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Most of the time when we hear these b-sides and cut tracks, I can see why they were cut no matter how much I like them. I totally see why Lost is too similar to Numb for example. FF though, it's actually pretty different from other OML songs, at least in this form (who knows how much they changed since 2017). The swing rhythm isn't there on any other tracks, the acoustic guitar on the second verse is kinda a unique touch, the "Fiiiireee" refrain is unique from other refrains that are either more wordy or the "na na na" from HR, the vocal outro is kinda unique. The only striking similarities to other songs for me are the way it starts abruptly with vocals like HR and Heavy, the fact that it's all just Chester-focused with no back and forth like BS and NCSM, but overall it's not too similar imo. They went really hard with cutting on OML it seems to me, because this could have easily been an 11th track without the album overstaying its welcome imo. Here's to hoping Tidal Wave, Out Of Reach and the others see the light of day sometime

It depends how far the song got. Across The Line got a final mix, meaning that the band was done with it arrangement-wise and were strongly considering it to be on MTM til the last second when they started cutting. If the personnel doing the final mixes get their hands on it, we can consider it pretty "final" and no longer a demo. Lost (2003 mix) is not a demo for that same reason. QWERTY is a demo because they never passed it on to the mixing/mastering phase, and probably didn't even touch it for the final weeks/months they were finishing the other tracks because they had already decided it didn't make the cut. So unless the band picked it back up, did more work on it and mixed it intending to release it as a "real" track at some point and we never heard about it, it only exists in demo form. But yeah ultimately it's subjective, you might consider "demo" to refer to something even rougher than QWERTY and that's fine. But that's how LPLStaff was using the term.

Yeah I agree. Same thing as everyone complaining about the Already Over versions as if it's not a consequence of streaming and best practices for modern artists. I'd love LP to be an exception but as long as the business side exists, this is probably the tip of the iceberg We've also been seeing this for the merch too. A few HT and M20 shirts caught my eye out of seemingly dozens, and when I ordered them they were pretty poor quality and felt very "quantity over quality" to me

The video for FF was awesome, now I'm itching to see the footage for songs that we really got no insight into like Halfway Right or NCSM. I could just sit and listen to them talk about it for hours

I'm very surprised to see this quote because to me, everything on this track sounds like it could've been from OML. I'd love to hear the original demo now and compare, I bet it's gonna be really small stuff like an extra bar of intro sounds they cut out, a change in the way the vocals are layered or something we'll have to really listen for. I'd be surprised if any entire drum fill or any instrument really was recorded just for this release.

What is the order of play counts for all the singles across streaming devices? I feel like we're wasting a lot of time debating THP's inclusion when no one has bothered to pull those numbers, and we don't even know what other data the label might be using (radio plays for example which we'll never have)

Totally agree with all of that @ShadowUser, not to mention Mike's solo stuff. Make It Up As I Go might as well be an LP track, Already Over is probably in the same vein as half the MTM demos we could get but better and with live variations, we were lucky to also get Cross Off with Chester, M20 gave us more than we knew existed, etc. We've got more than enough to entertain us without ever getting something new again, but will surely get a few more one-offs too given how little we have from the last 4 albums compared to the rest

I have a feeling the acoustic outdo being repetitive of the way Invisible has an acoustic outro probably went into it too.

Friendly Fire's drums rule, Chester sounds great on it, the structure was surprisingly interesting. I'm kinda surprised it didn't beat Halfway Right for being a bit more unique instrumentally, I guess they just liked HR better. Also I'm disappointed to hear QWERTY isn't a new mix, I feel like that song would really take on a whole new life if it got the Lost treatment

I'm disappointed it's QWERTY but it makes total sense to me. It's one of the most popular LPU tracks, the band liked it enough to play lt live over a span of years and it's got a lot of potential with the fanbase. I just hope it's a new mix/master like Lost, because that could go a long way. The one we got on LPU always sounded unfinished and rough to me.

Hardly confirmed, Joe is just teasing the title, and it's not really a tease as much as it is the word QWERTY so idk But it does make sense to me since it's probably their most popular LPU song. I could see them saying "the compilation deserved representation from the LPU, and QWERTY was always a standout" or something like that

I wonder if track 14 could be one of the "pop" demos that Mike mentioned multiple times as having been scrapped in favor of the visceral sound of THP, I don't think we've had so much as a peek at those demos, unless I'm forgetting something from later LPU releases How many tracks do we have confirmed as having made it to the mixing stage at any point? Besides others on OML, are there any left? We got all from Meteora (except a possible 2003 mix of MTV), we've heard them from MTM (again, except possible iterations that are more or less mixed/mastered), and I don't think anyone has ever been quoted for mentioning songs from ATS, LT and THP as having made it to mixing but held back

I have to say I find both the white image and green underwhelming, but the green is a lot cleaner to me. Here's hoping that the rest of the campaign/set includes imagery that is better or contextualizes these images so that they feel better in context. It seems like there was so much artwork generated during OML, it would've been cool to just have something from that time as the single art, but I guess we'll get that sort of thing more with OML20

I doubt we'll ever get LFAA, but getting another new song since 2017 would be amazing. I'm sure there have been sessions and a handful of "complete" demos even if they're 90% Mike's work. It would also be great to hear even if it doesn't lead to anything, just a look at something they were happy with but went nowhere else.

That looks a lot better than that white image imo, but I kinda wish there was an original element and not just re-use of old assets. I wonder why they went with that logo of all of them

Probably. And if it flops, it means we probably won't get more for a while. Although I'd say they're probably looking more at the performance of the whole collection, boxset sales etc. than just FF's streaming numbers.

Like all the LP albums, OML seems optimized for diversity. You've got the song that's got some Mike raps, the unique acoustic sound of Sharp Edges, the weirdness of Sorry For Now, the "rock" sound of TTM etc. It sounds really great, and I'm betting the reason for keeping it off OML is the same as Lost: it was structurally too similar to stuff like Battle Symphony or Halfway Right. I expect this'll be a great but straightforward Chester song with Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus structure

Idk what you meant by this, since 20/4 is 5, but looks like I was right. Here's to hoping 14 is another unheard track. From OML alone we've got at least 3 titles that seem plausible

Id bet if it's another unreleased song it would be from another era. I'm guessing something from MTM

Well there it is, sounds awesome! Can't wait for our first OML b side, hopefully it's the first of a few

Yeah, everyone who calls a greatest hits compilation or any of the MS AO remixes pointless is missing this effect. This will no doubt generate a few thousand discoveries of songs by casual fans who want to re-listen to the limited hits they remember. You'll have people who never gave the other stuff a chance, and people who didn't like it at the time but have evolved their tastes since. I played Blackout for someone the other day who was aware of LP's change of course but not a big fan past MTM, and he was like "this was actually way ahead of its time". This is why I'm especially bummed there's no THP, that's probably the album that needs the most help getting discovered by fans of their first 3 records

If 4 insta posts are coming in groups of 5, then that implies a 20th. Do we only think Friendly Fire is one because of the "Final Sessions" note? I feel like if there's a second one, it'll be from another era. Probably nothing left to share from Meteora, but we have those HT sessions and I'm sure plenty of MTM. That would give the larger fanbase of their earlier stuff something else to get excited about, since I feel like the average reaction to Friendly Fire will be "cool, but I still don't care for anything after the first 2/3 albums"

Wow, we are getting spoiled over the last 12 months. Will this be on streaming in any way?

Yeah I'm aware, but I figured if FF was coming by end of February, we'd have a little website revamp, some kind of puzzle or something that was more obviously teasing. Casual fans aren't really gonna think anything's coming just from seeing the accounts reposting fan vids

But I mean the M20 campaign with the "BBB tape" thing came out a lot earlier, there's nothing like that right now Also yeah, greatest hits will most certainly include songs from every album and probably a few from left field that Mike is really proud of or something, like Rebellion. I think RU will be there too since the band seems to really like it and it also had a moment after being in Fast and Furious