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GlassCastles

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Everything posted by GlassCastles

  1. He screams "TAKE! A! WAY!" live.
  2. I feel like it's supposed to show growth and maturity as the album progresses, though Rebellion was written with satirical/sarcastic lyrics, so it's entirely possible that was meant to be written in a "Oh, yeah, I totally have seen blood and destruction. Totally" kind of way. The other two almost certainly show growth. The Rebellion/ALITS one could also be interpreted as the character maturing, too.
  3. It could very well have some significance, but it's just not an album release. Or maybe it was supposed to be before the music industry decided to change all release dates to Fridays instead of Tuesdays. Though, I do recall Astat saying that's been a concert visual for a few years. No idea about that, though.
  4. We've discussed this at length. It's 100% NOT an album release date.
  5. On APFMH, at least live, he screams "Take away!" Don't know if that's what he actually screams on the studio version, though.
  6. Why would it be related to FM? Mike doesn't even rap on that song
  7. I think it's obvious that the "Go Away" part represents APFMH and the "Hello" part represents Hybrid Theory being LP's debut album. Mike is just gonna go and perform the entirety of Hybrid Theory by himself under the guise of Fort Minor.
  8. As much as it pains me to say it, I agree with you.
  9. That is the order those tracks appear in on the album, yes
  10. ATS yes. RECHARGED, the STB one was good, but IBG wasn't all that great. THP, are you kidding me?
  11. The closest we'll get to that is if Mike does Where'd You Go again, and needs Chester for Holly's part.
  12. Track-by-Track Review Part 2: Until It's Gone: Easily the most LIVING THINGS-esque song on the album. The mix of electronic elements and hard rock instrumentation was brilliantly executed here. The layers of vocoder that resemble a choir was a really nice touch, too. Chester's delivery is really solid, and demonstrates that "building to a drop" mentality Mike mentioned while he was making this song. In terms of the lyrics, I actually kind of like them. Not the chorus or bridge, those are garbage, but the verse lyrics are really good. Everything about this track is kind of laid back and chill, but it's still high energy and rock-oriented enough to fit on the album. While not the best song on here, it's still pretty good, and it's one I go back and listen to every now and then. 8/10 Rebellion: With this one, we enter the final stretch, and man is that stretch fantastic. Rebellion has Daron Malakian's guitar playing all over it, and it works very well. Mike taking the lead on the verses was a brilliant choice, and I wish we heard more of his singing rather than his rapping. Chester during the bridge is a monster, giving his best screams on the album. Despite all that, the true hero of this song is Rob. His drumming is incredible on this one, and it's no wonder he struggles with it a bit live. His drumming on Rebellion is easily my favorite drumming from him. The lyrics are also stellar on this one. They carry weight and have substance, something pretty much every other song before this lacked. The harmonies between Mike and Chester on the chorus are quite impactful, and make the song that much better. 10/10 Mark The Graves: Jumping between soft, melodic parts to huge walls of sound, Mark The Graves shows the band's talent at crafting longer songs that keep things interesting and keep the listener on their toes. The vocals on this one, during the verses, are beautiful. Mike and Chester singing together sounds incredible every time, and it's a consistent thing on this track. However, during the choruses, the singing is violent and aggressive, and it further drives the whole "two completely different sounds in one track" idea. The lyrics, too, are incredible, barring the chorus. The verse lyrics are some of my favorite lyrics the bad has done period. This is probably the closest to progressive rock Linkin Park has ever come, and I hope they do more songs in this vein in the future. 10/10 Drawbar: I'll be honest and say I expected something much different from a jam collaboration with Tom Morello. What we got though, in my opinion, was much better. The chilling piano and heavily affected guitar tone combination is beautiful, and once Rob enters with some quick, but rather emotional, drumming, the track comes together. What really makes this track so incredible is the ending. On a hard rock album with few points where there wasn't a loud, distorted guitar, powerful drums, or screamed vocals, a solid minute of nothing but beautiful piano is just breathtaking, and I got a little choked up when I first heard it, particularly the point where it borrows the chord progression from Final Masquerade. It serves as an incredible transition, and is one of my favorite moments on the album. Drawbar is definitely my favorite instrumental from the band. 10/10 Final Masquerade: I could go on about this track forever. This is everything I love about Linkin Park ballads put together in one, beautiful song. The drumming is simple, but effective, and the synth is there just enough to serve its purpose, but not overused to the point where it gets tiring or repetitive. Chester is at his peak on this track, too. I hear traces of Dead By Sunrise coming out during this song in terms of vocal delivery, which was really surprising. His delivery is emotional, powerful, and really drives home the lyrics, which are also really solid. The guitar work, like the drumming, is simple, but really effective. The bridge until the ending is beautiful. The quiet, ambient tone giving way to the loud, powerful wall of sound perfectly matches the build throughout the entire song. The small change in delivery is also a really cool, subtle thing that gets me every time. While CASTLE OF GLASS was far and away my favorite song for a long time, Final Masquerade has come really close to that point. 10/10 A Line In The Sand: Even though Final Masquerade is my favorite song on this album, A Line In The Sand is the best in my opinion. It perfectly represents what this album was meant to be, and it acts as the perfect closer to the album. Opening with Mike's haunting vocals over a chilling synth line provides the atmosphere from the some of the grittiest work the band has done to date. Quickly, that synth gives way to Rob's powerful drumming and Brad's incredible guitar work. After a short break, the haunting vocals are back, but with more power and energy, as Rob's drumming carries over and a quiet, very squashed form of Brad's riff plays in the background. Chester joins in for the second half of the verse before he takes over for the chorus, and it's just raw energy when that comes crashing in as he screams "Give me back what's mine!" Mike takes the reigns yet again for a short rap break, and it's definitely my favorite verse from him on the album, even if it's not that technically impressive. It adds to the song and has some throwback moments to previous songs, notably Rebellion. The breakdown is probably the heaviest moment in Linkin Park's catalog to date. The riff sounds like something from Metallica, and the drumming packs that extra punch. The outro is the best moment on the album, though. Chester screaming with everything he has, Brad pulling off a really good solo, and Rob giving it his all on the drums. You can tell every member of the band put everything they had into this moment, and it shows. The track ends the way it starts, with Mike singing the first verse over an ambient synth line, and it's the best possible ending I could have imagined for this album. To this day, every time I hear this track i get chills. It's a song I never would have expected out of a band that had brought us gems like BURN IT DOWN and LIES GREED MISERY just two years prior. I really can't wait to see what they bring next. 10/10 Overall: 9/10
  13. I hope Mike's rapping on this new Fort Minor material is better than what he's been doing with LP lately. If it's on the same level, then I'm more than likely going to be disappointed from a vocal stand point. I'm sure the instrumentals will be great, though.
  14. 1. Mike Solo Medley (Abridged; w/ 'Wretches and Kings', 'Remember The Name'; Transition Ending) 2. Remember The Name 3. It's Goin' Down 4. Get Me Gone (Shortened (Verse 1 A Cappella)) 5. Enth E Nd 6. In Stereo 7. Right Now 8. Feel Like Home 9. Red To Black 10. When They Come For Me (Shortened (Verse 1 A Cappella)) 11. Fort Minor Medley 12. Believe Me (Drum Solo Intro; Ext. Bridge w/ 'A LIGHT THAT NEVER COMES' v2) ----------------------- 13. Where'd You Go (Piano Buildup Intro) 14. Numb/Encore (Shortened) 15. There They Go ----------------------- 16. Hands Held High (Shortened (Verse 1 A Cappella Only); w/ 'KRWLNG' Strings; Transition Ending) 17. Petrified (Strings Intro) I don't think that's too bad.
  15. Welp, looks like we're getting Fort Minor 2 news VERY soon...
  16. It's extremely generic, just like Meteora, hence why I said it sounds like a song from the album. Despite that, it's better, to me at least, than most of that album.
  17. Track-by-Track Review Part 1: Keys To The Kingdom: Damn, the chorus on this one sounds so bad. I know, they were trying to REALLY push the "raw, one-take" thing with it, but it just sounds bad to me. The disjointed nature of the song is also kind of off-putting, with hard cuts between sections. It's really jarring, but not in a good way. Even UNTIL IT BREAKS had better flow between the four different parts! Everything else is pretty solid, though. Mike's sung verse threw me off in a good way. He sounds great there, and it's a nice change of pace from the in-your-face wall of guitars that had been playing literally 2 seconds prior. His rap verse isn't too bad, but not great. The "Yes I'm half anglo, half fried panko" line is so weird and out of place, but fucking hell it's funny. Where the song goes after the third chorus is great. The build into the solo, and the solo itself, is a highlight of the album for sure, and it kind of saves the track for me. Pretty solid opener, but it's not one I listen to on its own very frequently. 8/10 All For Nothing: Mike delivers his best verses on the album on this track. Unfortunately, that's not saying a lot. Even these verses pale in comparison to some of the verses he's delivered in years past. They're good, though. The second verse in particular where he changes the flow a bit is kind of interesting and definitely noteworthy. Like Keys, though, the chorus is where the song suffers. Not so much in the first half of the chorus, where Page Hamilton sings, but in the second half, where it's Chester yelling. Page sounds pretty solid here, though it definitely could have been Mike singing it and there wouldn't have been a huge difference. Regardless, I kind of like the layers of vocals there. Chester's part, though, is pretty bad. He sounds better than on Keys, but still kind of off, but just what he's singing lacks substance. And before anyone says anything, I know it's supposed to be influenced by 90's songwriting, which did have poor lyricism for the most part, and this style of song wouldn't have really worked with poetic lyrics. However, as see a little later on, you can still sing something with meaning while staying true to the tropes of 90's hard rock. The solo is fantastic, though. It's nice to see Brad is capable of doing a solo that isn't just tremolo picking notes as fast as he can. It really fits with the song, and is one of my favorite guitar parts Brad has ever done. The song as a whole just doesn't live up to that part, though. 7/10 Guilty All The Same: Easily the best song on the first half of the album, Guilty has a minute and a half intro that really builds into the song. While I could do without the first part of the intro, the piano part sounds incredible and the melodic, A7X-esque guitar riff just brings a smile to my face. Chester's vocals are still iffy, but it's a lot better compared to the first two tracks. After the intro, though, the song just maintains a tried and true song formula of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. There's nothing wrong with that formula, but after the dynamic intro, I just expected a little more experimentation within the track itself. Just a small thing that doesn't necessarily take away from the track, though. Rakim's verse is miles away the best rap on any Linkin Park song. I'm really glad they brought him in to do the verse, as I doubt Mike would have been able to do half as well. Hell, he doesn't sound that great doing it live, and his raps usually sound way better live to me. Brad's solo isn't all that interesting to me, it's just pretty much just the Faint outro solo, but more refined for a studio setting. It's also a prime example of that whole "tremolo picking notes as fast as he can" thing I mentioned before. Despite that, the song is fantastic. 9/10 The Summoning: Definitely an interesting track. The Summoning appears to act as a "calm before the storm", but it doesn't serve any other purpose, and it's kind of unnecessary. Had this been left out of the album, I don't think the album would have been any worse. While it's not bad, it's not really good either. There isn't even much I can say about it. It's painfully average. 5/10 War: Linkin Park going full punk rock! While I can appreciate the uniqueness of the track and how unusual and unexpected it was to see Linkin Park, an alternative pop-rock band, delve into punk of all things, it doesn't do much for me. Chester's raw, unfiltered vocal delivery is flawless and fits right in with this track, and Rob's drumming is ferocious as he drives the track. The lyrics lack any substance, again, but I expected it with this one. The guitar work on this song is pretty standard punk stuff until we get to the solo, and let me say, if anyone thought the solo on Guilty was weird, the solo on War is 10x weirder. Utilizing a very similar sound, the solo on War is way more of Brad just throwing notes out as fast as he can without any real rhyme or reason behind it. It's not all that interesting, nor is it something that adds to the song. It's just kind of there. Not bad, but not great. It's slightly above average. 6/10 Wastelands: For a band that wants to move past their nu-metal days, they sure are good at making sure there are tracks that throwback to that. Wastelands sounds like a song right off of Meteora, and that's a very bad thing for me. While it definitely is better than 90% of that album, it's still pretty poor when compared to most of this album. Mike's verses are about what you'd expect, but the lyrics are actually really solid, especially when compared to his other verses earlier in the album. Chester's chorus is about on par with his chorus on Guilty, if not slightly worse. The quiet vocoder in the back is pretty cool, though. The chord progression change during the last chorus is also kind of a subtle, but cool thing. Hell, the last chorus is actually the best part of the song. This is also one of the few songs no to have any kind of solo, and I'm glad it didn't. At no point in the current version of this song do I think a solo would have fit. With all that in mind, this song really is just a decent, nu-metal throwback track. 6/10 I'll try to have part two up tomorrow.
  18. Brad rocks the What I've Done solo every time but butchers the Faint outro one...
  19. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc.
  20. I skip right to Rebellion 95% of the time. Rebellion, Mark The Graves, Drawbar, Final Masquerade, and A Line In The Sand is the second best run of songs on an LP album in my opinion. The first half just feels really lackluster now, though. I might listen to KTTK, GATS or UIG every now and then, but just about every other song has lost its appeal. It's not like they're bad songs, but they're just not ones I'm likely to go back to. I'll probably go back and review it tomorrow if I get the chance. I've been meaning to.
  21. I almost completely forgot about that thread. We should use it more.
  22. Since the band will have more time for Mexico, I could see something like this... 1. Papercut (2015 Intro) 2. Rebellion (Ext. Intro) 3. Given Up (Ext. Outro) 4. One Step Closer (Ext. Outro) 5. A Line In The Sand (Keyboard Intro) 6. From The Inside (Ext. Intro) 7. War 8. Wastelands 9. CASTLE OF GLASS (Experience Version; Bridge w/ 'Wisdom, Justice, and Love' Speech Samples; Oppenheimer Outro) 10. LOATR/SOTD/Iridescent 11. Robot Boy (Shortened (Intro, Synth Bridge, and Outro Instrumental Only)) 12. Joe Solo Medley 13. New Divide 14. Waiting For The End (Apaches Intro w/ 'UNTIL IT BREAKS' v3; Wall of Noise Outro) 15. Final Masquerade 16. Breaking The Habit 17. Darker Than Blood (Shortened (Verse 1 A Cappella); w/ Synth) 18. BURN IT DOWN 19. Mike Solo Medley (w/ 'Wretches and Kings', 'Remember The Name') 20. Numb ('Numb/Encore' Intro/Outro + v1 Guitar) 21. In The End 22. Faint (Ext. Outro) ------------------ 23. Guilty All The Same 24. A Place For My Head (Guitar Solo Intro) 25. What I've Done (Ext. Guitar Solo Bridge) 26. Bleed it Out (Ext. Intro; Ext. Bridge w/ 'The Catalyst' Refrain; Ext. Ending)
  23. He's not wrong, though.
  24. 1. Mashup Intro #5 (w/ '1stp Klosr', 'The Requiem', 'Fallout', 'A Line In The Sand', 'Empty Spaces', 'Foreword') 2. What I've Done (AMBO Intro; Ext. Guitar Solo Bridge; Ext. Piano Outro w/ 'Darker Than Blood' v1) 3. From The Inside (Ext. Bridge; Jam Outro) 4. Wretches and Kings (Speech Scratch Intro; Ext. Outro w/ 'LIES GREED MISERY' v1) 5. LOST IN THE ECHO (Long Intro; Ext. Outro) 6. Jornada Del Muerto (Ext. Intro w/ 'Harry S. Truman' Speech; Short Ext. Synth Outro w/ 'Burning In The Skies' v1) 7. IN MY REMAINS (Piano Intro w/ 'Shadow Of The Day' v1 + Chorus) 8. Blackout (Ext. Transition Outro w/ 'Robot Boy' v1 + 'Mark The Graves' v1) 9. Mark The Graves 10. The Catalyst (Synth Intro; Ext. Bridge w/ 'The Requiem' Vox; Ext. Jam Outro) 11. VICTIMIZED (Visceral Version; w/ 'QWERTY') 12. CASTLE OF GLASS (Experience Version; Bridge w/ 'Wisdom, Justice, and Love' Speech Samples; Piano Outro w/ 'The Catalyst' Vox) 13. Burning In The Skies (Piano Intro; Ext. Guitar Solo Bridge) 14. I'LL BE GONE 15. Final Masquerade (Cinematic Intro; Ambient Outro w/ Oppenheimer Speech) 16. New Divide (Ambient Version) 17. Numb ('Numb/Encore' Outro) 18. In The End 19. Bleed it Out (Ext. Intro w/ 'Reading My Eyes' v1; Ext. Bridge w/ 'War' v1 + Chorus) 20. A Line In The Sand (Keyboard Intro; Ext. Outro) ---------------------- 21. Wisdom, Justice, and Love 22. Iridescent (Short Piano Intro w/ 'Leave Out All The Rest' Tease; Ext. Outro) 23. Papercut (2015 Intro) 24. A Place For My Head (Guitar Solo Intro; Ext. Bridge) 25. Faint (Acetate Intro; Ext. Outro) 26. One Step Closer (Reanimation Bridge; Ext. Outro) A new mashup intro was debuted at this show, featuring snippets from '1stp Klosr', 'The Requiem', 'Fallout', 'A Line In The Sand', 'Empty Spaces', and 'Foreword'. As the final beat from 'Foreword' played, the AMBO intro for 'What I've Done' started, which is the first time it's been played since 2008. A new piano outro was also played for 'What I've Done', with Chester and Mike singing the first verse and chorus of 'Darker Than Blood'. Over the bridge of 'From The Inside', most of the band stopped playing, leaving just Joe looping a short, intense sample. Chester came in, and started teasing his part before finally screaming it, which is when the rest of the band started playing again. There was also a short jam outro after the end of song. A new outro was debuted for 'Wretches and Kings', with Mike rapping the first verse of 'LIES GREED MISERY' over a drum beat played by Rob. LOST IN THE ECHO received a new intro, with Joe teasing the bass synth from the song and Chester's scratched vocals before playing the actual synth of the song every other measure. Brad started playing his guitar part between the main synth, and the band then started the heavy part of the intro. A new outro was also played, with Mike and Brad playing their guitar parts over a more aggressive drum beat as Chester screaming his "LET YOU GO" parts. Jornada Del Muerto was played for the first time since 2011. It was played with a short intro featuring samples from one of Harry S. Truman's speeches and a short synth outro, with Mike teasing the first verse of 'Burning In The Skies'. IN MY REMAINS was played with a piano intro for the first time, with Chester singing the first verse and chorus of 'Shadow Of The Day'. Blackout received a new outro, with Chester singing the first verse of 'Robot Boy' and Mike singing the second verse of 'Mark The Graves'. This also marks the first time any part of 'Robot Boy' has been sung live. The Catalyst was played with a short synth intro, and the bridge was extended while Mike sang the vocals from 'The Requiem', akin to the first Mashup Intro from the start of The Hunting Party cycle. There was also a short jam following the end of the song. A new form of VICTIMIZED was played for the first time, which completely restructured the song. All the electronics were replaced with louder, more distorted guitars and fast drumming. Mike rapped the first verse of QWERTY before Chester screamed the chorus of VICTIMIZED, and then Mike proceeded to rap the verse of VICTIMIZED. After the second chorus of VICTIMIZED, the band started playing the bridge of QWERTY, after which Chester did the final scream of VICTIMIZED before all the instruments except a lone piano faded out. Mike then sang the sung part of VICTIMIZED over the piano. Over the piano outro of CASTLE OF GLASS, Mike sang the chorus of 'The Catalyst' through a vocoder. Burning In The Skies was played for the first time since 2011. It received a new piano intro and Brad extended the solo during the bridge. A new version of New Divide was played, with the instrumental consisting of piano, programmed strings, and reverb-fused synth. Mike also sang the first verse. Over the bridge of Bleed it Out, Chester sang the first verse and final chorus of War over a heavier instrumental. During the intro to Iridescent, Mike teased part of 'Leave Out All The Rest' before starting his verse. After the song ended, Chester led the crowd in a sing-a-long version of the chorus. I'd be down for that.
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