The HEAVY side of MTM

[Qwerty18]

Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning (or afternoon/evening/night!).

 

I was just having a personal debate inside of me, and I took the decision to put what I was thinking here (yeah, I'm kind of bored actually... ). But hey, don't go! It should be interesting, guys....I'm going to talk about one of the most mysterious and unfamous thing in the LP history: Once Upon A Time, there was a Heavy MTM.

 

First of all,I'd like to point that the majority of LP fans usually agree on the terms used to describe each LP era. We all have a general conception of how the LP sound has evoluate through the years. And in this conception, MTM is categorized like an alternative and soft album. Like somebody on LPL said...

Anyway let the guess games begin!

....

02: What We Don't Know (2007) - m2m session, so melody driven ballad type song

Hum, yes....but what we really don't know...is that MTM was originaly expected to be heavy.

someone asked if they were going to release any heavy songs on the side like QWERTY, Chester said during the Minutes to Midnight recording process, they went through a very heavy guitar phase and he even said in interviews that the album was going to be the fucking heaviest LP album ever. Then towards the end of the process, they just ended up picking the songs that they felt sounded the best and interesting which ended up being the softest album ever

Seeing that, I remembered the alternative MTM covers we get one year after its release...and one of those (with staircases) totally looks like a cover made for an heavy album. I might be wrong, but the link between what Chester has said and this cover is interesting.

 

So, what? I think all the songs from that heavy MTM era could possibly constitute some the most interesting LP material which hasn't been released yet. While we now have get a lot of the alternative songs from the MTM process, only 3 heavy songs from that period have surfaced: Qwerty, Given Up, No More Sorrow. And what's interesting with those 3 is that they reveal a side of Linkin Park we barely know: heavier, more organic, and more rough than everetyhing they've done before and after. Something between metal and agressive punk, with rap verses on Qwerty.

 

To me, releasing those songs in the future could be a fabulous gift to the LP community. Way more interesting than releasing some random Hybrid/Metora demos for example, because we all have so much from that period already. But now that ATS and LPUX are out, there's a risk none of those heavy MTM demos will ever see the light of the day, because LP will probably focus on giving us ATS demos now.

 

The only way we could still have a chance to hear it one day is to keep showing our interest in those demos. Maybe a reference/question about those in the LPL interview with Mike? Some questions during the next LPU event/chat? I don't know...

 

Well, what do you think of it? Are you actually interested with it, or would you prefer Hybrid/Meteora/ATS demos? Do you know more informations about i? (interviews, ...). Let's talk!

Edited November 23, 2010 by Qwerty18

[Pez]

Heavy or not heavy, MTM is still kickass.

[leftshoe18]

I trust LP's judgment. If they feel that they aren't good enough to release, then they're probably right. Even heavy songs can suck horribly.

[1996_LP]

to be honest, this was complely new to me, I never heard any interviews from the band saying MTM was the heaviest yet and that they where writting more guitar driven songs (which was still true in some ways)

 

I think what threw us was the fact that apart from "What I've done" the songs they played & talked about pre-mtm's release where QWERTY, GU & NMS. So we where led to believe the album would have been heavy through those songs.

 

 

Also, Its common knowledge that even though LP had created over a hundred demos, only 17 of them where finished tracks so even if they did record the heaviest ones, I doubt they'd be much different to some of the demos on LPUX anyway & I'm sure they would have released them already if they where any good.

[Qwerty18]

I trust LP's judgment. If they feel that they aren't good enough to release, then they're probably right. Even heavy songs can suck horribly.

For sure heavy songs can suck horribly and be so un-original. But I don't think that's the case here....it was said they felt like the softer one were better and more interesting (probably because of guitar solos, unusual structures, ...). BUT, if they talked about the heavy one and even considered putting them on the album, they have to be good. At least some of them.

 

And I don't trust LP judgement. Putting songs like LOATR, SOTD, Valentine's day instead of ATL, No Roads Left, and What They Don't Know on MTM was a crime (And Chester thinks Runaway sucks...WTF!)

Edited November 23, 2010 by Qwerty18

[Ashwhisker]

Way more interesting than releasing some random Hybrid/Metora demos for example, because we all have so much from that period already.

Uh, no. We have next to nothing from the Meteora sessions besides the LPU9 demos. The only full b-sides we have (as far as I know) are Unfortunate, Halo, Standing In The Middle Of It (?). I may be missing something, but we are severely lacking compared to the MTM sessions.

[annare]

Uh, no. We have next to nothing from the Meteora sessions besides the LPU9 demos. The only full b-sides we have (as far as I know) are Unfortunate, Halo, Standing In The Middle Of It (?). I may be missing something, but we are severely lacking compared to the MTM sessions.

How can you possible know about what LP has or not? Just because they haven't released it yet it doesn't it won't happen

[Ashwhisker]

How can you possible know about what LP has or not? Just because they haven't released it yet it doesn't it won't happen

"We have" = released. He said that we have a ton from that time period, which we do not.

Edited November 23, 2010 by Ash

[Qwerty18]

"We have" = released. He said that we have a ton from that time period, which we do not.

The deal is...we don't have a lot of material from the Meteora session, agreed, but the Meteora sound is similar to the Hybrid Theory sound. So I just mean we already have ton of material from the 1999-2003 Linkin Park. We also have a lot of material from the MTM session, but mainly alternative. Only 3 heavy songs from that time(wich doesn't sound like their older heavy songs) have surfaced. And IMO, what's interesting about it is that they reveal a side of LP we almost don't know : a Metal/Punk Linkin Park.

[Jgrosk]

I don't think that there would be many completed heavy demos from that era, just a bunch of heavy instrumentals.

[Twiilite]

Considering No More Sorrow is my favourite heavy song from Linkin Park's entire discography, and MtM's sound is my favourite overall (sorry ATS...) I would be overjoyed to get anymore songs that sound like it.

[linkindaniel]

For sure heavy songs can suck horribly and be so un-original. But I don't think that's the case here....it was said they felt like the softer one were better and more interesting (probably because of guitar solos, unusual structures, ...). BUT, if they talked about the heavy one and even considered putting them on the album, they have to be good. At least some of them.

 

And I don't trust LP judgement. Putting songs like LOATR, SOTD, Valentine's day instead of ATL, No Roads Left, and What They Don't Know on MTM was a crime (And Chester thinks Runaway sucks...WTF!)

lol totally agree with you dude

[Ashwhisker]

The deal is...we don't have a lot of material from the Meteora session, agreed, but the Meteora sound is similar to the Hybrid Theory sound. So I just mean we already have ton of material from the 1999-2003 Linkin Park. We also have a lot of material from the MTM session, but mainly alternative. Only 3 heavy songs from that time(wich doesn't sound like their older heavy songs) have surfaced. And IMO, what's interesting about it is that they reveal a side of LP we almost don't know : a Metal/Punk Linkin Park.

I get that, but I would still much rather have Meteora-era stuff. Like you said, Meteora sounded like Hybrid Theory, but who knows what awesome b-sides they scrapped (see:Halo) because Warner never would've let LP put them on the album? She Couldn't proves that even in the pre-MTM time period they were making non-heavy, alternative stuff that doesn't sound like HT, and I would love to get to hear some of that.

Edited November 24, 2010 by Ash

[Mystery]

I get that, but I would still much rather have Meteora-era stuff. Like you said, Meteora sounded like Hybrid Theory, but who knows what awesome b-sides they scrapped (see:Halo) because Warner never would've let LP put them on the album? She Couldn't proves that even in the pre-MTM time period they were making non-heavy, alternative stuff that doesn't sound like HT, and I would love to get to hear some of that.

 

This. Many people are curious about the "sophomore album" that was scrapped in favor of Meteora. Many people also believe that Meteora was a record label album, and all of the creativity was turned down in favor of sonic copies of Hybrid Theory tracks (In The End - Somewhere I Belong) (Pushing Me Away - Numb). They created a really unique guitar effect in Somewhere I Belong, so you know they were pushing to try something different. They probably had great lyrics for the song as well, but the chorus ended up being "I wanna heal, I wanna feel". Breaking The Habit and Nobody's Listening had unique instrumentals as well. Plus, check out the booklet of Meteora. Don't Stay was originally supposed to have reggae elements. Halo uses a coin/metal clinking sound effect throughout the song.

 

Meteora had some crazy ideas. Sadly, they were never executed.

[Qwerty18]

but who knows what awesome b-sides they scrapped (see:Halo) because Warner never would've let LP put them on the album? She Couldn't proves that even in the pre-MTM time period they were making non-heavy, alternative stuff that doesn't sound like HT, and I would love to get to hear some of that.

To me, Halo still sounds a lot like the "old" Linkin Park. The power chords used during the second half of the song are almost the same as what they've done in songs like Numb, Easier To Run,...It's the "using power chords to make a chorus big" phenomenom Mike was talking about recently, IMO.

 

Then, you'll say "the demos you want are supposedly heavy, they have power chords man!". Yes, but the guitars in GU, NMS, and Qwerty are way more agressive and rough(sonicely) than before I think, it's different. I mean, before, LP already had heavy riffs, but the sound of their guitars was more layered.

 

About She Couldn't...Hum, yes, you're right. But I will not be objective by saying at this moment, as LP is realeasing soft stuff again and again, I'm more attracted by their heavy side. It's a matter of taste, and I respect your opinion.

Meteora had some crazy ideas. Sadly, they were never executed.

Not sure, but I Think those crazy ideas would have been incorporated in their "Nu Metal" sound, label or nor not label. At this time, they wanted to proove their HT success, so replicate the same sound, and Chester was quite angry and drug-addicted, so he would probably have continue to use his "hardcore" HT vocals I guess. So, all in all, a sound similar to Meteora, maybe with more experiments. But not sure, just a bet... Edited November 25, 2010 by Qwerty18

[annare]

I'd really love a heavy LP album, their heaviest. That'd be so awesome

[1996_LP]

I'd really love a heavy LP album, their heaviest. That'd be so awesome

 

haha yeah, I think almost everyone would love that. Even if it's ATS style heavy, they could have 8 really hard tracks and throw in 4 softer ones for good measure. considering MTM & ATS where rather "ballad heavy" I think that's something LP should experiment with in the next couple of albums

[Lotsa_spaghetti]

They need an album that sounds like myself.

[lerkid]

i wouldnt mind if LP made a heavy album and go all out on the album and not perform it live