Justin

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.

What makes those songs sound poor as compared to "newer" songs like Keys and AFN, in your opinion? Is it just something about the way he plays them? He does use the same setup that Brad would be using if he was on stage as far as I'm aware, so it'd have to be his actual playing style right?

Most of the people saying that wouldn't actually care enough to read this interview. They just want to hate on the band by saying "It's not even LP anymore, everyone left". They're not going to actually research the topic. It's not even worth the mental energy of debating them in the first place.

I think it's more that they don't want to be perceived as a tribute band, nor do they feel the need to keep reminding us that everything that do from this moment on is dedicated to the memory of Chester Bennington. We all know that it is and always will be. Linkin Park is still trying to forge their own way forward with Emily and Colin as full members and just releasing the first of hopefully many albums with them. Overdoing it with Chester tributes and nostalgia for the old days runs the risk of Emily and Colin starting to be perceived as stand-ins for the real singer and drummer of LP, if that makes any sense. So while obviously no one will ever forget Chester or erase his legacy, it's probably going to become more of a time and place thing when they choose to explicitly pay tribute to him or dedicate things to his memory. With all that said, Mike and Emily both talked about Chester during the Zach Sang interview that was released on the same day that From Zero was released. I don't think there's a hesitation to talk about him or an effort to keep people from thinking about him in anything they do.

I haven't received my physical CD yet, but I did get the expanded digital edition that has the 46 page digital booklet. There isn't a traditional "thank you" section. It's photos, lyrics, and credits at the end. The only thing outside of that is the single line "We are profoundly grateful to everyone who helped make this possible. Thank you."

Check out this video, featuring Drumeo's Brandon Toews learning the drum parts for every song on From Zero! Featuring comments on each track from LP's own Colin Brittain.

I disagree with this entire comment, but I feel like I need to point out that Brad is still in the band.

Yeah but the flipside of that logic is that the band still wants to be the band. What I mean is that if Chester were here, this would've been a song that Chester sang solo without Mike, just like Emily sung it solo without Mike. I don't think the band is going to say "You sound great Emily, but unfortunately you're not a man so either you need to scream or Mike is going to need a vocal part in this song at some point".

I mean I was just going by Chester's own comments during the ATS era when he said "I don't want to scream anymore. I think all of us at that point were going, ‘If I keep doing this, this is just what I’m going to keep doing for the rest of my life.’” Then in 2012 he said "I'm a 36 year old man. I'm not an angst-ridden teenager anymore." So I'm not saying there's a cut-off age where an artist must stop making nu-metal. I'm saying that Chester himself alluded to not wanting to make that type of music anymore as he got older. Not entirely. That album is about real feelings that the band members were having in their lives at that time, some of which were negative, but it's not like the album is a downer as a whole. There are some positive songs on that album that convey a message of hope. Yes, but they didn't want to deliver it in the style of Hybrid Theory. That's partly why they did a nu-metal version as a joke and then said "There's your Hybrid Theory, now shut the fuck up" before having to edit that comment out due to so many "fans" feeling personally insulted.

Then go listen to the albums by them that fit that description. Everyone in the band aside from Emily and Colin is pushing 50. If they aren’t inspired to make nu-metal and they try forcing it, it would be apparent in the finished product.

Yeah I figured. I was being genuine because these discussions are interesting. I have to believe that thought came up with the band as they were choosing the singles. Ultimately I think that the haters will find a way to criticize no matter what, so they probably just put all thoughts about potential haters aside. HITC is probably the closest the band has come to the HT/Meteora sound since that era ended, and the haters were still out in force saying that Emily was trying to copy Chester and that the scream was an attempt to one-up Chester's scream on Given Up, etc. So I don't think they'll ever say "Now this is Linkin Park!" no matter what as long as Emily is their vocalist. With that said, if they keep trying to appeal to those people and win them over, they'd run the risk of coming off as way too try-hard as if they feel they need to prove that they are indeed still Linkin Park. There's definitely a balance to be had when choosing singles from this album.

Can you elaborate? What do you mean by "songs like this", and what type of songs would you personally be releasing as singles if you were the one making those decisions? I'm asking because Over Each Other sounds like it's meant to be a radio single. It's catchy and not too overpowering. I think it'll do well.