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thisaintascenereviews · 4 days ago

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Linkin Park - From Zero (with @jakeh2987)

Few bands have frustrated me more than nu-metal and rap-rock band Linkin Park. I’ve had such a complicated relationship with them for a multitude of reasons, whether for never listening to them during their initial popularity, their sound never being consistent for more than two albums, or hardly any of those sounds ever resonating with me. I’ve been listening to their discography as of late, as I’ve wanted to re-examine and re-contextualize their body of work. They’re a band that so many people love, but I’ve just never been able to “get it.” Maybe I’ve been too harsh on them over the years, so my thoughts might improve. There’s an elephant in the room that we need to address, though: on July 20th, 2017, vocalist Chester Bennington passed away by taking his own life.

I don’t know of a celebrity death that shook people to their core harder, especially for how unexpected it was. The band had just released One More Light, their foray into pop music that unfortunately didn’t sit well with longtime fans. Bennington’s death caused the band to lie dormant, and fans had no hope of the band getting back together, especially when Bennington was a once in a lifetime talent that no one could dare to replicate. They’ve stayed quiet for the past seven years, but they properly announced their return a few months ago, complete with a new singer in tow.

Emily Armstrong, of rock band Dead Sara, was touted at their new frontwoman, and boy, were fans angry. A lot of fans were welcoming and accepting, but even now, there are still a bunch of fans that can’t even fathom the idea of someone replacing Bennington, let alone a woman. Along with single “The Emptiness Machine,” the band also announced a new album, From Zero. Based on the idea of the band coming back “from zero,” as well as the band’s name being Xero, this record had a lot riding on it. I don’t want to talk about this album alone, though, so let’s welcome my buddy Jake back into the fold for this review! As a longtime fan of Linkin Park, how do you feel about them, and what was going through your mind when From Zero was announced?

When I look back on my musical journey and the development of my tastes, Linkin Park was my first favorite band, going back to around the time Minutes To Midnight came out. I just remember being excited by this form of more aggressive and heavier musc than I was used to at the time, and let's be honest, in 2006 going into 2007, I was just about to enter high school, so I was really prime for the angsty lyrics that were their signature. So, I've had love for this band for damn near 20 years now, which is kind of wild to think about, but you can imagine how shook I was personally by Chester Bennington's death. I think I actually remember you and I discussing it when the news first broke, and we were both totally shocked, because you're right, it came out of nowhere. I really had no idea what was going to happen next, but after they played their benefit show later in 2017, I was at peace with that being the end, because yeah, how could you replace someone like Bennington? Plenty of bands, absolutely iconic ones, even, have navigated tragedies and managed to come out the other side, sometimes bigger and better than ever (AC/DC immediately comes to mind), but Bennington's voice, both in the literal sense and in the sense of his lyrics and what he was saying about his mental health, was so integral to the band's identity, that I don't think you could blame anyone for wondering if they were done.

Well, seven years later, it turns out Linkin Park had more to say and share with the world, and that's in the form of this album, From Zero. A few weeks before the initial announcement and comeback show, buzz had started to build about a potential Linkin Park reunion, and I remember feeling a little apprehensive, but ultimately willing to trust Mike Shinoda that he wouldn't do any of this if there wasn't genuinely something there. The comeback show happens, Emily Armstrong gets introduced to the world as the new vocalist, and we're getting new music from one of my very favorite bands for the first time in close to a decade, something I wasn't sure was ever gonna happen again! I had no idea who Emily was, so I liked the idea of it being someone lesser known, and I also immediately loved the bold choice of choosing a woman to front one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, in a genre that has so few non-men performers at the forefront. I also really liked "The Emptiness Machine" upon first listen; it felt like a cool blend of old and new, and having Mike carry the first bit of the song before passing the reigns to Emily was a very cool symbolic way to introduce her to the fans. So, I was riding pretty high on all of this initially, honestly!

That all being said, I'd be remiss if I didn't at least briefly touch on some stuff regarding Emily's past and why some people started to question the choice to bring her on, mainly her alleged ties to the Church of Scientology and her support of now-convicted rapist Danny Masterson, of That 70's Show fane. From everything I've been able to gather from researching this, it appears that Emily was born into Scientology and hasn't been actively participating in anything relating to it for a very long time, and her support for Masterson only extended to the very first court date, and she immediately backed away once more and more evidence came to light over the course of the trial. So, after all of that was bubbling up and then was later put into a more clear perspective, I think unless you're just stubborn, or misogynstic, or both, there's a lot to be happy about regarding this comeback. So, let's talk about this album!

First, I wanna ask you, given your past history with the band, what was it about From Zero that finally made Linkin Park click for you?

When “The Emptiness Machine” first dropped, I hadn’t gone through the band’s discography yet, but it’s not only a good first single, it was a good debut single to showcase Armstrong’s vocals and how well of a fit she is for the band. I surprisingly really enjoyed it, especially for how it revived the band’s harder edged sounds, but still maintained a really catchy core. The week before From Zero came out, I got the idea to go through the band’s first couple of albums, ultimately revisiting those to see if I could enjoy those more now. Spoiler alert: Hybrid Theory and Meteora are fantastic. Despite being rather dated in spots, they still hold up quite well and they’re impeccably written, but that got me wanting to listen to their rest of their discography as I was also listening to From Zero.

I wanted to be able to compare their newest album to the rest of their discography, especially when part of From Zero’s appeal for me, personally, is that it takes a lot of elements of their other records and packages it into a tight set of 32 minutes. After going through the rest of their albums, as well as Shinoda’s last solo album, you can hear a lot of that here. Whether it’s the nu-metal of their first two albums, the alt-metal / hard-rock of 2007’s Minutes To Midnight, the moody and atmospheric sound of 2010’s A Thousand Suns, the rap-rock-meets-pop sound of 2012’s Living Things (there’s a lot of Living Things influence here, surprisingly), the post-hardcore stylings of 2014’s The Hunting Party, or the streamlined pop of 2017’s One More Light. Even on Shinoda’s 2018 solo album, Post-Traumatic, there’s some influence there.

From Zero isn’t only their first album in seven years, their first with a new singer, as well as their shortest album to date, but it’s their first album to celebrate their legacy and their body of work. Instead of going too much in one direction, because they could have easily made a nu-metal album and it would have been fine, but they took bits and pieces from their discography. Their albums are still rather hit or miss for me, but I don’t outright hate any of their albums anymore. My thoughts have improved on most of them, but their inconsistency is still kind of an issue for me, but From Zero is the first album of theirs since the first two that I’ve been able to really enjoy front to back. What about you, Jake? How do you feel about this record?

I think you hit the nail on the head there, and why I really like this album a lot; it's a celebration of the band's legacy and everything they've done before, but at the same time, and really importantly, it's also pushing them forward in a new direction that doesn't ever feel like a cheap retread or a ploy for nostalgia. That feeling of nostalgia comes naturally, just from the band playing to their strengths and having a blast doing it. "Two Faced" is probably my favorite song on the album; it's very much a called back to the Hybrid Theory/Meteora era, but I just really love the energy on that song, and there's an undeniable swagger in the back and forth between Emily and Mike. You're totally right, though, it would have been very easy to just do an album of all that, but they didn't, and that's a testament to how Linkin Park was never a band to stay stagnant, even when it didn't always work. Another highlight for me is "Over Each Other," a more ballad-y song where Emily fully gets the spotlight. It wouldn't feel out of place on Living Things or even One More Light, but whereas I thought One More Light in particular didn't do a lot with the sound they were going for, a song like this takes that idea and infuses it with a renewed Linkin Park essence that makes it work a lot better.

What were some of your highlights on the album?

From Zero certainly feels like a new direction, too, even with a lot of their previous albums infused within its DNA. That’s another reason why this record works so well, because it has its own identity. As for highlights, “Two Faced” is my favorite as well, because it has that nu-metal sound of the first two albums, but with something new and interesting about it. Emily and Mike sound great, too, but speaking of risks, “Casualty” is another huge highlight. I didn’t have Linkin Park making a hardcore song on my bingo card for this year, but here we are. Emily’s screams are fantastic, and while Mike is kind of just shouting, he still is pushing his voice in a way he hasn’t before. I also really like “Over Each Other,” because it’s a solo cut from Emily, and it’s a good choice to put a song with just her here. Songs like that, as well as some of the more pop-focused cuts, like “Stained,” “Overflow,” and the closing track, “Good Things Go” have the same kind of sound that One More Light did, like you said, but with something more. The latter track is another highlight, too, because of its very emotional and weighty sound that closes the album out on a real good note.

"Good Things Go" is actually a really great album closer, and I love how the last few seconds loop back around to the intro track, making for a really cool full circle loop that makes it even easier to immediately replay the album. I also gotta show some love to "Heavy Is The Crown;" that song was chosen as the theme to this year's League Of Legends world champinships, and I believe there's even a version of it featured in the newest season of Arcane (a show I really need to watch), and it's very easy to hear why. It's another quintinsensially Linkin Park song, and that long scream Emily does during the bridge?? I feel like that was the moment that was like "Okay, she's got this" for me.

I love that it loops around to the intro, because it shows that it’s a full circle experience, almost like the band itself is circling back to when they first started. They’re starting again, essentially, so I love a lot of the symbolism here. Oh, man, I forgot about “Heavy Is The Crown”! That’s definitely within my top three songs, and it’s a song that I’ve been coming back to quite a bit, whether it’s for that hook, or Emily’s wicked screams. That’s a song that shows the past and the present for the band at the same time, because you can hear their earlier material there, but also something new. I was pretty sold on her when the first single came out, but both “Heavy Is The Crown” and “Two Faced” really sold me, and actually had me more excited for the album. Mike is surprisingly a solid rapper, so I’m happy he gets to shine a lot throughout this thing. Even as a singer, he’s improved quite a bit, and it’s awesome to see their chemistry.

I also quite enjoy the lyrics on this thing, too, because they feel very quintessential Linkin Park, whether they’re interestingly vague and specific at the same time, and there’s a ton of emotional catharsis throughout. They aren’t anything too deep or poetic, but they never needed to be. Their lyrics have always been vague but specIn certain points, when Emily screams a certain line, I’m eerily reminded of Chester doing the same thing on the first two albums, and it sounds so good.

Speaking of which, there is another elephant in the room that I think we need to discuss, and that can be a good way to start to close this out — there are plenty of people that are going to write this off simply for the fact this isn’t with Chester. Even if Emily was another guy, I guarantee that people would still refuse to even give this a chance. What do you think about that minority of fans that refuse to give anything else a listen by them if it doesn’t have Chester?

You know, on some level, I do kind of get it. Chester Bennington really was one of a kind, and the rest of the band had an utterly impossible task when they were looking for someone to carry on this role. Honestly, the only scenario I could see that maybe most people wouldn't be too upset with was Mike taking on all the vocal duties himself, but as solid as I think he's grown as a vocalist, having those dual vocals is another thing that's always put Linkin Park apart from other bands in the genre. So, when such a key piece of something that meant so much to you isn't there anymore, I can understand the hesitation. But, I listen to Mike talk in any interview he's done since the comeback and how much he didn't want this to happen just for the sake of it happening, and how it only really felt like Linkin Park again after Emily starting singing on the songs, I don't know how you don't at the very least give it a solid chance. If it's not for you still, that's totally valid, but what I don't love is when people (and to be fair, this is only a very small but loud minority) invoke Chester and try to say some nonense about how this totally shits on his and the band's legacy or how they should have changed the name, or even say some downright sexist shit like "Lol it's just Paramore now!" It's like, you could just quietly move on if it's not for you, and it's not as if the rest of their discography just goes away all of a sudden. I just don't see a world where you see how happy the band is to be performing again, and how Emily's really coming into her own as she gets more comfortable, and at the very least be happy that this band gets to continue in some form, even if their new album isn't for you.

I think that’s part of the cloud that hangs over this album, albeit from a small (but vocal) minority of people with that opinion, but the elephant in the room of this album not featuring Chester looms over this thing. For a long time, it seemed impossible that they could fill his shoes, and they could have easily had Mike take on lead vocal duties, but you’re right, LP’s appeal were those dual vocals, especially the rapped vocals and the sung/screamed ones. The hesitation is understandable, and I think most people would be, but that’s the other thing: Mike and the other members would not want to bring someone aboard that they weren’t comfortable and confident in, and they brought back Linkin Park as a labor of love, not because they need a paycheck.

I could understand if you give this album a chance, and it just doesn’t do anything for you, but there are people that will refuse to listen to it out, purely out of principle. I suppose I’m just baffled, because how wouldn’t this hit with longtime fans that love the first few albums? It has a lot of the same stuff that fans have loved, and just because Chester isn’t on it, it doesn’t mean it isn’t as good. I think that’s the thing about it, too, where people can’t just be quiet if they don’t like something. People always feel the need to express their vitriol for something, no matter how small, and they’ll always find something to dislike. It’s good that it’s a small minority, because a lot of the reaction I’ve seen has been positive.

I think what will be really telling for all this when it's said and done is how they follow up From Zero. This was the foot in the door, and Linkin Park has never been one to rest on their laurels and make the same album twice, so I'm so curious to see where they go from here. I'm also hopeful that after the intial feelings of having the band back at all and having Emily there wear off, if the people who aren't gonna give it a shor or maybe aren't as into this won't be willing to give what they do next a shot. I'm probably being a tad optimistic, but I'd like to imagine that now that people know what they have, Linkin Park can really blow the doors off the place.

Regardless of all of that, I think From Zero is basically everything I could have asked for in a Linkin Park comeback. It's a lean and mean collection of songs that shows the band back doing what they do best while also pushing forward, and I'm just happy this happened at all, considering how hard I imagine it must have been for them to even think about doing it.

From Zero is an album that doesn’t need to be anything experimental or revolutionary, because it’s exactly their foot in the door. They got back together, and they need to show that they still got it, so to speak, and this is them doing what they do best, all the while adding some new and exciting ideas. It’s cool that we’re in a new era for the band, because there were many years we never thought we’d get that, so I’m anticipating what we get next. I never have been crazy about Linkin Park, but this is the album that made me “get” them, so to speak. I’m happy I get to share this joy, even if it’s from someone that hasn’t always been their biggest fan, or grew up with them, but I absolutely love this album, and it’s one of my favorites of the year.