Linkin Park Are Back!
My favourite band has returned in a big way, but not everyone is okay with it
Hey! Have you heard the news? Linkin Park released their first new music that isn’t remastered material from the vault last week.
Seven years after One More Light, the band’s final studio album with the late and great Chester Bennington, they have announced a new album alongside the highly-anticipated welcome of their new singer. In a release campaign that sent fans into a frenzy, a mysterious timer on their website counted down then began counting up from zero – the title of the forthcoming record, out 15 November. This is rather fitting given that the band was originally called Xero and this next phase of their career must feel like beginning again. The big reveal was also accompanied by brand new single “The Emptiness Machine” and a world tour – though just six cities over five countries – kicking off no more than a week later in Los Angeles. Wait, what? A new singer?!
That’s right, LP are not only back with fresh tunes, but they’ve also had a significant lineup change. Enter Emily Armstrong, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of L.A. rock trio Dead Sara and now Grammy Award-winning alternative act Linkin Park. They’re only one of the most successful bands of the 21st century, no pressure. In the livestream where they broke the news and played their first show together, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Shinoda introduced the latest members to fans worldwide. Along with Emily on vocals, Colin Brittain – who has produced for the likes of Papa Roach, All Time Low, A Day to Remember and Story of the Year – is replacing longtime member Rob Bourdon on drums and Alex Feder will be the band’s live guitarist in place of Brad Delson, who will continue as a studio member.
After Chester’s tragic passing in 2017, the remaining five members would go on to face the daunting task of filling his shoes. While Mike has more than proved himself on the mic with songs like “Invisible” and “Sorry for Now” – not to mention his 2018 solo record Post Traumatic – it would have been difficult to balance dual vocal duties. In the meantime, the rumours of who could have been assuming the lead role were wild and abundant, including Amy Lee of Evanescence and, most recently, Derryck Whibley of Sum 41. A number of legendary musicians joined the band for a massive set as part of Chester’s Celebration of Life from the Hollywood Bowl on 28 October in 2017. Everyone from Gavin Rossdale of Bush and Oli Sykes of Bring Me the Horizon to Daron Malakian of System of a Down and Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 made an appearance. Even Derryck was there, so that rumour wasn’t too farfetched.
Finding somebody else to act as the face of a band is undoubtedly a tough decision. Do they have the right style? Do they have the experience? Do they get along with the rest of the band? Of course, established artists have done it before and gone on to have hugely successful careers – look at AC/DC, for God’s sake. Some of my favourite bands, like Dream on Dreamer, Hands Like Houses, and Of Mice & Men, have done just that and thrived. Hell, who can forget the eight-year stint with Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba stepping in for Tom DeLonge as one third of Blink before their iconic reunion in 2022? In saying that, it’s always a bold move when the previous singer has died, especially one with such a distinct voice.
Consider Stone Temple Pilots, for example. Original vocalist Scott Weiland carried that band, yet they still managed to appoint a new singer, Jeff Gutt, in 2017 and have just announced an Australia tour for the 30th anniversary of Purple, which I guarantee will sell out. Even Chester fronted them briefly on the EP High Rise in 2013. The show must go on, right? Since One More Light, Linkin Park have released a live version of the album, 20th anniversary editions of Hybrid Theory and Meteora with bonus tracks, and a greatest hits compilation titled Papercuts. We were also treated to two albums of Chester’s original recordings over new music from his first band Grey Daze, Amends and The Phoenix.
So, what do I think of my all-time favourite band finally coming back with new members and an album on the way? To be honest, I’m totally down for it. I’ve read that there are people out there who find it disappointing, even disrespectful, though I don’t fully understand why. I mean, it’s not like the musical equivalent of remaking The Crow (I’m still mad). Chester was one of a kind. Everybody, especially the band, knows this. But Linkin Park are not just one man. His life is a legacy and he left us a wealth of music to cherish for as long as we live. Why can’t the band honour his memory and do him proud by performing the songs that they wrote together with others? Why should their enduring creative talent go with him?
I’m a loyal fan – a superfan, you might say – and I trust them. I’ll be honest, I checked out Dead Sara’s top five suggested tracks on Spotify and was underwhelmed. I had also never heard of the band or their frontwoman before, so the announcement caught me off guard along with everyone else. You’d think that an artist of Linkin Park’s calibre would be able to choose from the best of the best, yet they went with somebody relatively unknown. When I first checked them out last week, Dead Sara had only around 160K followers on Spotify. At the time of writing this, the number has more than doubled. Emily’s gravelly cleans and searing screams fit snugly into the band’s sound during their streamed set on Thursday. She ripped through classic bangers like “Crawling”, “Numb” and “What I’ve Done” with apparent ease, commanding the stage in cargo pants and a studded belt.
I’ve also heard that there is some controversy surrounding her past, which has been made public since the announcement and tarnished many people’s views of her. I’m aware of it, but I don’t judge her for it. She has since addressed it on her socials and denounced her previous actions, anyway. The cancel culture in the music community is infuriating sometimes. Nonetheless, Linkin Park are back, baby! I know the majority of you probably fell off after Minutes to Midnight, but I honestly believe that A Thousand Suns and Living Things feature some of their best work and I can’t wait for From Zero to drop in a couple months. If “The Emptiness Machine” is anything to go by, it sounds like we might actually be getting some riffs again. This may be a different version of the band that we know and love – and probably not the one that most expected – but the passion is still there, which is enough for me.
Watch the From Zero livestream below and decide for yourself.