July 20th, 2017 will be remembered as an emotional day for my generation. The 80s had Chris Cornell from Soundgarden, the 90s had Kurt Cobain from Nirvana and we had Chester Bennington from Linkin Park.
It weighs heavy on my heart to write this piece because the words that I write, can never compare to the influential and passion-driven words sang by Chester Bennington. I was 8 years old when I had first heard of Chester on the EP …no sun today. At the time he was playing in a post-grunge/alternative band called Grey Daze that struggled to achieve main stream success. In 1999, Chester seized the opportunity to work with a group then called Xero, and subsequently Hybrid theory; which through some musical chemistry with new band mate Mike Shinoda and extraordinary risk became the band we all grew up with and loved, Linkin Park.
I didn’t quite understand that gravity of the connection Chester’s vocals had on my life and the life of my peers until today. For many of us, the first time we heard him sing came with Linkin Park’s ‘Hybrid Theory’ released October 24th, 2000 and has sold 27 million copies worldwide. Click the album art to listen.
Linkin Park- Hybrid Theory
Hybrid Theory has gotten myself, and many people I know through some tough times. It was as if Chester knew what we were dealing with growing up in a system that would come to blame us for its problems, a world of uncertainty and corruption and a musical era where rock music was struggling to connect with new audiences. Linkin Park’s fresh and forward thinking style was anti-establishment. The first two tracks from this album that I heard were ‘Crawling’ and ‘In The End’. I connected on so many levels with his and Shinoda’s vocals and visuals in the music videos. Read and view them below:
Crawling
These wounds they will not heal
Fear is how I fall
Confusing what is real
That pulls beneath the surface
Consuming, confusing
This lack of self-control I fear
Is never ending, controlling
My walls are closing in
(Without a sense of confidence)
(I’m convinced that there’s)
(Just too much pressure to take)
I’ve felt this way before so insecure…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd9OhYroLN0&w=560&h=315]
In the End
Time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
(It’s so unreal)
Didn’t look out below, watched the time go right out the window
Trying to hold on, didn’t even know
I wasted it all just to watch you go
I kept everything inside
And even though I tried it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually
Be a memory of a time I tried so hard
I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end, it doesn’t even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end, it doesn’t even matter…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVTXPUF4Oz4&w=560&h=315]
Take moment to remember the nostalgia that these tracks bring you. Chester’s dynamic and versatile skills with his vocals gave us something fresh and edgy. His voice radiated empowerment and courage through whatever issues we were going through at that point in life. These are moments we will never forget. Whether it was skating at the skate park with your boys/girls, to your first heart break, to dealing with parental and societal pressures; this music was there. It didn’t stop there, almost 15 years ago today Linkin Park released ‘Reanimation’, a remix album of Hybrid Theory, where Chester’s ability to capture a ying/yang of emotion through remixes was an opus. You can listen to that album by clicking the album art below.
Linkin Park – Reanimation
As if the genre bending nu metal, grunge, and punk elements paired with Chester vocals on these two album wasn’t enough. Linkin Park changed that game with their release Meteora. Meteora sold 800,000 copies in its first week on the shelves. You can listen by clicking the album art below.
Linkin Park – Meteora
Again it was Shinoda and Chester Bennington’s vocals that ingrained this nu metal/alternative culture into our minds. The stand out tracks for me on this album were ‘Somewhere I Belong’ and ‘Breaking the Habit’:
Somewhere I Belong
I had nothing to say and
And I’d get lost in the nothingness inside of me
(I was confused)
And I let it all out to find/that I’m
Not the only person with these things in mind (inside of me)
But all the vacancy the words revealed
Is the only real thing that I got left to feel.(nothing to lose)
Just stuck, hollow and alone
And the fault is my own,
And the fault is my own.
I want to feel,
What I thought was never real
I want to let go of the pain I felt so long (Erase all the pain ’til it’s gone)
I want to heal,
I want to feel,
Like I’m close to something real
I want to find something I’ve wanted all along
Somewhere I belong…
Breaking the Habit (My favorite of Chester’s Vocals)
Memories consume like opening the wounds
I’m picking me apart again
You all assume
I’m safe here in my room
Unless I try to start again
I don’t want to be the one the battles always choose
’cause inside I realize that I’m the one confused
I don’t know what’s worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don’t know why I instigate
And say what I don’t mean
I don’t know how I got this way
I know it’s not alright
So I’m breaking the habit
I’m breaking the habit tonight
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2H4l9RpkwM&w=560&h=315]
‘Breaking the Habit’ was a very powerful track because it felt like Chester was trying to speak to us about his past issues with addiction and battle with depression. All of these years have passed, and now that he rests it all makes sense. I want to take this time to say: if you know anyone that is fighting through addition, they need you. Whether you’ve been a victim of addiction or depression or lost someone to it. Keep your heart open to the signs and be there like Chester was for us and our friends. You never know what a little bit of support can do for someone.
Here I highlight the three album releases that I connected with most, but you can find Linkin Park’s later albums here: Linkin Park Discography. I hope that you all feel the connection with this music that I feel and that we live in honor of those who inspired us and gave us life. Thank you Chester for your contribution to my childhood, and for touching all of our souls with your voice. You will be missed, but you will transcend generations. R.I.P. Brother.
