great review, Aeri..

Album Rating: 4.0

Thanks man, needed to get myself back into writing. Seemed a good place to start.

Album Rating: 4.0

Amazing EP.

I'm glad to see it get a review it deserves, and so fast to boot.

Album Rating: 3.5

I think the intro / first verse to A Line In the Sand is awesome, the rest doesn't really do much. Makes sense though, cause the first part of A Line In the Sand was meant to be on A Thousand Suns, or atleast written around the time they made that record. I think THP wasn't amazing, but I don't enjoy HT that much. Mark the Graves and Rebellion are highlights

Album Rating: 4.0

'cause the first part of A Line In the Sand was meant to be on A Thousand Suns'



Oh yeah, that first section is straight up Fallout/The Catalyst 2.0 no doubt about it

Album Rating: 3.5

The only reason I listen to that song is that part though, I love the atmosphere and lyrics it has, but once the guitars come in it just feels like a worse version of Guilty All the Same. Especially the chorus has a melody that is way too similar

Album Rating: 4.0

Yea a lot of the songs on that album sound exactly the same :/

Wait where did this come from?

Album Rating: 4.0

That's the thing with Hunting Party, it's best elements are also it's worst; the rawness, the edge, that's what makes the album fun.



The rawness also unfortunately contributes to a few too many ideas that simply aren't fleshed out enough and have a tendency to repeat themselves. They needed to spend another 3-4 months on the album and it could have been something really damn special.



Given the extra time, Brad could have also bothered to practice a few extra lead solo techniques, instead of just going 'OOH LOOK AT ME I CAN TREMOLO PICK WHAT EVEN IS PHRASING LETS PUT A WAH PEDEL ON IT OOOOH'

Album Rating: 4.0

'Wait where did this come from?'



New 3 track Shinoda EP, he surprise dropped it today after announcing it yesterday

Album Rating: 4.0

That and i like the more electronic linkin park elements, so when they completely ditched that i was left a little bit cold



Didn’t really expect them to follow that up with all electronic which i have mixed feelings about too but eh both HP and OML are still pretty decent

I might check this, I dunno

Album Rating: 3.5

Damn that was quick, nice review man. This is really good, it's bittersweet to hear Mike so angry and emotional because he made a great EP here but then you remember what influenced it.



Hope Mike and the other LP guys can go on to keep making music without Chester (though I hope and assume they won't be using that moniker again).

Album Rating: 4.0

Thanks man, as soon as I'd listened to it I knew I had to get this one out of my system haha



If they adopt a new singer, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they use some sort of Linkin Park and '...' handle (similar to the previous 'Stone Temple Pilots and Chester Bennington' situation), and keep the additional vocalist credited as a collaborator, as opposed to a replacement.

My vote's for Ilsey Juber personally, she fucking nailed Talking To Myself and Sharp Edges, and actually plays a decent guitar solo during the live All Along The Watchtower cover - she'd compliment the dynamic of the music instead of just seemingly attempting to duplicate Chester's style.

Album Rating: 3.5

That would be really wierd for LP having a female vocalist, would make going on tour and playing older (heavy) songs near impossible. The Linkin Park and '...' makes sense, but I'd guess they go for a vocalist that would atleast sound convincing performing the older heavy songs live. They have a hardcore fanbase for their first two records that would get even more mad than they already made them with One More Light.



I do think LP shouldn't care about those people though, and they should just do whatever they want. Getting a female vocalist would maybe be the best for the band's mental state though, since it will remind them a little less of Chester. Maybe they'll just abandon their old material altogether since they'd feel really bad about performing it without Chester.

Album Rating: 4.0

'That would be really wierd for LP having a female vocalist, would make going on tour and playing older (heavy) songs near impossible.'



That's the thing - it would be, but it would be different enough to justify rethinking how to perform those signature songs.

Personally all I could think when watching the 'And Friends' gig is every single male vocalist not even getting CLOSE to sounding like Chester, and then the obvious truth hit me - there is no replacing Chester at all, and never will be. Linkin Park as we know it is over, but a new incarnation may come along, and from a musical dynamic point of view a female vocalist could seriously shake things up and make the next chapter something fresh, instead of trying to recapture the magic of Chester with some wannabe who will never hit the mark.



And lets be honest, the Linkin Park fanbase will always be pissed. That's their natural state of mind these days and have been for the last decade haha

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah the EP is certainly a good sign, Mike generally controls the style of Linkin Park's output, so if he continues this trend it'll be alright

LP with a female singer would be really interesting. But then again, my fav LP song is My December. Can't wait to listen to this EP later tonight, expecting some raw ass shit.

Album Rating: 4.0

Mike confirmed earlier today he’s got a ‘bunch’ more songs in various stages of completion - we could be seeing a few more of these EPs drop over the next few months depending how Mike goes about it, which would be pretty sweet



https://twitter.com/mikeshinoda/status/956598496320081920

"'Place To Start', gently manoeuvres an uncertain lyrical reflection on facing the unknowing beyond"

I had a lot of fun reading "manoeuvres" out loud.


Good review dude, doubt I'll end up checking this though.