Justin

You literally made up a scenario in your head, in which Mike is angry at Chester and resents him for dying, and then wrote an essay about how it’s wrong for Mike, who has never shown any indication that he feels that way, to feel that way. You even put ruin in quotes, saying that Chester’s goal wasn’t to “ruin” the band. No one in the band has ever said that. I am a hardcore fan and have been since 2001. Mike literally wrote an album about processing Chester’s death, and then did an entire tour where he spoke about Chester every single night, usually sharing a memory or story about him that related to whatever city he was in. I have no idea why you’re saying they’ve failed to honor the past. They literally spoke about Chester tonight on stage. What exactly do you want from them? What would make you feel satisfied that they’re honoring the past? A video montage and a eulogy for their friend at every concert?

Really moved me to hear Chester talking about New Orleans before TLTGYA. This show was in May of 2007, so I was home again by that point and would've been just about to finish my sophomore year of high school when this show took place. I wasn't lucky enough to personally see them when they came to New Orleans, but I have friends that were. One friend got her backpack signed by the band and gave it to me because she knew how big of a fan I was. None of the guys are from here, and they've only played here twice. I know they had MFR by this point and they were involved in helping the city after the storm, but they didn't need to come here personally to donate supplies and physically help build homes. They didn't need to talk to the locals about their experiences after the storm, which would end up inspiring Chester to write the lyrics of TLTGYA. They didn't need to do any of that, but they did it because they felt it was the right thing to do and they wanted to use their platform and their popularity to bring more attention to what was happening here. They are such good human beings, and it made me even more proud than I already was to be a fan of theirs.

He hasn't really gone hard against pop music since 2014. It's been 11 years lol. That only happened at the time because the marketing for The Hunting Party was that it was "visceral" and essentially the band being determined to bring hard rock back to mainstream radio. I thought it was sort of cringey then, but it was more of a bad marketing misstep than anything else, especially considering the fact that the first LP single after that "visceral" rock album was Heavy.

That's a weird stance to take. I guess I'm just used to it as an American who has seen NFL Super Bowl halftime shows become more and more elaborate, but the event itself is about entertaining the fans in attendance who have often paid exorbitant prices to be there. At least this was the kick off show and the game hadn't even started yet. They didn't stop the game for 30 minutes right in the middle of it to have this performance, which is what the NFL does during their own biggest game of the year.

Thanks for the Sopranos flashback lol

Does anyone else remember a video of Mike being followed by paparazzi? He was clearly busy, and the guy started being rude and basically implying that Mike was acting like a big shot who didn't have time for fans anymore. This was many years ago. Like probably 2008 or even earlier. I was showing someone a video of paparazzi being shitty to someone and had the idea to find this one as another example and couldn't find it anywhere. It's dumb, but it's bothering me now and making me think it might be a Mandela Effect thing lol

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.