bored

well it has finally hit, today is a good day.

There is an obvoius shift in production from shinoda to rubin. You can actually hear the bass in these Rubin produced songs and the guitar work is better (glad dude switched to a strat). This a decent at best follow up to Meteora and wont dissapoint LP fans. Yes Linkin Park is definately a guilty pleasure of mine and I have enjoyed their last three efforts. So heres my review after numerous listens.

btw there is only rapping on 2 songs and no dj scratching whatsoever...


1. Wake - The intro to the album. Just an instrumental and I think it would have worked better as a full song. The guitars are very perfect circle-esqe. Piano intro with slowly building guitars, pretty simple yet effective.... 2/5

2. Given up - Having this song kick off the album is very misrepresenting because it sucks shit. Bleh this song rubs me the wrong way - the hand clap is very annoying, very loud, and i think i would have appreciated the song more without it. Chester screaming very aggressive over the chorus and in your face power chords that sound waay better on a strat... 2/5

3. Leave out all the rest - finally something worthi listening to...the melody sounds like some other band and not linkin park but I cant put my finger on exactly who. The instrumentation during the verses is a complete rip off of massive attacks teardop drum beat. Its a good track, slow paced... 3.5/5

4. Bleed it out - The first we hear of mike's rapping and its a little too generic but so is the rest of the song..and theres that fucking handclap again - very annoying ... 2/5

5. Shadow of the Day - This song is good as well, but its not linkin park - its linkin park ripping off other bands style. The vocals and melody are something bono would sing - the guitar "solo" sound like coldplay is on this track - and the overall track reminds me of something off the last two death cab albums...3/5

6. What I've done - i think we have all heard this one by now...it is easily the most reminiscent song of other linkin park albums and their usual formula minus the rapping..one of the better songs on the album..3.5/5

7. Hands held high - There are only 2 song with rapping in them and this one is all mike shinoda with a little chester towards the end helping on a semi chorus. Its a war time tale and actually pretty good. Waay better than anything off that shitty Fort Minor album. Theres a choir on the chorus singing "amen" that kinda comes outta nowhere..i could see this being the 2nd single 4/5

8. No more sorrow - this sounds like some metallica kill em all type of guitar and drums in the beginning and is not anything that we havent heard from dozens of bands already..cehster just screaming all over the song...ill be skipping this one alot 1/5

9. Valentines Day - is this linkin park or an AFI B-side cause I cant really tell... - meh at best -filler if you ask me...skippage 1/5

10. In Between - wow linkin park got Mark Hoppus to lend vocals...oh no wait its mike shinoda during his best impression of mark hoppus on a piano and drum beat...3 shitty tracks in a row 1/5

11. In Pieces - another mediocre track that lacks and spine to it...the guitar solo and chorus sounds like a throw away riff from an interpol album but defniately not somethign we have ever heard from their guitarist before. he actually attempted to make a creative solo, too bad it sound like some interpol b side or something.

12. The Little Things Give You away - this is one of the better songs off the album but very very generic lyrics. nice guitar at the end but its almost a little too late. 3.5/5

So....Meteora had some lackluster songs on it like this album does, but even its filler tracks are almost on par with Minutes to Midnights best tracks. I would say this is my least favorite release by LP and they tried way to hard to change their formula and ended up sounding like other bands on nealry every track. Too many of these songs remind me of other bands, damn you Rick Rubin. You guys tried to fix something that wasn't broke, and it completely backfired.


overall I'd give it a 2.5/5

Jason

mdc3000

Disappointed. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm an LP fan. There first two studio records are extremely tight and well done...this one isn't. They tried so hard to get away from their 'formula' that they lost the spark that made them stand out in the first place - the interaction between Chester and Mike vocally. The guitars never reach the fevered heights of past songs like "Faint" and most tracks just sort of plod along with faux angst and gloom.

It's not all bad though. What I've Done is a decent first single, one of the songs that at least retains some of their 'sound'. I think 'Bleed It Out' is a standout track and I for one kind of like the clapping on these tracks. Maybe in a few listens I'll like it more, but in trying to expand their sound to stay relevant, they've almost done the opposite - become so generic that they risk getting lost in the shuffle.

Snowmaker

I'll download it to check out, but these guys got old quick. I bought their first CD before anyone even really knew who they were. The second one I never even bought.

DVD Josh

You should have. It's an excellent record.

project86

Yeah, definately a bad album. Sometimes albums are bad but you think "this will grow on me". This one doesn't even have that.

asianflow

Decent Album.

Shinoda only raps in 2 of the tracks.

My 3 favorite tracks are:

Shadow Of The Day
Leave Out All The Rest
What I've Done

Shadow Of The Day might be my favorite LP song of all-time. I can already picture this song appearing in the next Zack Braff film (if it's a Garden State/The Last Kiss type film).

The band went all out for the CD/DVD combo. The special edition includes a hard bound book with Linen-wrapped cover with embossing on front, 32 pages of full-color artwork and lyrics. MVI DVD includes downloadable MP3s for all tracks; the "What I've Done" video; "Making Of" videos of Minutes To Midnight and "What I've Done"; a "What I've Done" ringtone; a photo gallery, booklet in PDF, screensavers, and lyrics.

Snowmaker

I copied a friend's CD to check it out, and just didn't like it enough to buy.

U6C84

This CD gets a 2/5 for me.



Really disappointed even though I'm not a big LP fan.

Rypro 525

Eh I liked it somewhat. I am not the biggest fan of theirs (i was at one point though). Sure there are a couple of clunkers but its not that bad. I like that there is a difference between this and the older stuff. And hell a guitar solo here and there is defently an improvement, i guess i thought there would be no chance in hell for a band like this to ever incorporate them into songs. I'll give it 3.5 out of 5.

PJsig08

Not very good...not good at all actually.

Oh well.

gmal2003

Im a little disappointed in the album. As a big fan of theirs, loving the first 2.5 albums,I was looking forward to a change but at the same time cautious. If it isn't broke, which it wasn't iIMO, dont fix it. I understand the natural maturation that may occur over the years tho. I think Mike Shinoda's a solid rapper so I wish he was on more than two tracks (2 of my faves BTW). I also liked Mr. Hahn's (the DJ) solo tracks which is gone. The menacing metal guitar is all too often replaced on this album with a more alternative riff. In all, I loved their previous work so I saw no need for this big overhaul. There are some solid tracks though (such as What Ive Done,Bleed it Out, Hands Held High,and No More Sorrow).

I'll give it a C/C+ for the initial listen and will give it more spins until I make a final decision.

mdc3000

Liking it more now that I can accept that the old Linkin Park style is gone... I think using Mike on only 3 tracks is still a bad idea, but I'm coming around to like a few more of the songs, so not as disappointed as I was originally... I think that after the strength of their other albums and even Fort Minor's record, it just doesn't have the energy and is a bit more melancholy - not exactly a summer record. I'll still be picking up the deluxe edition next Tuesday but now I'm really hoping for a Fort Minor followup album in the future...

Lethal Nemesis

"shitty fort minor album"?


you obviously know nothing about true los angeles hiphop.

Lethal Nemesis

and another thing. . . how could you possibly say that their attempt "completely backfired" when the album hasnt even reached soundscan yet?

go home. you know nothing about the music business.

thx

Lethal Nemesis

Lethal here,

Just letting you know that those posts were by my friend who's visiting. He's got his foot in the industry and he feels really passionate about this stuff. That is all!

-- The "real" Lethal

Tarantino

...anyway.

I think the album is pretty good. Put me in the minority, but they changed their sound, and I like it.

= J

mdc3000

WTF? What were those lethal posts even in response to?

PJsig08

Me too.

This album is trash...and I enjoyed the others

DVD Josh

I'm not the guy that posted the comment but I sure as hell agree with it. That Fort Minor album is shit down the toilet. It's all about how he gets no respect and is the one true rapper. It's egomaniac, megalomaniac bullshit and the beats are had. I've heard fresher stuff on a Young Jeezy record.

MetalGator311

RIP Linkin Park (2000-2006)

I guess the Projekt Revolution 2007 roster (MCR, HIM, Taking Back Sunday) is indicative of the new target audience. The energy of Papercut, Lying From You, Faint is missing from this album. These newer softer songs aren't as good as Breaking The Habit or Numb. If I knew on PR07 they would only play Bleed It Out, No More Sorrow, What I've Done, and Hands Held High, I'd go but I have my doubts.

itsmarquez

awww man come on.jeezy is fresh, but thats a completely different brand of hiphop.

itsmarquez

by the way, , , im the person behind the lethal posts from last night. visiting in from L.A. and saw the thread...had to say something. mind you-that was well before i even got the chance to give the album a listen.BUT i havent changed my mind. there are definitely people that are going to hate a few songs on there. its a definite rollercoaster of tempo. and only 2 songs with rap verses.mike has proved himself in the hiphop game already, so it doesnt really let me down that he doesnt step out from behind the keys and or guitar often throughout the record. but mikes singing on "in between" is really not growing on me at all.

all in all-i'll get used to it. and i'll still go out and buy the physical album next tuesday.

2nd single-No More Sorrow
followup 3rd-Given Up

fumanstan

I thought the Fort Minor album had a few good songs.

About the same as Minutes to Midnight. It's dissapointing, as all the other Linkin Park albums I enjoyed straight through, while this one only has a few that I like. It's a shame.

Quake1028

It's decent-ish. Not as good as their recent 2 albums, that's for sure.

My favorite tracks so far:

In Between
Shadow of the Day