More often than not, track one’s set the tone for the album and give a pretty interesting insight into what is to come. When you go back to Linkin Park’s debut album, Hybrid Theory, “Papercut” really does set the stage for the rest of the record. To this day, “Papercut” is still a live staple in Linkin Park set lists for a reason. The song itself combines elements hip-hop, metal, and drum and bass and melodic vocals. Both Mike Shinoda and the late Chester Bennington have said this song is one of their favorites in the bands catalog. The video for the song is a bit fun and a bit “huh.” Just remember that it was made in the early 2000’s and yeah hahaha. I personally to this day have always had a soft spot for this track. And now with Emily Armstrong on vocals, the song has a whole new life and sounds like a brand new song. Seriously, you can’t go wrong with “Papercut.”
Wow! Seriously, Wow! I have to say this show was beyond awesome. There are some bands out there that just have the right recipe for putting on a show that leaves you feeling great, inspired and ready to take on anything and Linkin Park is definitely one of those bands. This show in Los Angeles as part of their From Zero World Tour, was outstanding. Last year around this time, I went to their return show at The Forum and that one too was something special. And just like that show, it was full of so many people smiling, singing along, sharing in the joy of getting to see Linkin Park do what they do best.
At 9:05pm, the screens around the venue turned dark and a 10 minute countdown appeared, when the clock hit zero, it was on! Colin, Joe, Dave, Alex, Emily and Mike all took the stage and blasted off with the heaviest version of “Somewhere I Belong,” I’ve ever heard. I didn’t realize how good of an opener that song really is. From there it was just an onslaught of banger after banger with “Crawling,” “Up From The Bottom,” Lying From You (which is one of my all time favorite LP songs),” and “The Emptiness Machine.” Talk about a way to open a set. Those 5 songs not only set the night on fire but, the crowd participation on each of those songs was astounding, especially on “Crawling” and “Lying From You.” After that, it went into so many other great gems LP has including 2 songs from the very underrated and very awesome A Thousand Suns, “Waiting For The End (another of my all time favorite LP songs)” and “The Catalyst.” The From Zero songs really were on fire like “Two Faced,” “Overflow,” “Stained,” “Over Each Other” but, even more so on the live debut of “Unshatter,” “Heavy Is The Crown” and “I Gave You Everything I Have.” The latter of which was a real highlight for me. The explosive nature of that song ferocious. Other fun songs like “Lost” from the Meteora 20 release sounded great. It started with just Mike and Emily then it hit the gas pedal for the second chorus and was simply divine. When they played “Numb” they started the song off in a very fantastic fashion by speeding it up to make it more of a “punk” sounding song. I so want to hear it in full like that! During “In The End” the crowd participation was almost deafening. I love a good concert sing along and this one might have taken the cake this year. Of course when they played “Faint” and “Papercut” I was through the roof. Those 2 songs are in my top 5 LP songs of all time. I absolutely love those songs. The video for “Faint” is one of my all time favorites too. During the set too there were a couple of solo moments where Joe Hahn showed off his scratching skills. I forgot how damn good he is at that. Reminded me a bit of seeing them back in the Hybrid Theory era and how they would do that. Also, Mike had his solo moment with “When They Come For Me/Remember The Name” during part of that Mike likes to throw in a different rap verse from other songs and this evening he pulled out part of “High Voltage” which was pretty awesome. Closing out the night was the always fun “Bleed It Out” which also during the bridge they threw in part of “A Place For My Head” and then it was over.
If you have ever been a doubter of Linkin Park, seeing them live will change that. I had a long history of writing the band off but, I’m really glad I went back to listen and rediscover them. Having Emily and Colin in the band now has not only breathed new life into the band but, given all of us fans a reason to look forward to the future. Emily is a force of nature all on her own and these songs go even harder than before. That’s not a knock on Chester at all. Chester was great too but, with Emily it feels like the older songs are taken to new heights and the new songs are so damn good. Honestly this show and night was genuinely everything you’d want it to be. The production of the stage show was superb. It felt very immersive and intimate even though there wasn’t an empty seat or place to stand in the whole arena.
I took my daughter with me to the show as well and she had such an amazing time. She’s a huge LP fan and to see her smile, be happy and singing along was the cherry on top. Getting to share music with my daughter, friends and all of you is what makes this all fun. Seriously, if you haven’t heard From Zero, give it a listen. And the next time Linkin Park comes through town, GO!!! I know I will!
Overall Rating: A
Review and Photos By: Brian Lacy
Linkin Park Set List:
01) Somewhere I Belong 02) Crawling 03) Up From The Bottom 04) Lying From You 05) The Emptiness Machine 06) The Catalyst 07) Burn It Down 08) Stained 09) Where’d You Go (Fort Minor Cover) 10) Waiting For The End 11) Castle Of Glass 12) Two Faced 13) Joe Hahn Solo 14) When They Come For Me/Remember The Name (High Voltage Verse) 15) I Gave You Everything I Have 16) One Step Closer 17) Lost 18) Unshatter (Live Debut) 19) What I’ve Done 20) Overflow 21) Numb 22) Over Each Other 23) In The End 24) Faint ENCORE: 25) Papercut 26) Heavy Is The Crown 27) Bleed It Out (with A Place For My Head verse)
I’ve been on a bit of an A Perfect Circle kick as of late. I’m pretty excited about the thought of new music from them. Especially since their last album, Eat The Elephant, was pretty disappointing. While going through my usual rabbit hole, I came across this fun video. If you are not aware, after A Perfect Circle went on “hiatus” in 2004, Billy Howerdel would go on to start a solo career. His first release was under the name Ashes Divide and the album, Keep Telling Myself It’s Alright. That year Ashes Divide was asked to be a part of Linkin Park’s Projekt Revolution tour. During one of the stops on the tour, the late Chester Bennington joined Ashes Divide on stage for a version of A Perfect Circle’s “The Outsider.” It’s a pretty solid offering and just shows that Chester could sing pretty much anything, and it sounded good. If you haven’t seen or heard this before you are in for a treat. And seriously check out the Ashes Divide album, it’s really quite good.
Ashes Divide w/Chester Bennington- The Outsider (Live):
Episode 8 of The Audioeclectica Podcast is here for your listening pleasure! The past 7 episodes have covered a lot of different topics and a slew of great bands to check out. We hope you are checking them out! On this episodes we thought it would be great to showcase the ladies and the bands they are in. Brian and Justin start back in the 1960’s and go through each decade till now, pointing out the most rockin females. This is definitely an episode to check out who we chat about especially the current bands!
So grab your favorite beverage, flip it on in the car, sit back and have some fun with Audioeclectica!
Our “In Rotation” Album Picks:
Brian: Nine Inch Nails- The Fragile Greg Puciato- Mirrorcell PJ Harvey- Dry Sex Pistols- Never Mind The Bollocks Bush- Razorblade Suitcase
Justin: Exodus- The Atrocity Exhibition…Exhibit A Down- NOLA Sugar Ray- Lemonade And Brownies Incubus- SCIENCE The Crown- Death Race King
This has been a long time coming and it’s finally here! The All New and Revamped Audioeclectica Podcast. I’m very pleased and proud to be bringing this back. Joining me on this venture are a few people that I’d like to shout out. First being my co-host Justin Sinclair (of sinistermusicreviews.wordpress.com). Justin is a good friend of mine and we share a common interest in a lot of the same music and I’ve taken it upon myself to expand his musical horizons. And it’s definitely paid off! Look at you know! Also a shout to Diggy at Lucky Star Radio for hosting the show and for all your behind the scenes work. And finally my friend Dionne at JASI Entertainment for pushing me to get this thing going again and for the support!
The first episode is all about reunions, bands that have stuck it out, best reunions, cash grab bands/tours, reunions we wish would happen and more. Plus some really great tidbits of information about the bands, tours, shows, and then some. This is the first of many episodes to come. Lots of different topics will be discussed and opinions shared. So come along for this ride and join the fun!
If there is a topic on your mind you’d like us to discuss, leave us a comment and we will add it to the list.
Thank you all for your support throughout the years! Audioeclectica is on its way to bigger and better things and this is just the start! Stay Tuned and remember to always Listen Eclectically!
This might come as a shock to some of you but, over the past few years, I’ve taken a liking to Linkin Park. A lot has gone on over those years and for a myriads of reasons I got drawn into it. One day I’ll elaborate on that. The 20th anniversary of their album Meteora really put it in my head that, I was hating on them for no real good reason. As I dug through their catalog and found the songs and albums I enjoyed, I made a note to come back to a few songs and highlight them. This one song in particular was a b-side from their sessions recording their third album, Minutes To Midnight. The song is “No Roads Left” and was a composition that was written mainly by Mike Shinoda and features Mike on lead vocals. There was a version recorded with Chester singing the song but, the band especially Chester thought that Mike’s version was the best one and they went with it. Sadly though, this song didn’t make the album. Had it made the album, I’m more than sure this song would have made that album better than it is. That’s not to say it’s a bad album, the sequencing of the song order is a bit iffy (but that’s for a whole other topic another day). This song is another example of good songwriting and shows that Mike Shinoda really is the glue that makes Linkin Park what it is. I’d love for this song to get it’s full due from fans as well as being added to their set lists. It’s too good to just be a b-side!
Thank you all for your support through the years and especially 2024. This was a pretty strange year to say the least. Usually I do a bunch of different categories to wrap up the year but, since I took a bit of a break, I thought I’d just do a couple things to wrap things up. 2025 is going to be a great year for Audioeclectica! Stay tuned for all that is coming!
BEST ALBUMS OF 2024 (1-10 are in order, the rest are not):
01) Gouge Away- Deep Sage 02) Better Lovers- Highly Irresponsible 03) Linkin Park- From Zero 04) Jerry Cantrell- I Want Blood 05) The Smashing Pumpkins- Aghori Mhori Mei 06) Iress- Sleep Now, In Reverse 07) Kerry King- From Hell I Rise 08) Chelsea Wolfe- She Reaches Out To She… 09) The Cure- Songs Of A Lost World 10) Common Wounds- All Night Blood
11) Pearl Jam- Dark Matter 12) Drug Church- Prude 13) Planes Mistaken For Stars- Do You Still Love Me? 14) Spirit In The Room- Passengers EP 15) Unto Others- Never, Neverland 16) Cold Gawd- I’ll Drown On This Earth 17) Category 7- Category 7 18) Full Of Hell- Coagulated Bliss 19) Umbra Vitae- Light Of Death 20) Duhkha- A Place You Can Come Back From 21) Yellfire- Dear Gods 22) Darkest Hour- Perpetual Terminal 23) Erra- Cure 24) Marilyn Manson- One Assassination Under God 25) The Hope Conspiracy- Tools Of Oppression/Rule By Deception
TOP 10 PRODUCERS OF 2024:
01) Jack Shirley- Gouge Away: Deep Sage 02) Will Putney- Better Lovers: Highly Irresponsible 03) Mike Shinoda- Linkin Park: From Zero 04) Joe Baressi & Jerry Cantrell- Jerry Cantrell: I Want Blood 05) Billy Corgan- The Smashing Pumpkins: Aghori Mhori Mei 06) Alex Estrada- Iress: Sleep Now, In Reverse 07) Dave Sitek- Chelsea Wolfe: She Reaches Out To She… 08) Josh Wilbur- Kerry King: From Hell I Rise 09) Robert Smith & Paul Corkett- The Cure: Songs Of A Lost World 10) Zach Rippy & Scott Evans- Common Wounds: All Night Blood
TOP SHOWS OF 2024:
01) Linkin Park @ Forum 02) Lamb Of God, Mastodon and Kerry King @ Forum 03) Better Lovers @ Regent 04) Hatebreed, Carcass, Harm’s Way and Crypta @ Wiltern 05) Gouge Away @ 1720 06) Slipknot @ Intuit Dome 07) Korn and Gojira @ BMO Stadium 08) Poison The Well, Will Haven and Hopesfall @ Belasco 09) David Gilmour @ Hollywood Bowl 10) All Cobalt Presents Shows
Back in 2015, Linkin Park released their album, The Hunting Party. This album saw the band return to more of their “rock roots” after time spent experimenting and expanding upon their sound. The Hunting Party was met with a bit of a mixed reaction but, over time has actually grown into quite a pretty stand out album in their catalog. One song on this album in particular has always had my attention and it’s one hell of a banger too. The song is track 2 on the album and it’s called “All For Nothing” and features the one and only Page Hamilton of Helmet on guest vocals as well as guitar. This song fits naturally into the signature sound of Linkin Park and it has a bit of an old school vibe with the hip-hop verses into the soaring melodic chorus. The combination of LP and Page Hamilton works out quite well. When you listen to early LP albums (Hybrid Theory/Meteora) there is a bit of a Helmet influence to the guitars so it’s only appropriate that this collaboration were to happen and work so well. I’m just going to put this out in the universe cause it would be awesome if it were to happen but, how about on Helmet’s upcoming tour, they add this song to the set for their Los Angeles date and Mike Shinoda comes out and performs it with Helmet?! Now that would be something! This song really deserves to be given the proper live debut!
I love when you see a video that really connects with the energy of the song. I still remember when this video came out and it was one of those “damn, that video is really really good and now I am quite enjoying the song.” I have something lined up in the next couple weeks to further delve into Linkin Park but, first I really want to highlight this gem of a video. Riding high off their debut album, Hybrid Theory and then their follow up Meteora, Linkin Park was the biggest band in the world. During the summer of 2003, Linkin Park released “Faint” as a single and the accompanying video was something else. Legendary director Mark Romanek (Nine Inch Nails, Fiona Apple, Jay-Z, etc) was behind the camera for this one and it definitely left a mark (no pun intended). The video has the band performing with an audience with giant floodlights. Almost the entire video is shot from behind the band, allowing the strong lighting to portray them in silhouettes. A fun thing about this video is that the faces of the band are not shown throughout most of the video, except at the final chorus where the band is then shown from the front. So instead of getting an “audience view” you get the perspective of what the band sees from the state. The way the video is shot and edited is so fun and interesting. Mark Romanek does a phenomenal job of capturing not just the performance aspect of the band but, the energy from the audience that roars back to the band “on stage.” This is video is one of those that I like to put in the category of “this video will get you into the song.” As of now too, the video for “Faint” has almost 400 million plays on YouTube.
Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton is preparing to release his debut solo album March 1, 2019. This is an album that Mark has been working on for a while. In a recent interview Mark went on to say “This album wasn’t a concerted effort to start something outside Lamb of God,” he explains. “Music is always in my head, and until I write and record it, it’s stuck there. But once I record it, it’s out. It’s a catharsis, more for my own sanity.” So needless to say, this album is full of variety and riffs galore. The album features Mark playing all the guitars with guest accompaniment from the likes of Roy Mayorga, David Ellefson, Ray Luzier, Paolo Gregoletto, Alex Bent, Mike Inez, Jean-Paul Gaster, Steve Gorman, Marc Ford, Yanni Papadopoulos, and Chris Brooks rounding out the band. Anesthetic sure seems like a beast of an album. Two songs have been released already “The Truth Is Dead” featuring Arch Enemy’s Alissa White- Gluz and Mark’s Lamb of God mate Randy Blyth, and “Cross Off” which features the late Chester Bennington of Linkin Park.
The Truth Is Dead w/ Randy Blyth and Alissa White- Gluz:
Cross Off w/ Chester Bennington:
ANESTHETIC TRACK LISTING:
1. “Cross Off” (feat. Chester Bennington)
2. “Sworn Apart” (feat. Jacoby Shaddix)
3. “Axis” (feat. Mark Lanegan)
4. “The Never” (feat. Chuck Billy + Jake Oni)
5. “Save Defiance” (feat. Myles Kennedy)
6. “Blur” (feat. Mark Morales)
7. “Back From The Dead” (feat. Josh Todd)
8. “Reveal” (feat. Naeemah Maddox)
9. “Imaginary Days”
10. “The Truth Is Dead” (feat. Randy Blythe + Alissa White-Gluz)
