LPLStaff

This makes sense. If they are closing the CB chapter out and are ready to move on, this was a way to do it. If the female singer thing is true, they may be able to move in that direction this year (publicly).

The problem is these people didn't work with the band X amount of years ago so they have no idea what the right versions of the songs are. This explains how No Roads Left, Across the Line, and Shadow of the Day were messed up so badly that they not only were issued digitally incorrectly for many years, but ALSO on the picture vinyl for Minutes to Midnight - a true tragedy. Also the Walmart yellow vinyl has the wrong song versions. The Shadow of the Day situation with that is still "unresolved"... if there is really a new guitar part on it as Astat claims, then *where* is the OG master of that song? The process to produce something like this is probably so extensive that the LP team (and band even if they wanted to) are unable to even get their hands on exactly what the label is using because the label controls all the distribution and owns/has the masters. Unless Mike is emailing them the files himself (not happening for a greatest hits, but there is a chain of process where eventually something from Mike would make it onto a box set with demos, sure - not Papercuts though) then they are liable to fuck this up. What makes no sense is - is the label's organization and labeling of all these song versions THAT bad that they keep having this happen? And how do you even have different versions for digital versus physical of the same release? It's sloppy. The attention to detail isn't there from Warner because they aren't hardcore LP fans and aren't looking at 0.5 second, 1 second, 2 second differences or vocal effects, or *whatever* (synths, drum beats) in the song versions... only people like us will catch that. It just is confusing how they don't have it simply labeled as "Minutes to Midnight (24 bit masters)" and then there are the 14 or whatever files. How do you find something like "Waiting for the End (Different CB Acapella Vocal Treatment)" or whatever? lol. The HT20 shortened songs error made it all the way through the entire process, along with DVDs that were misprinted/mislabeled, without anyone catching it until the public had it in their hands.

How in the world did your ear catch that the first time? Diving into it, there are definitely different effects on the vocals. The "got" at the end is the most evident of this. More importantly - how many versions of these songs does the record label have and how could something like this have gotten into a Waiting for the End release? Are they just pulling random masters/versions of songs?

Yeah. This has zero to do with the band and is a label issue. The more removed we get from LP's peak of their career, the more errors that pop up on releases. They learned with HT20 because Meteora 20 was quite well done in my opinion, but this Papercuts is again another mess. At the very minimum they need to fix the versions on streaming/digital to match the physical (even if the physical versions are also wrong....). How can anyone at the label listen to this and not notice the Faint intro is cut, things like this?

First observations on CD vs digital - (any mention of the word "Single" in this sense is referring to the single LP released of the song when the song first came out, NOT referring to Papercut Singles Collection): -Faint intro is cut on both, which is a shame. -CD: Papercut ending (to OSC) that goes into BTH... it could be edited for 0.1 seconds longer to segue into BTH. Anyone else hear that on the CD? -Breaking the Habit on digital goes into From the Inside - it is not there on the CD. What is frustrating is the BTH Single from 2004 has a great intro and they didn't use it at all on this. The crash is also slightly shorter than the Street Team version from 2004. -Waiting for the End digital goes into Blackout with the segue - it is not there on the CD. -What I've Done - follow me on this, this one on digital comes from the > transition from SOTD but the CD one is the album version with a cut intro that's faded in - that's my guess. Neither of them are the Single version. Digital has that 0.1 longer transition on this WID that makes it sound like it has that very final transition keyboard/whatever note. CD does not. Regardless, you can safely argue that the intro of WID is cut like Faint's intro is. -Leave Out All the Rest digital has the party on Bleed It Out after it (album version), CD does not and ends like the Single version. We need a rip of every single physical format release of this. Knowing the label, they could have put different versions on different formats of physical releases. We need the cassette, every vinyl (every pressing of those vinyls), and every CD pressing. Goodness.

Don't think a few seconds before/after the song is that big of a deal and likely not very noticeable to the general public (who this is catered to) outside of hardcore fans. Definitely noticed ASAP. At bare minimum, it'd be nice to have the Faint intro fixed to the full intro on streaming for this. BUT if that messes up Meteora transitions then don't do it. It may be harder to have multiple song versions on digital streaming than we think and have them all count for the same play counts. Are there examples of this in music? Like if they put the single version of What I've Done up? It isn't on Spotify.

They for sure know if they've paid this close attention to forums/social media/fan requests for the Projekt Revolution 2002 DVD, "thoughts that take away my pride", Pictureboard, She Couldn't, etc. They are doing everything right with the box sets. 10/10.

What about the MTM 20 box set? Perfect chance to release it as it was an "escape from the studio" run of shows, and has a new song on it from the MTM sessions.

The video is well done by Mark Fiore. It encompasses footage of the LPTV episode from Japan 2006, Making of MTM DVD footage, and some unreleased cuts throughout, along with Phoenix (modern day) talking about the song. It's a great feature on the song and explains its history well. Ironically what I thought was Third Encore 2006 rehearsal footage (Mike talking in the dressing room, not the band on stage footage obviously) is actually from Zepp Tokyo 2006. There is more Tokyo footage, some Sendai footage, and more proshot QWERTY 2006 footage (including Kotaro). With what exists, he crushed this. There is obviously no fall 2006 footage of them recording QWERTY in the studio or else that'd have been here, which is interesting. Maybe they recorded it at the Korn Studio immediately after Japan before they started bringing Mark in to film for MTM. Next big thing... fingers crossed... that full Summer Sonic Tokyo 2006 show would be huge for a release. Man.

Linkin Park has posted a two and a half minute "behind the song" video for "Friendly Fire" from the One More Light sessions, which is featured on the "Papercuts" greatest hits release. Of note in the video, footage of Brad and Mike working on the song in December 2023 at Mike's home studio is featured. Brad Delson said about the song upon its release, "Friendly Fire was always one of our favorite songs from the One More Light sessions. Something about it wasn’t quite right so as close as it got to the finish line, we chose to set it aside for later. When we started looking for an unreleased track to include on our greatest hits collection, I was blown away by the power of the song, the power of the storytelling, the power of the vocal, the sonic landscape and I actually thought that it was closer than maybe we had realized at the time. We got together to work on it and connect some of the missing pieces that for whatever reason hadn’t revealed themselves during the recording of One More Light. I can't wait for people to hear it. It’s such a beautiful, compelling, heartbreaking, hopeful story and it really resonates with me today." He added later, "I went to Mike's house to work on it together and just connect some of the missing pieces that for whatever reason hadn't revealed themselves during the One More Light writing sessions and it pretty quick stride. We completed what is now the finished product. It just raised its hand at the right time like a little magic trick and privilege of being able to finish it. It's certainly about conflict and despair and it's just as much about hope and love. It's such a beautiful compelling and hopeful song."

Linkin Park has started upgrading their music videos on YouTube from their original quality to 4K to celebrate the release week of the "Papercuts" box set.

Linkin Park has announced two upcoming events during the week of the "Papercuts" release, in Brazil. Thursday, April 11 - Rio Sunday, April 14 - Sao Paulo The events will center around a listening party for the greatest hits release, but will also feature Brazilian cover band Linkin Park Experience that features none other than our friend and long-time community member Wesley Carlos, as well as raffles of merch and more.

The Tour Life Podcast has released a new episode featuring long-time Linkin Park production manager and Mike Shinoda tour manager Jim Digby. The description reads, "Behind every unforgettable concert is a story of passion, hard work, and a commitment to wellness that often goes unseen. In our latest podcast episode, with @linkinpark and @m_shinoda tour manager @digbyjim we peel back the curtain to reveal the heart and soul poured into creating safe, supportive environments in the music industry. Jim shares deep, transformative insights on leadership, mental health, and the power of empathy. From his early days with Linkin Park to advocating for mental wellness backstage, Jim’s journey is a testament to the impact we can all make by caring for each other in high-pressure environments. We all carry the potential to be catalysts for change, promoting a healthier, more empathetic world, starting with our workplaces. Whether you’re in the music industry, the corporate world, or carving your own path, Jim’s lessons are universal." Jim talks about how he grew up and became interested in music, his experience with Linkin Park, the passing of Chester, and more. You can listen to the episode on The Tour Life Podcast website.

It might be included in the YouTube Afterparty. Let's see. Hope the live version is included somehow in the QWERTY celebration. It would be great if the band talked about writing the song, etc, have some Third Encore footage (a clip is seen in LPTV), show some Zepp Tokyo soundcheck footage, and then Mike or Dave is like "and then it was ready to play live!" -> bam, the full live video. And they then post that live video to YouTube on their page as a surprise after the Afterparty. Maybe even some post-Japan footage if they have any. Looks like the same one we have, according to Martinez. It really might go #1 anyway, Friendly Fire is #1. And QWERTY is really just a glorified demo.

Linkin Park has announced that on April 12, 2024, they will be releasing a video/visualizer for "QWERTY" on YouTube. The video was created by Dimitri Thouzery. They also have announced that following the video debut, they will be hosting a YouTube Premium Afterparty titled "QWERTY - BEHIND THE SONG" that features footage directed by and edited by the band's longtime videographer Mark Fiore. This will mark the first time the fan-favorite track has been released on digital streaming, following its initial release on the LP Underground 6 CD in 2006. So far, there is no word on if the live version will receive any release.

Well they weren't made for public release is why you have the mixing differences and missing songs. They are just internal CDs for different purposes. This makes literally zero sense lol They should have done this with Lost and She Couldn't, though. Man you can really tell they focused more on vocals than instrumentals on OML, the instrumentals sound so basic for them compared to all other LP albums.

They seem to not have it, right?

Yeah but in 2017 didn't they put the Grey Daze announcement on LP socials? It seems to be something about Dead By Sunrise. I'm sure if I looked back at the 2009 LP emails, they had DBS in those, because there are like, LPTV episodes about DBS. But why would they not share the vinyl? This is the most exciting thing going on right now.

Dude is probably SOL on this one. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/linkin-park-seek-dismiss-former-bassist-unpaid-royalties-lawsuit-1234982640/

Completely floored Linkin Park has not mentioned this once in any email, social media reshare, or anything, but they absolutely hammer anything Mike does by including it in the LP emails and socials. Even sending some Mike-only stuff to the LP email list. What gives? It's been weird with DBS since day one - they didn't even have a website. Why, the label didn't want to pay for them to have one?

Saw LP retweet a festival on Twitter, saw the first part of it and literally for a second thought "oh shit, it is finally happening, here we go" lol

Xero - Mike said Mark doesn't want all that stuff out there. Other LP demos - The band chose what they thought they wanted to release, but as you said it isn't all-encompassing. There is enough to do a HT30. And they should totally do it. There are more shows that should be released and demos too. Agreed big time. The more shows and songs out, the better.

Why can't a tribute band exist at the same time as a normal band? Metallica's tribute band Hardwired follows the Metallica tour around and even plays the same cities the night before the Metallica shows. It's genius.

I think it's pretty telling, based on Mike's comments that he didn't really want to do a greatest hits and this, that the band isn't in love with this release. I'm sure releasing Friendly Fire was cool for them but they haven't ever seemed like the band to want to do a greatest hits release. They are always looking forward, not backward.

The original mix of Lost is so strange compared to what the band released last year. Not sure how BIG it would have been on Meteora originally, but it definitely is a strong enough song to be on the original release.