Grey Daze: Rolling Stone Interview

[lpliveusername]

Today Rolling Stone published a very insightful article on the new Grey Daze album as well as Chester's final years. The band says the project was started in early 2017 when they picked 4 songs to recut and sent guitarist Cristin Davis into the studio to work on them. They were planning on sending the producer out on Linkin Park's North American Tour so Chester could track his vocals. Talinda's only request when Sean decided to continue the project after Chester passed away was that he kept his voice intact.

 

Talinda says that giving the project her blessing was easy because she trusts Dowdell implicitly, and she knew what Grey Daze meant to Chester. “He wanted to do Grey Daze again because the music was awesome, he loved it back then, and he was excited to be able to create,” she says. “Doing it now that he had all this experience under his belt — he had accomplished so much and come so far since then — he was excited about it. I can hear him now. He’s like, ‘Fuck yeah!'”

 

The album, now confirmed to be titled Amends, is coming out on April 10th. Confirmed songs are 'What's In The Eye', 'Sickness' (with Page Hamilton of Helmet), 'She Shines' (with Head of Korn), 'Soul Song' (with Chester's son Jaime), 'Morei Sky', 'Just Like Heroin (A Little Down)' and 'B12.' Some proceeds from sales of Amends will benefit Talinda's 320 Changes Direction and other portions of the proceeds have been allocated for Chester's kids.

 

If the Grey Daze album gets a good response — and both Dowdell and Talinda, independently of each other, say that they hope Linkin Park fans will be open-minded enough to give the music a chance — Dowdell says there’s enough material for one or two additional Grey Daze releases. “Depending on how this is received — and so far, the music we have put out has been received quite well — I think fans will get a second record out of it,” he says.

 

Read the full article here: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/chester-bennington-grey-daze-amends-album-945384/

 

'Sickness,' the second single from the album, should be coming on February 5th according to a press release. Album artwork can be seen here.

[Falloon19]

Oh man, Soul Song with his son is going to be amazing! 

[blacksheep0047]

But with the arrival of Linkin Park — fresh voices in nu metal with songs that propelled the band’s debut album to diamond certification — Dowdell says the band’s label, Warner Bros., wiped the internet clean of any mentions of Grey Daze, because it was a “competing product.”

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Garret]

Tons and tons of stuff to talk about here. Don't want to go on a tirade and be labeled as an asshole in this particular thread.

[JZLP-Benningstrong]

Very interesting that they are willing to create more albums if the fans support the project.

[Hybrid1988]

3 hours ago, blacksheep0047 said:

But with the arrival of Linkin Park — fresh voices in nu metal with songs that propelled the band’s debut album to diamond certification — Dowdell says the band’s label, Warner Bros., wiped the internet clean of any mentions of Grey Daze, because it was a “competing product.”

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The thing about that statement though is that it’s not true. 

[Stranger]

5 hours ago, blacksheep0047 said:

But with the arrival of Linkin Park — fresh voices in nu metal with songs that propelled the band’s debut album to diamond certification — Dowdell says the band’s label, Warner Bros., wiped the internet clean of any mentions of Grey Daze, because it was a “competing product.”

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

it's funny when he claims that. not even close to be a "competing product". they're just a 90's band. there's tons of other 90's band that are way better than them. now they wanna do another records because Grey Daze well-known? that's really bad. they'll always live behind Chester's shadows. 

[hahninator]

14 hours ago, blacksheep0047 said:

But with the arrival of Linkin Park — fresh voices in nu metal with songs that propelled the band’s debut album to diamond certification — Dowdell says the band’s label, Warner Bros., wiped the internet clean of any mentions of Grey Daze, because it was a “competing product.”

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Seems like an outright lie by Sean, but no surprise. I don't believe that at all.

[PartOfMe]

yes i think everything somehow became a great tribute to Chester

9 hours ago, Stranger said:

 

é engraçado quando ele afirma isso. nem sequer perto de ser um "produto concorrente". eles são apenas uma banda dos anos 90. existem toneladas de outras bandas dos anos 90 que são muito melhores que elas. agora eles querem gravar mais porque o Gray Daze é conhecido? isso é muito ruim. eles sempre viverão atrás das sombras de Chester. 

 

[rasb]

16 hours ago, blacksheep0047 said:

But with the arrival of Linkin Park — fresh voices in nu metal with songs that propelled the band’s debut album to diamond certification — Dowdell says the band’s label, Warner Bros., wiped the internet clean of any mentions of Grey Daze, because it was a “competing product.”

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

He said the same thing in the Kerrang! interview. The first time I heard of Grey Daze, it was via a widely circulated bootleg called Splitting The DNA, which I'm fairly sure was prior to Meteora coming out, so it can't have worked for long. Also, didn't Sean privately reissue the two albums for a while?

 

Does Chester mention Grey Daze in any early Linkin Park interviews?

 

Personally I think Grey Daze are very underrated as grunge/alt-rock bands go, and have a few songs I've always really liked, so I am looking forward to however many new releases they put out.

[hahninator]

The last thing Grey Daze needs to be doing is driving a wedge between Linkin Park fans when they need all the support they can get on their project.

They shouldn't call out Linkin Park's record label that went above and beyond for fans around 7/20 etc. WBR is also doing stuff behind the scenes to help out LPLive archive the band's history.

The interview and their comments on their own personal Facebook pages have a vibe that they are taking shots at LP, maybe not outright, but slyly.

[Garret]

Let’s put it this way - I’m content with listening to the original Grey Daze stuff if I ever have an urge to listen to Grey Daze. Done with this carnival act of a release. 

[leftshoe18]

Honestly everything about the way this project has been promoted screams bitter cash grab. I was super interested in this thing when I heard some of the guests that were contributing but now I'm not even sure if I'm going to listen. Sean is presenting his own revisionist version of events to sell records and it's disgusting.

[martinez]

https://found.ee/GD_SICKNESS / https://static.found.ee/user/8306/GD_AMENDS_FINAL-LORES.jpg

[Scourge]

glad She Shines is confirmed for the record. now please give me Holding You and Believe Me, i'll be so happy 🥺

[Broman]

On 2/4/2020 at 3:38 PM, leftshoe18 said:

Honestly everything about the way this project has been promoted screams bitter cash grab. I was super interested in this thing when I heard some of the guests that were contributing but now I'm not even sure if I'm going to listen. Sean is presenting his own revisionist version of events to sell records and it's disgusting.

I’ve had this thought on my mind for some time. It’s easy to put words in the mouth of a dead man. This interview alone makes it sound like Chester was tired of LP and slowly trying to drift to any other band to fill his rock needs

[Garret]

35 minutes ago, Broman said:

I’ve had this thought on my mind for some time. It’s easy to put words in the mouth of a dead man. This interview alone makes it sound like Chester was tired of LP and slowly trying to drift to any other band to fill his rock needs

Exactly. Agreed 100%. And we know it’s not true. Mike said Chester was talking with the band about the future of the band and was super excited right before he died. And he also said Chester was super excited about the shows with Blink coming up. We didn’t even need proof though anyways. 

[xxHybridXeroxx]

On 2/4/2020 at 4:38 PM, leftshoe18 said:

Honestly everything about the way this project has been promoted screams bitter cash grab. I was super interested in this thing when I heard some of the guests that were contributing but now I'm not even sure if I'm going to listen. Sean is presenting his own revisionist version of events to sell records and it's disgusting.

Same here. It’s really messed up. The last thing they need to do is create more division in the fan base. I do like how Mike and the Rest of LP has stayed silent through the mudslinging. They know what the real truth is. 

[hahninator]

On 2/4/2020 at 4:38 PM, leftshoe18 said:

Honestly everything about the way this project has been promoted screams bitter cash grab. I was super interested in this thing when I heard some of the guests that were contributing but now I'm not even sure if I'm going to listen. Sean is presenting his own revisionist version of events to sell records and it's disgusting.

 

Alright I will try to set things straight for where I stand on this. I don't want people thinking I have the entire website ganged up against Grey Daze or something. It's quite the opposite, I just came here to say I was unhappy about one aspect of it and then bam the floodgates opened from other people. Right now we are working on two significant LPLive projects behind the scenes so I am not fully involved in all of these conversations.

I don't think it is a cash grab at all. Chester was fully on board with this and wanted it to be done. We have a lot of evidence of this and I don't think anyone should question that. For them saying he wanted to re record vocals on it, we will never know if that was true or not but we do know 100% that he wanted to do this project. And we know he wanted to do the reunion show. For that reason, I don't think the cash grab term applies.

I think the guests are a good mix of folks, they talk about why they brought LP (girl) singer on board etc. The only weird one is Head from Korn because of the extremely disrespectful comments he made after Chester's death. But I think the Bush, Helmet, other Korn, Julien-K guests are all awesome. Let's see how it sounds. And it's good Chester's son is on it. Sean has a history of doing well with the remasters, because he completely nailed the early 2000s remaster he did of the album. Huge fan of that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN-BUeVrsmU So I would be inclined out of the gate to completely believe that this project will be GOOD musically. Jay is a producer who knew and hung out with Chester personally - he even went to the Stone Temple Pilots Jeff Gutt private show with Chester, so that was a good move to put him in charge. Then you have professional musicians joining them at NRG. So by all of that taken into account, the music is likely going to be really good.

The issues I have with it are just the way they are marketing it. There is no way they did not see (in the press) Chester's toxic family completely divide the LP fanbase at an emotionally rough time for everyone and trash Mike Shinoda in doing so. While those same people are destroying Talinda right NOW, who has been nothing but class to everyone, they are still reposting them on the Grey Daze social media. I don't like that at all, as someone who is 100% pro-Shinoda. They made quite a critical mistake by involving Chester's other family besides Talinda in this because of the feelings of the LP fanbase towards them after they (1) trashed the Hollywood Bowl show and said it was classless, (2) said Mike Shinoda is profiting off of Chester's death by playing "In the End" (Piano Version) live, and (3) completely trash Talinda as much as possible online when she's made it her #1 goal to help the LP fanbase with 320, etc. That was THE big mistake here, in my opinion. The GD guys don't see the DMs on Twitter we and LPFanCorner get from fans who are trigged by these things online. So putting his mom in the mini doc? Not smart. Remember, the LP fanbase has had history with these GD guys before - such as when they were selling fake (signed) GD CDs on eBay. We've worked with them to release older shows and archive GD's past though and I am quite thankful for that, but Sean himself is who told us not to allow the GD albums to be shared on LP fansites while he is also claiming WBR tried to wipe GD off the face of the planet online. We all know that's not true.

As far as the MUSIC is concerned - I am excited to hear it.

What it boils down to is I think these guys are pretty unfamiliar with how to do music press as their main jobs are outside of the music industry. Sean is talented and successful in other areas. So I think without having years of press under their belts and some coaching, they are coming off as unprofessional to some people online. They should never say something negative about LP's record label online like that, they shouldn't comment on Facebook like "we don't need Linkin Park", etc... it's THEIR fanbase they built from scratch that you are trying to advertise this to, so yes, you do need them in ONE way (not saying LP should/will/would ever endorse this project). The band goes off script and has leaked pretty much all of the information about the project early - things like that. I am sure no one involved on the Loma Vista side knew this all was going to happen and that the band would need some true social media / press / media coaching up beforehand but that should be a BIG focus if they want to do a second or even third Grey Daze album of this material.

I think it would have gone a lot better if they had a real social media director who did not let the band members post at all, if they had someone guiding them before doing press, if they did not involve the extremely trashy CB family that has pissed off hundreds of thousands of Linkin Park/Chester fans by declaring a social media and press war against Mike Shinoda who worked his ass off to save the entire LP fanbase after 7/20, and if they just stuck to something like "Hey guys, we are releasing an album out this date, Chester wanted us to finish this project, and we can't wait for you to hear it" -> release.

 

[Garret]

12 minutes ago, Hahninator said:

 

Alright I will try to set things straight for where I stand on this. I don't want people thinking I have the entire website ganged up against Grey Daze or something. It's quite the opposite, I just came here to say I was unhappy about one aspect of it and then bam the floodgates opened from other people. Right now we are working on two significant LPLive projects behind the scenes so I am not fully involved in all of these conversations.

I don't think it is a cash grab at all. Chester was fully on board with this and wanted it to be done. We have a lot of evidence of this and I don't think anyone should question that. For them saying he wanted to re record vocals on it, we will never know if that was true or not but we do know 100% that he wanted to do this project. And we know he wanted to do the reunion show. For that reason, I don't think the cash grab term applies.

I think the guests are a good mix of folks, they talk about why they brought LP (girl) singer on board etc. The only weird one is Head from Korn because of the extremely disrespectful comments he made after Chester's death. But I think the Bush, Helmet, other Korn, Julien-K guests are all awesome. Let's see how it sounds. And it's good Chester's son is on it. Sean has a history of doing well with the remasters, because he completely nailed the early 2000s remaster he did of the album. Huge fan of that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN-BUeVrsmU So I would be inclined out of the gate to completely believe that this project will be GOOD musically. Jay is a producer who knew and hung out with Chester personally - he even went to the Stone Temple Pilots Jeff Gutt private show with Chester, so that was a good move to put him in charge. Then you have professional musicians joining them at NRG. So by all of that taken into account, the music is likely going to be really good.

The issues I have with it are just the way they are marketing it. There is no way they did not see (in the press) Chester's toxic family completely divide the LP fanbase at an emotionally rough time for everyone and trash Mike Shinoda in doing so. While those same people are destroying Talinda right NOW, who has been nothing but class to everyone, they are still reposting them on the Grey Daze social media. I don't like that at all, as someone who is 100% pro-Shinoda. They made quite a critical mistake by involving Chester's other family besides Talinda in this because of the feelings of the LP fanbase towards them after they (1) trashed the Hollywood Bowl show and said it was classless, (2) said Mike Shinoda is profiting off of Chester's death by playing "In the End" (Piano Version) live, and (3) completely trash Talinda as much as possible online when she's made it her #1 goal to help the LP fanbase with 320, etc. That was THE big mistake here, in my opinion. The GD guys don't see the DMs on Twitter we and LPFanCorner get from fans who are trigged by these things online. So putting his mom in the mini doc? Not smart. Remember, the LP fanbase has had history with these GD guys before - such as when they were selling fake (signed) GD CDs on eBay. We've worked with them to release older shows and archive GD's past though and I am quite thankful for that, but Sean himself is who told us not to allow the GD albums to be shared on LP fansites while he is also claiming WBR tried to wipe GD off the face of the planet online. We all know that's not true.

As far as the MUSIC is concerned - I am excited to hear it.

What it boils down to is I think these guys are pretty unfamiliar with how to do music press as their main jobs are outside of the music industry. Sean is talented and successful in other areas. So I think without having years of press under their belts and some coaching, they are coming off as unprofessional to some people online. They should never say something negative about LP's record label online like that, they shouldn't comment on Facebook like "we don't need Linkin Park", etc... it's THEIR fanbase they built from scratch that you are trying to advertise this to, so yes, you do need them in ONE way (not saying LP should/will/would ever endorse this project). The band goes off script and has leaked pretty much all of the information about the project early - things like that. I am sure no one involved on the Loma Vista side knew this all was going to happen and that the band would need some true social media / press / media coaching up beforehand but that should be a BIG focus if they want to do a second or even third Grey Daze album of this material.

I think it would have gone a lot better if they had a real social media director who did not let the band members post at all, if they had someone guiding them before doing press, if they did not involve the extremely trashy CB family that has pissed off hundreds of thousands of Linkin Park/Chester fans by declaring a social media and press war against Mike Shinoda who worked his ass off to save the entire LP fanbase after 7/20, and if they just stuck to something like "Hey guys, we are releasing an album out this date, Chester wanted us to finish this project, and we can't wait for you to hear it" -> release.

 

Well said. My issue with this project was never the actual music. It’s just how they have been handling it, press wise, for all the reasons listed above. I have no problem with them releasing the actual music and I will listen to it, I even pre-ordered the physical CD of What’s In The Eye. I just hate the press stuff that has been going on. I wish they would release more stuff like that Making Of What’s In The Eye video because it described the process of making the song and what it meant to Chester way back when, stuff like that is cool to me. The other stuff is what turned off a lot of people. 

[hahninator]

Tracklisting is out. https://store.greydazemusic.com/products/amends-digital-album?variant=31595520393267

TRACKLIST:
1. SICKNESS 2:55
2. SOMETIMES 3:24
3. WHAT'S IN THE EYE 3:26
4. THE SYNDROME 3:50
5. IN TIME 3:58
6. JUST LIKE HEROIN 3:24
7. B12 3:35
8. SOUL SONG 4:07
9. MOREI SKY 3:54
10. SHE SHINES 3:36
11. SHOUTING OUT 3:19

[Scourge]

On 2/3/2020 at 9:44 PM, lpliveusername said:

If the Grey Daze album gets a good response — and both Dowdell and Talinda, independently of each other, say that they hope Linkin Park fans will be open-minded enough to give the music a chance — Dowdell says there’s enough material for one or two additional Grey Daze releases. “Depending on how this is received — and so far, the music we have put out has been received quite well — I think fans will get a second record out of it,” he says.

 

please let this happen soon!!! already stoked for this and the first record isn't even out yet

[PizzaPino]

Baiting the fans with a second release with unreleased chester material only if the first one does well is such a cash grab. They could've just put everything in the first album. Imo this GD project/release should be a one-time project.

[AParallelogramInTheSand]

Honestly, I've become so much less excited about this release the further it goes with promotion. They worked with Julien-K, they need to ask them for advice on how to promote. I doubt they have more material - I think it's an attempt to sell more of this album with an inevitable "oh yeah it didn't perform as well as expected so we can't pursue the other releases"

[Garret]

4 minutes ago, MrCinder said:

Honestly, I've become so much less excited about this release the further it goes with promotion. They worked with Julien-K, they need to ask them for advice on how to promote. I doubt they have more material - I think it's an attempt to sell more of this album with an inevitable "oh yeah it didn't perform as well as expected so we can't pursue the other releases"

Well they do have more music they could do. There are songs from Wake Me and No Sun Today that aren’t on this release. And they could also add in some demos and b-sides that they have (no idea how good of quality the vocals on those are, though). I agree that the whole ‘’if this album does well we will do a second or third release’’ is bullshit, though. I also am not a fan of this project at all and I won’t be buying any of the vinyls or any of that. Perhaps I’ll buy the CD with the two bonus tracks but idk.