LinkinParkHotspur

Wrong. ATS will most likely divide the fans into people who feel that the band has progressed and the people who feel they haven't progressed. It will divide into those who think ATS is a good new sound and those who don't like ATS because they feel it doesn't sound like the Linkin Park they grew to love. The leftover people who have been bitching since Minutes to Midnight have already been divided from the rest of us. They really aren't part of the fan base anymore. Those people who haven't liked a single thing that the band has done since M2M are just fans of the old LP. They're not fans of the LP from M2M or the current LP...and they probably won't be fans of the future LP, whatever that proves to be. This album is about those of us who are still left. Those who have survived through M2M and still like some or most of what the band is doing. Some of us have been fans for 10 years. And now we're going to see who sticks around even longer, and who goes. Or if you're like me, I won't be leaving even if I don't like ATS. Even though I wouldn't be a fan of the band's new music, I'd still stick around if that happened. The band has put out 3 damn good albums so I can forgive them if they put out one mediocre one. I'm pretty sure that I love music and understand it. And I know that I don't give a shit about radio friendly music or bands and whether or not something is experimental. So if I don't like ATS, it won't be because I only listen to radio friendly bands and can't accept experimental things. It will be for many different reasons but the biggest reason will be because I don't think the band has progressed in the right way while staying true to who they are. Not saying this will happen though but if I don't like ATS, that will be why.

LPUX is also referenced in Lying From You just like Pretend To Be is. That's what I'm trying to get people to see. All of this was predicted in Lying From You, 7 years ago! First we have: When I pretend everything is what I want it to be I look exactly like what you had always wanted to see And then we have the part where Mike is pretending to be the LPU: "I can't forget about the criminal I am, stealing second after second just cause I know I can. But, I can't pretend this is the way it'll stay. I'm just trying to bend the truth." I have no doubt Mike was referencing LPUX. He knows that LPU is criminals for doing what they are doing and that they are just stealing people's money second after second because they know they can. At the same time though, the LPU can't pretend that this is the way it'll stay...meaning that they can't pretend that people will stay in the LPU. And then even Chester has something to say about LPUX: "I wanna be pushed aside so let me go" He's basically saying he wants to be pushed out of the LPU. Ok, wow, I took all that way too far. Still kind of funny when you think about it though.

I know one thing for sure. From what I can see, this video is going to be better than all the mediocre videos we got on M2M. I think WID and LOATR were the only videos I enjoyed from that era. I have a feeling the band will be more focused and motivated to make good videos this time around. This is going to be a wacky video. Looks like it could be as good as some of the videos from HT and Meteora.

Not sure if I'll be able to attend this one. More likely I will in LA. I wish it said this: LPU: "Join Linkin Park in celebrating the release of their new album A Thousand Suns with a rare small room performance in LinkinParkHotspur's apartment. This special event WILL sell out. Make sure to bring ear plugs to protect your ears and prepare to not have any personal space."

I'm trying to find out the same thing right now. I'm in the same situation. I got LPU9 for Christmas last year and unfortunately, I didn't really activate my membership until 3 or 4 months ago. Although I'm not sure, I'm afraid the answer is probably yes. I'm guessing that we will have to pay money and upgrade to LPUX (or buy) to receive real benefits.

I'm assuming that it's probably a demo from the M2M era, right? For those who have heard it, how do you think it compares to ATL and BB?

Ok, I can't take this anymore lmao. To answer what you said though, it is indeed illegal if you make a torrent out of it and share it all over the internet. You might be better off with just sending it to certain people who ask for it or hosting it on something like mediafire.

Check this out. When I pretend everything is what I want it to be I look exactly like what you had always wanted to see It's the song within the song! Ok, joking. I'm not saying that there's any link or common thread between LFY and Pretend To Be but...still funny.

God we needed that. I'm not even the biggest fan of their heavy songs and I'm not like a lot of LP fans who are like "LOL I ONLY LOVE THE HEAVY SONGS AND SCREAMING". But damn, we needed that bad. The last several songs that they've released since New Divide have pretty much had zero screaming (except for the ATL bridge) and no heavyness. This video just came at the right time. It's been a while since we heard this. And although I hope Ana is wrong, at least these screams are damn good if they are the only ones on the album.

The review (some) was just kind of vague. I know it's not the fault of the poster though. If they had trouble hearing it, that's fine. I'm just not going to go insane over this review. If I were to take the whole review literally, I would be preparing myself for a dissapointment. However, I'm not going to do that because I question whether some of these descriptions are accurate. I do agree with one thing though. Most people are going to either love it or hate it. Unfortunately, if some of the descriptions this review gives are accurate (Mike and Chester almost always singing together, Chester being a second voice, 30% autotune, only two screams by chester, etc), then I think it's going to be the latter. The backlash and fanbase reaction for this album will probably be worse than Minutes to Midnight if that's the case. As for me though, I've learned to not trust descriptions for songs. The description that the guy from XFM gave for The Catalyst ended up sounding nothing like the real thing, imo. So I'm not going to go crazy over this either. I know there's a chance that it won't sound anything like these descriptions when I listen to it. Good job to the person who posted though.

Man, I actually was able to get through 30 minutes ago but the female operator said they didn't have time for my question (translation: we don't like your question) which was about the new album. Maybe if I call back and ask a question about anal sex directed to Chester, I'll get through and be able to talk to him.

I'm guessing they'll be taking questions as usual at some point. In order to have a real chance of asking a question, I'll have to call in more than just an hour early. I learned my lesson from last time when Mike and Brad were on. I got through last time but the operator dude said "sorry lol, no time for that question."

I posted that after PR2007. There are some moments where he is off key or flat...but for me, it's just not enough to complain about. As I said before, the only song from that show in which I was like "wow, he's really struggling" was Shadow of The Day. He did struggle some with Pushing Me Away though. Besides that, I thought he did fine. Honestly though, if I compared PR2007 to PR2004 (at least the shows I went to), I think he did about the same. Most of the mistakes he made in that video weren't even noticeable during the show. And I think that's because the mistakes are mostly small and they weren't noticeable with all the crowd noise among other things. SOTD was the only exception. If he really struggled on old songs, I'd agree with your argument. I don't see that though. I see him struggling on the newer songs which are more difficult than the older songs. In fact, most of the specific songs you named were new songs. I think if anything, he doesn't have the same passion to perform some of the older songs. I don't think you can say for certain it's because he mistreated his vocal chords (although he has smoked). There's too many factors that go into whether a singer struggles on a certain night. If your argument was that Chester isn't perfect anymore, I'd agree with that. However, you said earlier that he was BAD live. And as a person who's been singing for 15+ years (I'm not the best but I know something about it), I can't agree with that. ------------- Edit: Now that I think about it, the setlists are more difficult than they were several years ago because of the songs being harder. With the overall setlists being harder, I'm sure it takes a bigger toll on his voice. That could also explain why he may be struggling with certain songs on certain nights. Having a tough song at a certain spot in the setlist can make all the difference. That's just another thing to think about before saying "OMG, he's just not as good anymore."

You really should have quoted the rest of what I said AFTER I said it was a good thing for him to be off on some nights. Go click on my profile and view some of my posts throughout the last year. If you think that I say every single thing LP does is good, you're foolish. This band is far from perfect. When The Catalyst came out, I said it was probably their worst single since SOTD and I said the first 1m30s of it "lacked dynamics, lacked a variety of sounds, and was a bit boring." Sometimes, I actually feel like I'm one of 10 or 15 people on this site who have the balls to criticize them when they ARENT good (not taking stabs at anyone). I'm sorry but you're WAY too nitpicky if you think he's bad live. My live CDs from PR2007 and PR 2008 prove otherwise. I've been to four LP concerts over the last 6 years. The only song I've heard him consistently struggle with is SOTD. Chester doesn't always make the difference. I remember at PR2007 when Brad played the solo for In Pieces, he struggled. He had to modify it and change it up to fit his playing style and he still struggled a tiny bit with it. When I compare LP to other bands though, they just seem to step it up live.

I agree with you. He is still one of the top 20 best singers in the world. Unfortunately, as long as people keep failing to realize that the songs have been getting CONSISTENTLY more difficult to sing (since Minutes to Midnight), then there will always be some people who are under the illusion that Chester has regressed. For those who think he's regressed, look at these 4 singles from the last 7 years and tell me what you notice. Somewhere I Belong > What I've Done > New Divide > The Catalyst. Does anyone besides me see a trend in terms of the overall vocal difficulty of these songs? Every single song has gotten harder to sing, in terms of hitting notes, sustaining notes, etc. WID is probably 2 or 3x harder to sing than SIB. New Divide is probably 2 or 3x harder to sing than WID. And The Catalyst is probably harder to sing than New Divide (though the high note in New Divide is tough). I could go on and on with listing songs from M2M that are harder to sing than anything on HT or Meteora. The bottom line is this. Judging him in the same way as 7 years ago is stupid. With the songs being this difficult, he's not going to have perfect pitch on every attempt. The fact that he is off on some nights is actually a good thing. It shows how real the live performances are. For every single live recording that he's missing notes on, I can show you several more in which he's still hitting the notes. Does he do it with the same consistency? Probably not. With the notes being more difficult to hit and hold though, I can forgive him if he's off a night or two. Add in the fact that he's still smoking (I think) and I'm just amazed he's done as well as he has.

I'm not saying the band hasn't matured, but can we stop throwing around that word? It's just getting a bit tiring. It sounds like it implies the band was never mature before which is just false. I think all LP songs have had pretty good meaning. This is one of the few LP songs though that has a good meaning which is directed towards humanity or society as a whole. I'm sure some individuals can relate to parts of this song on a personal level but I think the song aims for a wider message and audience. It's not talking about an individual struggle. It's more societal. That's the main difference with this song and it's the reason you hear the words "you, our, us, we're" and not as much of "I". Lyrics are probably the most subjective part of music though. Whatever is "great meaning" or "thoughtful" differs from person to person depending on their experiences and what they are currently going through. I don't think LP has any emo songs. Maybe Valentine's Day was the closest it ever got to sounding emo. If you look closely though at their discography, each album got more positive. I think almost half of M2M was free of anger, anguish, etc. IMO, WID was a turning point for the band lyrically, not just musically. It basically took part of the message from Somewhere I Belong but the positivity from the band was at an ALL TIME high. Instead of just wanting to heal, it was saying "I WILL HEAL. I WILL FORGIVE MYSELF. TODAY THIS ENDS." And this is the approach that I think the band should stick with. To me, this album won't be a good Linkin Park album without some songs that are directed more towards the individual listener and the situations they might be going through. As M2M showed, it doesn't have to be depressing. It can be like WID, SOTD, etc. The lyrics of The Catalyst are not bad but I'm hoping for songs like this. Songs that talk about personal adversity/situations, like on prior albums. And I know that many people have called past songs "angsty, shallow, emo, exagerrated, etc". I Couldn't disagree more. I think these songs are just as deep as songs like The Catalyst. They're just deep in a different way. I can't tell you how many times I thought for sure I knew the meaning of a Linkin Park song, only to come back later and interpret it totally differently. It's part of what makes Mike Shinoda one of the best lyricists in the world. That's what I call deep and thoughtful. The songs force you to think a lot and question everything until you finally decide what the message means. At least that's what the prior albums did for me.

I kind of wish that someone would ask the question "Mike, will No Roads Left ever be done live at an LPU show or ANY TYPE of show in the future? Is it possible?" I know it's a stupid question and we all know that he doesn't feel comfortable doing it and it probably won't ever be done. He's made that somewhat clear. But I don't think he's ever said "It will never be done. We won't ever do it live."

The downside of the structure for this song is that the song has a bit too much repetition and it's lacking some variety lyrically. And please, let's use this as a time to praise the catalyst, not diss older songs. I personally think WID is a better song but maybe my opinion will change. I'm sure I'd fall asleep if I listened to WID after this song because The Catalyst has more energy and seems a bit quicker. WID is great though and so is this, New Divide, etc.

Hope the music video comes out in the next week or so. And now, I wonder how long it will be until this gets on itunes. I'm praying it won't be more than another 12 hours.

Now I can congratulate you! CONGRATULATIONS YOUR OVER 1000th POST (OVER 9000). YAY

I'm about to congratulate you on your 1000th post. Don't respond to this though. I don't want your 1000th post to be you responding to me on me congratulating you on your almost 1000th post.

I'll back you up on this. I remember seeing Shadow of The Day live during PR 2007. I was there. And I remember thinking, wow...this is the only song all night that he's struggled on. The vocals were the only real problem. It proved that he really is one of the best vocalists in the world though because when he was flat during the song, I knew that it was all real. I was like "HOLY CRAP! He's not perfect. He actually can mess up!"

I predict that at least 50% of all the people on LPA and LPL who thought it sucked after the MOH trailer are going to be like "OMFG OMG OMFG OMFG THIS IS AWESOMEZ" tomorrow.

Whoever made that is full of fail. I'm not sure why they thought anyone would actually think that is Mike. If it was true though, I'm sure people would be pissed off at the band forever considering how things already are right now.