arbiter

And i disagree. Making music solely to please other people besides your selves; whether it be "hardcore fans"(you obviously use this term to refer to people who are Hybrid Theory fans when in essence, its supposed to refer to anyone who loves the band and the music they make passionately) or the casual mass population is selling out. Outside of yourselves. It can be a small or large group of people. If i went with your definition of "hardcore fans" the Hybrid Theory loving population, then wouldn't it be a lot smarter for LP if they're after money to make music to please them considering that album is still to date their highest grossing album? The figures do not lie. Making another Hybrid Theory would have been the easy way out for them. They took a bigger risk of alienating their fan base by making MTM which is a very bad thing. Some bands never recover from that. And people say MTM was more radio-friendly. The best songs of that album would never get played on the radio. TLGYA is one of the best under-rated songs of LP simply because it is not hard guitars, screaming, and Mike's rapping. I think Hybrid Theory right now would be more appealing to the mass population seeing as there are a lot of top 40 artists nowadays who have adopted that style. And when you come down to it; the hardcore fans are the fans who bought the 650,000 albums of MTM on the first day and caused it to debut at #1 on Billboards. What people need to come to terms with is just like your taste in music, clothes, food, cognitive ability changes, so do the individuals in a band. It's ridiculous that it's okay to change your favourite song every four weeks but expect a band to never change theirs like they're robots. I mean look at all those imbeciles who continuously want Mike to dye his hair back to red or blue, dress like he did in his twenties, wear piercings, and for Chester to dress like a homeless bum/dye his hair blond. Like it was the dyed hair and baggy clothing that wrote the music. Its like they're mistaken LP for N'Sync. You know, a group whose success depended on their looks.

Chester needs to give himself way more credit. From what i've seen, i thought DBS was kicking a lot of ass. I mean, LP was in the same boat as DBS when they first came out. And if by ass Chester is referring to the audience size, then that is an obvious duh! LP is an established act while DBS is a new baby. Word. Chester needs to cheer up. OOA was a cool album. I don't think it is a failed side project. Chester just needs to get rid of whatever expectations he has and just let the dices fall. Only time will tell if it is a failed project. If more than a hundred people show up to watch you play, i don't think it is a failure. I hope Chester doesn't give up. It would be so unlike him. If he had given up when things got rough, we wouldn't have LP today. And seriously people, harsh much? I mean i know DBS wasn't everyone's cup of tea but those a pretty mean words.

I would have donated to the cause no questions asked. They didn't have to ruin a great song just to ask? The way i saw it; most of the people on there didn't give a crap but chose to do it for cheap publicity. I'm surprised Chris Brown wasn't on there. I mean; doesn't he care about Haiti too as much as T-Pain or the Jonas brothers? Sure he has a terrible public image right now but what matters is what the cause was for right? I'm glad LP steered away from that disaster; not that i would loose respect for them if they didn't. As for why LP didn't participate? It's quite simply and logical. What would they accomplish from doing so? They already put in motion the same but better executed idea with Download to Haiti. Joining in and uttering a single line of that song isn't going to accomplish anything that DtD isn't already doing. They could even help out more by making a commercial that they say "please donate to Haiti" without joining in that song. I don't know if that remake is trying to tell me that "Wow! Our generation has got one of the weakest line-up of singers in pop" because that remake was the worst remake to ever grace my ears. Except for Celine Dion, Josh Groban, and Pink, no one could carry a proper note or deserve to call themselves a musician. They might as well have had Soulja Boy doing his dance in the background if they were going to let T-pain use auto-tune. I mean, what a downgrade and an insult to people who actually sing. M.J would be rolling in his grave.

That's because people asked pretty boring questions that have been asked a million times over and are just stupid like "do you read?" No SHIT! It would have been nice if members on this board had taken advantage of that opportunity and compiled good questions for Mike.

LP did not over-hype TLGYA. That song was truly EPIC! Just because it wasn't heavy guitar banging and screaming like people were expecting doesn't make it any less epic. Maybe people need to re-define their definition of epic. heavy guitar chords and riffs with screaming doesn't equal a good song. I think you jumped to a huge conclusion based off of a single statement. And i am kind of offended that you think just because i feel sorry for him that it means i would go out there and buy an album as a result of being manipulated. In fact, my thoughts were nowhere near that idea at all. All i read was a man who was having a moment of self-doubt. It happens even to the best of us. Chester isn't immune. He is human. All i felt obligated to do was give him my honest opinion on the album. And if there are people who go out there and buy an album, are they not allowed to do so? People who are easily told how to feel or what to do deserve what is coming to them.

And another person who misses the point. To you it seems it's one or the other. I don't know how Al Sharpton came into the mix(i don't know who the hell that is anyways) or how you got "it's okay for black people to be racist" out of my post. I don't care much or watch today's black media culture so i don't know half the things you're talking about. My main problem was if the woman had been white, i bet my life on it that people would more likely say "that fat woman" not "that fat white woman." You can rave all you want and infer whatever you think i'm trying to say but you and i both know that is the truth. White people in this country are the only ones who generally are labeled Americans. It's always that american. But if it were any other ethnicities, it is always going to be "Mexican-american, Asian american e.t.c. Because god forbid they be just Americans. You don't see anyone referring to white people as European Americans. And since when did Obama becoming president equal no racism? I hope that is a joke.

That does sound like a mess. But seriously, why can't she just be a fat woman instead of fat black woman unless there was more than one fat woman and you need to be more specific. It's like only European-Americans are allowed to be addressed as just people or that person but everybody else has to be identified with the color of their skin as that black, that Asian, or that Mexican. sheesh

obviously to those who have a grasp of the concept.

What's Mike doing outside of the studio? Does the idea of an LP record coming out sometime in this century occur to him at all. He should be living and breathing the studio. Not going out and having fun.

Wash your mouth out with soap. Nickelback are not in the same league are AIC even on their best day. William and Jerry are superior vocalists and kick ass.

If there is any justice in the world, Alice in Chains would win. They are by far the obvious choice and true winner. If the Grammy people are too stupid to see that, then i would rather they pick LP. Because the alternative is unacceptable. I would rather they be too stupid to choose than be blatantly biased by picking Nickelback(who people seem to believe even against evidence that they've yet to win 4+ nominations and counting) or any of the other default act. I would forgive the lose of the Grammy's sanity if LP took it home but will always feel AIC got screwed and cheated intentionally if the other acts took it home. But that is just me.

And that is why Mike refused to tell us the song names. Even at that, all the speculation and misreading and misquoting are still happening. Lets face it. Fact, the moment of truth will only be known as in relation to what style and what all the band has been saying mean when the album drops. There is no way we will figure out what direction they are going from that song on download to Haiti or anything. I honestly doubt they would release anything yet. And when Mike said they were going back to their root, the only thing i see is that they are going back to the studio they made Hybrid Theory and Meteora in. I find my sanity stays intact better when i don't try to speculate and decode every word the band alters from now till the album release. They could just as quickly change their mind and go in a whole different direction. Just like MtM.

That was hilarious. Mike's hair is the most unruly I've seen it in like ever. And Larry King sucks. He is all kinds of isms.

I love this video. The naming of the song part was wicked. Chester singing MJ's "You Are Not Alone" melody is made of win. This was cute and sad at the same time. Kudos to the guys for their caring and hard work. It's appreciated.

Who bloody cares. And it's kind of ignorant to put a whole group of people under one umbrella.

WOW! Not reading through this thread and having my opinion fully untainted by them; i would say: The new song is...I don't know how to describe it properly. All i can say is; it is definetly not what comes to mind when i think of Linkin Park. Chester's singing is reminiscent of "Valentine's Day." The music i won't even try to decipher as i don't have as good a ear to figure it out. But i am really enjoying the beats and spacey feel it has. It is most certainly the most different I've heard them. And people said MTM was very different. I know a bunch of people are going to jump on it immediately for the fact that it is the most out of orbit from the sound of the past Linkin Park that we know. Regardless, it is a very magical song. I am curious though to know when this song was written. I would guess it is from the MTM era since it has that "Valentine's Day" tone to it even though they are completely different songs. The song independent from what the history of LP is a complete 4.5 stars out of 5. It is the only way to listen to the song in my opinion with your judgement being clouded.

You came out of the closet as a Mike/LP hater on an LP fansite. What next, you're going to join the LPU and start a thread about how much you think LP is a corporate made boy band? Get an effing life and ditch the holy than thou and know it all act. Your need for attention is too transparent.

Exactly. That tattoo is proof of his pure dedication to LP You don't see Dean by Sunrise tattooed anywhere on his body now do you.

This comment is made of win!

Rejection could either be positive or negative. You're choosing to see it in a negative light. Your problem not mine. LP rejected the songs because if they didn't, the songs would be altered from Chester's original idea to fit with Linkin Park which they didn't want. Just because you don't want to see it that way doesn't mean my opinion is less valid than yours. That's your point and i could care less. I never said the whole album. You took what i said and made a blanket assumption. No one said the album was bad. I love the album. As for everyone speculating on Chester losing interest in LP, that is all it is.

If Chester enjoys the fame of being in LP, he sure as hell deserves and has the right to do so considering he help build the band with all his heart and strength. I think what Chester said and what he probably meant are not one and the same. The way i see it, he probably meant that if he had a choice, the priority and obvious choice of his loyalty and dedication has to be LP because that is just how it is. And obviously, DBS was created as an outlet for LP rejected songs. It's not what Chester is implying, it is the concrete truth. If LP hadn't rejected any of those songs, there wouldn't be a DBS. There is a reason the album was called Out of Ashes. LP burned the song ideas, and Chester picked it up and made the album we know.

What he said with a little minor adjustment in regards to the burnout. I with my preference don't care about the co-existent of both bands as long as Chester doesn't burn himself out concerning Linkin Park. I would rather he dedicate all his energy towards LP and take out enough time to rest and not over-do it. I don't think Out of Ashes could have been an LP record with the exception of "Too Late." LP may have modified their sound but they generally have that stamp or signature on their songs that stands out from the rest of the pack and marks it as an LP record, most evident in half of MTM. And on an any given LP record, the song catalog is usually way more diverse in style or tone than Out of Ashes that had a kind of melting pot feeling to it with the exception of "Too Late" and "Fire."

I don't get this band. They release all the least interesting songs in my opinion as singles. Crawl Back In, Let Down = very boring. My least favourite songs of the album. Fire, My Suffering, Too Late and Morning After are way more exciting.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Why is it that this band keeps on releasing the least interesting songs on their record as singles? Fir, Too Late, Condemned, My Suffering, and Morning After are the best songs on the album and yet, they release the most boring song a.k.a Let Down as a single? No matter how much i love Chester's voice, the repetitive ending is undesirable.

Yes because Linkin Park has never done that before at all.