Fleur de Lys

I have had this personal theory that a lot of what led to the suicide has to do with trajectory, and expectations of trajectory... If you look at the timeline: - Releasing the niche record The Hunting Party in 2014, with (expected) low commercial success - breaking his ancle mid-tour 2015, halting all their plans that Chester was allegedly super pumped and in the shape of his life to do - Chester subsequently falling into a “low” or depression because he was unable to do what he loved, or do anything for that matter. - I remember him talking during the OML press cycle, that he hated 2015-2016. “This time last year, I was a mess”. A close relative had died in this period as well, and it was a big part of it. - The band writing the super personal OML, which IMO was in part sort of an internal reaction the band had to the low sales of The Hunting Party, leading them to wanting to do a Coldplay, Fallout Boy, etc... i.e. become relevant in the big league again. There’s a pre release video on LPTV pre-OML where Mike talks about them wanting to modernize the sound, and discussing if LP fans would be on board or not. - All of this leading to Chester and the band believing that 2017 would be their year, and the year where Chester belived he would be truly back, and maybe even relevant in the mainstream again, after a couple of really dark years. - 2017 instead being: poor reception by fans, harsh critics, no big mainstream impact, and then to top it off: Chris Cornell dying by suicide, maybe really triggering those dark thoughts. I think Chester really believed that things would get better in 2017, but it just ended up being one thing after another. But how would I know, this is just what I’ve pieced together from interviews through the years. I also think his voice troubles might have played a part, it’s never good to not feel adequate at your job/talent.

That was truly cathartic and something I think a lot of us really needed. I feel a little better now. It was very clear that they chose to put the fanbase before themselves and they did this very hard thing in order for us all to heal. Insisting on celebrating and inspiring instead of just mourning and crying. Class act people. My favourite part was probably the first couple of songs, because I was so excited and uplifted by basically seeing the future of LP unfold in front of my eyes. Mike CAN be the sole frontman, and I hope that's the direction they take. We don't need a new guy in there. That's my position. Mike's singing is getting better and better, and what he did yesterday was an enormous undertaking, being such a gracious host and frontman for the show + singing and playing so much new stuff. Even with grief weighing him down, he really picked up the mantel. And all the surprises were amazing: The new song out of nowhere, all the cool new arrangements, all the band members taking up the task of singing together, etc. They clearly put A LOT of work into this for us and Chester. Thank you for helping us heal LP and RIP my hero Chester. He must be truly proud somewhere.

What stands out to me the most in these later interviews is that Mike seems so distant and tired, and he let's Chester make most of the points. Mike is usually very enthusiastic and can't wait to get his points across. He looks defeated here. I believe the backlash to OML did make him question their decisions, you can almost see him cringing when Chester makes use of some of their usual interview buzzword pieces. I feel so bad for him. I think the trajectory they had envisioned for 2017 was that it would finally turn around for the band (not commercially, but personally), after all the personal struggles they had dealt with in the last couple of years. And then the backlash happened, not that it was that bad in itself, I just think they imagined that it would put them back in the top 40 game, looking at the later LPTV videos of Mike and Brad talking in the studio... And then everything with Chester happened. It's just such a shame.

Very good idea switching Faint and Bleed It Out around. Faint is a much stronger finish, and a much bigger song in general. Both songs are uptempo, so they can clearly bring some catharsis at the end of a show, but Faint is clearly the stronger one. Heavier, pulling on more of Chester's strengths and a major hit. A very good webcast btw, a good mix, a good night for Chester and very nice camera work. We even got to see a lot of Hahn and Bourdon. When you get all these angels you really see how much different stuff the guys are doing up there, makes it a way cooler experience.

If you take the steady decline in CD sales into consideration, I still think that this record did relatively better. It probably wasn't the success they hoped for though. I think they hoped to revive their career with a more accessible and modern sound, just like Coldplay, Paramore, and to some extend Nickelback. It won't pay off because the old fans/metal community hates it, and they're just too old and the Linkin Park name is too stigmatized to ever be "cool" in the top 40 range again. I hope the guys won't take this blow too hard, because while I don't really think OML is up there with their best work, I don't doubt for one second that every lyric and melody comes from a very real place. That's why Chester reacted so strong to the sellout comments.

This is pretty bad. It's not too unexpected, but personally I really hate this vibe. I always hated it in other pop songs. I really like a lot of pop music, but it has to be creative, good and authentic. This sounds like typical generic machine made pop. I don't really get angry though, LP was always a commercial and somewhat poppy band. They just took out whatever edge they had from the rock sound or experimental sound, and what's left of their sound is just too cookie-cutter and bland for me. I like the minor-vibe of Heavy more, it fits the band better. But sill, I don't like Heavy. It doesn't help these songs that Chester's vocal delivery is so squeaky and high. It doesn't really surprise me though, this is how he's sounded live for years, and also on THP when he wasn't yelling or screaming. Remember the verses of Guilty All The Same? It seems he really embraced his naturally high register voice in recent years. It's even prominent when comparing old interviews to new interviews. Good for him personally, because he probably isn't making his voice sound lower anymore on purpose, but having to prove something actually made for a better clean delivery in Chester's case. It had more depth and rasp, and it made the clean parts bearable. I have to disagree. "Heavy" is a good name, because it sort of works on more levels. It's the most prominent word of the chorus obviously, but it also matches the vibe of the "heavy" lyrics pretty well. At the same time, I think they were very aware of the irony of the name, which makes it the perfect statement for the first single of an album like this. It's sort of a meta-title. It's like Adele releasing "Hello" after years of silence. It's a line from the song, but it was obviously also saying "Hello, it's me" (I'm back) to the world.

Not that it really matters. But since it's being discussed, here's my assumption of Chester's political views. I suspect that Chester was probably a Republican back in the day, when the party hadn't gone so far right yet. But it just wouldn't make sense now. It wouldn't make sense for a guy who's so involved with environmental issues and charities, a guy who's so open minded with people and cultures to be part of what the Republican Party is now. I mean, they won't even acknowledge global warming. That seems like a pretty important issue to him and the rest of LP.

OMG are u implying that LP use autotune, they wouldz never!! Anyway, I really like the feel of this demo. There is something in the chord progression and choice of melody that doesn't sound as safe/bland as Linkin Park usually is. It's dark and dissonant, and the slightly off key vocals give me sort of a Deftones vibe. Very nice actually.

How could you do this? I was visiting Larry Pickett-live every day.

Chester does crack a little more on the studio version too. I believe the thing that makes it a lot stronger though, is that the harmonies in the chorus are way louder than they were on the album version. They are very effective and Mike really do them justice. Nice!

Chester needs less LP touring, those extra months were really good on him. He is really sounding great right now. Great audio mix and video too!

Most likely because Chester got injured. I still believe they would have added it once the cobwebs were off.

And it most likely won't. My guess is that it will be dark and experimental like the hip hop Mike tends to post himself nowadays. Those cheesy start-00's type beats are hopefully long gone.

I gotta say I'm more excited for this than I am for LP7. It would be a good idea for Mike and Chester to spend some time with FM and STP in my opinion. Some of the other guys seem burned out, so a break would probably do good for the creative process of the next LP record too. This is exciting!

Do you know that Phoenix played the cello part, or are you just assuming?