Now I haven’t talked about major release music much here. But I think it’s time for a special case, because one of my all-time favorites just committed suicide a week ago. I’m sure you already know who I’m talking about now but it’s time I give out some of my own thoughts.
Chester Bennington was the iconic voice of Linkin Park. Said band for the longest time I considered my favorite band. While I don’t consider them my #1 favorite anymore (I actually can’t say a favorite now. I’ve discovered so many good metal/alternative rock/etc. stuff recently I can’t just say one is top over all). I still love their music a lot. And listening to them in my younger days probably helped shape my music tastes. I can thank Linkin Park to being my gateway to so many rocking music that I currently have stored on my iTunes. While I kinda agree that Linkin Park’s kinda fallen off since their first two albums that’s not to say they didn’t have any hits afterward.
In fact this post I want to share links to some of my favorite songs from Linkin Park and/or Chester Bennington. Because there’s no better tribute to a recently deceased musician then to share the love for the music they made in their lifetimes. Some of these I actually didn’t discover until I decided to look at all of Chester’s discography after his unfortunate death. Because as much as I was a Linkin Park fan, I never did get the feeling to find everything Chester did. So I found some good songs that I probably wouldn’t have found until much later if ever. It’s still sad that he’s gone, but at least I got some new tracks from him that I’ll cherish amongst my collection of songs to listen to amongst all the old favorites.
After the break I’ll share links to youtube videos and also some thoughts on particular songs that were some of my favorites throughout Chester and/or Linkin Park’s career.
I’ll start with some of the new ones I discovered after his death
Morning After by Chester & Julien-K
This was a collab with Julien-K (Which their only previous work I know of is some of their work they did for the Sonic franchise admittedly) and it’s an awesome track that I was never aware of
State of the Art by Chester & DJ Lethal
This was also a collab but with a band called DJ Lethal. I think for most songs in general that I like I look for a good chorus especially if the beat is good and it’s loud like many metal songs. Many songs I like can have great build-ups but I usually wait till I hear the chorus to decide if I want to keep it in my iTunes collection. And a lot of Linkin Park songs are like that.
This song was technically created by the main singer of Korn (Which BTW is another band I like a lot of music from though they are quite a bit on the darker end edgier side compared to Linkin Park) though he couldn’t sing it himself do to some weird contract thing. So he got some friends to sing the songs instead. And Chester was one of them. Listening to it it very much has that Korn feel and Chester’s voice doesn’t hurt it in anyway. Just awesome work by both the maker of the song and Chester
This is actually a song I discovered long ago. Though I always thought it was some lost unreleased Linkin Park song and not actually by an entirely different band. Though it makes more sense since the main vocals felt pretty out of place for a Linkin Park song. But I don’t mean that in a negative way. It’s a really good track and Chester compliments the vocalist pretty well when he does sing in parts of it.
Dead by Sunrise Songs
There was a short time that Chester had a side band some time ago. Most of the stuff isn’t as extreme as Linkin Park could get. But the 5 songs I’ve highlighted here I particularly liked enough to keep.
Rock and Roll (Part 2) / Knockers by Handsome Boy Modeling School
Starting at about the 3:30 point and ending at 5:00 in the 7 minute hip-hop collaboration track by Handsome Boy Modeling School is a pretty cool short thing by Chester. There’s also an earlier part of the song with Mike Shinoda that’s also awesome. But since this is a tribute to Chester I’d thought I’d point out where his part of the song is. But feel free to listen to the entire thing. It has some funny stuff from artists that weren’t part of Linkin Park whatsoever.
Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue (Covered by Chester)
While I don’t know if this was just Chester putting his voice along with the old Motley Crue track or if they actually went together to remake the track together or something. Chester sings this classic pretty well I’d say.
Tomorrow by Stone Temple Pilots
Chester was apparently a huge Stone Temple Pilots fan and once dreamed of joining in with the band. And for a short time he got that wish some years ago and got to be the head singer for one 5-track album. All the songs are pretty decent but I felt Tomorrow stood out the most out of all of them.
Riders on the Storm (The Doors) cover by Santana
Another classic track that Chester covered pretty well in collaboration with Carlos Santana.
Not to be confused with the famous zombie show. It’s just another fantastic collab song that Chester was involved with
Linkin Park
But of course we can’t talk about Chester without getting into his main band Linkin Park. I’ll probably have a full list of songs I really like that involve Chester’s strong voice down below but I will give special notices for particular songs I have always loved from Linkin Park
This song is just full of emotion from start to finish. The music video for it is also wonderfully animated and just added more to the song.
While yes the chorus of the song has basically become a meme for every emo/edgy thing. I nonetheless really like this song as it really shows the vocal range that Chester can immediately jump to on the turn of a dime. What might arguably be better then the original song though is the remix they did for the Reanimation album. Where Aaron Lewis of Staind fame lent his voice for part of the remixed song.
I think this song might of been the one that first introduced me to Linkin Park. Either that one or Numb. But either way I love this track to pieces. The piano, the build-up from Mike Shinoda, and of course the unforgettable chorus sang from Chester. Just a wonderfully crafted song that will always be a favorite amongst many Linkin Park fans.
This song may very well be the one that comes up most often whenever anyone thinks of Linkin Park and for good reason as it’s a pretty signature tune from their 2nd album that’s definitely one of their best. I have always loved this song a lot.
Here’s a list of other recommended songs with Linkin Park and Chester that I’ll link:
But I think I’ll leave this one off with one more song. Because I think given the lyrics and theme of the song is most appropriate in terms of tribute to Chester after his passing.
This song even though it was made 10 years ago may as well be Chester’s words as he says goodbye to all his fans as he heads off to rock with fellow recent passing and good friend of his Chris Cornell in the sky. It’s a song that will make any Linkin Park fan, especially now, tear up. It’s just a great emotional track that I’ll consider Chester’s heartfelt goodbye in spirit.
Chester didn’t leave a suicide note when he died. But in some ways he doesn’t need to. The songs themselves share the feelings of depression and moments of Chester’s past that despite all the money and success he’s gotten with Linkin Park nonetheless were constantly on his mind. Chris Cornell’s suicide wasn’t the sole reason Chester killed himself, it was just the final straw. It’s a harsh truth that fame and money often still isn’t enough to battle things like depression. It’s a reminder to us all that if you have a friend who suffers from these kind of problems that you have to be there to support them. Cause at their lowest point they need somebody to pick them up before it’s too late. Linkin Park themselves in a total class move dedicated a tribute site to Chester that also links to Suicide Prevention guides and services.
Still, there’s no doubt that amongst all this is we just lost a modern music legend. And for every Linkin Park fan out there, including myself, it will surely leave a long-lasting hole in our hearts.