This live stream and news brought me back to 2003 when I was anticipating the release of Meteora. It's good to have LP back. Digging the new song and I like Emily's voice. She reminds me of early 2000s Chester live with the rawness.
So... excited for the future. As a Linkin Park fan that has drank the Kool-Aid.. My thoughts: Given the track record of Linkin Parks ever going route of re-writing themselves, which I adore, I am excited to see what this new album entails. You have to take it exactly as its titled "From Zero". Absolutely, it's fresh, it's new, and it's LINKIN PARK. Is LINKIN PARK from prior? No. First thing I did after seeing and hearing the live performance, was listen to the tracks with Chester. And I realized, she's rough on the edges, she doesn't have a "sound", I guess, but somehow it works. It's new.. it's like coming from an accident and learning to walk / run again. But that's the thing, have to come to accept that reality, take it easy, and enjoy this ride. We have to accept we have to let this grow and mature. I heard potential. I want to hear songs that are meant for Emily Armstrong with Linkin Park infused. I want to hear Emily in the lyrics. I want to feel Emily, like I did Chester or any lead vocalist for that matter in any band. IMO, this is why I felt in love with Linkin Park initially, next to the sound. Now, as the fan not drinking the Kool-Aid.. I am worried. There were times she cracked. There was times it was extremely rough to watch. Then there was that banter with Mike at the end about learning to sing in a short period of time. But then again.. we always pick on Mike .. (thank you Ken Jeong) Also worried about the longevity of this experiment.. Is this going to be a one album and then switch vocalist because it didn't work? In this era of streaming and the music industry not being the same it was from when LINKIN PARK was conceived, worries me. There's a lot of uncertainty for me to feel comfortable and excited, but if there is one man to trust the process, is Mike. Closing thoughts: I am rooting under Mike's tutelage, we get the soul of Emily Armstrong in this album. We need that to come through, I want them to succeed. I am not particularly excited for the new track, my girlfriend said "hey this song sounds familiar to another song we've heard before..." And immediately scrolled through Amazon Music and said "Yea, it sounds like Final Masquerade", and I get it. He's trying to find a sound that works with Emily. The studio version of the song was banging, and I loved how she sounded in it. Live? Not so much. I hope the album has some gems and I am hoping for the best. See you guys November 15th 2024.
Still crazy that they got Grimace to do a cameo in the video, just to have to frame, just to deceive us all, SMH