Fleur de Lys

One thing I have been enjoying is actually Dave's playing. He is just doing more improvising, throwing in licks here and there. He didn't used to as much with the old band. You can tell that he is a real bass-player and not just a guitarist playing bass. It's not often you really get to hear that in LP (other than his solid technique), so it's really cool.

That's fair enough. I remember those mess-ups, some of them have been pretty loud and funny (infuriating for Mike, maybe). But if I was the musician, I just would not like if people were tracking my mistakes for years. I get that you've done it in the spirit of archiving as much data as possible, but it's just a little inconsistent considering how many small screw ups the rest of the band does. For instance, Colin missed a snare hit at the end of Faint yesterday too. Phoenix played extra notes on the first verse of Two Faced today. There'd be a lot to track. Also considering Joe might pretty much be personally responsible for setting LP 2.0 in motion 😅 We owe him alot, we should give the guy a break

Why is LPLive always tracking Joe's mistakes in show notes? It's always been puzzling to me considering that everyone in the band makes mistakes and most of them are not tracked. Alex played a wrong chord last week in Mexico. Phoenix hits wrong notes too. Emily forgets words. It seems awfully arbitrary and weirdly mean to be following Joe's mistakes so closely. Is it really show note material? A band makes mistakes...? Yea, they actually play live. I'm genuinely curious what the reason is here. Can someone explain?

I’m not ready for a full-on album review yet. All I’ll say is that I like how hard it goes. It suits LP, their songwriting works best with a bit of edge. It’s a real rock record, with a good mix of experimentation too. The only song I kinda dislike is Stained, which for me is reminiscent of 2010s pop like Katy Perry mixed with Imagine Dragons. Which are references that… let’s say, don’t do it for me. Good Things Go is a tad too melodramatic. But overall, a very solid album. Anyway, the rankings look fun! Albums Hybrid Theory Meteora A Thousand Suns From Zero Minutes to Midnight The Hunting Party Living Things One More Light Songs The Emptiness Machine Two Faced Casualty Overflow Over Each Other IGYEIH Heavy Is The Crown Cut The Bridge Good Things Go Stained

I love the video - great drone shots. But I agree with some people here about the mix. Not a fan. The vocals are so on-top of the music, it's not really fair to Emily (or Mike). There is a perfect spot where distorted guitars blend and support an aggressive vocal, and this mix is not it. Plus, I agree that the audience should be mixed louder. Get the feel of the show. It doesn't matter if it's at the cost of some clearity in the music. Brazil are known for their audiences, and humans want to feel.

I thought the stream was amazing tbh. On my connection the audio was better than these YT rips and the image quality was great. The mix was not perfect, but it was powerful and the guitars were LOUD (For once, my pet-peeve with LP mixes in general is that the guitars are too low. Loud guitars support the vocals a ton if mixed right). A proper mix for the theatrical version will do it good, and it could be a legendary live-recording for them. Yeah, the audience feel could be more represented, but I'm sure it will be in the final version, it's just a question of mixing them in a bit more in both footage and audio. Check Joe Hahn's instagram stories, the audience was on fire, but if you're used to concert-live streams, you know that they might not really capture this from a dry soundboard mix Emily's performance was way better than the From Zero-livestream (which in general didn't do much good for the perception of her as a live singer). This show, with improved mixing, can do a lot to alter this perception and actually represent how much LP have been killing the live game (best shows since the early 00's imo).

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.

This is pretty bad. It's not too unexpected, but personally I really hate this vibe. I always hated it in other pop songs. I really like a lot of pop music, but it has to be creative, good and authentic. This sounds like typical generic machine made pop. I don't really get angry though, LP was always a commercial and somewhat poppy band. They just took out whatever edge they had from the rock sound or experimental sound, and what's left of their sound is just too cookie-cutter and bland for me. I like the minor-vibe of Heavy more, it fits the band better. But sill, I don't like Heavy. It doesn't help these songs that Chester's vocal delivery is so squeaky and high. It doesn't really surprise me though, this is how he's sounded live for years, and also on THP when he wasn't yelling or screaming. Remember the verses of Guilty All The Same? It seems he really embraced his naturally high register voice in recent years. It's even prominent when comparing old interviews to new interviews. Good for him personally, because he probably isn't making his voice sound lower anymore on purpose, but having to prove something actually made for a better clean delivery in Chester's case. It had more depth and rasp, and it made the clean parts bearable. I have to disagree. "Heavy" is a good name, because it sort of works on more levels. It's the most prominent word of the chorus obviously, but it also matches the vibe of the "heavy" lyrics pretty well. At the same time, I think they were very aware of the irony of the name, which makes it the perfect statement for the first single of an album like this. It's sort of a meta-title. It's like Adele releasing "Hello" after years of silence. It's a line from the song, but it was obviously also saying "Hello, it's me" (I'm back) to the world.

Not that it really matters. But since it's being discussed, here's my assumption of Chester's political views. I suspect that Chester was probably a Republican back in the day, when the party hadn't gone so far right yet. But it just wouldn't make sense now. It wouldn't make sense for a guy who's so involved with environmental issues and charities, a guy who's so open minded with people and cultures to be part of what the Republican Party is now. I mean, they won't even acknowledge global warming. That seems like a pretty important issue to him and the rest of LP.

OMG are u implying that LP use autotune, they wouldz never!! Anyway, I really like the feel of this demo. There is something in the chord progression and choice of melody that doesn't sound as safe/bland as Linkin Park usually is. It's dark and dissonant, and the slightly off key vocals give me sort of a Deftones vibe. Very nice actually.

How could you do this? I was visiting Larry Pickett-live every day.