I think the difference is that Mike sings with emotion and Chester sings with his voice. Emotion is suited better for most of the darker stuff of Linkin Park, but the band always needs their CB. Chester can only sound two ways while singing: hurt, and rage. Mike just sounds more genuine while singing. Plus, at least in the case of UIG/GATS vs RBLN, Mike's lyrics are FAR superior. GATS is decent and UIG is lazy at best lyrically. Mike has imagery and well written lines while Chester sings "that you don't know what you've got / oh you don't know what you've got / no you don't know what you've got". Maybe have Mike (if we can assume the singers write their own lyrics) write his lyrics...
I disagree, Chester can sound more than hurt or angry. Out Of Time by STP shows that. Hell, even in Rebellion, he sounds neither hurt or enraged.
Fine. Rage, hurt, and rock 'n roll. I should have specified that I meant when he's seeing emotionally. Eh
How do you know UIG is Chester's? Besides it's hard to say one is a better lyricist when they're collaborating together on the lyrics (which is always how it's been).
Chester completely destroys Mike as a vocalist. Technical and good singing overall is not about how high you can get and how well you can hit those notes, but more about how you can bring the emotion, feeling, expressions you want to your performance. And Chester is absolutely amazing when it comes to that, whereas Mike mostly sounds the same way in every track he sings. He's still sounding like he's struggling and that he's unsure of what he's doing, that's why I dont find much feeling in his performances...Nothing more genuine about him than just a guy that's trying to figure out how to sing. As for the comparison between the two, for LP's low-key,more subtle,darker stuff I can only say this: [video=youtube;l3NQ4GM-Hc4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3NQ4GM-Hc4[/video]
I think Mike sounds more genuine a lot of the times because he probably writes majority of the lyrics so he sounds more genuine than Chester because the lyrics are more likely coming from him. I like MIke's singing but I also like his rapping. I think a good mix of both is the perfect way to go. Yes! This is something ive always wanted! A Mike singing album
Mike is a good emotional singer that did well on the album but had mixed performance on stages. I agree that Chester lacks emotion but sometimes he did good with sad slow songs such as My December. They complement each other. Both of them have showed improvement. And a full song with Mike is always welcome.
LP7 should feature more Mike and Phoenix on Vocals.. That would be cool. String-based record next please? Let Phoenix shines again on cello.
While I wouldn't say his vocals are bad, I would say there isn't anything terribly distinctive about them. If I heard him guest on a track I probably wouldn't recognize him like I would Chester. And I do agree that most of his vocals sound the same. I would like to see him work on that a bit before he tried to carry more songs by himself. Just a little more versatility would go a long way. He reminds me way too much of John McCrea (the vocalist of Cake) without the distinctive flair. That said, I do enjoy the contrast between him and Chester quite a bit.
I think Linkin Park nowadays needs both singers equally. They are such a good duo together, and having this kind of variety opens up so many options for the band. Love them both.
I think Mike's problem live is a confidence thing. When he used to sing background back in the day, he wasn't thinking about it. He was just doing it because they needed those notes sung and Chester was doing something else. I remember an interview somewhere where he mentioned actually trying to train his voice and learn to sing properly, around the MTM era. There was also an interview from their front of house sound guy around the same time that specifically mentioned how soft he was singing. To me this suggests that he's thinking instead of just letting his voice ring out into the microphone. He's trying to be a singer instead of just singing in concerts. It's the same deal as someone who is a great singer at home in the shower but can't keep a steady, strong note in front of a crowd. It's a barrier that he will have to break through, but I think once he does he will shine.
He didn't just sing back in the day, he used to scream and growl along with Chester. Seems he's found his rhythm and groove back with his style of hip hop again as well instead of the hammy imitation of Jay-Z's execution. The band is totally in the zone for this touring cycle!
I agree. Chester's voice is distinctive whereas Mike's is pretty plain. That's another reason why I prefer Chester.
This. Would describe them as the perfect dynamic duo. As much as I like the rest of the band, THEY are the reason I listen to Linkin Park. To people who say Chester can't sing with emotion: [video=youtube;W1ggXwvrtSo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1ggXwvrtSo[/video] I will admit Chester's singing has gotten worse but he is still one of the better singers out there.
I agree with this. But a big part of Shinoda's value as an LP vocalist is how he contrasts with Chester's voice and vice-versa, so I think there's that to consider too. The warmth in his voice allows him to do things that Chester can't quite match As a standalone singer, he's good enough to kill it on the right electronic beats; I'm looking forward to hearing some of that on the "Mall" soundtrack. He couldn't carry a whole album with that singing but it does make for special moments throughout "Midnight", "A Thousand Suns" and "Living Things". And, as a talented multi-instrumentalist, there are plenty of ways in which he makes up for whatever he lacks in the singing department. "Mall" release date is way off from being confirmed.