Fleur de Lys

I love it actually. I was getting a bit scared reading the comments, but to my surprise it resonated with me. First off, it does not have the melodic choices that sound very 2016-2018 that I feared for bc of John Green. Honestly, I hated a lot of the, at the time, trendy melodic choices on OML. The melody still sounds like something Mike Shinoda himself could have always written. I knew the third song was undeniably gonna be some sort of ballad, so this one is a nice change of pace, but it still connects well with the other singles as it progresses and the band comes in. Also, the production is distinct and kind of bold. The little repeating two note synth after every line is awesome and I like how they doubled down on the chopped up rhythm in the first chorus. It's very atmospheric and thankfully not very OML. Emily's performance is beautiful too. The only thing I don't like is the word skyscrapers... Just a little cringe and childish as a metaphor

It's up! Holy shit this crowd might have been the loudest

That’s great with the new song. Can’t wait to hear the studio version. But they replaced the wrong song. KTTK was clearly a show highlight… and Friendly Fire was right there

Check out her scream on the outro of Faint. That's the best I've heard from her, absolutely brutal! Constantly improving

Also, Brad is playing the one-note piano part on Waiting For The End from backstage! (and he finally got the timing right, after practicing hard for the comeback)

This show looked absolutely incredible on the videos. Must have been such a blessing to have attended. Emily is doing really, really good. This is maybe an uncomfortable thing to say, but I think Emily's voice allows for some setlist-choices that might have been hard to pull off in the last years we had Chester. She really nails that classic raspy, hard hitting Linkin Park-chorus. Chester had to sing very clean on many of these songs from the mid-00s and forward (and no wonder, considering how he left it all on stage every night), which imo made songs like Crawling and Somewhere I Belong lack a bit of their intended punch. Now they're up front in the setlist, and no wonder! On the other hand, Chester always nailed all the explosive screaming sections, and sometimes even exceeded his studio performances. I'm talking the bridge of Given Up or Faint. Emily is doing great with those too, but she probably will never reach Chester's level. And that's just fine! I like that these classic Chester moments will always be his alone. The production is just amazing. I read that they got Kendrick's production designer to the stage and lights, apparently a real A-level talent, and it really shows. I love a show that is focused on building atmosphere and empowering the songs and artist - as opposed to video screens with endless colourful videos, graphics, etc. This is just very exciting and very tasteful! Loved the setlist too. It flows perfectly with the production, builds to different peaks and a good balance of their hits and cool surprises. Keys To The Kingdom is probably my favorite THP track and I never imagined it would be played live. Such a creative and wild track, every section is a surprise. And Emily absolutely nailed the chorus! Nitpicks: Colin Brittain is obviously a great musician and probably a big force in their newfound creativity. But I think his drumming is a little heavy-handed to me compared to Rob. His feel is a little more rock to me and his fills are more typical. I think Rob found a way to seamlessly integrate with the hiphop element of the band, and really flow on top of the hiphop beats at the core of the songs, and that is all the more evident, watching them with a new drummer. It's really a nitpick tho, still sounds great. Alex Feder plays great too, and he is a more consistent and tight guitar player than Brad. I do wish he got a little closer to the studio version of the KTTK solo though instead of just tremolo picking it all like the Faint solo. Truly a nitpick too! But all in all, my mind is completely blown. Great to have them back!

That's the thing, high-end professional graphic artists know where the trends are going. They're probably deliberately going for something retro, Y2k style - which is both very in fashion plus it's the time of LP's commercial peak

Very cool that they worked together on it. I don't think it was just mixing. The distorted powerchords in the bridge/last chorus is not what they were going for with OML. Also, the huge drumfill before the last chorus. I think they purposefully made it more rockband-esque. Even the intro with the organ-synth, I feel like it is more "rock" than the production that would have been on there in 2017... but it is, of course, just speculation. The song is only better for it imo, the band have a better idea of what they are now plus the OML-2010s-popsound is already dated.

What I like the most about this song, is that Chester's vocals don't sound as thin as the rest of OML. I think that record is a hard listen sometimes, because Chester seemed to have lost some of his bottom end throughout the last years, and the EQ on OML certainly didn't help. I feel like the low frequencies are more beefed up here, or at least, somehow this performance sounds fuller to me than than most of OML.

Great songs, even better than Lost imo. Can’t wait to hear them for real. Rn I’m mostly interested in the full interview though. Howard has a reputation for digging deep and asking the hard (sometimes uncomfortable) questions. And Mike is usually so composed and professional in his answers - I wonder if Howard got through his defenses somewhat

I have had this personal theory that a lot of what led to the suicide has to do with trajectory, and expectations of trajectory... If you look at the timeline: - Releasing the niche record The Hunting Party in 2014, with (expected) low commercial success - breaking his ancle mid-tour 2015, halting all their plans that Chester was allegedly super pumped and in the shape of his life to do - Chester subsequently falling into a “low” or depression because he was unable to do what he loved, or do anything for that matter. - I remember him talking during the OML press cycle, that he hated 2015-2016. “This time last year, I was a mess”. A close relative had died in this period as well, and it was a big part of it. - The band writing the super personal OML, which IMO was in part sort of an internal reaction the band had to the low sales of The Hunting Party, leading them to wanting to do a Coldplay, Fallout Boy, etc... i.e. become relevant in the big league again. There’s a pre release video on LPTV pre-OML where Mike talks about them wanting to modernize the sound, and discussing if LP fans would be on board or not. - All of this leading to Chester and the band believing that 2017 would be their year, and the year where Chester belived he would be truly back, and maybe even relevant in the mainstream again, after a couple of really dark years. - 2017 instead being: poor reception by fans, harsh critics, no big mainstream impact, and then to top it off: Chris Cornell dying by suicide, maybe really triggering those dark thoughts. I think Chester really believed that things would get better in 2017, but it just ended up being one thing after another. But how would I know, this is just what I’ve pieced together from interviews through the years. I also think his voice troubles might have played a part, it’s never good to not feel adequate at your job/talent.

That was truly cathartic and something I think a lot of us really needed. I feel a little better now. It was very clear that they chose to put the fanbase before themselves and they did this very hard thing in order for us all to heal. Insisting on celebrating and inspiring instead of just mourning and crying. Class act people. My favourite part was probably the first couple of songs, because I was so excited and uplifted by basically seeing the future of LP unfold in front of my eyes. Mike CAN be the sole frontman, and I hope that's the direction they take. We don't need a new guy in there. That's my position. Mike's singing is getting better and better, and what he did yesterday was an enormous undertaking, being such a gracious host and frontman for the show + singing and playing so much new stuff. Even with grief weighing him down, he really picked up the mantel. And all the surprises were amazing: The new song out of nowhere, all the cool new arrangements, all the band members taking up the task of singing together, etc. They clearly put A LOT of work into this for us and Chester. Thank you for helping us heal LP and RIP my hero Chester. He must be truly proud somewhere.

What stands out to me the most in these later interviews is that Mike seems so distant and tired, and he let's Chester make most of the points. Mike is usually very enthusiastic and can't wait to get his points across. He looks defeated here. I believe the backlash to OML did make him question their decisions, you can almost see him cringing when Chester makes use of some of their usual interview buzzword pieces. I feel so bad for him. I think the trajectory they had envisioned for 2017 was that it would finally turn around for the band (not commercially, but personally), after all the personal struggles they had dealt with in the last couple of years. And then the backlash happened, not that it was that bad in itself, I just think they imagined that it would put them back in the top 40 game, looking at the later LPTV videos of Mike and Brad talking in the studio... And then everything with Chester happened. It's just such a shame.

Very good idea switching Faint and Bleed It Out around. Faint is a much stronger finish, and a much bigger song in general. Both songs are uptempo, so they can clearly bring some catharsis at the end of a show, but Faint is clearly the stronger one. Heavier, pulling on more of Chester's strengths and a major hit. A very good webcast btw, a good mix, a good night for Chester and very nice camera work. We even got to see a lot of Hahn and Bourdon. When you get all these angels you really see how much different stuff the guys are doing up there, makes it a way cooler experience.

If you take the steady decline in CD sales into consideration, I still think that this record did relatively better. It probably wasn't the success they hoped for though. I think they hoped to revive their career with a more accessible and modern sound, just like Coldplay, Paramore, and to some extend Nickelback. It won't pay off because the old fans/metal community hates it, and they're just too old and the Linkin Park name is too stigmatized to ever be "cool" in the top 40 range again. I hope the guys won't take this blow too hard, because while I don't really think OML is up there with their best work, I don't doubt for one second that every lyric and melody comes from a very real place. That's why Chester reacted so strong to the sellout comments.