TVC15
Herbie Chrost
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Last Active 03-22-22 12:57 am
Joined 11-04-12

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Thank You Linkin Park (And R.I.P. Chester)
1Linkin Park
A Thousand Suns

If you haven’t read my A Thousand Suns review, I owe a lot of my musical journey to not just this band, but ATS (and my dad because he was the one who bought the CD) in particular. It was an album that I did not understand at first because of how strange the songwriting and all those sounds being produced were, but with relentless listens, it opened itself up to me and is an album that keeps getting better with every listen for me. It’s an album that has gone through a lot with me, starting out as the censored version of the album that my dad (accidentally) bought, to the uncensored one just last year. It almost feels strange finally hearing all those swear words after being so used to them being missing. A Thousand Suns has gone down as the first album that was in my shoddy MP3 player, although not all of the songs made an appearance. It was a very slow and patient process before every song made it on.
2Linkin Park
Living Things

About a year later, Living Things dropped and my dad bought that as well. My mom didn’t quite like it, but it maintained that abrasive yet poppy sound that was only but hinted on ATS. Now, this one was much more immediate, being that there was some proper hooks in both the singing and the instrumentation. This was also around the time that I began to dig deeper into the band, watching some music videos on that old On Demand from Comcast. The Catalyst and Waiting for the End were entrancing and then Burn it Down debuted and I was always left in awe and wonder about the special effects in these videos and thinking how advanced and beautiful they looked. In hindsight, maybe they aren’t particularly impressive, but they absolutely are great spectacles that accompany those great songs.
3Linkin Park
Road To Revolution

The only Linkin Park CD that the library had was Road to Revolution and that was censored as well from both the CD and the DVD. Throughout that first listen, there was many times where in my head I’m screaming “so THAT’S who sang that song!” I was not used to listening to albums over an hour long or even had as many songs as that did, but it was always quick work with me. I’d always remember popping that DVD into this old tv of mine that was only good for playing video games and watching DVDs on and feeling like I was part of that concert, feeling the sweat and adrenaline from the crowd. That was the first time I saw a mosh pit as well. My dad would also love to watch that concert with me as well and as far as my dad’s library card would let him renew it, he loved to blast that CD in his car; it was essentially their greatest hits.
4Linkin Park
Hybrid Theory

The one great thing about Linkin Park is that they really got a song for everybody. I’ve met a lot of peers who’d dismiss them and say “their only good song is ____” yet the one song they think is their only objectively good song was always different. An incomplete list goes from Numb/Encore, In the End, Burn it Down, New Divide, Bleed it Out, and Faint. It never quite occurred to me at this stage that in just 4 albums, they had drastically changed their sound, even if this evolution took its time in just 10 years. For all the different sounds they explored, they always managed to make something cohesive with it, I think.
5Linkin Park
Meteora

What Meteroa and Hybrid Theory should really take credit for is their incredibly concise run times. Each song plows through with no needless repetitions; get through the verse, get through the chorus, just don’t do anything that’s going to lose the listener’s interest. They were literally the perfect albums for teenagers with short attention spans. Although for some bizarre reason, Hybrid Theory has never fully clicked with me, I always thought it was an inferior version of Meteora, particularly with Chester and Mike’s chemistry not being fully developed yet. Even then, Meteora is a bittersweet edition to the band’s catalogue as it was solely recorded to appease their record company’s appetite for capitalizing on the nu metal craze, hence why the following album was a complete 180 in style and sound.
6Linkin Park
Hybrid Theory

Still both albums had their hard jams, and I’ve always had an attachment to Hybrid Theory’s lyrics, if not for the music. Papercut, With You, and Points of Authority were especially standouts to me. It wouldn’t be for a few more years that the gravity of Chester’s background really hit me. He was venting a lot of bad shit on that album… especially on Points of Authority which turned out to be about him being molested when he was a kid. It actually quite surprises me to this day that the song’s true meaning is not common knowledge to either fans or listeners. Chester really did not want to be especially open about it and it really showed.
7Grey Daze
No Sun Today

Back when YouTube was still the main source of me listening to music and finding new stuff, Grey Daze popped up and was astounded by both the lyrics and emotion that Chester sang with. It’s fantastic alternative/post grunge that is essential listening for any fan of Chester Bennington. My favorite tracks are Anything, Anything and Sometimes. Especially Sometimes, that song still hits me hard. No Sun Today is fantastic and the album before it is pretty damn good as well. Leagues ahead of Dead By Sunrise, if that helps with your curiosity.
8Fort Minor
The Rising Tied

Speaking of which, I’ve never had too much of an attachment to DBS, but there’s no denying what a force Fort Minor was. I remember my introduction was a brilliant mashup between the LP demo Public Service Announcement and Petrified. Then when I gave Rising Tied a listen, I remember being totally shocked hearing Where’d You Go once more thinking “so THAT’S who sang that song!” It’s really just a sobering thing looking back at Linkin Park and the two frontmen and thinking about how invincible they pretty much were. Even with the potential career suicide of Minutes to Midnight, they still maintained a lot of relevancy and found that much more teenagers to speak to. Hell, most of the Linkin Park songs I was originally familiar with were the Minutes to Midnight singles - I just didn’t have a name to associate them with.
9Linkin Park
Linkin Park Underground Eleven

Also on YouTube, I was addicted to listening to those LP Underground releases (the band has some seriously awesome demos and b-sides that are absolutely worth checking out) as well as fan made remixes. Just absolutely hooked.
10Linkin Park
Hybrid Theory EP

Oh, by freshman year I had begun to branch out to a lot of other artists outside of Linkin Park and the pop music my mom was trying to force on me (e.g. Against Me!, Neutral Milk Hotel, Eminem, and Nine Inch Nails) but half of those artists I wouldn’t have found out if it wasn’t for Sputnik… And I discovered Sput through that flagged 2.5 review for Meteora. Because users who know what LPFTW truly stood for and think it’s far worse than what is the popular misconception, I will simply say that yes LPFTW did stand for Linkin Park for the Win. Even then, Linkin Park was still very much in constant rotation.
11Linkin Park
The Hunting Party

The Hunting Party should have been an album that “fucked up the game” but, sadly, it didn’t make the impact that it should have. It was that and The Pale Emperor that at this period of rock music that tried to revive the genre with Manson eloquently proclaiming “Rock isn’t dead, it just needs a kick in the ass.” Unfortunately, many people have moved on from both Linkin Park and Marilyn Manson. I quite remember too, my dad had bought The Hunting Party the same week that it dropped. This was an album that I relentlessly listened to. I had still yet to fully wrap my head around A Thousand Suns but THP was the true album that got me to fully embrace heavier music, not Hybrid Theory or Meteora, strangely. They certainly warmed me up to it, but those crushing and varying riffs on top of the unpolished vocal performances and those brilliant solos and Rob’s legendary drumming performance… It truly takes me back as I’m currently listening to it as I’m writing this list.
12Linkin Park
The Hunting Party

I’ll never forget listening to this album while playing games on Kongregate.com and the live commentary of THP on Mike’s Twitter. On one of his Tweets, he hinted that Until it’s Gone was actually about watching your children grow up and that happening so fast but with Chester on vocals and in this timing, it’s just excruciating.

Once the hype for THP died, I largely stopped listening to Linkin Park. By the next year, I had moved onto a lot of different stuff; beginning to dip my timid toes into black metal, listening to The Holy Bible for the first time, binging on 70s Bowie, and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea became my favorite album. I’d nostalgia jam them occasionally, but I never grew to hate them even if their discography became hit or miss when I wasn’t in the proper mood.
13Linkin Park
One More Light

Oh Chester… I wish we took you seriously when Heavy dropped and those first words were “I don’t like my mind right now.” And then this video where Chester said Sharp Edges (the most optimistic song on the album) was his favorite on the record and as of the time of that filming, he’d been listening to it a lot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv7Hmd-6LEo… I feel like One More Light should now be given an extra shot, especially now that it makes too much sense that Chester adamantly wanted to push in a direction more upbeat and happy. And how else could he make songs so upbeat and happy without dabbling in some pop? It almost feels like OML should have been a therapy session.
14Linkin Park
Minutes To Midnight

I think I’ve done too much surface stuff, but hell, isn’t a whole lot of people’s encounter with this band similar? Their music was always there for me when I was feeling bad when I was a kid. Even in high school I encountered some peers who loved Linkin Park like it was the early 2000s. The girl who got me into Rise Against loves both those guys and LP, just to name one person that sticks out in my mind a whole lot. My dad who’s about 10 years older than Chester adores Linkin Park and everything they’ve done. His favorite Linkin Park album shifts between Meteora and Minutes to Midnight. Shit, he changed his mind about hating the first few singles from One More Light because “I love Chester’s voice, he’s an incredible singer.” Today my dad is more devastated than me or my older brother who to this day maintains that Linkin Park is his (my older brother’s) favorite band.
15Linkin Park
A Thousand Suns

To you Linkin Park: many, many, many thanks for the entertainment you brought me and a generation (and a half). To you Chester: you were a monster behind the mic. That 18 second scream on Given Up will always be legendary but now event thinking about that song is painful. It almost makes too much sense that you have been singing about the same problems for 6 straight albums. The abuse you endured should never be felt by anyone. Ever. Linkin Park was your therapy in those early days; like I said earlier you were venting a lot of terrible things on Hybrid Theory, but in retrospect, it was almost like you were still unable to escape them. You also said One More Light’s themes were driven by what the whole band was feeling at that point of time and just venting it all out.
16Dead By Sunrise
Out of Ashes

I just don’t know what more to say or I’m repeating what hasn’t already been said either in this list or in your RIP thread on this website. 17 years of singing about angst and personal problems and I hope you have finally found the peace that you’ve desired. God rest your soul, Chester Bennington.
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