Linkin Park - In The End

This was possibly the first Linkin Park song I ever heard, and this song definitely was what drew my attention to this band. To be totally honest, with my hands up, I have never ever watched this music video before today. I don't have a clue why; it has never come up on the music channels, or it's either been on when I haven't been watching, or when I'm flipping through. But I have to admit it is quite bizarre. But this song is so amazing that it gets stuck in my head every now and again, and it's all to do with the radio stations playing this song every time I listen to them. And I still don't know the lyrics off by heart yet, which is usually a good thing, because if I knew the lyrics it would never get stuck in my head again, and I really don't like it when that happens.

Linkin Park, as I have recently mentioned a couple of times, are a 6-piece rock band consisting of Chester Bennington (vocals on chorus), Mike Shinoda (vocals on verses), Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson, Joseph Hahn, and Dave Farrell. I definitely like the way in which this song is sung, and the use of the two lead vocalists, it kind of splits the song up, and kind of suggests that it is real, and I don't really know what it is about it, but it makes the band stand out over many other bands, and they seem to do well when they split the vocals up (well lately they haven't been doing too well here in the UK, compared to the high charter of number 8 this song managed to achieve, but still...) I have to admit many bands have tried this concept, some have done well with it such as Evanescence (who only did it for their first song, but still managed to get a number 1), and some have done poorly such as We Are The In Crowd (although they are a fairly new band so they could still turn it around, hopefully). This song was released as their fourth single from their first studio album: Hybrid Theory, which people believe is their best album they've ever released, but people say that about most bands, because their first studio album is usually raw and fresh and new, and it's quite hard for bands to compete with the popularity of their first album.

As far as I can work out from the lyrics, it suggests a betrayal. It suggests that they trusted someone and to be stabbed in the back instead, and they tried so hard and only "got so far", could suggest that they tried to be with someone and it obviously wasn't working out, "but in the end, it doesn't even matter". It sounds as if they are over the betrayal and are realising that she/he wasn't a good friend in the first place. Don't quote me on that, I could be totally wrong and I'm sorry if I am, but that's what I get out of the song and what I can interpret from it. I'm not sure if it is such a good song to turn into a music video, would there be much you could do to link it? I'm not entirely sure and I have to admit as much as I want to not like the music video because I don't see the connection, I kind of find it enjoyable to watch. I'm blaming the song, it's possessed me into liking the music video.

Starting with Mike Shinoda and his rapping, he is usually seen in a wasteland, where thorny vines are appearing out of the ground and enclosing around him and shattering into dust. And then during the second verse grass and plants are sprouting up around him. When Chester Bennington sings the choruses he is standing on top of a platform with gargoyles on the edges. There is a door behind him which is shaped as a trapezoid (which is the lower half of a triangle). Near the end of the video the sky turns grey and it starts to pour down with rain, and the band still plays on. When the rain stops you are left with the piano playing, which also starts the song. And the camera pans outwards revealing the wasteland where Mike Shinoda was rapping, and it is now a lush Greenland. Also a whale pops up here and there although the significance is not as obvious.

I really like the concept of this video, it is very thought out and extremely imaginable and also out-of-the-box kind of thing. For those of you who haven't worked it out yet, the music video mostly uses CGI animation. The band originally performed this at 2001's Ozzfest tour, and it was also filmed there, then editing came in so that it became the way the band wanted it to be. The wasteland signifies the betrayal, and that it is quite hard and difficult to get over, but the vines and the grass and the plants covers it up, and suggests that "In the end, it doesn't even matter". I like the ending as well when it shows what used to be the wasteland. It kind of suggests that they've started a fresh, or even, they are better off now.

The band decided to let water pipes off during their performance at Ozzfest tour, which is how they managed to show the rain in the music video, and also proves that a hell of a lot of planning was involved. Now onto the whale... The whale appears quite a lot and is quite different. It was Joe Hahn's idea to put it in, although he has yet to reveal why he did it apart from the fact that "it made sense" to him.  The only idea some people have come up with is that the whale could be identified as a "space whale" which takes the concept that life (or time) is too short for one to absorb all its mass surroundings. Which definitely goes alongside the song.

I'm not totally sure what all the statues are for, the only thing I can think of is that they first decided on the wastelands and then thought that the band had to be on top of something because they performed on stage during Ozzfest tour. On top of the statue is a winged soldier this is similar to the front cover of Hybrid Theory.

Overall I really do like this music video, and can now see the similarities with the song, and I have to admit, I think it is a very clever and a very ambitious music video that I could probably watch again and again. Some people may not understand the links at first (like I did), but it doesn't take an expert to see a few of them, and there is probably a lot more behind it than what I have uncovered. I hope you all agree that this music video deserves this rating, and I hope to see more weird and different music videos from this fantastic band.

Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z - Umbrella

This song is very well known here in the UK, it made chart history by being the longest running single at number one during the 21st century, and it's a wonder if anyone will be able to defeat that? I don't think so. The media turned up a lot of things about this single and after a push and a shove, Rihanna (real name Robyn Fenty) managed to gain 10 weeks at number one here in the UK. But also it gained the "Rihanna's Curse" which I'll talk about later.

This song was written by many people, one of these people was Jay-Z who also performs a rap at the start of this song. The song was first given to Britney, but her label turned it down because she already had enough songs for her "Blackout" album. It was also given to Taio Cruz, and although he wanted it, he failed to convince his record company. It was then given to L.A. Reid who then passed it on, and finally it made it's way to Rihanna. She has released loads of songs and albums since then and has yet to beat this record, will she be able to do that in the future? I'm not sure, can a single really last more than ten weeks at number one nowadays? With the amount of different singles being released every week, and artists only last between 1 and 5 weeks at number one, it'll be very interesting to see if a single does stay at the top long enough to have the potential to beat this record, but I don't see it happening.

The song is now considered as Rihanna's signature song, and you definitely link the song with Rihanna . The song is about a romantic relationship and the strength of the two people in that relationship. Although Rihanna didn't write the song, and so could be considered unable to put emotion towards it; her voice makes the song even more perfect and you can definitely see that she has at least some connection to the song.

The music video heavily links in with the umbrella part, although has no connection to the emotion of the song. I really do like the dance choreography with the umbrellas, and I would really have liked to have seen how they made it, as I could definitely see a lot of umbrellas going here, there and everywhere. I also like the use of the water, obviously it is computer works, and it also suggests that Rihanna is the umbrella herself, which kind of joins in with the whole relationship thing, since she controls the water, and can move out of it's way and even push it into another direction, and she hardly gets wet, so it suggests that the relationship could be strong by standing "under my umbrella ella ella".

Now I HAVE to talk about the triangle significance, a lot of people have referenced it to the Illuminati symbol lately. Although this is doubtful, and it is just an idea that Rihanna and her director came up with. during this bit, she is naked but covered in silver paint, which was re-applied after every shoot. This bit doesn't link in well with the song as I can't think of any references, although it does put Rihanna's career forward into a more of a mainstream success, which she got, and although her recent videos have caused a lot of controversy, this is sometimes referred to as possibly worse than her recent ones (according to Rihanna).

Now onto the Rihanna curse. When this single managed to get to number one here in the UK, we had a lot of disasters including extreme rainfall and flooding. The Sun (a UK national newspaper, for those of you who don't know) decided that these two events were connected. They brought up ideas and even said that the single gave bad luck to this country and even mentioned that the video was shot on Friday the 13th. The newspaper suggested people should help by kicking it off the top spot, and even suggested other songs people should buy. This seems a little far-fetched, but when Rihanna's song was knocked off the weather conditions became better. Not only that but there was similar stories in New Zealand and Romania. In New Zealand there were some worst storms they have ever had including tornadoes and flooding, but everything stopped when this single got replaced at the top spot. In Romania another storm hit, at the start of one of the driest summer's they've had, but as the song climbed down the chart it cleared up...... There may have been more countries where this or something similar has happened, or it could be just a coincidence, what do you think?

Overall, I really like the song, it is definitely Rihanna's most iconic song, and I don't think she'll ever have another song as big as this, but I'm ready to be surprised. I like the music video although there's only a few links here and there. I definitely like the water idea and I can't wait to see more music videos by her.
Buy on iTunes

Swedish House Mafia Featuring John Martin - Save The World

Talk about man's best friends. While I was on holiday a few weeks ago the radio kept playing this song on and on, so..... It's kind of grown on me. Now I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of Swedish House Mafia, I haven't really watched any other music video by them and I also haven't really liked any of their other songs, but to be perfectly honest I haven't listened to it enough to judge properly, although you may see more of their music videos appear on here at some point.

Now Swedish House Mafia is a three-piece dance/house band compiling of Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. The song was sung by John Martin, who is a new singer from Sweden, so it'll be interesting how far he would go, however this song doesn't officially state that he's featuring as the vocals, although he is credited, so I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing... The band and John Martin are all from Sweden, who has released many dance artists here in the UK such as Basshunter, September, Danny Saucedo (who has yet to do well) and Edward Maya.

This song is all about saving the world, bringing it back to normality (whatever that is). After the past few crazy years, surely this song should help normality settle. In my opinion, I could so see this music video being presented to Swedish House Mafia, and they had to produce and create a song that fits perfectly within the music video, but of course nothing like that ever happens, but it just proves how well this music video fits in with the song, and although it is bizarre and weird, it is perfect in many different ways.

I have to admit, hands up, this video has captured me. Personally I'm a cat lover, sorry for all the dog lovers out there, but I am, even though I currently have a pet dog, yes yes yes, I can see you all laughing now reading this. BUT why couldn't they have made it a dog and cat world where they saved us humans, why just dogs? Did they prefer dogs? Have they been watching too many re-runs of "Krypto the Super Dog" or something similar that is shown in Sweden? However I have to admit, these dogs are so cute, and love able, and they were recorded perfectly, now don't you lot dare post telling me that they are animation, because my heart will literally brake. Just in case they are animation, I have to admit that I've recently watched "The Smurfs" and a cat appears in that film, and it took me a while until I realised it was animation, that's how advanced creators have now became, so I'm telling you this could be animation, it is so similar that I can't even tell the difference now.

I like the surrealism of this story line, "man's best friend just saved man", I could so see that being the headline on the front cover of some newspaper. And it's kind of weird thinking that could happen, although to be totally honest, I believe my dog would save me (not sure on the whole world, but definitely me and my family). I currently have a border-collie named Harvey, and as all the pictures of the dogs appeared in the video, I was kind of hoping to see some sort of collie appear but I was a little disappointed that there wasn't.

I also like how this video teaches younger children about "stranger danger", there are definitely bad people out there, no matter the reason they still do the bad things they do, and so I like how this video warns people, that things could be safe, but aren't always. To be honest dogs can sometimes be very vicious, which then leads me to understanding why dogs were used, and although cats can be vicious, they aren't as scary, am I making sense?

Overall I really like the concept of this music video and I've finally caught on to liking this song. I definitely wish there were more great music videos like this, and the song connects well with the music video. I like the various dogs and how it shows that small dogs can be just as scary as bigger dogs. I hope you all agree with my rating!

Big Time Rush - Til I Forget About You

I had no idea who Big Time Rush were, I saw this music video, and there was nothing else on the music channels, so today I decided to watch this one, and I've had this annoying song in my head all day. The music video must have sounded great on paper, but personally I don't think it works, it's really weird when that happens, but by the looks of things Big Time Rush need to do a lot better, or soon enough they will be dropped from their label and ceased to exist.

Big Time Rush are a 4-person bubblegum pop band that consists of Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, Carlos Pena, Jr. and Logan Henderson. They were created through Nickelodeon television series, which has the same name, which I never watched, although apparently it was a big hit. The series has released 2 seasons so far, with an expected third season on it's way, also the band confirmed that there will be a film released to coincide with the third season. So although the series has been doing really well, the band itself is doing rubbish on the charts, and this song performed particularly badly, as it didn't chart anywhere in the world. I definitely see this band going there own ways, soon enough they will give up with the singing and just do the TV show, which then might perform badly.... That's how I see things going, but I hope they manage to gain success as it is particularly difficult to get a song stuck in my head after only hearing it once.

The song is all about forgetting about the person who's just dumped you, which is kind of a little weird in my opinion. It suggests rebound alert, and that is by no means good. It's all about distracting yourself until you forget about that person, but in theory how do you forget about someone who's been a big part of your life? It just never happens and at the end of the day you'll always remember them no matter what. So I understand what the song is about, but to be honest I don't think I agree with it.

Now if this music video was written down on paper, I bet it sounded like an amazing idea, but I don't really know why the video didn't turn out as great, I'm not exactly sure what it is about it I don't like but something spoiled the whole idea. My favourite bit in the music video is the "Rock Out" button on the camera, and I think that just shows how much I enjoyed the music video because that little thing was my favourite bit. It just seems a little dull, and unrealistic.

I like the idea of how the camera can change people, but in theory that's a little unfair, because they are changing them in a similar way people change because of peer-pressure. Seriously, if they want to look the way they did at the beginning why change them? Everyone's perfect in their own special way, so why turn them into someone they may not be just because of yourself? Okay I must admit, this video goes against a lot of things I believe in, especially about originality.

I have to laugh at the 90's cheesy dance moves that are shown when they are performing on stage, it kind of reminded me of A1 and D-Side and 5ive and *NSYNC. But will they mark the comeback of cheesy pop and hopefully push our now disbanded bands back together? Or will they fail like many of the others? We'll just going to have to wait and see, but personally I'm expecting failure.

Overall, I like the song it's very catchy and is still stuck in my head, but I don't agree with the meaning. I like the concept of the music video, although I don't think the music video works well enough, and it doesn't relate that well with the song. So I am wondering if this ban will make it, or will they become another one people's paved over? Well here's my rating....

Linkin Park - Iridescent

Here's another rock ballad by the almighty Linkin Park. Is this the route the 6-piece rock band plan on going down? We'll see. Linkin park contains 6 members who are: Chester Bennington (singing the chorus), Mike Shinoda (singing the verses), Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson, Dave Farrell, Joe Hahn (directed the music video). I always love it when a band decide to split the vocals up between certain members, it gives the song power, and if they are both great singers then emotion comes across a lot better. Linkin Park has been doing this for years, and I'm really happy that they are continuing.

This song is so good, although could be considered annoying every now and again, especially since it is yet another rock ballad by Linkin Park. The song is the fourth release from their fourth album: A Thousand Suns. This song is also been made as the lead single from the third Transformers movie: Dark of the Moon. I have not watched the film yet, so I'm not entirely sure if this music video goes well with it or not, however I will do my best to rate it fairly. The song is all about hope in the midst of chaos and sadness. This works well with the film, as that is what the third transformers film is all about.

The music video is definitely something I wouldn't normally watch. If I were flipping through the music channels I wouldn't watch this video mainly because it is mostly in black and white, and although this easily brings across raw emotion and perfect feelings, it annoys me to an extent and it kind of bores me. To do well in the chart Linkin Park has got to appeal to the teenage market, as well as the adults, and in doing so, a black and white music video will not help much. And although colour does appear it isn't that appealing, it's quite dull and bland and doesn't really make me interested in this music video. The reason I am reviewing it today is because I was on my computer and was just listening to a particular music channel and this came on, and the song got stuck in my head, so I had no choice but decide to rate the music video, however if this was a normal day like all the others, I would have flipped over before the song even started.

The clips from the film is integrated really nicely and makes the music video work well, and suggests that the transformers are their kind of hope. Although at some points the band members are doing something that I don't think really works that well with the song, and only has a little bit of a reference, such as the bit where they are all sitting at the table, this directly links with Leonardo da Vinci's painting called "The Last Supper". Although I have no idea what it means, but I think it goes down the line with the fact that they are having supper during a world of chaos and sadness, and this could possibly be their type of hope.

the use of animals such as a snake and a white dog, suggest danger, which goes well with the transformers theme. Apparently, according to Mike Shinoda, Joe Hahn sent him a message that said something along the line of "in the valley of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" and the next thing he knew was that he had a snake and a white dog, and he was on a throne made of antlers, and he had horns growing out of his shoulders and he had one blind eye. To be totally honest I think this music video is very different to what everyone is used to however it works well with the idea of sadness and chaos with hope mingled in between.

Overall I'm not totally sure what to make of it, I really like the concept and the absurd idea that Joe Hahn came up with (I really wouldn't like to take a look in his mind, it would be too weird), but I dislike the black and white feel, and I think that what lets the music video down. Anyway, I think I'm being pretty generous with my rating and I hope you all agree.
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)