The new Linkin Park

[26-09-2024]

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about the new chapter of Linkin Park, some of which I have posted here and there on cohost and bluesky. But I feel like this is something that I may have to justify in the future, or at least explain. I don't wanna have to go over everything if I end up doing a review for the new album, so now that the initial announcement is a few weeks behind us and we have two songs released, I will attempt to summarize everything I think and feel about the new Linkin Park.

My background with Linkin Park

Linkin Park mean a lot to me, and I don't just mean that I listened to Meteora in middle school. I mean that my relationship with their music went through many twists and turns as their sound expanded and got more experimental, while I was simultaneously maturing and expanding my horizons (or lack thereof, in some cases) and constantly adapting my outlook on them. They were one of the first bands I ever got deeply invested in, and I went through probably every stage from idolization to resentment and back with everything in between, and ultimately came out on top as a huge fan with a deep appreciation and a personal story for each facet of their discography. This band is extremely important to me.

Moving on without Chester

To make it short, yes, I think they should be allowed to move on without Chester. Chester was extremely important, and the news of his tragic death in 2017 left me devastated like many. He was genuinely one of the greatest rock frontmen of my time and generally seemed like a very genuine and likable person. He put his absolute everything in his performances and he was, for many, the face that represented the band.

However. Chester was not the band. Not the whole band, at least. A central creative force of Linkin Park have always been Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn, and I'm sure the rest of the guys did their fair share of contributions as well. I do think that if they have the creative energy inside of them for something that they think fits with Linkin Park, they should be allowed to continue, with or without Chester. I think that's their right as artists. And speaking as an enjoyer of art, I do believe major shakeups like this have great potential for exciting directions as the band is forced to ask themselves, what can we make of this situation? What do we do from here? If the band has something to show for, in my opinion, they should show it. I love and respect these guys too much as artists to want to lock their creativity behind performative respect for Chester's legacy. Aside from that, Linkin Park are far from the first rock band to have replaced an iconic singer, even after tragedy. I think this is a decision that everyone involved has to make for themselves, and after 7 years, they have decided to move on, and I respect the hell out of that.

Many of the more negative fan reactions are statements like "they're killing Chester's legacy" or "Chester would hate this". I don't think that's true. The way I see it, keeping the excitement around the band alive does the opposite. Yes, Emily is singing Chester's songs, but she brings these songs to new, massive audiences, who then get excited about hearing these songs. And if they go back and listen to the songs, they will hear Chester, and hear the beauty and emotion in his voice. Chesters albums and performances are still there. They're not taking them away from you. Like yes, you could forever put Linkin Park songs into a vault and leave them collect dust, or you could try to let them live on, so that they can touch many many more people live, years after Chester has passed. If done with the right care, I truly believe this is the right move to honor his legacy.

And frankly, if you're anyone that holds Chester in high regard, I find it to be extremely weird behavior to imagine him being mad at the fact that the band moved on. They were his friends, do you really think he would be happy knowing they forever put down their craft and livelihood to mourn him? Don't you think he would want them to continue to follow their passion? As a comparison, the idea of being in a committed relationship, knowing your partner will outlive you, but wanting them to forever stay committed to you long after you've passed and never have a new relationship again. God damn, man. You love this person, right? Don't you want them to be happy and have their emotional needs fulfilled? Do you really want them to be in a state of constant mourning for the rest of their life? For whose sake? Who is helped by that? Extremely weird, in my opinion. Very naively speaking, I like Chester, he seemed like a nice, humble guy, and the idea that he'd be thinking like this is outlandish to me.

Emily's baggage

Sigh. Now, the elephant in the room. I genuinely hate thinking about this, but I've done it a lot in the past weeks. For those who are out of the loop but somehow reading this, shortly after the announcement of Emily Armstrong as Linkin Park's new singer, her ties to Scientology have been revealed, and even more troubling, her alleged attendance of the court hearing in support of convicted rapist, and also scientologist, Danny Masterson. I find this extremely troubling, and I certainly don't take this lightly. Especially considering that the main instigator for this controversy was none other than Cedric Bixler-Zavala, frontman of The Mars Volta and At the Drive-In, a man I respect tremendously, that I believe stands for a lot of good in the music scene and that I know knows what he's talking about because he's been through this shit himself. She issued a statement in response on Instagram, stating that Masterson was a former friend, she had made a mistake, and regretted her support. I find her statement rather lackluster. I suppose it's better than nothing, but I'm not even sure if I would say it qualifies for the bare minimum. It now seems like this is all we're going to get from her or the band.

I don't think this necessarily makes the situation clear cut, though. Scientology is notorious for being both extremely manipulative and vindictive, and it seems like she was born into it. Living in this environment is going to make it extremely difficult to see it for what it is, understand you're being manipulated, and even then, make it out and cut all ties. She likely has friends and family she doesn't want to lose and potentially even fears for their safety if she were to speak out. Also her alleged good terms with Masterson I think can be explained through this. If you're in this environment, you're gonna be made to believe that a high ranking member is innocent and trustworthy. I don't think it's even too far fetched to assume that she could have been coerced into this. I don't know what the reality is, but I can imagine many situations that could have lead to this. I agree with most that her background is concerning and warrants scrutiny, but I find the tendency I see frequently to write her off immediately also very unproductive, cause it often seems to boil down to "If i was born and raised in a cult I simply would have recognized I'm being brainwashed and left. RIP to her but I'm different". I know I'm strawmanning here a bit but come on, if it were that easy to simply leave, that organization wouldn't be such a big, persistent problem. I don't know if the comparison is fair, if I'm overstepping here I deeply apologize, but I've also heard absolutely horrific things first-hand from people growing up in Mormonism, and I am inclined to see people in these situations as victims of their environment rather than perpetrators of a dangerous ideology and I wish them the best healing from their past.

The rest of the band must know about her baggage, and I truly hope they have more insight into her than the public does. I hope there's a process of untangling and healing there that we don't know about. At this point I don't think we'll ever get the full picture. I would love some relief, some confirmation that it's all fine actually, but as I've said before, I can think of very good reasons why that might not be happening and I think I have to live with filling in the blanks. And, I acknowledge my bias here, I am very much invested in the continued existence and success of this band. If she from now on can have a positive public image and no more damning evidence is revealed, I choose to fill the blanks charitably. I truly hope I won't come to regret this. Maybe I am naive. I am a cynical, miserable bastard about so many things in life. But I choose to be naive here. I've seen many write the whole band off immediately, and I wish I could do that because it would be a hell of a lot easier to simply throw it all in the trash and never think about it again. But I just can't, so I'll hold on to this as long as I can. I had to completely abandon another extremely important childhood band once before in my life and I'd rather not do that again, cause I still struggle with it to this day. Maybe someday I'll write something about that, too.

Is it good, though?

I'm gonna start this section off the same way I ended the last one, by airing out my personal emotional problems. Sounds good? Cool. I basically live most of my life with dulled emotions. I experience genuine excitement like once or twice a year maybe. Everything is meh. Even if I'm happy about something, I usually don't feel it very strongly and it quickly fades into indifferent nothingness again.

When Linkin Park dropped The Emptiness Machine, with the surprise reveal of Emily, I had just logged back on from 12 hours of internet outage and the news were like getting a bucket of cold water dumped on your head when you're sleeping. I spent the majority of the first two to three hours watching the music video about a dozen times along with the live show. To say I was ecstatic is an understatement. I basically went from being the sad, emotionally repressed sack of flour to an overemotional puppy excited for their owner to come back home after a long day. I distinctly recall myself tearing up many times when Emily went from the verses into the chorus screams. I don't get very emotional a lot, but once something gets through my hard, protective shell, I really do feel it hard, and this is what did it. I was so god damn into this. I still am. I fucking love this song. I think it's a great interplay of various elements coming together from previous albums, mostly getting Living Things and Minutes to Midnight vibes. But it sounds fresh and exciting, and it's double time. Easy way to get me to like anything. Make it double time. Many people had a pretty lukewarm reaction to this song, but to me, it was exactly what I needed from this band.

The first liveshow they streamed supported my reaction. I think she's fantastic. Her stage presence and performance are absolutely top notch. When performing older tracks, it was a little shaky at times, but it's a live setting and I can forgive that, no one hits every note, especially on songs as physically demanding as Linkin Park's. On top of that, she was put into an insanely difficult position here. The moments she walked on stage and started opening her mouth, she might as have been the most scrutinized person in rock of this whole decade. I cannot even begin to imagine the pressure that you must feel being a woman expected to fill the shoes of Chester fucking Bennington in front of the whole world, in a reunion as emotionally loaded and controversial as this. And for the most part, she still fucking crushed it. I love her voice and the way it fits into the band's style. Chester was known for his screams, but he did have a bright and gentle voice. His screams were powerful and raspy, but they weren't dark and growly. I think she fits the bill perfectly. She undoubtedly sounds different, but that's good, and it works. Remember, the goal isn't to replace Chester, the goal is to make something new.

This is supported by the band interviews, which gave me additional confidence about this move. Mike had expressed several times that they were very unsure about what to do, that they were open to the idea of continuing the band, but that they didn't wanna force it and wanted to let it happen naturally, and I do genuinely believe that. Mike told the story of playing and rehearsing with different singers, and it immediately felt right with her. Mike seems genuinely excited, and I believe this version of the band as a genuine, natural next step. In light of the allegations against Emily, I also heard many comments along the lines of "pick literally anyone else", and I think that's grossly missing the point. If they wanted to, I'm 100% confident they could have picked up some superhuman off of YouTube that can perfectly emulate Chester. There's always some guy somewhere that's just absurdly good at something. I'm sure they exist. But that's not the point. It needs to feel right for the people in the band, as people, and not as blank slate performers.

I saw a couple of clips from other live shows they played since, and once again, yep, this is fantastic. I'd like to think that she's gotten over the initial shakiness. I've not watched a ton of clips but she seems very confident and hits those vocals insanely well. Incredible stage presence and performance. They dug up Keys to the Kingdom and even let her do Given Up. It appears as if her presence is pushing the band into a much heavier direction again, and I'm so here for it. Her screams are so fucking good. I love her.

Just recently another new song released, titled Heavy is the Crown, and that one seemed to have gotten a much more positive reception than The Emptiness Machine. Funnily enough though, I don't quite feel this one as much. It's very good, don't get me wrong. It sounds a lot like it would belong on Meteora, but I don't necessarily need more that sounds like Meteora. We already have Meteora. I get it though, this is how you convince all the old school fans. Very good song, I'm certainly not upset or disappointed, but I prefer seeing them explore new territories. Emily's 15 second scream though? Goooood shit.

New drummer?

With all the focus on Emily, I think we should at least have a quick look at what changed in the drumming department. Rob Bourdon is gone. I've seen his absence (and Brad Delson's temporary absence) being cited as proof for some conspiracy about some sort of a Mike Shinoda mutiny or something, which I think is nonsense. There's a million reasons why you might wanna leave a band or stop being a professional touring musician altogether, it's not a life that's suitable for everyone indefinitely. The new guy is Colin Brittain, seems like a nice guy and someone that seems to have had a longer professional relationship with Mike. He does his job very well from what I've seen. Rob has a very mechanical playstyle, by which I mean is that he tends to keep fills to a minimum and focuses on continuous beats that support the songs, while Colin appears to be a little more playful. At least I think so, I'm not 100% sure about that, I didn't see or hear a ton of him yet. But if he has chemistry with the other guys, I'm happy to have him and I hope whatever Rob is up to now is the right thing for him.

Conclusion

I am very excited for the new record and any future activity from the band. Still, my excitement will likely forever be accompanied by a little bit of uncertain stomach ache. Linkin Park are not just a legacy band for me, they're a band that I was always with in one way or another and experienced their developments, and this is just the next one that I'm very excited to be here for. I really want to believe in the good in Emily and that we simply don't know the full picture. I believe that she is in an incredible difficult position, both in terms of the expectations and rejection of her in her position as the singer for one of the biggest bands of the last 20 years, as well as her relationship with the church. Assuming all the best intentions, I wish her the best. Also, once again. Rest in peace Chester, he will never be forgotten.