LPLStaff

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.

Would strongly argue Blackbirds being released in early 2010 (finished in 2009) is MTM-era, since the song was one of 6 they recorded strings for with MTM and it made it really far in the process. Someone else could easily disagree and say since the ATS sessions were going so strong then, they finished it while working with ATS. Wild how things could be classified so many different ways across their discography haha.

QWERTY wasn't ever finished, it's still in demo form. It didn't make it through the process. His changes aren't great compared to the live version, of course, but we don't know what a finished QWERTY would even sound like if it got to the same point in the process Given Up or something did.

What would be really cool is a QWERTY release with a new video by Mark with studio footage from the MTM era. Imagine if they have even just a few clips of the band recording that one. And the band rehearsing it, there is definitely footage from Tokyo Zepp 2006 of that as Mark is backstage filming also pre-show there. The long version of LPTV has that clip. Mark has a tremendous talent with the video editing - I'd love to see what he could do with QWERTY. Take the opportunity and put the live version out with it and put the Summer Sonic video on YouTube with that. Why not? By the way - the band has that full Tokyo 2006 show as evidenced by the QWERTY, OSC, PMA, etc footage in that LPTV... we need that show so badly. Could be one of the best releases they've ever done if they put it out one day.

Up to 7 vinyls now. That's not a good look when the band their entire career has been so meticulous about every single merch item and thing they put out. OML had what, 3? A normal and 2 others? Looks very cash grabby to do something like that when you have the press and fans running wild about "unreleased song featuring Chester Bennington vocals" combined with the fact the band and label are both VERY aware the LP fans collect every single item with the band's name on it. The attention to detail here the band usually has on physical releases, including HT20 and M20, is just not there for this. You need some degree of sensitivity when something with Chester comes out, for a billion reasons. There are good aspects of this, of course - the Friendly Fire music video is fantastic. But who was really pushing/itching to do a release here? It sure doesn't look like the band, especially coming after Mike's comments about greatest hits collections. There are some personal notes from the band in this - you have to do SOME sort of press or statement when your name is on a release. But for something that comes out with their band's name on it, the attention to detail/care for this doesn't look even remotely comparable to anything the band has ever released previously. Even RECHARGED was significantly better.

It would be really wild if they had some more MTM studio footage of recording QWERTY and the like (hanging out at Lauren Canyon) and used that.

That's a lot of vinyl variants.

Friendly Fire is just included so hardcore fans buy this and they can also market it with an "unheard Chester Bennington song." It makes much more sense to include Given Up in that spot, or literally any of those earlier mentioned songs. GATS.