GlassCastles

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.

This topic seems highly unnecessary.

I don't think we'll get a CD with the launch, but they could do a slow roll out of tracks like LPU 15 or something similar.

Can... can you point me to where I had Given Up on the set? Can you also point to where I even insinuated Jon Green would or could replace Chester?

Operating under the assumption Jon Green joins the band in some capacity... 1. Fallout (w/ 'Robot Boy' vox) 2. The Catalyst 3. Papercut 4. Wretches And Kings (Ext. Bridge w/ 'Skin To Bone' Remix Verse) [w/ crowd on chorus] / Empty Spaces/When They Come For Me [w/ crowd on chorus] [Rotation] 5. Points of Authority (Ext. Intro w/ 'Dedicated' v1; Outro w/ 'Reading My Eyes' v1; Demo Version) 6. Until it Breaks (Shortened (Through Chester's Part)) 7. Waiting For The End/Hands Held High (Apaches Intro w/ 'Until It Breaks' v3) 8. Sorry For Now 9. Castle Of Glass (Experience Version; Bridge w/ 'Kenji' v1 + 'Wisdom, Justice, And Love' Speech Samples; Oppenheimer Transition Outro) 10. Burning In The Skies 11. Roads Untraveled (Ext. Intro) 12. Battle Symphony 13. Invisible (Ext. Intro) 14. Looking For An Answer 15. One More Light 16. Nobody Can Save Me (Ext. Intro) 17. High Voltage 18. Numb ('Numb/Encore' Intro/Outro) 19. Good Goodbye (Ext. Intro; w/ Demo Verse + 'Lost In The Echo' Bridge Verse) 20. In The End [Crowd On Chorus/Bridge] 21. Faint (Bridge w/ 'Lying From You' v1; Ext. Outro) [Crowd on Chorus] ------------------------------ 22. The Messenger (2017 Version; 'Robot Boy' Intro) 23. Iridescent (Ext. Intro; Transition Ending) 24. Leave Out All The Rest (2017 Version) 25. Rebellion (Bridge w/ 'A Place For My Head' v1) 26. Bleed It Out (Ext. Intro; Ext. Bridge w/ 'The Messenger' Refrain)

Nobody Can Save Me and Battle Symphony are about overcoming your inner demons and finding ways to cope. Heavy is about the internalization of smaller issues until they culminate into larger, more severe issues. One More Light is about ensuring that all lives have value. Talking To Myself is about trying to help someone struggling mentally, but getting shut out. Halfway Right is literally about Chester's youth and the problems he faced. If OML lyrics are for kids, then Hybrid Theory's definitely are.

In a sense, yeah. Maybe not a "mature sound" (whatever that means), but the lyrics were certainly mature on OML I just really fail to see how you're lost here.

Yes, they didn't wanna make music like this when they made THP. In 2014. People's desires change with time, especially creative desires.

It's almost like a band that has changed sounds every album since 2003 changed sounds again. It's also not that outlandish that someone who likes rock also likes pop. Chester raved about Twenty One Pilots all of last year. The focus this time also wasn't even the sound, it was the lyrics and the stories. I'm 100% certain that the band wouldn't put something out if they weren't satisfied with it.

Dude, the issue isn't, and never has been, a difference of opinion. It's how you present yourself. Saying shit like "you all refuse to believe it isn't going to work" is very different than "I'm not that interested in a set with a lack of heavy songs", which seems to be your point of view. THAT'S fine. What isn't fine is your constant dismissing of others' opinions/thoughts, but when someone challenges your own, you play the victim.

Green is legitimately the best case scenario for a new member for the band. He'd work great as both another mind to toss ideas around with for Mike and Brad (if that's what they want) and especially in the live show to take some of the pressure off Mike. And nobody is saying it'll be the same as it was before, but it doesn't need to be. Their aggressive days are, by and large, behind them. Sure, they kept those songs in the set partially because they're fun to play for some of them, but mostly because fans liked them. They don't need to be aggressive to stay afloat now. Their hits have never exactly been their heaviest songs either (unless you're gonna say In The End, Numb, What I've Done, Shadow Of The Day, Burn It Down, Heavy, New Divide etc. are pinnacles of the band's aggression). I have no doubt in my mind the band can find a way to comfortably play live and satisfy more casual fans.

Wow, this was much better than I thought it'd be

Dab dab my dudes

I did a full list of the songs Mike could do in some form a while back. Don't remember where, but the gist was something like this Papercut Points Of Authority Crawling(?) In The End A Place For My Head (verses) High Voltage Somewhere I Belong Lying From You Faint Breaking The Habit Numb Leave Out All The Rest Shadow of The Day What I've Done Hands Held High In Between The Little Things Give You Away New Divide Requiem/Radiance Burning In The Skies Empty Spaces/When They Come For Me Jornada Del Muerto Waiting For The End (that WFTE/HHH mashup would be dope) Wretches And Kings (verses) Wisdom, Justice, And Love/Iridescent The Catalyst Lost In The Echo (Verses) In My Remains Burn It Down Lies Greed Misery (Verses) Castle Of Glass Roads Untraveled Skin To Bone Until It Breaks Wastelands (Verses) Rebellion Mark The Graves (just change the chorus) and pretty much everything from OML seems like something Mike could probably do. There is way more than enough stuff that Mike could make work to keep the band a 5 piece.

Except for the fact that In The End is already covered with the crowd doing the chorus and bridge, stuff like Numb or Crawling could be done by Mike if they were stripped down, Mike's creative enough to make Faint and Bleed It Out work etc. They don't need a new singer to continue.

I don't think any of the announced artists would be able to do WFTE justice. I could see them coming out on BID if Kiiara doesn't.