Fleur de Lys

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.

Chester does crack a little more on the studio version too. I believe the thing that makes it a lot stronger though, is that the harmonies in the chorus are way louder than they were on the album version. They are very effective and Mike really do them justice. Nice!

Chester needs less LP touring, those extra months were really good on him. He is really sounding great right now. Great audio mix and video too!

Most likely because Chester got injured. I still believe they would have added it once the cobwebs were off.

And it most likely won't. My guess is that it will be dark and experimental like the hip hop Mike tends to post himself nowadays. Those cheesy start-00's type beats are hopefully long gone.

I gotta say I'm more excited for this than I am for LP7. It would be a good idea for Mike and Chester to spend some time with FM and STP in my opinion. Some of the other guys seem burned out, so a break would probably do good for the creative process of the next LP record too. This is exciting!

Do you know that Phoenix played the cello part, or are you just assuming?

So it's out of sync, popping out, not audible, or something else?

I'm gonna predict that he is working on new Fort Minor right now, from his expression when asked the question and the making beats video (which had a "Fort Minor" tab in his beat program). It's probably gonna be more experimental/dark like some of the rap he's been listening to recently like Odd Future, etc. Linkin Park will probably take a break for some time. Some members feel burned out. They've been putting 3 albums out in 4 years. They change every album, but with all the strong statements from interviews on this album, it seems wierd to just go another direction a few years after... Also, it would be wierd to make a THP 2. Lastly, Chester has STP to focus on. Anyway, these are my predictions haha!

Rob made a mistake and played the second chorus instead of the first on Guilty All The Same. Fucked everyone up haha. You don't see that often.

This is probably true. Funny thing is, he is even playing that part wrong these days. Wrong timing.

His interviews are usually awesome, very in depth. Can't wait!

Here it is Hahninator: "Sessions" haha! To be fair, he did correct himself.

It's funny how we're talking about 30 minutes of music haha! It's gonna be awesome though. Also, in a recent interview Chester said that they'll play Cure For The Itch (he called it Session haha) like the version on the record.

It's a really good and energetic video in my opinion, they really rock out. Especially Rob and Mike. But it kind of bothers me how perfect this would be for Rebellion... or just one of the other heavy songs.

Okay, a lot of technical difficulties with the new gear. But I gotta say, I fucking love the new guitar sound. Finally the guitars sound big and distorted again. I don't know if Brad switched from Randall, but the distortion doesn't sound as thin and digital as it's been sounding since MtM. Maybe he is using the Orange or Engl from the studio now? Maybe it's just the mix. But I like that the guitars are so up front, it's the same in the fan recordings from Tucson. EDIT: Mesa Boogie maybe? Mike got feedback from a MB combo at the beginning of Faint.

You are right, I had not noticed that. And yeah, he is obviously using a volume pedal for some of Brad's parts in GATS. The way Brad's guitar faded in at the end of the bridge makes me think he had it pushed down until he noticed.

Haha, Rob is using the double pedal in the main rhythm of Bleed It Out now. Cool. There's no stopping him now!

I definitely think some things where lost in translation here. I think maybe they asked him to play on Guilty All The Same initially, but he wouldn't touch it. And now he's on Rebellion.

This album will be good. I love this raw production, it's really cool to hear the band this punk-rock for once. I can feel the human element! I'm glad they didn't go for the bro-metal option, with typical heavy low-tempo songs and "I'll fuck you up" lyrics. I think this energy could be really interesting with the dynamic of Chester and Mike on other songs. Promising. I don't really consider this heavy, it's more energetic, really "Refused"-like. Screaming is heavy, so I can see why they opted for leaving it out here and just keeping it aggressive. Also, one of LP's big strengths is their ear for catchy melodies, and that is exactly what makes this song unique compared to other energetic rock bands. Because these types of songs don't usually contain a chorus this catchy. And it is really fucking catchy. Love it. Also, the verse melody is pretty "folk"-sounding to me, which makes this song even more special. And the marching drums underneath it are cool. Rob playing double pedal here for the first time ever. Awesome. Hope this is expanded upon in songs to come. It's easiest to tell in the fill around 1:00.

I've never been much of a Thirty Seconds To Mars fan, but I just listened to some recent shows of theirs and it seems to me that Jared improved. He is singing more than I remember, and in generally he is not more off-key than Chester (which doesn't really say much, I know). I can't help but think that there are a lot of similarities between these bands live though. A lot of backing tracks, big choruses, a lot of oh-parts, a singer struggling with his pitch. I agree that all these bands are studio-bands, but it seems like a pretty good match. Watched the first few songs, judge for yourselves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjy7zg7WxhU

I hope they did. That film made a lot of good points.