Anyone notice that during all the BID performances he sounds bad? It's like he struggles to sing that song. He would sound good during Waiting for the End, In the End, Numb, but when they play BID it's like he can barely sing it.
The same could be said really for any song in the band's repertoire with a high pitched screaming chorus. Chester's a brilliant studio vocalist (there's no doubting that), but he's always had difficulty replicating tracks live that have higher "screamed" notes in the chorus, even since the early days. "New Divide" is a song where Chester either is completely on, or completely off. "IN MY REMAINS" has been an issue for Chester live since they started doing it (the Home Depot Center performance being a good example of his troubles), and of course "BURN IT DOWN" like you've mentioned. It doesn't mean anything negative about his vocal ability. He still can out-sing many current rock vocalists out there. Those three songs are just very tough songs to sing. I mean, if there's one thing Chester has to be given credit for...he may be getting older but he certainly hasn't limited himself on studio recordings due to his age. If anything, he's recorded more complex parts as he's gotten older (which of course become an issue for live performances).
I've only noticed he can't hold the "up" and "down" as long as in the studio version, doesn't bother me a lot, though.
Honestly, BID is a hard song to sing. Pretty much everything that Derek said in this thread so for, I agree with.
I suspect it's simply because the chorus is quite demanding - obviously, the other songs that you mention also have demanding sections, but I suspect it's the long, sustained notes in the chorus of BID that he struggles with. The reason I suggest this is because I've heard him say in the past that he finds Crawling challenging, due to the long sustained notes.
Its kinda 50/50, either he gets it or he doesn't because you honestly can't say he always fails at singing that song, the rio social show, sirius xm, and live in berlin are just some of the bigger examples for when he sang BURN IT DOWN and sounded nearly flawless! Lately he hasn't been at the top of his game, I'm thinking his vocal chords are a bit strained from the tour so this break he's getting from touring is very much needed.
Chester can sing high notes, and he can also sing long sustained notes. The songs where he has to sing parts that consist of high notes that are ALSO long sustained notes are the ones he struggles with - Crawling, New Divide, and Burn it Down are probably the "big three" in that regard, with songs like Given Up, What I've Done, With You, and The Catalyst also having parts that cross into that territory. All of those songs are ones that he has very few mediocre performances of - he either really nails them or he doesn't. It also doesn't help that the band has been routinely writing material that sits right at the edge of Chester's vocal range...the last two albums in particular (as well as the Dead By Sunrise record) have high As and Bs all over them, there are even a few high Cs thrown in here and there (the ad-lib part of Robot Boy, the last line of I'll Be Gone, parts of The Messenger...), which are VERY high notes to be singing full-voice. Chester wouldn't have even thought about trying stuff like that during the Hybrid Theory days...his toughest song back then was Crawling, by far, and the chorus in that one actually mainly consists of G# and A notes - Chester's singing stuff now that sits a third above what most people thought the top of his range was 10 years ago, and it's not like your voice gets higher as you get older...if anything, the opposite happens. Chester's been pushing his limits a lot lately, which I don't think a lot of people realize.
This is the best answer so far. I like this. Also, I was thinking, during songs like BID he should lower his voice to make it easier like he does when he sings The Messenger live
This is completely true. Their shows, especially now, hit hard from start to finish. The only slower songs anymore are the LoATR/SotD/Iridescent medley. He's really only getting any rest on songs where Mike's got rap verses. I acknowledge the fact that he struggles on certain songs on a semi-regular basis, but I also acknowledge the fact that probably nobody else in the rock scene could sing his entire set, especially night after night the way he does. Add the screaming he does on top of that, and it almost seems miraculous what he does. My biggest hope is that he doesn't push too far and lose the ability he has. I'd rather them tone down the live shows if it means a few more decades of Linkin Park.
IMO, Chester sounds good during the verses, but he does struggle a bit with the chorus. I remember at first, he sucked singing The Catalyst live IMO, but he got better. He really did not do well with In Pieces live, which is kind of weird because it's lower pitch than a lot of songs they play. He doesn't do very well with IMR, but I do love that song.
Most of the time, he really struggles to sing it. "We're building it EEEERRRRP" He seems to have gotten better though. Watch the SiriusXM show, at the second chorus.
I know and I wasn't saying I could do it either. But messing up notes does reflect negatively on his vocal ability. That's what I was getting at.
Chester seems to be having difficulty at songs where he has to yelp all the time (Crawling, Burn It Down, New Divide, In My Remains) or when he has to somewhat grunt (In Pieces, Lost in the Echo) or when he has to tone down his voice a little (Burning in the Skies). If they're performing LITE at the AMAs, Chester really needs to practice it more. :/