OKCrew

I’m waking this thread back up because in addition to the 4 listed in the OP and “Announcement Public Service” as @Garret pointed out, I can’t believe I forgot to mention Not Alone for it’s scratching in the outro. Also I’m admittedly not very well-versed in the LPU discs 12 and beyond. Were there any MTM/ATS/LT demos that also had scratching? I’m def gonna binge them all myself but just wondering if any stood out to anyone else

💯 That’s why I love this fanbase. The music is so diverse in sound, even though we may not all have the same top favorites, we still enjoy it all. And I think what you’re saying about Blackbirds is exactly what Mike was getting at. To me, that’s great for an LPU disc, but it’s gonna be hard for me to rank it above songs that sound more like a finished product (even though the rest of the song has amazing production value).

For sure

Agreed QWERTY is better live, but I do like the “punk” ish elements/drumming they added to the chorus in the studio version. I recently purchased the version of Blackbirds that’s listed as a Bonus Track on ATS on iTunes and it still includes that intro. Mike once said in an interview that the intro part is a demo recording and thought “it would be a cool way to start the song.” I just happen to disagree but think the rest of it is a masterpiece. I get what you mean by Not Alone feeling “static” in that there aren’t any significant musical, vocal, or structural changes that we’re accustomed to from most Linkin Park songs. It’s definitely an example of them attempting to create a simply constructed song that speaks for itself and I think they succeeded. It’s beautifully written and performed, and then the scratching elements in the outro make it “interesting” to me as well. I totally get why this would be the most popular answer

QWERTY is def #1 for me too. Blackbirds would be an easy #2 if it wasn’t for that weird intro that sounds like Mike is rapping in another room. That was the dealbreaker for me ranking Not Alone above it. Plus that Not Alone outro always gets me it’s just so beautiful. But all 3 are amazing songs on their own rights

They’re all great and all have their own special place in the Linkin Park pantheon, but how would you rank them? Just for fun QWERTY Not Alone Blackbirds

I love this one too. That transition is clean

Really well-said 💯

I agree Cure is def a product of its time, in that it primarily exists to demonstrate Joe’s prowess as a composer at the turntables, but I would also say that’s pretty much the only thing I missed when it came to “old vs new” Linkin Park. By my count they only even had 4 songs with audible turntable scratches since Meteora (What I’ve Done, In Pieces, The Catalyst, and Wretches & Kings), and then none at all since ATS besides live performances. Now that every kid with a smart phone calls themselves a DJ, it’s like a lost art I find myself longing for more and more. It’s like an itch that— wait a sec 👁👄👁

💯 That one is soo hype! I would say it also demonstrates the best musicianship of Hybrid Theory. If Papercut/OSC wasn’t so dang prolific, APFMH/Forgotten would be my favorite too Lol we can still count it 😂😂

Below is a mix/playlist I just threw together of some of my favorite "1-2 Punches." A "1-2 Punch" is simply two songs that appear in succession on an album. What are some of you favorites? Which ones did I leave off? Do you like them because of how one flows into the other, or because of a certain duality the two songs represent? EPs, Remix albums, and Live albums are all also fine to include After taking a second look at my list I noticed that all of my favorite "1-2 Punches" either start or end an album, other than the one I picked from Living Things!

For “best performance” or for most generally agreeable for “official single”?

APFMH is def another contender for “best performance” for sure. It’s a song that allows all 6 of them to shine in their roles and yeah that bridge give you freakin chills. For some reason it was never identified by the band or label to be used in any capacity other than the CD/DVD/standard releases themselves so that’s why I didn’t make it a contender for “official single”

Just your thoughtful response and I appreciate it! Yes the LOATR CDs included the RTR versions of LOATR & In Pieces so that pretty much clinches it. Thanks again 🙏

I’ve owned this for quite some time, but really wanted to hold off on actually watching it until I was sure I wanted to see what would be a concert from the only tour I haven’t actually seen any footage of, outside of major television appearances. Also something about it it starting at night curbed my interest for some reason. Totally worth the wait. This might be my favorite concert ever. Like someone else said, it’s basically the whole album plus every hit from the previous 10 years. Not only was the “A Thousand Suns” phase their most experimental and interesting songwriting, Chester is still comfortably at his vocal peak here, while the rest of the band had far surpassed their technical musicianship of the Minutes To Midnight days, which was already a huge progression from the Meteora/Hybrid Theory days. It’s basically Linkin Park in perfect form. I don’t know what else to say. It’s just so dope/beautiful/epic/awesome/badass. The whole concert is one big highlight. I feel so lucky lol

Just heard it myself! Love it. I’m getting 80s power-ballad vibes for sure (Listen To Your Heart, etc.). Mike killed it. I would def pay for a lossless final mix, but I’m with Hahninator as far as respecting the band’s/label’s wishes. They never sold us short before. All will come in due time. For now, we have 18+ years worth of music, released demos, remixes, and live performances to enjoy, and I’m not tired of any of it yet... .... also RELEASE THE DJ SHADOW TEAM SLEEP MY DECEMBER REMIX... okay I’m done

Since I remember such fun/spirited debate in the Live in Texas thread: I wanted to see where ppl’s heads were at when in came to Road to Revolution! What’s RTR’s “official single”? The options and the reasons: Given Up One of two performances from the concert on the official YouTube page (the other is Bleed it Out) The only one with an official video release on Apple What I’ve Done This performance specifically was nominated for a Grammy Leave Out All The Rest A “single edit” was created for this performance, the audio of which appears on LOATR’s promo single CD, and the video of which appears on both the LOATR Japanese EP and the Twilight DVD No More Sorrow This performance was actually released as a “promo single,” but could it also be considered the album’s official single as well? Other What am I forgetting? What am I missing? Should tracks that appeared on the UK Sampler also be factored in? Remember, this isn’t your “favorite” performance, or which one you think is “the best one,” or even the most popular, per se. It’s which one would be considered an “official single,” based on evidence! Vote and comment!

Im honored! Those are switchouts I’d prolly make too, great choices. Also I had no idea you could upload Spotify playlists here that’s awesome

I was inspired by the Apple Music/Spotify playlists Mike shared with us today. No one needs to place the same constraints I placed on myself, but I wanted mine to include at least one thing from as many officially released projects he's been a part of as possible, and I wanted it to also fit on an audio CD. Feel free to make yours longer (or shorter) than 73 minutes, and to include or exclude whatever your hearts desire. Here's Mine: A Place For My Head H! Vltg3 (Album Vocal) It's Goin Down Numb Enjoy The Silence (Reinterpreted) Big Pimpin/Papercut Spraypaint & Ink Pens Mike Shinoda Interlude (Track 14 of Rock Phenomenon by DJ Vlad) High Road Bleed It Out Second To None We Made It Carry Me Away Waiting For The End Jaka Caught (Track 17 of The Raid Soundtrack) Skin To Bone A Light That Never Comes Rebellion Devil's Drop Welcome Good Goodbye Place To Start Waiting For Tomorrow Prove You Wrong Fine The transitions happen to work out amazingly throughout the whole thing. On top of the turntable/mixtape stuff, there's similar synths at the end of Numb and beginning of ETS, as well as similar tambourines at the end of High Road and beginning of BIO. Stuff like that happens all over it. Share yours and let us know how it sounds!

Thank you kindly. Yeah it’s mine too. I was in hs when it came out and distinctly remember the first time I heard it. I flipped out when those Faint strings came in over the JW beat halfway through Jay’s first verse and then again halfway through Mike’s.

Maybe I’m alone in this but I make clear distinctions in my mind between Mashups, Medleys, and DJ sets, even if there is some overlap between them at times. To me, Medleys, as one cohesive piece, move from one song to the next like the Hip-Hop and Ballad Medleys do respectively. DJ sets are what Mike and Joe’s “solos” were during the Carnivore tour blending and interweaving several studio tracks together live. Mashups are when you layer a core element of one clear song over a core element of another clear song, like when Mike raps a FM or HT verse over the intro or bridge of another distinct song. What made RTN/WFTE stand out to me among anything else they’ve done was that not only where they putting one song’s lyrics over another song’s music, they also blended the music, syncing the RTN strings with the WFTE synth and drums, which iirc was a new trick and then something Mike started doing a lot more of it during PTT EDIT e.g. It’s the same thing that makes Jigga What/Faint stand out from the rest of CC because it’s the only one that actually blends musical elements of both songs

They also were def getting more creative with the mashups. My favorite part of OML Europe was RTN/WFTE because they had actually mashed up the music and beats of both songs, rather than just having Mike rap a verse from one song over another. All of a sudden the Post-Traumatic tour had a lot of that going on like Papercut/About You etc.

Hell yeah the time sig on Powerless alone makes it a standout in their whole catalogue. What is it 7/4 on the verses? But COG stoodout like folk to me right away soon as I heard it. That main synth could have easily just been played on the E-string of a guitar, then Mike comes in with that “Take me down to the riverbeddd” folksy af! I loved Victimized too. It was sorta the precursor to THP which is one of my personal favorites.

This makes so much sense. When I first heard all three of those songs my first thought was "holy shit this is folk music, LP-style." They've always been strong lyrically, but the particularly simple depth of the lyrics here along with the melodies of the vocals immediately gives off a folksy vibe.

I’m definitely in a similar place right now. Obviously we wouldn’t love this band so much if there wasn’t a really strong case for every single one of their albums. Each one represents so much about where they were at as a band and can easily function as a “favorite” in its own right. For the longest time I probably considered M2M in the bottom 3 in my personal ranking of their work, and maybe it’s just because my personal taste has just evolved, but looking back, it’s the album the kept LP from disappearing after Collision Course, and pushed them into the juggernauts of longevity and experimentation we ended up loving all the more. Also how many albums have FOUR Platinum (and one Gold) singles?