Qwerty18

They debuted IGYEIH and Emily freaking went in the pit during that beast of a song. YES.

Don't think it has to do with the heaviness and more with how 2010's pop the chorus sound, which is not a style that's for everyone, and also not what some people may want LP to sound like. I really like Stained personally.

Stained live is cool for the sake of completeness, i though the guitars in the verses added some edge as well. But I think Emily seems to struggle a bit to hit those notes, and fluctuate between them. May need additional practice, or may be just me.

Pretty much a contest on what song out of Stained / IGYEIH / Unshatter will be premiered tonight. I'd prefer IGYEIH, but I think Stained is maybe a tiny bit more likely (easier on Emily's voice, more popular on Spotify). Unshatter, I don't see it happening, but it'd be cool too!

Regarding Papercut, I compared the recording from that video and the one from RaR 2004, and there is indeed a very noticeable difference. Now, when I hear this, I believe it is .... intentional? Far from a guitar pro and I didn't check in details, but I'll try to explain. On Rar 2004, Brad let the string ring continuously and just kind of strum through them, creating that smooth wave effect. In the above recording, Alex play that part in a staccato / syncopated way (a bit like on the reanimation version actually), and that creates that start-stop effect. That's definitely a deliberate choice here, because from a pure technical standpoint, I believe Rar 2004 is actually easier to play, no need to worry so much about keeping in sync or muting strings. So I think, either Alex just learned the song a bit different, or was told to play it that way. Who knows.

Brad studio solo takes on THP are the biggest proof Brad is not the most technically clean player And I say that, but I love those THP solos, the fact they're a bit sketchy at times give them some kind of chaotic character, different from what most clean players would play.

Definitely having the same vibe of Colin being more of a typical rock drummer. He does shine on some of the new songs (Casualty and IGYEIH) though. But I think his biggest contribution is largely on the production side of things. Curious if they'll be able to merge Colin driven rock approach and more hip-hop leaning beats in the future. I'm sure there would be a lot to explore there, if they're willing to challenge themselves in that way.

This may be the biggest compliment you ever gave to OML, if only indirectly ...

I see where you're coming from. I think the main reason I expressed my view in this thread is that I am not the biggest fan of the "album has no soul" thingy I've seen there and there. Not meaning from you, but in general. I do feel it does in fact have a lot of soul, but I think that it comes through more via the adrenaline-packed melodies and fresh punchy energy, displaying the fun they had, rather than via the lyrics, which I believe they kept more vague on purpose, partly for the reasons I mentioned. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if LP9 or LP10 dived much deeper into personal, deeper, more meaningful stories, and I kinda hope it will. I do think FZ lyrics do the job for this album, but I would be a bit more critical if it was the lyrical content of their,say, 3rd new album. So I guess we don't have totally different opinions either. Anyway, you've made a lot of good points, and I agree with your conclusion in all cases (better to have the band than not having them, good to see Mike happy, miss the feeling of discovering new Chester vocals, etc)

I agree with that part - I just don't think it's a very bad thing. We also have to think about the context in which the album was made. A bunch of new friends, not all of them being familiar with each other. In that context, I think it make sense for them to have fun with melodies, sound designs, without getting too personal with the lyrics. People don't usually open up 100% when they're hanging around new friends - they're just being in the moment, having fun, but it's always a bit on the surface at first. They may have conversations about this or that, but it's rarely going too deep initially, it'll be more about vague stuff that they can relate to, and generalities. In my opinion, we can't expect the band to go full introspective with their first album as a new-line-up, when they're having the initial "having fun in the studio as new friends" phase, it's simply not how human relationships usually works. I think it makes senses the lyrical content is more akin the vague content on HT/Meteora, and less like the content on MTM or OML, which were born from years of knowing each other, and opening up more and more. I'll go one step further, and say it may even have come off un-authentic if on their first album together, Emily would sing lyrics that are super personal to Mike. And if it was about herself, it would be said Linkin Park had a new "me me me" singer. If Mike sang too much of those, it may have come across too self-centered, putting the focus on his stories, and alienating the rest of the line-up. I'd prefer them to sing about vague stuff now, as this feels more natural as an introduction. This may even be why they kept more personal stuff, as Let You Fade, out of the album. All things consider, FZ lyrics are not that far off from some of the stuff on Living Things ("you did it to yourself", "we build it up to burn it down", etc) or THP, and those were some of the latest records with Chester. It's not amazing, but it's not as poor as I've read it there and there. In TEM, I for example like some of images the words paint very much ("razor", "altar", etc).

I think what may trigger some of the feelings expressed in this thread is the fact that, once the initial "wtf they're back?!" phase dissipated, LP comeback also made it very concrete that it will never be the same. And that can certainly dampen the initial excitement. I'd say it's a phase of the process, and it's very possible that feeling will soften with time too. A part of it is about managing expectations. If we're being real, it was always impossible for any vocalist to match Chester when it comes to the sense of connection his voice brought. It was just so unique. It is something that can never be replicated. That also made me believe a comeback was impossible to begin with, but the band proved me wrong on that. Regarding the lyrics, I guess being a non-native helps, but in general, I don't quite buy it that they have "no souls". I find FZ lyrics on par with most of their discography (parts of MTM, ATS, and OML being exceptions), and certainly better than some of their past work, like SIB or UIG choruses. Maybe it's the contrast with OML personal lyrics that give this impression, but honestly, I feel it may have to do with Emily singing them in place of Chester, which I don't find totally fair. And we never know when those lyrics where written, as the verses of CTB dating from 2013 displayed. But yeah, beside the lyrics stuff I don't fully agree with, a lot of fair points in this thread

Whatever is fine to me, as long as IGYEIH gets played at some point during the tour, and Keys remains in the rotation slot. QWERTY huge nice-to-have of course.

Given this setlist, my wished rotation spots Casualty - Keys - QWERTY LFY - POA - IGYEIH OEO - GTG - Stained APFMH - FTI - LITE That'd be a realistic way to include most of FZ in some form AND have Qwerty.

Assuming this is the first time the rest of the guys heard Emily scream in the studio - That must have been one of the "oh shit" moment. She genuinely sounds so pissed, maybe the angriest we've heard her.

Altright, already digging the track more today. It has that fun, rock'n'roll "hell yeah" vibe, it's different for the band, but pretty fun.