. If you don't like it, fine. Don't listen to it. I get that it sucks when your favorite band puts out a record you don't like (see Saves The Day's "In Reverie" for me), but I know they didn't make that record for me. They made it for themselves. I'm ok with that. STD came back with 2 phenomenal albums after In Reverie and I actually ended up respecting them more for putting that album out in the first place. They were fresh of the biggest album of their career, newly signed to a major label, and had the potential to be HUGE. But they put that album out. Props to them. Big props to them. (still referring to saves the day here...)

Edited September 27, 2010 by Adam

[SpikeMinoda]

Mike is just the best

This is like a punch in the face for the haters

I love this record so much, can't wait to hear it finally live

[LPPRJKT4]

You really gotta respect the guy and see his point of view, I never thought about it that way to be honest.

[Teagan]

I question if some of you even got what he wrote, when you are still talking about "haters" in general.

[hahninator]

I question if some of you even got what he wrote, when you are still talking about "haters" in general.

[HybridSoldierEP]

ahm yes i'm ats hater but Ive it only bought to keep for my archive. believe me when the next album will so bad and we'll not even sell 200,000. Sorry mike.

[Papelbon]

Well said.

 

Making the music for yourselves is the important thing, hoping everyone likes it so you can continue making music for everyone to enjoy.

 

I, for one, loved this record from the first listen. Not because I'm a fanboi™, but because I love music. I enjoy everything from LP to Herbie Hancock. Metallica to Bach. And I realized that this was LP's "Dark Side of the Moon". It literally blew my mind the first time, and still currently does every time that I hear it, to the point that I had tears listening to it at the firehouse the first time that I heard it. And still get chills from "The Catalyst" and "The Messenger", and now when I listen to "Wretches and Kings" I can see Chester just AMPED singing the chorus and Mike with this HUGE smile on his face, and relaxed. When I saw them for PR 07 and 08, they were tired, touring almost since the release of MtM non-stop. At the show 2 weeks ago, they were fresh, and even the older stuff (see: OSC, Numb) they seemed excited to play it (Brad smiling was a first for me).

 

To me, that's a product of putting out something that they are truly love and believe in. And that's what it's about. Loving what you do, because if you don't, you're gonna be miserable, get the fuck out and do what makes you happy. What else are we here on this Earth for?

[Borellus]

What a blog post.

[Anality]

Mike should a write a song about this

[Dark_Adolescent]

ahm yes i'm ats hater but Ive it only bought to keep for my archive. believe me when the next album will so bad and we'll not even sell 200,000. Sorry mike.

Worst reason to buy an album ever. And you know you can't say in confidence that their next album won't sell when it's plain to see that ATS has already sold fairly well because of their large loyal fanbase and general appeal.

[sublimeric]

Love what Mike wrote, and the new album is my favorite LP release to date.

 

LP remind me of Limp Bizkit. Every time Limp put out a song or album, 95% of the "fans" whine that it doesn't sound like their first album. Despite this, every release sounds different (some more than others), and I appreciate that as a listener. Will "Jornada Del Muerto" hold up as well as "Figure.09" 7 years from now? Maybe not, but like "Reanimation" and "Collision Course", I look at "ATS" as just another item on the Linkin Park menu.

[hi_c21]

wow. I already viewed Mike as the most humble and respectable guy in the music industry...holy crap he did an awesome job there with that blog. He covered most everything and it's great to see his input on all the stuff going on. Takes some real nads to post that. Most bands wouldn't do that. There may be some people out there pissed at LPUX setup and maybe even that they are getting greedy or dumping fans but you know what, this proves Mike will never abandon a fan. Like he said, if you like the music awesome if not, the door is always open. He's like the Jesus of the music industry.