Well said, Derek. My two cents: Chester was an iconic part of the sound that made Linkin Park, but he was only one piece of the puzzle. It's always been about the synergy all of them brought to the studio and live performances. Personally, I've always seen Mike's songwriting and sound design as what really tied together everyone's ideas and contributions. Obviously without Chester the dynamic will shift, and sonically the vocals will be different for sure. But with the other five (assuming Rob is in), that core Linkin Park sound will surely still be there.
Linkin Park as an idea is uniquely and deliberately miscible for this type of evolution by design. Knowing what we know about the band themselves, their views of the hurdles they’d face in order to come back were extremely sober on their own behalf. That’s 2/3 the battle at this point and it sounds like they’ve found the final 1/3. Linkin Park is a big target. Luckily, that’s a double entendre.
Oh no, HAH, I’m not. I just like language. Mask off, that post actually took me an embarrassingly long time to write. Sometimes I’ll look for words in real time.
Well said. To add to this - too many people spend too much time worrying about what their favourite band's music should or shouldn't sound like. We all remember the endless angry comments every time the band changed their style even slightly. I fear the same will be true here - if there is new music, it will not be a carbon copy of Hybrid Theory, or Minutes to Midnight, or Living Things. Especially if there is a new vocalist, it will be different, and I just hope that fans are mature enough to accept that, and allow themselves to be excited for what's to come without negative comparisons to the classic Linkin Park they are nostalgic for (which for some fans, no new music will never live up to - nostalgia is a powerful thing). If there is new music, I'm just ecstatic to hear what they've cooked up.
Meteora b-sides and the fleshed out demos of the songs not featured on Meteora are actually better than almost everything on Meteora.
My manager at work didn't know the word *elucidate." Or how to set up direct deposit, despite working there for like over a decade. I taught him both.
At the very least they will announce a comeback tour with the existing members plus a touring vocalist (maybe to test the reception with the fans before going all in with the new line-up). The other option I can think of is just straight up announcing a comeback with a new singer + maybe a single/album announcement. The latter might too good to be true though. Either way, I am rooting for the band hard because I've grown up listening to them and they hold a special place in my heart, even though I don't actively listen to to their music anymore like I used to. Heck, it even got me to log back into this account after God knows how many years haha. I think the idea of getting a female singer might be a wise one. It would definitely not draw the same level of comparison with Chester as it might with a male singer. It could also help sonically break the pre and post-Chester era better.
Whatever LP will look like from now on I sure hope that they will go hard on the 5th if it turns out to be a live act! Tons of energy, stage presence and preferably with a good amount of agressiveness/high energy in the music. These elements always hit the spot for me and made LP stand out with other acts. It might not have been the heaviest of bands or the band with the most brutal screams all the time but they always reached the deepest depths of my soul whenever they took stage. Loving the well aged Meteora jokes again btw!
Many good points in there. It does feel like a special moment in time, and I also believe that the band is confident in what they are doing. That alone makes it something really exciting to look forward to, if the "new lead singer" mystery factor wasn't already enough. Honestly, can't help but think about it most of the time. Thursday couldn't come any sooner.
Too much Meteora slander (Unless it’s all jokes) [I know Minus is serious though] I would love a Meteora 2.0 Yes even in 2024 I’ve been addicted to Dropout Kings the past couple years and their 2nd album has a very similar vibe to first two Linkin Park albums
It's been over a decade of this, so I'll be perfectly frank for once: I don't actually think Meteora is BAD. At best it's average. I do however believe it is their worst album and should be called out as such. Many people don't seem to understand that the worst album doesn't mean a bad album. NIN's worst album is With Teeth in my opinion, but on my scale that rates it at a 9.0 in a sea of 9.5-10s. It's an amazing album, but objectively it's at the bottom of the list. However, it's much more fun to lean into it and watch people freak the fuck out than it is to have a measured take that people won't understand. It is the internet, after all.
Unlike Minus, I think Meteora is actually not great. I say this as a person whose first album they ever bought was Meteora.