A Look Back At 2017

[RogueSoul]

As we enter the final hours of 2017, it's perhaps the best time to reflect on everything that's come in the last year. We all lost a lot this year, but we learned and grew a lot, too. Here's a look back at 2017 in the wold of Linkin Park Live.

 

Linkin Park began the year by finishing up One More Light. After brilliantly teasing the lead single, the band dropped 'Heavy' on February 16, throwing everyone for a loop. Even I remember hearing the song for the first time in school, not realizing the person singing the first verse was Chester and sort of being thrown off by Kiiara in the second verse. We've all understood Linkin Park as the band without a true one sound. They've changed in virtually every album they've released; long-gone are the nu-metal days of Hybrid Theory, as in this decade alone we've gotten the nuclear concept album A Thousand Suns and the heavy, riff-driven The Hunting Party. That being said, Linkin Park went "full pop," as it were, on this record, and a lot of people seemed to not be ready for that. Regardless, the world responded pretty negatively to 'Heavy' despite it becoming one of radio's biggest hits this year. In the community, you were on one side or the other: you hated it or you loved it. There was no in between.

 

 

Flash forward a few months, and we started hearing some more songs. The jagged intro (which had not yet felt the wrath of Mr. Hahn) of 'Battle Symphony' was met with the same reaction as 'Heavy,' while the synth intro of 'Invisible' was received with a bit more positivity. 'Good Goodbye' wasn't very warmly recieved either, however, mostly as a product of Stormzy (who, hey, just isn't for everyone). The band played a private show in March for Warner Bros. Records, where we first heard snippets of 'Talking To Myself' and 'One More Light,' and even though they were just one-minute samples of an acoustic performance, the entire fanbase warmed up these songs and couldn't wait for them. The band had performed 'Heavy' for the first time as a full band (with Kiiara joining them) at the end of February at The Late Late Show With James Corden, though Mike, Chester, Brad, and Kiiara had already performed a special stripped-down session earlier in the month where they played the piano version of 'Crawling' and 'Heavy' for the first time. Mike also debuted his awesome sung version of his verse in 'Burn It Down,' as well. In March, Mike and Chester made appearances throughout Canada and Europe, doing Q&A sessions and performing some piano versions of songs like 'Battle Symphony' and 'What I've Done.' These appearances led up to another big, full band performance of 'Heavy' at the ECHO 2017 awards in Berlin.

 

In May, the band returned to the stage for the first time since November 2015, and with a livestream loaded, to say we were all excited is an understatement. Those euphoric chills as Linkin Park opened up their show at the Maximus Festival in Argentina in May with the haunting 'Fallout' and 'Roads Untraveled' mashup before the drama of the band's first full performance of 'The Catalyst' since January 2014 began was definitely a moment where we realized that 2017 was going to be a whole different game for the band's live shows. Also at the show, we heard the worldwide premiere of 'Talking To Myself,' the live version of 'Good Goodbye,' the new ending to the Experience Version of 'Castle Of Glass,' and, most unforgettably, the 2017 Version of 'Leave Out All The Rest.' Fast forward to the band's first headlining show back in Chile, a new intro to 'Waiting For The End' appeared, as well as the live debut of 'One More Light,' giving fans the first full listen to the song, and the public debut of 'Invisible.' 'Talking To Myself' opened the show with an unforgettable crowd reaction, while 'Breaking The Habit' also returned. The setlist continued to morph, foreshadowing the tour to come, as Mike began rapping the first verse of 'A Place For My Head' over the end of 'Castle Of Glass' at the band's first show ever in Peru, before the band wrapped up the tour in Brazil.

 

 

May is where tragedy began. One of Chester's closest friends, the lead singer of the legendary Soundgarden and Audioslave, Chris Cornell died of suicide while on tour. Undoubtedly heartbroken, the band delivered one of the most emotional performances of their career at their set for Jimmy Kimmel Live with 'One More Light,' boldly choosing to air the emotional tribute to Chris Cornell on live TV instead of 'Heavy.' Before tragedy had struck, however, the band was still doing some awesome stuff. For Good Morning America, the band took to the New York City underground and performed their first ever acoustic set in Grand Central Station - a show I was lucky enough to attend, and I got to meet the band for the first after the show! One More Light was released on May 19, and immediately earned the band another #1. Though being poorly received by critics, the music of the album had grown on a lot of us and we started seeing some truly amazing songs come to life like 'Nobody Can Save Me' and 'Sorry For Now.' Those able to look beyond the new sound were able to find the sadness and the pain that the record is truly about. Just like any Linkin Park record, One More Light had a powerful message behind it, and one that would prove more important later on.

 

After spending some time celebrating the release of the new record, it was time for the band to hit the road again. The One More Light European Tour proved to be one of the band's best tours in years, complete with everything from setlist variation to energy. No one show was the same; the band rotated a "heavy" slot in the setlist, initially consisting of 'Somewhere I Belong' and 'Points Of Authority,' and later included our favorite 'A Place For My Head' as well as 'From The Inside' after Mike held a poll on Twitter asking fans what song they should start playing. Every show was different from the other, whether it was Mike rapping a different verse over 'Castle Of Glass' ('A Place For My Head' and 'It's Goin' Down' where the common few, but Mike also went with 'A Light That Never Comes' and 'Petrified' at certain shows) or the band dropping various songs to fit in with various festivals. Headlining shows starting in Berlin saw the live debut of 'Nobody Can Save Me' and 'Sharp Edges,' with the first show in Berlin also seeing a special intro featuring an acapella of 'One More Light.' Christian Lindskog of Blindside joined the band at the Bråvalla Festival in Sweden (the band's first Swedish festival performance after the previous two were cancelled) for a flashback to the nu-metal days. The band played a hard show at the Hellfest in France, but made the best of it even though some people were not as welcoming to them. The band even began changing up the closing song of the shows; for the first time in what feels like ages, not every show closed with 'Bleed It Out' Instead, we had 'Faint' taking out some shows. All in all, every show had it's own special moment, and for us live enthusiasts, it was everything we've ever wanted.

 

The tour came to an end in England. After tragedy struck the Manchester Arena earlier in the year, the final show of the tour was cancelled. The band, however, made sure these nights were unforgettable. The band extended their setlist, adding in an extra slot (which was where an additional song from the "heavy" rotations was added) to make these shows the longest they've ever played. Stormzy joined the band for their two performances in London, a large-scale O2 Arena show and a smaller, intimate show at the Brixton Academy. At the O2 Arena, Mike rapped a verse of 'Hands Held High' by request for the first time since 2009 (though it was the first time since June 2014 since the song was featured in a Linkin Park set). For the second show, Jon Green, an in-studio collaborator, also came out to perform on 'Nobody Can Save Me.' The tour came a somber but powerful ending in Birmingham, Chester making sure to let Manchester fans know that they were in their hearts. The band ended this tour on July 6 and headed home, and unbeknownst to everyone, this would be their last time onstage as the six-piece that made us who we are today.

 

 

July began with promise. Linkin Park had filmed a Carpool Karaoke segment, and at the end of the month the band would embark on their first proper North American Tour since 2014 (being that the 2015 tour was cancelled). Perhaps anecdotally, July began painfully for me. Without getting into too many details, my girlfriend of 2 years left me for someone else just two weeks before I was going to go see her again (we were long distance), and then an old friend died in a plane crash just a week later. When my whole world felt like it was falling apart, I could still find comfort in Linkin Park's music. Just as it always had, music helped calm my pain and make me feel okay. I appreciated Chester's voice so much more now having really felt it, and it became sort of a life line for me.

 

It was July 20 when our world fell apart. The world changed that day, and everyone could feel it. There was sadness, there was anger, there was fear, there was pain, there were tears. Most of all, there was a void. Chester Bennington died of suicide that morning, and in the grueling hours just after the news broke, we tried to convince ourselves it was just another hoax. But when Mike confirmed the news, those last threads keeping out hearts together snapped. It was official: our hero was gone. He had escaped his demons once and for all, but it bred a new one in our hearts. There was little to say, and the only thing that could really speak to us were the tears.

 

Going through heartbreak twice in quick succession is not healthy. I will be honest - when I woke up the next day, July 21, I really thought about following in Chester's footsteps. I thought, if even he couldn't escape his demons, what hope was there for me? I, of course, didn't follow up on that, thanks to my friends and family, but we realized that in the days coming that not everyone had that liberty. Mark (Hahninator) and I set out on an impossible journey to help everyone; we opened LPLive's DMs and spent our entire nights and days responding to people who had no one else to talk to. The last thing anyone needed in these fragile times was loneliness. We were at it for a few days before it was draining us. There were too many people for just the two of us to handle. So, from there, I built the LPLive Help Line Discord chat. With a team all around the world, who are now moderators of the forums, we helped all the broken people heal together. We still keep it going today, and there's still a lot of healing to be done. We were tasked with one important thing: to keep this fanbase alive and hopeful. Millions of people depended on us to keep them afloat, and we're still doing the best we know how to.

 

We spent a lot of time mourning, and all the same we spent time healing. Linkin Park shared heartbreaking messages in the weeks following. The band's tweet they posted on the day Chester died that featured an unforgettable picture of Chester performing this summer has become one of the most liked tweets of all time. They shared their official statements throughout the summer. "You touched so many lives, maybe even more than you realized," they wrote. "Talking with you about the years ahead together, your excitement was infectious. Your absence leaves a void that can never be filled—a boisterous, funny, ambitious, creative, kind, generous voice in the room is missing. We’re trying to remind ourselves that the demons who took you away from us were always part of the deal. After all, it was the way you sang about those demons that made everyone fall in love with you in the first place. You fearlessly put them on display, and in doing so, brought us together and taught us to be more human. You had the biggest heart, and managed to wear it on your sleeve." In September, the band announced that they would be performing a special show in Los Angeles with special guests in celebration of Chester's life. We were uncertain of how it would go down, but we waited anxiously for it.

 

The wait felt like forever, but it soon came. The day of the show came, and many of us were at the Hollywood Bowl, anxious yet excited. I flew out to both visit UCLA (I had the added stress of colleges to deal with, woe it me) and see the show, finally getting to meet some familiar faces amongst the crowd. Nick (SasstielExperience), Astat, Legend, and more were friends I had known for a long time but only got to meet for the first time there. I got to see Mark, Jonas, and Sanjay (lakersfan13) again - the first time Mark and I did was hug it out. It'd been a long time coming, but we were finally there, ready to be a fanbase again.

 

The show started after an awesome set by DJ Z-Trip. There are few words to describe the show. Brilliant in execution and powerful in meaning, it was an emotional ride from start to finish. We braced ourselves as the beautiful 'Robot Boy/Iridescent/The Messenger' mashup opened the set and our defenses took a hit when the spotlight shown on an unmanned micstand during the instrumental version of 'Numb.' The night was as fully of surprises as it was emotion; the beautiful mashup of 'Shadow Of The Day' and U2's 'With Or Without You' with Yellowcard's Ryan Key to the heartwrenching three-way harmony between Mike Shinoda, Jon Green, and The Civil Twilight's Stephen McKellar to introduce 'Nobody Can Save Me' were only some of the unforgettable moments of the show. The show shifted from a mourning section, ending with a Mike-led version of 'One More Light' and a brand new song called 'Looking For An Answer,' and transitioned into the celebratory part of the set with an epic version of 'Waiting For The End,' introduced with a piano intro before Mike boisterously claimed "shake that shit off" and burst powerfully into the classic Apaches Intro with 'Until It Breaks.' Linkin Park showcased a career of success, from emo anthem 'Crawling' to their newest alternative rock anthems in songs like 'Talking To Myself.' We were reminded of all the amazing moments of the bands career when they launched into songs like 'Rebellion' with half of System Of A Down joining them and into 'The Catalyst' with members of Sum 41 with them. Steve Aoki and Bebe Rexha made 'A Light That Never Comes' loads of fun, while M. Shadows really threw us for a loop when he sang 'Burn It Down.' When all of the guests joined the band onstage for 'Bleed It Out,' we let go of all of our sorrows and let loose for one final song, and as the band brought 'The Messenger' back out for an extended ending to 'Bleed It Out,' we remembered Chester's warm smile and sang "When life leave us blind, love keeps us kind" with the band one last time.

 

At the start of the show, there felt like something was certainly missing. Chester's presence was gone, and the show began with that feeling of emptiness. But, watching Mike, Brad, Dave, Joe, and Rob stand on that catwalk as confetti fell and take one final bow together, you could feel that Linkin Park, while broken and still healing, is still alive. For me, I was able to keep myself together for a lot of the show; I didn't get emotional at the traditionally "sad" parts of the show, but the two that did it for me were 'Nobody Can Save Me' and 'Looking For An Answer.' I didn't "get" 'Nobody Can Save Me' until the song was over, and it has become one of my favorite songs by the band. The show was a celebration. Sure, not every artist who performed was perfect, but this wasn't an attempt to find a replacement. This was a show to celebrate the lives he changed and inspired, and to remember the man he was. It was the perfect tribute, and without a doubt it will go down as the greatest show I have ever attended.

 

 

The rest of the year felt slow. Life stopped for no one, and so as we continued to heal we had to learn how to live again, with this new emptiness. The band released One More Light Live just a few weeks ago, giving us a chance to remember how amazing of a performer Chester was. In these final hours of 2017, it's easy to be upset that Chester won't be seeing this new year, or any new year ahead. But if we've learned anything from One More Light or Chester or Linkin Park this year, it's that it's okay to not be okay. To take an excerpt from my own personal message about 2017: we'll never learn happiness if we don't feel pain and sadness first. We can never truly know what it feels like to be at the top if we've never been at the bottom. So let's hold on to what we don't have and hold on to the dreams we hold dear. We're here, breathing and living on. LPLive is here to stay, and there's a lot to look forward to in 2018: new music from our other favorite bands, the good moments we'll remember forever, 'Looking For An Answer,' and more. The light at the end of the tunnel is ahead, we just have to keep moving forward until we get there.

 

No matter what the future holds, thank you for being a part of my present. Thank you for being part of this community, and thank you for being you. We've never been a bigger family, and we'll never grow apart. Happy new year, and I hope all your dreams for the new year come true. Good luck and don't forget to smile. Let's make Chester proud.

 

[HybridParty]

Fantastic read.

 

I too went through a heartbreak a mear few days after Chester's passing. It sucks because the first half of this year was so damn good. Graduated from high school, new LP album dropped, was looking forward to the tour, and starting college. Then bam.

 

Life's a bitch sometimes, but you gotta make the best out of it. Doesn't matter how fucked up it can get.

 

Hope you all have a happy new year and a much better 2018.

 

#FuckDepression #MakeChesterProud

[AParallelogramInTheSand]

This year has been rough here too. I had full mental breakdown in May, was recovering from that when July happened. My fiancee made me take a mental health day that Friday. I've pulled away from LPLive for my sanity but still lurk to check in bc I like you all I guess.

It's still a long way to go, but I'm starting to see progress. LIGHTS' album Skin&Earth healed so much of my heart, as did seeing Julien-K and my LPLive friends having happy moments.

 

We're still here. We've made it this far, so let's keep setting our own high scores.

[loulax07]

2017 was mixed for me. Great business year, great year for many achievements for me, ran my first 5K, saw a ton of shows, etc.

But tragedy was surely there for me and all of us here, something that puts life in perspective. I guess everything happens for a reason? I know it's life and you never know what tomorrow holds. Let's see what next year holds for us all. Be strong.....

[ThePretender]

I don't post very often. But I'd like to say this to you guys.

It's like I'm not the only one. First a breakup after 7,5 years and then Chester. I've never felt such darkness and emptiness in my life. All after a great first half year. Still. 2017 is a year to forget. And we have to keep the words of Mike in his latest Instagram post in our minds. I'm still recovering from those two hits that I took (especially the first one of course). The small setbacks are the hardest. But I'm proud of the progress I'm making. Going to the gym, going back to playing the guitar again. I'm not there yet. But I'll reach that point. And I hope you all will. It's a process. The moment will arrive that you look back at all you've been been through and you'll realize how strong you've become. And I can't wait for the moment I've reached that point.

[Geki]

2017 was the worst year of all time for me. I lost my hero and even besides that, everything that could have went wrong this year, did. A lot of hard times and situations in my life. I'm glad to see it go. I hope 2018 will be decent.

[xxHybridXeroxx]

2017 was the worst year of all time for me. I lost my hero and even besides that, everything that could have went wrong this year, did. A lot of hard times and situations in my life. I'm glad to see it go. I hope 2018 will be decent.

Was pretty terrible for me too. Especially after Chester's death, which sucks cause the first half (Before July 20th) was great...

[Chazzy Chazz]

What a year. Gained a lot, lost a lot. Thank you for being here, even though I am not the most active user in the forum or whatever. There is hope for each one of us. There is happiness waiting to be discovered by each one of us. And there is a reason to make Chester proud.

[Geki]

Was pretty terrible for me too. Especially after Chester's death, which sucks cause the first half (Before July 20th) was great...

 

The first half of 2017 was even worse for me than the second half of 2017. It was crazy. The entire year was just extremely shitty for me. Here's to 2018 being good.

Edited January 2, 2018 by Geki

[Gigito1995]

2017 is without a doubt the worst year of my entire life. I spent a month and half in bed because I kept getting sick. I was getting ignored by everybody and I kept checking my messages just to end up being disappointed in all the people I once loved and cared about. Being sick for long time has messed up my mental health big time and I started thinking about suicide even before Chester's death. Chester's death has even made my depression even worse to the point of feeling physical pain without actually being hurt physically. I'm just glad that I'm alive to tell these stories and I hope 2018 will be a better year.

Edited January 2, 2018 by Gigito1995

[Geki]

2017 is without a doubt the worst year of my entire life. I spent a month and half in bed because I kept getting sick. I was getting ignored by everybody and I kept checking my messages just to end up being disappointed in all the people I once loved and cared about. Being sick for long time has messed up my mental health big time and I started thinking about suicide even before Chester's death. Chester's death has even made my depression even worse to the point of feeling physical pain without actually being hurt physically. I'm just glad that I'm alive to tell these stories and I hope 2018 will be a better year.

 

Wow... sounds really rough. And I thought I had a really bad year. Hope you are ok. My problems are mostly just myself and the people around me, but I can say that 2017 was the worst year of my life, too, and it was even before Chester's death, which made it even worse.

[Soeffingnaive92]

2017 : In january I split Up with my girlfriend After a 2 Years relationship and next week I failed an exam so I had to postpone graduation. In July Chester died ( a week after my graduation), in September I began dating a girl but at the end of October she wanted to quit. Oh and I hate my new job, yeah.

On October 19th I seriously thought to hang myself with a belt to a high heather I have in the bathroom, I was there thinking to take a chair but something made me say no

[xxHybridXeroxx]

For me 2017 started out great, I went on a trip to Alaska in March with my Grandfather. finally passed a class that I failed once before. One More Light came out, and I got tickets to my second Linkin Park show. Then July 20th happened. it felt like my whole world collapsed. For the first few days I felt numb, I spent a lot of time with friends as if I was alone, they knew I'd do something to myself. My mom started a job back in April, and the stress was starting to get to all of us at that time. August I started community college again, and the stress from that really got to me. I was so depressed at the time, I'd skip class and walk around like a zombie. I thought about suicide every day almost, plagued by anxiety and fear of losing the other people I cared about. I have thought about suicide as a passing thought before, but this was persistent. I fought a lot with my mom during this time, and seriously thought about throwing myself off my college's parking deck and ending everything. September to early November was kind of a blur, and I was most depressed during that time, my 20th birthday came and went, and I looked back on everything I had ever done, feeling worthless, than the Chester Tribute show came, and ripped off the scabs of pain, and the sorrow was almost too much. On Halloween night I literally broke down crying in my best friend's arms, I told her it was just too much for me. I missed Chester, and my life felt like it was falling apart. But she told me to hang in there and keep going. If it weren't for that I definitely wouldn't have made it through. November came, and I tried, fighting crippling physical pain (cause I have arthritis), depression and anxiety and made up all the school work I had missed. December was the best month I had since July 20th despite making a non transferable D in one of my classes, I passed the other 2 and had an awesome Christmas. The thing I took away from 2017 the most, and the only salvation of this terrible year. was that my friend is the best. and she was there when others would have ran. and in 2018, I am going to work on bettering myself and hopefully getting out of the funk.

[Geki]

2017 : In january I split Up with my girlfriend After a 2 Years relationship and next week I failed an exam so I had to postpone graduation. In July Chester died ( a week after my graduation), in September I began dating a girl but at the end of October she wanted to quit. Oh and I hate my new job, yeah.

On October 19th I seriously thought to hang myself with a belt to a high heather I have in the bathroom, I was there thinking to take a chair but something made me say no

 

Damn... Hope you are doing a little better now. Never knew how much other fans were going through shit like this.

For me 2017 started out great, I went on a trip to Alaska in March with my Grandfather. finally passed a class that I failed once before. One More Light came out, and I got tickets to my second Linkin Park show. Then July 20th happened. it felt like my whole world collapsed. For the first few days I felt numb, I spent a lot of time with friends as if I was alone, they knew I'd do something to myself. My mom started a job back in April, and the stress was starting to get to all of us at that time. August I started community college again, and the stress from that really got to me. I was so depressed at the time, I'd skip class and walk around like a zombie. I thought about suicide every day almost, plagued by anxiety and fear of losing the other people I cared about. I have thought about suicide as a passing thought before, but this was persistent. I fought a lot with my mom during this time, and seriously thought about throwing myself off my college's parking deck and ending everything. September to early November was kind of a blur, and I was most depressed during that time, my 20th birthday came and went, and I looked back on everything I had ever done, feeling worthless, than the Chester Tribute show came, and ripped off the scabs of pain, and the sorrow was almost too much. On Halloween night I literally broke down crying in my best friend's arms, I told her it was just too much for me. I missed Chester, and my life felt like it was falling apart. But she told me to hang in there and keep going. If it weren't for that I definitely wouldn't have made it through. November came, and I tried, fighting crippling physical pain (cause I have arthritis), depression and anxiety and made up all the school work I had missed. December was the best month I had since July 20th despite making a non transferable D in one of my classes, I passed the other 2 and had an awesome Christmas. The thing I took away from 2017 the most, and the only salvation of this terrible year. was that my friend is the best. and she was there when others would have ran. and in 2018, I am going to work on bettering myself and hopefully getting out of the funk.

 

It's good to see someone who had a good year besides the fact about Chester and LP. I've seen a few others who had a decent year besides it too.

[Soeffingnaive92]

Thank you Geki 😊😊😊xxHybridXeroxx glad u had a good year 😊😊

[xxHybridXeroxx]

Thank you Geki 😊😊😊xxHybridXeroxx glad u had a good year 😊😊

what I was trying to say, was that my year actually sucked. And it was fine before July 20th. But it was terrible afterwards

[Geki]

what I was trying to say, was that my year actually sucked. And it was fine before July 20th. But it was terrible afterwards

 

My bad, I re-read your post. So you had a good year for the first half, and then the second half, with Chester's death, sucked. I get it now. I know you've been taking it hard, like me and others. I guess all we can do is hope 2018 is better. I think it will be. It will still be hard, since Chester's death is still kind of fresh, but I hope it gets a little better.

[xxHybridXeroxx]

 

My bad, I re-read your post. So you had a good year for the first half, and then the second half, with Chester's death, sucked. I get it now. I know you've been taking it hard, like me and others. I guess all we can do is hope 2018 is better. I think it will be. It will still be hard, since Chester's death is still kind of fresh, but I hope it gets a little better.

it's all ok, my post was rather long... lol and I hope so too. I'm going to work on things I wanted to do in 2017 but couldn't

[stich]

As far as my life go, 2017 was the best year ever.

Coming after two terrible years (my father died in 2015 and I broke up with two of my friend in 2016) it start off great.

From January I prepared an exam and in June I've passed it. Then in the summer I saw live lots of band (Green Day, Simple Plan, Sum 41, Blink 182, Linkin Park and Evanescence).

Then july 20th happened and that's makes me so depressed until september when my best friend basically saved my life and also an awesome trip through the south west of US takes me back to the happy side.

 

Briefly the best years of my life apart from Chester's death and the remaining days of the summer

Edited January 2, 2018 by stich

[iamsatan]

Just want to say fucking incredible post, summed up 2017 perfectly.

[Broman]

There’s one big thing Chester’s death opened me up to, and it was music as a whole. Since the day I first heard Linkin Park, they’ve always been the band I’d always go back to no matter what music would currently be influencing my life. With Chester gone, I have to accept that Linkin Park’s music won’t be the same again. Mike is a wonderful singer and can certainly keep LP’s spirit alive along with the rest of the guys, but Chester definitely left a void that one craves.

Since his passing, I’ve decided to expand my pallet to other artists I never really listened to (Asking Alexandria, Two Door Cinema Club, AJR, Eminem, Phoenix, etc), and for the first time in my life, I feel like there will be a point in time where LP won’t be the band that is there for me, not because Chester is gone, but because it feels like the days will only get quieter for them.

 

If and when LP returns with a new album, I’ll be there waiting with full support because these guys gave me a soundtrack to my life for over a decade, and that’s something I will never forget.

[Geki]

There’s one big thing Chester’s death opened me up to, and it was music as a whole. Since the day I first heard Linkin Park, they’ve always been the band I’d always go back to no matter what music would currently be influencing my life. With Chester gone, I have to accept that Linkin Park’s music won’t be the same again. Mike is a wonderful singer and can certainly keep LP’s spirit alive along with the rest of the guys, but Chester definitely left a void that one craves.

Since his passing, I’ve decided to expand my pallet to other artists I never really listened to (Asking Alexandria, Two Door Cinema Club, AJR, Eminem, Phoenix, etc), and for the first time in my life, I feel like there will be a point in time where LP won’t be the band that is there for me, not because Chester is gone, but because it feels like the days will only get quieter for them.

 

If and when LP returns with a new album, I’ll be there waiting with full support because these guys gave me a soundtrack to my life for over a decade, and that’s something I will never forget.

 

Beautiful post. And I also agree in some ways. While I don't love stuff after Minutes to Midnight, the first three Linkin Park albums, or 1997-2008 for example, have shaped my childhood and teenage years. They were the absolute soundtrack to all of those years, all those huge moments in my life, like getting my first girlfriend, graduating high school, surviving high school, my parents divorce and dealing with that, feeling like a misfit throughout my teen years, everything. I'll be forever grateful to the band for those years and moments, and luckily Chester was the lead singer during all of that time. He inspired me in ways I can't begin to list. But not only him, even though he was my favorite. The ENTIRE band did. I've been listening to a lot of other music, too, a lot of stuff from those years that I missed and what not, actually, from other bands and artists. But bottom line, I think you bring up a GREAT point. Many peoples lives were shaped by the band. I'd say all of us on LPL and beyond. You know? It wasn't just some band to us. It was the soundtrack of our lives, no matter what era of the band we started listening.