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I'm not sure I would call the sound in cut the bridge a scratch, it's more like a reverse sound effect than him actually performing on the table (I'd guess) I wouldn't call the Stained ones scratching either, but they could be. Hard to say without hearing a version of the sound with less effects on it

I wonder if they even have that much stuff for stuff like Emptiness Machine, seems like half the tracks were Mike demos that Emily came into later and spent some time working on before they'd have "Linkin Park production" on it

I also thought it was interesting that felt rushed and that it was called Villain at some point The other cool trivia for me was the HITC scream being the first take

Well a demo is a demo, I don't think it's so bad to revisit sounds that never actually made it compared to actual songs Also I feel they have free reign to do whatever with the "From Zero" mentality The video is so fun, easily my favorite of the new cycle and one of their best in general. So simple and really tows the line of taking the song not too seriously while still embracing the nu metal cool of it. Joe's scratching shots and Emily's moves made it

It's surreal to see Brad in the videos lol So fun, this was made to play at my local emo night, I hope it's huge

We've got 3 titles from the podcast, how finished they are is up for debate but I'd bet if Emily was mentioning them in that context they were kinda far along at least, especially since it seems like a lot of what she did was singing over pretty fleshed out stuff

I assume that new song is Two Faced if it's a single

I feel like the attitude has changed a lot in a year though, and to me there's a big difference between them making any visuals for an anniversary compared to original visuals for a new album. For the small press moments for M20, they can pay lip service to "experimenting" with AI for some visuals on old songs. For FZ, they're gonna want a "hand-crafted" attitude for something as important as their true comeback, especially in an environment where people are pretty tired of AI being used in places it "shouldn't" and concerns about it taking artist's jobs, which I'd argue is a more dominant narrative today than it was a year ago Plus, with them cooking all this at the time of M20, who could blame them for any shortcomings of that art. I'm honestly shocked we got that, Papercuts and AO while FZ was being cooked

Yeah I feel like it's a no-brainer to have it as a single for that reason. I'd love for some movie to adopt it or something so it gets huge, they need their "Running Up That Hill" moment

Yeah it's from TEM, cool the it's isolated though. I wonder if they've already cooked up some demo tracks for an LPU disc or if they just exported some stuff or videos like these The glass being practical is super cool, it makes total sense that their attitude in the age of AI would be to stand up practical effects everywhere they can

That moment is the best part of the song for me, kinda makes me wish there was another soft acoustic song with those kinds of vocals throughout. I'm sure there's a demo of that nature somewhere Also, I just realized "It's only a matter of time" is something Mike and marketing was using pre-September 5th and it's a lyric of Casualty. Neat I also like "Counting to zero" as a lyric tying to the album title, I just wish the intro track had a different title

Austin is on the list, so they'll be there. Wouldn't surprise me if they hit Houston too, or came back at some point for a festival.

I think it's got a bit more involved instrumentation than anything on PT, but I totally get what you mean with the Mike vocals. Still though, I think that isn't saying anything bad. I mean Ghosts would be in the top 3 OML songs for me if it was on that album, PT has great stuff and Emily being on this takes it to the next level. Mike's "rap turns into singing" is at its best on this track, and that's something we really haven't gotten on an LP song before so I think it's great. The lyrics are also beautiful. Maybe I appreciate it more knowing it's all the way from 2019. I think it's cool when Mike has a demo around for years because he sees the potential in it. All this time not talking about it because it deserved more than a one-off release like AO

IMO it's too soon to talk about ranking but if I had to, this is pretty much it. The fact that GTG and Casualty are on the same album is awesome, Two Faced is a true throwback like HITC but more interesting and probably has more staying power. HITC is great but just lacks anything interesting for me besides the long scream. The last chorus really needed something to make it pop IMO I feel similarly about CTB, Stained, and Overflow easily being the bottom 3, though idk the order exactly. And I feel like Stained might grow on me over time

Copying over my thoughts from the listing thread with more since listening to a leak: Cut The Bridge - I'm really surprised that this is the 2nd full song on the album and not something like Two Faced which is gonna appeal to the masses. It's definitely fun, stylized to sound raw like BIO or War. I had fun listening to it but I feel like it'll have to grow on me a bit compared to some others that I already love. Really feels so MTM to me. Emily's delivery of "everything was perfect" is so beautiful. I wonder how many band members are in that "cut it down" chant, we really need acapellas for this album! Casualty - I love it, definitely very KTTK-esque. It's the heaviest on the album but not the heaviest LP song for me - KTTK, FTI bridge, Rebellion bridge and other moments feel heavier. But still a contender for top 10 heaviest for sure. I think Mike's delivery being different was a little overblown. Yeah he's doing something rather unique, but he's far from screaming, and the FX on his voice are doing a lot of work. I do feel like the chorus is eerily similar to KTTK and the word casually being in both doesn't help. Overflow - Based on the descriptions I really wanted to love this, but it was kinda boring on the first listen. That said, I do think it's unique, and I like that it's long. It could grow on me a lot, but for now I can't remember any melody or cool sounds from it. Way overblown how "experimental" it is from some other reviews imo. That said, it brings a new unique sound to their catalog which is awesome to see 8 albums in. Some of these sounds definitely feel like they came from the same session/timeframe as "Already Over (Nothing's There Mix)" Two Faced - WOW! This sounds like Mike worked on M20 and was like "let's make another song like this". Like HITC, instantly catchy and very nu metal. I wouldn't say it's OSC part two necessarily, that literally belongs to Figure 09 and imo also Don't Stay, but it definitely fits the HT/M era. They'd be insane to not make this a single or promo it with some game/movie or something EDIT: It's a single haha Stained - My least favorite, but also something that brings variety to the album which I appreciate. There are moments in the outro where I feel like I'm listening to an alternative Kelly Clarkson-type radio single, which is not what I'd expect from this album but is pretty cool. Kinda a mix between MTM and OML. I wouldn't be surprised if a OML collaborator influenced this one as well. IGYEIH - A banger! Idk what to say about this that hasn't already been said Good Things Go - Probably my favorite, I LOVE that chorus. For me, this one was super undersold. This feels like the best of what they learned during OML. The melodies are dynamic, the lyrics feel super heart-felt, the soundscape feels grand...this is Sorry For Now 2.0 for me, which is my favorite track off OML. Emily and Mike's harmonizing here is the best use of 2 vocalists on the album for me. If you like OML and OEO, you'll LOVE this track. The intro sounds and guitars are so nice. I feel like this song couldn't have happened without his work on PT either, really beautiful stuff. I wonder if the "Halfway apologized" lyric is an intentional reference to SFN/OML era Overall thoughts: This is the most diverse album since LT for me, maybe the most diverse over all besides ATS? Feels like they had nothing to lose and that resulted in such a variety of sounds/structures. I can't wait to hear what else they've cooked over the last 7 years. Surely there are a few more odd songs from the batch that Overflow came from. I'm kinda surprised there's not a Mike-only song, I'm sure there are some of those around but they wanted to make sure to make it clear that Emily is part of LP by including her across the entire album. I also feel like some softer songs must be out there with acoustic instruments or something like OML/Messenger/Devil's Drop, but they wanted to keep the album tight and high-energy. Well we already know like 3 titles that didn't make it, I'm sure we'll get something, not to mention some interesting demos from this hopefully through LPU