Guilty All the Same

Summary

"Guilty All the Same" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. The song was recorded by the band for their sixth studio album, The Hunting Party, serving as the third track. The track features American rapper Rakim. The track premiered on March 6, 2014, on commercial mobile service Shazam,[1] and was released as a single by Warner Bros. Records on March 7, 2014. The song was self-produced since the band decided not to have a producer for the album.[2]

"Guilty All the Same"
Single by Linkin Park featuring Rakim
from the album The Hunting Party
ReleasedMarch 7, 2014
Recorded2013–14
Genre
Length5:55
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Linkin Park singles chronology
"A Light That Never Comes"
(2013)
"Guilty All the Same"
(2014)
"Until It's Gone"
(2014)
Rakim singles chronology
"Walk These Streets"
(2009)
"Guilty All the Same"
(2014)
Music video
"Guilty All the Same" on YouTube
"Guilty All the Same" (Lyric Video) on YouTube

Composition edit

In an interview with Radio.com, Shinoda and Bennington explained that this song "...seemed like the perfect song to reintroduce the band."[3]

"A few months ago I was making some demos and writing this stuff and it sounded like something that you could play on the radio," Shinoda explained. "I listen to a lot of indie music… and I was listening to the demos and thought, I don't want to make any of that music. What is it that's not out there right now that I'm all about, that I'm fired up about that is a void? It ended up being this new material."[3]

In that same interview, regarding the addition of Rakim, Shinoda wanted to surprise people and was "spitballing" the idea of getting Rakim, one of Shinoda's idols growing up, on the track. When the band's engineer revealed that he knew one of Rakim's people, he reached out to him, leading to Rakim coming over to the studio and, according to Bennington, "crush that section" (verse over the bridge).[3] Shinoda was originally going to rap in the bridge off the song, but thought that it would be too predictable and wanted another rapper to do it instead, and managed to get into contact with Rakim through their musical engineer.[4]

The track features a long instrumental intro and is driven by aggressive guitars and drums, with lead singer Chester Bennington using angsty yet clean vocals, while guest rapper Rakim raps his own verse over a hip hop-tinged bridge.[5] Alternatively, it has been described as demonstrating a rap metal style similar to that of the band's earlier albums, Hybrid Theory and Meteora by Music Feeds.[6] It has also been described as a return to their hard rock and heavy metal roots for the band by Zach McEntire of KXRK.[7] Al Kooper observed it as "plain old heavy metal".[8]

Reception edit

Tarun Mazumdar of International Business Times gave the song a positive review, claiming "the vocals nicely complement the entire instrumentation", and praises Rakim's rapping during the breakdown.[9] Andy Walsh at Renowned for Sound gave the song 3.5 stars out of 5 stars, calling the heaviness of the song a "welcome return". He concludes with hoping it's a sign for things to come.[10] In the track by track review by Billboard, the song is given a positive response and explained as "The fellas are justifiably psyched to have hip-hop legend Rakim on this track, so they preface his arrival with more than a minute of dramatic guitar buildup. At first, the bobbing and weaving riffage suggests a boxer readying for the bell, but then the group segues into quasi-symphonic metal mode, and we're galloping into Bennington's verses."[11]

Music video edit

The music video for "Guilty All the Same" is a collaboration between Linkin Park and Microsoft's Project Spark, giving the fans the opportunity of editing it and remixing it as they will. In Linkin Park's version of the game, the protagonist is a character haunted by guilt. The player navigates the character through a dark, slightly sinister environment that threatens to devour him as he tries to flee from the forces of his own guilt. The level resembles a mashup between the racing mechanic of Temple Run and the noir art style of Badland. The better the player performs, the richer the soundtrack for the song.[12][13]

As of December 2022, the music video for "Guilty All the Same" has over 5 million views on YouTube.[14]

Track listing edit

Digital download[15]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Guilty All the Same" (featuring Rakim)5:55
US promotional single
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Guilty All the Same" (radio edit)
  • Linkin Park
  • Griffin
  • Delson
  • Shinoda
3:52
UK promotional CD single[16]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Guilty All the Same" (featuring Rakim, album version)
  • Linkin Park
  • Griffin
  • Delson
  • Shinoda
5:55
2."Guilty All the Same" (shorter edit)
  • Linkin Park
  • Griffin
  • Delson
  • Shinoda
3:53

Personnel edit

Linkin Park edit

Additional musicians edit

Charts edit

Release history edit

Release dates and formats for "Guilty All the Same"
Region Date Format Label Ref.
United States March 7, 2014 Digital download [15]
India Warner Bros. [32]
Italy Contemporary hit radio [33]
United Kingdom CD single promo [16]

References edit

  1. ^ Montgomery, James. "Surprise! Linkin Park Drop New Single 'Guilty All The Same'". MTV. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  2. ^ Shinoda, Mike (February 3, 2014). "First Linkin Park 2014 Studio Update". Mike Shinoda. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Interview: Linkin Park On Their New Single 'Guilty All The Same'". Radio.com. March 5, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  4. ^ Iandoli, Kathy (March 18, 2014). "Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park Talks Rakim Collaboration, Says He's On The "Kendrick Got Robbed" Team From The Grammy's". Hiphopdx.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  5. ^ Kaufman, Spencer (March 6, 2014). "Linkin Park Unleash New Single 'Guilty All the Same' Featuring Rakim". Loudwire. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  6. ^ "Linkin Park Drop Surprise New Single 'Guilty All The Same'". Music Feeds. March 6, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  7. ^ McEntire, Zach (June 13, 2014). "6 New Albums You Need To Hear This Summer". X96. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  8. ^ Kooper, Al (June 20, 2014). "New Music for Old People: NRBQ, Janiva Magness, Passenger, Carla Thomas and More". The Morton Report. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  9. ^ Mazumdar, Tarun (March 7, 2014). "Music Review: Linkin Park Release New Single 'Guilty All The Same' Through Shazam". International Business Times. Archived from the original on May 21, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  10. ^ Walsh, Andy (March 21, 2014). "Single Review: Linkin Park – 'Guilty All The Same'". Renowned for Sound. Archived from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
  11. ^ Partridge, Kenneth (June 18, 2014). "Linkin Park's The Hunting Party: Track-by-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  12. ^ Pham, Alex (March 25, 2014). "Linkin Park's New Video is a Game: Inside Look at 'Guilty All the Same'". Billboard. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  13. ^ "Linkin Park's "Guilty All the Same"". Nerdist News. YouTube. March 24, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  14. ^ Linkin Park (March 25, 2014). "Guilty All The Same (feat. Rakim) (Project Spark Official Video) - Linkin Park". YouTube. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Guilty All the Same (feat. Rakim) — Single by Linkin Park". iTunes Store US. Apple Inc. March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  16. ^ a b "Guilty All the Same" at Discogs
  17. ^ "Linkin Park feat. Rakim – Guilty All the Same" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  18. ^ "Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  19. ^ "Linkin Park feat. Rakim – Guilty All the Same" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  20. ^ "Linkin Park feat. Rakim – Guilty All the Same" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  21. ^ "Linkin Park feat. Rakim – Guilty All the Same". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  22. ^ Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart: CLUK Update 15.03.2014 (wk10)". Zobbel.de. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  23. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. March 16, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  24. ^ "Linkin Park Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  25. ^ "Linkin Park Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  26. ^ "Linkin Park Chart History (Rock & Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  27. ^ "Linkin Park Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  28. ^ "Linkin Park Chart History (Mainstream Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  29. ^ "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  30. ^ "Rock Airplay Songs: Year End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  31. ^ "Mainstream Rock Songs: Year End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  32. ^ "Guilty All the Same (feat. Rakim) — Single by Linkin Park". iTunes Store India. Apple Inc. March 7, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  33. ^ "Linkin Park – Guilty All The Same (feat. Rakim) (Warner)" (in Italian). Radio Airplay SRL. Archived from the original on August 6, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.

External links edit

  • "Guilty All the Same" on YouTube
  • Linkin Park "Guilty All the Same" lyrics