Geki

Chester was a rocker. Look at everything he did outside of Linkin Park. Sean Dowdell & His Friends, Grey Daze, Bucket Of Weenies, Dead By Sunrise, Stone Temple Pilots, Kings Of Chaos, Camp Freddy, Sac, etc. You dont think he had some kind of financial incentive to say he loved OML? Chester also let Mike have full control over what Linkin Park did, especially since MTM. So he probably just went along with it. Arent the only songs he worked on Heavy and Halfway Right? OML is so commercial and poppy and kid friendly. I just find it hard for a band who just put out The Hunting Party like 2 years before to come out with a Disney song like Heavy. Its an album that I could play around a 5 year old and they would love it.

What was going through the bands minds when they made this album? Didnt it win a Kids Choice Award or something? Haha. I think it was even on Disney radio. Do you think the band was forced to make the album? They were adamant about not making music like it just a year or two before with THP. Listen to Rakims verse in GATS. The lyrics are relatable to kids on the album, even the album cover is a bunch of kids playing. Do you think Chaz was really on board with this album while he was playing with the likes of an all star group like KOC and STP as well? He also revived Grey Daze during the time. I just cant wrap my head around it. They even had chipmunk sounds all over it.... was the reasoning behind all of this? Its so strange to me. I almost wanted to buy my young cousin the CD for Christmas because its for kids. He probably knows Heavy!

Cool, I'll be waiting, should be an awesome release.

Yeah I agree with that statement. Didn't think Welcome really should have been in the LP set, I know why though, Mike was trying to promote it, I get that, but I'm glad it was dropped after 2015. It was like when Chester did the DBS shit during the LP set, it was gone after 2009. But yeah, doing a verse here and there like that is fine. I just don't want full songs. Kenji during COG would be too much, IMO, let COG have it's spotlight. Speaking of COG, I always liked the studio version of the song a lot. I saw it performed as the studio version at SSMF 2013 and it was cool. Castle Of Dance is cool too, I liked in 2015 when they had the ATS speeches in it.

Exactly what I wanted to say. I don't want Fort Minor or DBS or anything like that at a Linkin Park show. I even use to hate when Mike would rap Fort Minor stuff over LP stuff. Linkin Park is different than Fort Minor, they are different things entirely.

I backed it too, is that how it works? We get like an email?

I wonder that, too. Digitally would be cool, if they put it on Apple Music or some shit. I'm curious if Time Capsule is even going to happen at this point. Lol.

I'm not even sure if it's ''official'', like I don't know if they sold it at the tour or not on PR04. It's definitely PR04 though, it's the PR04 logo, etc. But I thought it was cool, I saw it online a year or two ago on eBay or somewhere, so I bought it. I have a lot of unofficial merch as well, just stuff I think looks cool, etc. One may pop up sometime again, check places like eBay from time to time.

They could EASILY make music as a 5 piece and tour as a 5 piece. 99% of fans would accept it. I'm one of those people who would never accept a replacement for Chester. I used to think maybe they needed to get one, but I'm pretty confident now that I think they should continue as a 5 piece. The show proved to me that they can tour that way, and I know they can make new music that way.

Dude I have that same PR04 blanket, I know which one you're talking about, if I have the same one that I have in mind!!! I collect all kinds of merch and shit from the first three albums era. My newest addition is a Hybrid Theory leave-a-penny/take-a-penny thing that stores have near the register. Was an official item, too. But yeah I definitely feel you on that. It's really cool though how much of a family Linkin Park has built all over. We will never die and we will always honor Chester.

That's cool if you liked her performance. I didn't think she was as bad as some people thought on COG, but she didn't blow me away. Realistically speaking, it would never happen. She is a huge artist in her own right, she's not joining Linkin Park on the road as a permanent member. Haha. 95% of the fanbase probably wouldn't care for that anyways. I don't think the band would want that even if she somehow wanted a part in that.

Haha that's awesome. Same for me back when I was in High School and stuff. Pretty much all I wore were Linkin Park shirts and hoodies. I had a Linkin Park backpack. And I was always listening to Linkin Park and talking to people about them. People literally knew me as that ''Linkin Park kid''. I live in a pretty small city (technically it's a city but I really don't consider it one) and surprisingly there was literally 1 other Linkin Park fan here, my best friend, that's how we became friends in the first place. I don't collect LP clothing anymore (haven't really since like 2008) but people still know I love LP. Haha.

I really like how Mike said that they built their identity and their lives on that band, etc. I feel that way as well from a fan's point of view. I built my identity upon Linkin Park back from like 2003-2008. Everybody that I knew in real life knew that I was a Linkin Park fan. That was years ago and it's not like that anymore, but I get what Mike is saying. Pretty good interview, though. Mike seems so cool about it all. I think the concept behind the idea of the show was really cool. Making it sort of like a ''funeral'' for fans, since the fans didn't get a proper funeral like the band and Chester's family did (understandably so). But that is a cool concept and I'm glad they did it. I think the band gets closer and closer to becoming a full force band again with each day.

Linkin Park could techncially still do the OML Tour. They could just play OML in full plus some other shit. Mike could handle all of OML easily, there really isn't anything he couldn't handle on it, IMO. Fuck it, bring Jon Green for the tour too, he can sing some of OML even. Maybe it would help them heal a little bit to give the album a final closure. I know fans would like it.

Didn't want to make a thread about it, but I was watching an interview with The Used today and they talked about Chester. Not sure if anyone here listens to The Used, but they toured with LP in 2004 and a few times in Europe in 2008, Anyways, Bert, the lead singer, actually lost his best friend to suicide just last year, and the entire new album by The Used is basically dedicated to him, etc. The interviewer asked Bert about Chester and he said this: ''I knew him really well. The tour we did with Linkin Park in 2004, and these guys, Jeff knows that I was at a place where I just lost the first love of my life and in a really dark place and suicidal myself and Chester would come to our bus all the time and smoke a joint with me and the fact that no one was there for him like that is so telling. I think until there's an actual cure for depression, we need to be honest and open, and that's the hardest thing to be when you're depressed, and you feel like a burden on other people. And Tregan, dealing with this death of my friend Tregan, I try to deal with the oppposite way, I try to talk about it all the time, even to strangers. I'm trying to call my friends more and be like hey, for some reason, I'm not feeling OK right now. And I guess we have to fill our lives with something, and my music is that, and I hope that that makes sense, we need to be honest about our complications.'' I just like to hear stories about Chester from his friends and other bands that toured with LP, etc. because it reminds me of how nice and cool of a guy Chester was. The love of his life that Bert was referring to was actually when his girlfriend died of a drug overdose, pregnant with his child, so that was pretty heavy, and Chester was there for him, that's really cool. SOURCE at 7:27 in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_N-AxaSvVA One more thing I would say is that the opening track on that new album by The Used, called ''For You'', has really helped me a lot this past week while listening to it, it's helped me deal with the loss of Chester. Anyone reading this comment should definitely check it out, it's a really powerful song.

A+ post here. I agree with you, Hahninator. The band can simply do what they did for the huge singles like In The End, Numb, New Divide, etc. The fans LOVED it, it was well received, and I guarantee that the band loved it as well. And yeah, Mike is for sure the master of medleys and making shit work. He has proven it time and time again, I 100% agree with that. He can whip up a 20 song set no problem and make it sound nice. As for songs with intense screaming, I'm not sure why people think that's an issue. Why would they play them? Given Up hasn't been played in a few years now, it wasn't in any of the sets in 2017 at all. It wasn't a massive single by any means and they don't need to play it. It's one of my favorite songs but I would never expect them to bring it back, and I don't think any other vocalist in the world could do it justice. If you look at the 2017 sets, the only songs that had screaming were like One Step Closer, Bleed It Out, Faint, A Place For My Head and From The Inside. And all of those only feature a small part of the song that has screaming. Let the crowd do it, etc. Mike could even just kind of sing those parts, like a more aggressive kind of singing, like he has done many times in the past. It would be fine. Anyone that expects them to start playing shit like Qwerty needs a reality check. I also agree that the band has changed their sound so much on recent albums that they can easily have Mike do the songs. Mike could handle all of OML, IMO. He is a good singer, he has improved a lot. He can do Final Masquerade off of THP. He can do a lot of songs off of LT and even ATS, look at the recent show! He can also do some of MTM. I mean the band has had many singles since the old days. The band was going in a different direction in 2017, the set in 2017 before Chester passed was geared more towards stuff that Mike could honestly sing if he wanted to. And don't forget, if they continue, they will be making a new album. That's easily 10 or more songs that can be merged into a set. Bottom line is, it won't be the same as it was with Chester. How the fuck could it? It will no doubt be different, but Mike can easily make it work if he wanted to, and I think a majority of fans would all be on board with it.

You're right, OML tour was definitely planned out better than the touring cycles for ATS, LT, THP. All I meant is that they aren't going to tour like they did from like 2000-2008. People forget that the MTM cycle had 3 big U.S. Tours, an Asia Tour (was scheduled to have 2 if China 2008 wasn't cancelled), 3 big Europe Tours, a Promo Tour with proper shows, Australia/NZ Tour, etc. It was a big touring cycle. Not as big as HT or Meteora, of course. But the band probably doesn't want to tour like that anymore. I remember an interview with Mike in like 2009 where he said the band was going to scale down on the touring a little bit because the last touring cycle (MTM) exhausted them. That's why I said that. Whenever the band tours again, you're right, I could see it being similar to the OML cycle. I just don't think people should expect HT-MTM touring. He was still with Xero in 1998 as well but did he ever really officially ''retire''? I think he just found other business opportunities, like managing Taproot, and System Of A Down later down the line, etc. He sang a track with Mike in 2008, Barack Your World. He also was at the Hollywood Bowl show in 2014. I think he is still friends with Mike. I don't think it will happen anyways, I was just saying a possibility.

Sweet, hope they ship them soon.

I think the OML cycle ended the day Chester took his own life. I think the band obviously had plans to tour the album until about September 2018, and then they were going to go back in the studio and write a new album, like they usually do. That's been the mode of their work for many albums now. But now with what happened, obviously it will have to change. I think the band may start work on a new album starting in 2018, and possibly release it in early 2019 or something. Maybe they'll churn one out sooner and they will release it in 2018, but I just can't see it happening that fast. I think once they make an album, they will tour for it, but it probably won't be as big and epic as past LP tours were. You also have to keep in mind that the band wasn't touring like they were in the 2000's nowadays anyways, even when Chester was alive, they all have kids and families and they are getting older. So basically, I can see the band making a new album eventually and touring eventually for it. I think a lot of fans seem to think that it's going to be the same it was in the early years of the band, it's not. The ATS, LT, THP and OML cycles were all much smaller in terms of touring than HT, Meteora and MTM tours were, and rightfully so, they all have families, kids, they're getting older, etc. Like you said Hahninator, they are obviously still crushed by what happened and it really hasn't been all that long if you think about it, it's only November. I think they might take the next few months to kind of regroup and heal a little bit, I think 2018 might be when they start working on a new album.

Honestly - do you guys think Mark Wakefield could come back? I know most people will think of his vocals on the Xero tape, but he sounded actually pretty good on Barack Your World (even though it was a joke song), and he sounded good on The Crow version of Rhinestone. Even sounded cool on Fiends. He is no Chester, but he was the original singer for the band. I don't think it would be a slap in the face to Chester or anything. Mike could work with him to train him up and stuff, he might even be able to handle some of the aggressive songs that people keep talking about, probably not stuff like Given Up or Qwerty, but he probably could handle the other shit. The only people I would want to see become the lead singer are either Mike Shinoda or Mark Wakefield.

I wanted to do a full review on what I thought of each guest, so I won't be including the songs that were just LP (I loved all of those). Shadow Of The Day: I thought Ryan Key did good on SOTD. He wasn't my favorite, but he did fairly well with the vocals, IMO. Infusing With or Without You into the song was cool too, people used to always say that SOTD ripped off With Or Without You, but this medley was good, they are both good songs. Mike's vocals on With Or Without You were good, too. Leave Out All The Rest: I had no idea who Gavin Rossdale was before this performance. I didn't even look up who he was until after the live stream was over originally. Very strange voice and guest for this song, I didn't like it. Somewhere I Belong: Wasn't a fan of Taka on vocals at all. Thought he sounded bad. Castle Of Glass/Rest: Didn't really like her on COG. And Rest was extremely annoying, long and unnecessary, perhaps the only way she would agree to do COG was if she got to play her song, too, who knows. Wish they had a country rocker do COG, it's always had that style to me. Alanis tried that in a way but it didn't translate well to me. Nobody Can Save Me: This was crazy. I didn't like how they had that long vocal only intro. It's cool that they got a guy that Chester loved to do the song, but I don't think he was particularly amazing. Mike was decent. This is one of those songs that only Chester can sing, I feel like, although Mike wouldn't be bad. Not a good song to have a guest sing. The lyrics are also haunting, so I feel like it may be a bit too personal now to have a guest sing. Battle Symphony: I actually liked Jon on this. I've always hated this song live, but it was done great here, actually. It was funny as hell when Mike made Joe re-start the intro after messing up, I literally laughed out loud. Sharp Edges: I mean... it was weird. I love this song, but idk. Didn't really like it, her voice was kind of irritating. Talking To Myself: Started off decent, but once the first chorus came around, it fell short. Didn't like the mash up it with The Watchtower or whatever. Was kind of cheesy. Her voice was once again extremely irritating to me. Heavy: I'm going to get a lot of shit for saying this, but I prefer Julia over Kiiara 100%. I like Julia's voice, which is rare because I don't really like female vocalists. Julia originally sang this song - we can hear a clip of her singing the chorus on LPTV. I never liked Kiiara, I don't like her voice, her persona, etc. I wish she was never on Heavy and Chester just ended up singing the whole thing on the studio version. Kiiara tried to overtake Julia quite a few times. I thought the point was that Julia was supposed to sing the first verse and first chorus, like Chester does, and Kiiara comes in on the second verse and does the second chorus, and then the rest of the song is both of them. Kiiara tried to overpower Julia from the beginning which was stupid. Julia is a much better singer, she's going to win a bunch of Grammy's in 2018, she didn't deserve to be disrespected. I also think Julia is 100% more cute than Kiiara, but that's besides the performance. Waiting For The End: Fucking HATED this one. Sydney or whatever from Echosmith was so annoying, holy shit. I hated her voice. I've always hated Echosmith. Crawling: I thought Oli sounded great. I liked him in the choruses, even with the issue that happened. He did this song justice, probably the best of the night. Once I heard the audience recording without the issue, I loved his performance even more. Papercut: Wasn't bad I guess, but very forgettable. Was the point? It would have made more sense if MGK rapped the verses solely, but he didn't. Couldn't even hear him in the mix. Waste of a guess. His cover of Numb wasn't even THAT bad that he put up on his YouTube, he could have sang something from HT or Meteora instead, like Runaway or something. One Step Closer: This was epic as fuck. Jonathan Davis sounded good, I love Jonathan Davis. I always think of him when I hear OSC because of PR04 and Reanimation, perfect person to pick. Ryan Shuck and Amir coming out too was awesome, I'm glad they were part of it, being close friends with Chaz and all. Ryan Shuck looked badass as usual, too. So, solid performance, Chester's best friends with a legend like Jon Davis. A Place For My Head: Wow. This was epic. I went crazy when I heard Jeremy be introduced. I didn't expect it, but it was fucking great. He was amazing on this song, possibly the best performance of the night, one of them, for sure, maybe second best to Oli. Rebellion: Cool they played a song from THP. Wasn;t good in terms of vocals. The Catalyst: One of the worst of the night. Thought he was shitty on the choruses and what not. It isn't a punk rock song, this isn't Warped Tour bro. What I've Done: I was going to the Blinkin Park show in NYC so it was really emotional for me to see Blink come out and do this song, being my favorite LP song of all time, or one of them. However, it sounded bad. Those vocals were horrid. A Light That Never Comes: MOST ANNOYING GUEST OF THE NIGHT. Bebe Rexha or whatever. So annoying. OMG. Could have had someone MUCH better sing the chorus of the song. Burn It Down: I did not expect this AT ALL. Matt Shadows doing BID?? What?? Was very, very strange and sounded terrible. Borderline cringe worthy, actually, not even borderline. Faint: Matt sang better on this one but still was weak. Could have got Aaron Pauley from OM&M to do the chorus, he can sing like Austin used to, and the vocals aren't hard in this song. Bleed It Out: The Messenger being included ruined the performance for me. Doesn't go with BIO. I've always thought the only song that goes with BIO is BIO.

I changed my original post to edit out the beginning part where I said everything after MTM was pure garbage, since there are good songs on each of the albums, I just don't often love the entire thing like the originals. But idk, I feel like a lot of people like stuff from ATS, LT, OML and even some of THP. Not everyone wants to hear only old songs.

Casual fans and fans both love ATS, LT and OML. THP only got one song from the album at the show. Casual fans don't know THP and a lot of fans don't even care about THP. Most casuals don't know what about the non-singles on any of the albums. I mean I guess they could do like Papercut, Mike or Jon could probably do that one. OSC might be hard, same as Crawling. The rest were just promo singles and stuff so no need to play any of those. Meteora, I could see a lot of it being an issue for Mike and Jon. SIB and BTH could probably be played. Faint and FTI might be hard. You have to think realistically, this isn't the Linkin Park of the old days when Chester was the frontman and commanded the stage. It's a different time now. Many fans would gladly go and watch newer songs, trust me.

They don't need to play anything off of Hybrid Theory or Meteora besides Numb and In The End, the two biggest hits off of those albums. And when they do, they can let the crowd sing them, like they did at the memorial show. The heavier songs off of MTM like Given Up and No More Sorrow don't need to ever be played again, and the crowd could sing Bleed It Out (the non Mike parts). The slower songs that they might play off of MTM like Leave Out All The Rest, Shadow Of The Day, What I've Done, could be handled. Everything after MTM, Jon could easily handle, as well as Mike. So your argument is kind of pointless. I think he would fit the band. This isn't 2000-2007 anymore.

I don't see how people can expect them to tour the world and function the same way they did when Chester was here. That would be very hard for them to do now and they're obviously still very hurt by what has happened. It's only November. Chester only just passed on July 20th. That is a scar that will probably never heal - and if it ever does, it won't be for a while. With that said, I can see some fire still in the band, a little bit. They could continue as a 5 piece, I would support that. I will not support them continuing with a new lead singer, that's something I just couldn't bring myself to support. This is a band who has been making music together since the late 90's, it's 2017 now. They've had 7 main albums, and tons of other projects. They've won Grammy's and countless other awards. They've toured the world time and time again. I could see them hanging it up, for sure. So I'm really not sure at the moment what the ''future'' of Linkin Park is. If they did want to continue as a 5 piece, I'd go see them on tour, buy their music, etc. I just would never support someone replacing Chester as a singer. You can't replace Chester fucking Bennington. It's not possible. I don't think the band wants to anyways. It goes beyond just Chester being an insanely good vocalist. It's the chemistry they had, the bond they all had, all of that goes in to account. It's not just the epic vocals and stage presence that is now missing. The Hollywood Bowl showed that Mike can sing. Will it be the same sound as Linkin Park had with Chester? Obviously not. But he isn't bad at singing stuff like he did at the Hollywood Bowl show. They could do it.