GlassCastles

Jesus, you act like Chester wasn't on 9/10 songs on OML (doing lead vocals on 7/10 tracks), that Mike isn't just as much one of the lead vocalists in the band, that there are no "real instruments" on OML, and that there are more than ~6 LP songs with guest features.

I voted RU because RU is a far superior song to SFN

I think there's a very real chance that we don't see any Linkin Park songs in this set. Maybe some verses here and there, but that might be it.

I've officially decided. NMSA is the best song Mike has ever written IMO

Six. Teen. Fucking. Tracks. Shinoda is a mad man! Songs sound great.

"They'll tell you that I don't care anymore And I hope you'll know that's a lie Cause I found what I have been waiting for But to get there means crossing the line" I'm here for it

If my dumbass wasn't taking AP tests at the time, I'd try and make it. Here's hoping for a Chicago show at some point

That reference to Cyclops is still the best part of any LP song ever...

I honestly don’t think any of the remixes surpassed the original, especially Place To Start

Here were my personal top 5 1. Can't Pretend (Place To Start Remix) 2. Place To Start (A. Staten Remix) 3. Place To Start (DPARK Remix) 4. A Place To Start (Metahertz Remix) 5. Place To Start (blackout. Remix) I'm noticing a trend there...

Saying they lost their identity on MTM is laughable. That’s when they found it

This is like the biggest mood to ever mood

I'm anticipating a lot of Hybrid Theory remixes of the songs

Only two I wasn't huge on were Michaels and Davis. I also thought Steven McKellar wasn't too good on WFTE. Just didn't seem to fit that song. Deryck, Ryan Key, and Jeremy were definitely the best guests, though. They killed it. Oh, and Jon, obviously.

Nothing about Valentine's Day reads like a love song, from tone to actual lyrics lol "My insides all turn to ash so slow and blew away as I collapsed so cold" or "And the ground below grew colder as they put down inside" are so far from sounding like a cheesy love song. Only part that could MAYBE be interpreted like that are "I never knew what it was like to be alone on a Valentine's Day"

Oli is a fine enough studio singer, but man his live vocals are really not great. I'd be down with Ryan Key joining the band for live stuff, though.

I mean, at least you acknowledge it’s wrong…

You are objectively incorrect. SOB is credited as a guest on every song off Rising Tied theyre featured on. Unless Ive missed something where its common to list members of the band/group as featured guests, Mike is Fort Minor. Should Petrified, Kenji, Cigarettes etc. have been called Mike Shinoda songs, too? None of them have SOB.

When They Come For Me was incorporated, too And Fort Minor has always been basically Mike Shinoda under a stage name. SOB were guests

I like to over analyze things and dive too deep into ideas that very likely weren't the intention or aren't really there at all. On the other hand, I view analysis as something that there isn't really a right or wrong answer to, so long as there's a compelling argument. Also bear in mind I tend to speak from personal experience with certain topics, so you may very well disagree with any ideas I present, which is fine! That being said, Powerless isn't about a failing relationship or watching someone close to you fall apart - it's about watching yourself fall apart. The entire song is the duality of second and first person, indicating the protagonist is directly addressing some other being (wow what a deep thought). This "other being" is a characterization of depression or mental illness or whatever it is the protagonist is suffering from. The first verse sets up the dynamic between the two. As Heavy so accurately states "I wanna let go, but there's comfort in the panic". That idea is very present here. As mental illness is very much a part of you, it sees and knows all. It knows every aspect of your life, the positive and negative. You unwillingly open yourself up to it, and as time goes on, you become used to it being there. It becomes part of your routine, learning to deal with a voice in your head pointing out everyone of your flaws and mistakes. However, like Chester said in Heavy, there's a sense of comfort in that after dealing with it for so long. Any change to the status quo leaves us scared and uncertain, even if that change would likely leave us better off in the long term. So he clings to it. He "[wakes] the devil" inside because the thought of change is a terrifying. There's some very obvious self-harm imagery to close out the verse, as the "crimson soaking through" literally represents the blood from cutting, but also metaphorically just represents the history of what the illness is doing. The evidence is there, and the toll it takes on your mental health may not be physically apparent, but it's very prevalent to them. You promise yourself this is the last time you'll tolerate it, but, like I said before, it's much easier to cling to and revert to what you know than risk something unknown. Ten thousand promises, ten thousand ways to lose. The chorus is simply the fall. There's almost a complete separation of the illness from the actual person here, pinning the fall entirely on the illness as the protagonist watches from inside his own head. It's a mix of feeling helpless and disdain, both for the illness, for actually doing it, and themselves, for letting it get this bad. Verse two ties into the overall message of verse one a bit more but with a darker undertone. Even as he falls apart and feels that his life would be significantly better without the illness controlling his actions, he still feels the need to chase after it. That separation that was present in the chorus is undone here as the protagonist tries to maintain that status quo. Without it, he feels alone and scared, but with it, he feels useless. it's a toxic relationship, a push and pull that, no matter which side ends up winning, he loses.

"'Cause I'm tired of the fear that I can't control this I'm tired of feeling like every next step's hopeless I'm tired of being scared what I build might break apart I don't want to know the end, all I want is a place to start" These are probably the best songs Mike has ever written. No song has ever hit me as hard as Place To Start has. Dude has serious talent that truly shines here. His uncertainty, fear, depression, anger, it's all fully on display and so well articulated. Just a perfect release.

Dude, I've been in a group chat with you for like 2 and a half years lol

Agreed 100% with this. You can feel real pain in that scream, I love it.