Justin

He's one of the only people I have blocked on Instagram. I just can't. Once he went to see LP live and, in response to Mike saying that the band isn't trying to erase the past, started screaming "AHHH! YOU'RE USING MY WORDS AGAINST ME, BITCH!" I was done.

100% agreed. You guys feel like family to me at this point. I love this site.

Chester vs the 2nd chorus of New Divide was iconic. "Give me rea-" 😂

OML does seem to get unfairly maligned a lot of the time. I see it being spoken of at times as if it's just a given that of course it's their worst album, and that's not fair.

The thing with that criticism is that it feels like no matter what LP's next album sounds like, you'd say OML is still the last true LP album simply by virtue of it being the last LP album with Chester on vocals. Am I wrong? Like is there a world for you in which their next album causes you to say "Now THIS is a Linkin Park album"?

I really like the harmony on the chorus of HITC. Also, GTG... Incredible song. Incredible melodies. Incredible performances by Mike and Emily.

He literally said "I don't like it" in another interview, but he didn't single out that band specifically. He was talking about watching any LP cover bands that include a vocalist who tries their best to sound and look just like Chester, of which there are more than one, and how they quickly shot down any thoughts of getting a Chester soundalike to bring back LP. He ended up saying "That's good for their band and what they do, but I don't want that in our band". I get the feeling that he personally doesn't like the concept of cover bands at all, since there was also an interview where he implied that if a band is good they should tour on their own music instead of someone else's, while at the same time I'm sure he appreciates the fact that he's able to say that LP even have tribute/cover bands. So he's never going to be so blunt as to say "I don't like cover bands that play our music", but he has made it pretty clear over the last few years that he isn't a fan.

One of my favorite songs on MTM. I think it could work in their current live show during a change-of-pace type section. I have full faith that they'd be able to work out at least a cool transition that includes a verse/chorus of In Between.

I'm not usually one to say this about most LP songs, but I actually do think Easier To Run is far too personal as Chester's story for anyone else to sing.

I'd like the band to bring back the 2001 live version of High Voltage.

Honest question: Do the transitions in ATS hurt the listening experience for you? I'll admit that I enjoyed hearing the songs end with no transitions when we got the instrumentals for ATS.

I liked it when it was first released and I still like it now lol I remember when Mike debuted it on IG live and the only thing I didn't like was how short it was. I was never one to be like "Oh no it's too poppy sounding!" I try to take songs for what they are without preconceived notions about what they should be, and I think Heavy is a good song. It's not LP's best. It's probably not even in my top 30 LP songs, but some people's over the top response to it has always been silly to me. As for the album as a whole, I think these songs would've been well received if they'd been released like 1-2 songs at a time on different albums. OML is like answering the question "What if FZ was full of songs like OEO or Stained?" Those songs were great as a change of pace, but when you sit down and listen to OML all the way through it is easy to find yourself wanting the band to kick into another gear just once. It says a lot that the outro of SFN is one of the most high energy moments on the entire album.

I haven't had time to write a full review yet, but I'll give my current rankings for top FZ songs and LP albums! FZ Songs: 1. Good Things Go 2. The Emptiness Machine 3. Stained 4. Overflow 5. Two Faced 6. Over Each Other 7. IGYEIH 8. Heavy is the Crown 9. Cut the Bridge 10. Casualty Albums: 1. A Thousand Suns 2. Minutes to Midnight 3. Meteora 4. Living Things 5. From Zero 6. Hybrid Theory 7. The Hunting Party 8. One More Light

This could be a good thing. They've been going really hard since September, and 2025 will obviously be huge and pretty much non-stop for the band once the tour gets going. The break might be a good chance for them to catch their breath, so to speak, and relax for a while. That's a bit of an understatement, I'd say!

Sounds like they spent way too much by booking huge bands, had to raise ticket prices as a result, and then didn't sell nearly enough to make any of it financially viable.