Geki

Chester even mentioned Given Up during an interview talking about Heavy this year with The Sun news network. He said ''I was in a place where I was pissed that I didn't like my brain at the time. That was me giving up. That's where I was when I wrote Given Up from Minutes To Midnight. I was like fuck this shit. Put me out of my misery. This time around it was me saying fuck this shit. I'm just going to lay in a corner and die.'' https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/4071964/chester-benningtons-sucide-agony-final-interview-linkin-park-frontman-giving-up/ So I guess Given Up and Heavy were Chester at his worst feelings.

Yeah, I agree with you 100% on this.

What do you guys think Valentine's Day is really about? I asked Mike what the song was about at the Meet & Greet for Holmdel 2014 and he told me that Chester wrote the lyrics to that one so he didn't know. To me, it's about death. It has a LOT of death metaphors during the song but it's still written strangely to me. I remember Chester said to Kerrang in 2007 that it was a dark song but he didn't really explain it. Always been intrigued by the song and have had different guesses as to what it's about over the years, but the simple answer to me now is just simply death and missing someone you have lost.

It's Oli Sykes but yeah I could see it. His voice can someone sound like Chester at times and he would definitely get support from the younger crowd.

New list. Tried to pick ones that I've always loved and not just ones I only like to rock out to. 01. What I've Done - Became my favorite Linkin Park song the first time that I heard it back in 2007 and I've loved it ever since. When people ask me what my favorite song of all time is, I always cite this song. Everything about it is just perfection to me. 02. Faint - Was my favorite Linkin Park song up until I heard What I've Done. I'd say this was one of the songs that really got me into the band. I loved the interplay between Mike and Chester and the screaming is really what did it for me. Chester sounds so great on this track, and the energy of this song is Godly, especially live. 03. Leave Out All The Rest - Always had a very special place in my heart and still does. The lyrics are deep, but that's one of the reasons why I love the song. I love the message of the lyrics... I also love the synth and the beat, the guitar, etc. It's just a really great song to me and I'm happy that it was the last single to close out the Minutes To Midnight cycle, I think it's an appropriate song to end that phase of the band, at least it was for me. 04. Given Up - My favorite ''heavy'' Linkin Park song. The screaming is fucking insane on this track. I loved the swearing during the choruses and shit, too. It was groundbreaking for the band because if you play their main albums in order at once, this is the first time a swear appeared on a main album, since it's the first song on Minutes To Midnight after Wake, which has no words. If you are a fan of Chester's screaming, this song will satisfy you, like it did for me. I also always loved this song live, I always rocked the fuck out to it at the shows. 05. Papercut - Perfection right here. Similar to Faint, I love the interplay between Mike and Chester. The lyrics are also really cool on this one. The beat at the beginning of this song is so damn iconic. I always loved the ''the sun goes down'' part, I thought Chester sounded so good during that when I first started getting into the band. Once again, a complete banger live as well. 06. Breaking The Habit - A dark song, and a very personal song to Chester, my fallen hero. This song is amazing. It was different than most of the music on Meteora, but in a cool way. I think it shaped what eventually became Minutes To Midnight, as Mike as said before. I really love the style and sound of this track, but the lyrics and vocal performance from Chester are really what capture me. You can hear the pain and passion behind Chester's voice, it's so good. This song may even be better live, at least the versions on like LPU4, LPU5 and LPU6, etc. Also sounded good in 2007, 2008, etc. Always was a solid live track. 07. Crawling - Always loved this track because it got me through some hard times growing up. I didn't fully understand what the lyrics were dealing with when I was young and relating to this song, but I felt safe when listening to this song. Weird how music does that. I just remember a lot of negative feelings and emotions when I play it, because it reminds me of the times that I listened to this song for a safety net, back when my parents were getting divorced, and I was having a hard time with middle school, etc. 08. Valentine's Day - I remember the very first time that I heard this song specifically. It was on the car ride down to Bamboozle in 2007. The album had just leaked like a day before, actually, I think maybe even literally the day that we were driving down (we drove down 2 days before LP played so we could be there for Day 1 and also have some fun the night before at the hotel, etc.). Anyways, me and my friend, who went with me, wanted to play the album in it's entirety on the way down, so we did. I remember falling in love with this track. I am in love with Chester's vocal performance on this track, he sounds so unique compared to anything else he has ever recorded, and the lyrics are simply amazing. They are kind of complex in a way, using metaphors of death, etc. But it's a pretty dark song. I remember Chester saying to Kerrang in 2007 that it was a very dark song. I also love the instrumental to this track, it's calming, but in a sad way. Just a really unique sounding song to me and I've just always loved it. I also remember seeing it live for the first time in Manchester in 2008. Brad did the live intro to it for the first time at that show and it's just a special memory for me. I remember loving it live as well. 09. Qwerty - How can you not love this song - it's heavy as fuck and it's badass. The vocal interplay between Mike and Chester is amazing here, probably better during the 2006 live version, but I still dig the studio version, and the PR07 versions. Chester's screaming is top notch and Mike's rapping hit an all time badass level. I also have fond memories of when this song debuted. I remember listening to squaljapan's 19 second shitty quality rip and being like ''hell yeah, this is awesome!''. And then of course all the other clips and recordings, then the LPA HQ version, which was the same as the LPU6 version, with some banter cut out at the end on the LPU6 version. I remember that my friend and me worked at this kiosk at our local mall that sold hats, the store was called Lids, and they had a little CD player that we could use to play music on. We cranked up Qwerty and the mall security got pissed. Haha. Was such an innocent time in my life and this song came out during all of it. 10. Bleed It Out - I can't deny my love for this song. It's always a jam, always fun to listen to, all the versions of it. I love Brad's guitar, Mike's rapping, Chester's shouting and screaming, this whole song is just awesome from the minute that it starts. I also love the lyrics, they're epic. It was always fun live back in the day, too. Captures my memories of ''Summer 2007'' perfectly.

True, we probably will keep getting announcements of people joining all the way up until the event, or like a week before or something. I mean I guess maybe some people didn't want to be a part, that's possible.

I guess maybe I just wasn't a fan of Chester since I discussed people who I would like to see perform in honor of him.

Agreed, feel free to post it if you want, makork9!

Ultimately the band chose who they wanted and tons and tons of fans are going that will all be satisfied. I was just saying what I personally thought of the guests. I also didn't hate all of the guests, because I do like Jon Davis and Korn, as well as System Of A Down. As for Busta Rhymes, he probably wasn't considered. Obviously, I will have different opinions and stuff than the band members. It's not up to me who is going to play. I was simply stating my opinion. I knew that I probably wasn't going to go, before the guests were even announced, since it would cost a lot of money and time for me and I'm struggling at the moment, as well as the fact that people depend on me daily, so I couldn't really have gone. But I did entertain the idea in my head that maybe I would try and go. That's why I said I was happy that I didn't end up going through on it because I probably wouldn't enjoy the live aspect of it. If I was to have gone, it would have been more for the fan interaction and what not. Anyways, I am pissed. It's been an extremely hard year for me in many ways. My hero is dead and gone, I have a lot of issues going on in my personal life this year in particular, etc. I didn't mean to take it out here, but your post annoyed me greatly. I just don't see an issue with people saying who they would have liked to see at the show, or would like to see at the show, etc. I don't think the actual band would even care if fans did that. Linkin Park and Chester have left behind a legacy with a span of many years, so there are lots of people they have worked with, toured with, that fans will remember, etc. But you're also going to have unrealistic views and stuff in regards to both of those things. That's just how discussions work, it's simply people only saying what they think may happen, should happen, etc. The only decision that really matters in the long run is the decision that the band makes. You know? I don't really want to discuss this anymore because I don't want this thread to become about this type of thing, so I'm gonna leave it at this. That's pretty cool. Good to know that perhaps more people will be announced.

Dude I have the right to complain about what ever I want. I didn't attack anybody or anything with my opinion. And I also made it a point to CLEARLY say that I was only saying that I didn't like the guests, and that I thought the actual event to memorial Chester was cool. Why the fuck wouldn't he be there? He toured with the band and made a track with them. He did more with the band than all of the guests except for like SOAD and Jonathan Davis. So shut up, you don't know what you're talking about. Every single person I mentioned were either friends with Chester or bands and artists that LINKIN PARK FUCKING TOURED WITH. Like artists they chose and took out on tour, etc. Out of all the guests, you took the guest that I would least likely say would be there. You're just trying to attack me but really not with much substance. All of the other people there have made tracks with Chester, Chester has been involved with them, he was their friend, or he has done some big tours with them. You must have some personal hatred for Busta or something. He's one of the legends of his genre, I think Chester even said during a show on PR08 that he was the best rapper of all time. Obviously the band were friends with him. Watch the making of We Made It, the PR08 promo, etc. Mike also most likely respects him since he was a pioneer in the hip-hop/rap world. But that wasn't even the main point of my post. My original post wasn't even offensive at all IMO, but now you have me pissed. What is the point of these threads if I can't discuss my thoughts, etc. I mean really. Everyone has become so touch holey around here. EDIT: I ALSO SAID IN MY OP THAT IT'S POSSIBLE SOME PEOPLE WERE ASKED AND COULDN'T MAKE IT OR DIDN'T WANT TO BE A PART. And also, read some of the other posts here, bud. Because other people were saying names of people they would have liked to see as well. I fail to see how that's absurd even remotely but I guess to you it was.

I know, that's why I said that it's possible some people may have turned it down, or couldn't make it, etc. Ultimately, I don't really care, because I'm not going anyways. I know my expectations for guests is unrealistic. But I included Corey Taylor and Ryan Shuck on my list. Metallica would be really cool, too. Jacoby Shaddix, I forgot about him, he should also be there. Papa Roach took Linkin Park out on tour when Linkin Park was just starting out and Jacoby and Papa Roach had a lot of respect for Chester and Linkin Park. Would be cool.

I actually kind of want to just say that I'm happy that I didn't buy a ticket or plane tickets, hotel, etc. Not a fan of any of the guests really except for Korn (Jonathan Davis). Seems like a lot of these people were more so Mike's friends - like A7X, MGK, Blink-182, etc. Also, aside from Jonthan Davis and SOAD, all the guests are more so from the recent Linkin Park years. More old school bands and friends should have been announced or invited. Maybe more were invited but they turned down the offer, who knows. But I expected to see people like Ryu, Corey Taylor, David Draiman, Robert DeLeo, Aaron Lewis, Fred Durst, Chino Moreno, Gerard Way, Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh, Busta Rhymes, Frank Zummo, etc. I know not all of them obviously could make it or all have time to perform or talk but I expected some of those. Jared Leto should have definitely been invited as well if he wasn't. I'm sure he would go if he was invited, so they probably either didn't ask him, or he just hasn't announced it yet. Not bashing the actual event, cuz it's cool they are honoring Chester. I just think the guests could have been a little better.

A7X just confirmed they were asked to play at the event.

Yes, you're right. My ex girlfriend and her friends were big fans of him and his band and on Halloween night of 2012 he died in a motorcycle accident while drunk. I mean it's possible that he chose to kill himself by doing something rash on the motorcycle but I highly doubt it. I think his death was similar to someone like Ryan Dunn of Jackass fame, just driving drunk and going too fast and having an accident. A shit ton of bands have done tribute concerts and stuff, it's nothing new at all.

Busta, Cypress Hill and S.O.B. would all be epic.

Gerard Way was the first person I thought of that should be there, especially with all the nice things he said about Chester after his passing. Besides him, I think these people may be there (in no particular order) - Jared Leto and possibly Thirty Seconds To Mars - Kiiara - Daron Malakian and/or System Of A Down members - David Draiman (He said some nice things and seemed really upset with Chester's passing) - Jacoby Shaddix (A possibility because he also said some nice things and he may be free) - Ryan Shuck and/or Julien-K - Jay-Z (I doubt it, but you never know) - Travis Barker and/or Blink-182 - Steve Aoki - Jonathan Davis (Honestly probably won't be, but maybe. Maybe Head will go to try and patch things up) - Aaron Lewis (Wouldn't surprise me with his recent tributes live and what not) - Corey Taylor (If he can make it, or is invited, I am sure he will probably go, he liked Chester) - Robert DeLeo and/or Stone Temple Pilots - Fred Durst (A bit of a far stretch but it's possible) - Ryu (Again, a far stretch, but it's a possibility. I know Tak wouldn't probably go, though). - Austin Carlile and/or Aaron Pauley and OM&M (I know Austin isn't in the band anymore but they might all go) - Machine Gun Kelly (Unfortunately) - Snoop Dogg (Would probably be awesome but I doubt this one the most) That's my guess so far. However, I don't think we should judge based off of that Warped Tour show. I don't think a lot of those guests even said anything when Chester passed and a few didn't even really seem in tune with LP. We need to look at all the friends of LP over the years and collaborations on albums and stuff, also tour mates from the big tours like Projekt Revolution's, etc.

Yeah, you're right. They had the Club Tattoo memorial and Rock to Recovery events for that. But maybe something in the future, too.

They should honor Chester as the God of rock and roll that he was. He played with an all star rock and roll band like Kings Of Chaos for fuck's sake. Was a member of STP, toured with them, a huge band, their name may even be bigger than LP, at least in the US. Not to mention a shit ton of guest spots. He wouldn't want to be remembered for some pop album like OML only. I guranteee it and so don't many other people close to him, trust me. He loved to rock the fuck out. We know this from the STP, KOC and Camp Freddy videos. They should honor that too, not just Linkin Park. Cuz he did a shit ton outside of Linkin Park and he never got the props he deserved for that. Linkin Park is ok, but they aren't really respected in the scope of rock and roll and shit. I've seen so many people say over the years stuff like ''man I fucking hate Linkin Park but Chester can actually sing, I didn't know'' when he did STP and stuff like that, Camp Freddy, DBS, etc. I just wanted to get that off of my chest.

Hmm. Wish there were more details on this. Will it be LP playing as a full band with guest vocalists from different bands coming out for each song? A new vocalist with guests also? I probably won't be able to go to this since I live all the way in Massachusetts, but I think this will be a cool event for a lot of people. I'd love to be there just because I'm such a huge fan of Chester from HT-MTM but I would feel weird to go, since I haven't really liked LP's music since MTM ended. I think all the huge fans who have supported them throughout all the albums should be there the most. Anyways, it's cool they're doing this.

Love all the old-school shots from LPTV, etc. in the video. Pretty cool. I'm glad they added that to the video instead of just a live performance of OML with the studio version playing. Shows thought went into it, and to remember Chester for all the years they have known him.

Well, hopefully, this week, the band will give us some info on the future of the band. Mike said some announcements are coming this week. Could just be the memorial event, or possibly info on the Japan Tour in November. But I want to know if they are going to continue as a 5 piece or get a new singer. Because Anna Shinoda posted a photo of her outside of the ''studio'' for LP. So that means Mike must be working on new music. I just want to know what the idea for moving on is.

His death definitely had something to do with it. And once he died, it took the entire world by shock. Plus, people wanted to listen to songs like LOATR, SOTD, OML, etc. to remember him. OML will do decently as a single, I think, because of the meaning.

I agree that OML and ATS are dark as well. Actually, I thought ATS had some optimism on the album, with songs like Iridescent, The Messenger, Waiting For The End, and a few others. It was dark for sure, but just like OML, it was dark with optimism. MTM was pretty much just all doom and gloom except for maybe What I've Done, which had some optimism there, but that song could also be interpreted in a dark way, like wanting to just end life. LT and THP weren't really all that dark, and THP just had weird lyrics that really didn't connect with me at all. Meteora and HT of course had dark lyrics, but MTM takes the cake for darkest, IMO. OML probably close behind, and then ATS.

What is Mark Wakefield up to? Maybe if he has improved, he can come back. He can probably handle anything that isn't screaming intensely.

Reading the comments here have made me look at the song in a different light - it's actually pretty optimistic when you think about it, as pointed out. It's cool that it has that message. Seems like a lot of One More Light was about optimism and overcoming your demons, etc. I'd say the lyrics on MTM are probably the darkest from the band, since a good majority of them are about death and stuff. Mike even said once that it's a dark album, lyrically, even though the sound isn't metal. I think it was in the MTM Audio Commentary from the International Version. It sucks that Chester's last album with LP was OML because like I said, it did seem kind of optimistic and about overcoming your demons and what not. Seems like Chester was trying so hard to overcome them in recent years, but he just couldn't. It's sad.