The original post: /r/linkinpark by /u/ThereIsNoGodOnlyDoge on 2024-10-05 15:18:47.

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Remember, the real hot takes don’t get upvoted.

I also don’t know at what point does it stop being a hot take but just a shit opinion, I guess that’ll be for y’all to decide.

If you don’t want to read all of this, skip the next 4 paragraphs for the hot take.

Before I tell you my hot take, I feel I need to set up my relationship to Linkin Park. I feel like I’m unlike most of you. I started listening to Linkin park way later than most (in early 2012), that’s mainly due to my age is I’m in my early 20s now and my parents didn’t listen to LP for me to get to know them any earlier.

I was also never a “hardcore” fan. I was always a big fan but not a hardcore one and I do think there’s a difference. There was never a point in my life after 2012 when I wouldn’t have at least a few LP songs in my playlists, but also until like 2018 I never even listened to one full LP album.

Last thing is, that I feel like unlike most people, I never really connected to LP lyrics. Don’t get me wrong, the lyrics are amazing on all their songs, I LOVE them, but that’s what almost all of them were to me. Great lyrics, but not much more. I always read about people who got helped through tough times or even saved by LP songs and their lyrics and I just can’t relate to that. I guess I was privileged by having mostly untroubled childhood and teenage years (well excluding like ages 15-18, unfortunately I never thought to listen to music to escape my issues). Again, don’t get me wrong, I can FEEL the emotion in Chester’s voice, but I can’t properly connect or relate to it.

Well and very last thing… Today I listened to all LP albums, some songs multiple times, just to make everything clear in my head and to make sure that this shitty opinion I’m about to present is what I truly feel.

THE HOT TAKE:

I think SOME of Emily’s versions of the old songs are better than Chester’s performances.

Another thing to keep in mind is that I’m comparing Emily’s live performances to Chester’s studio performances.

Again, I think I have this opinion mainly because I don’t properly connect to the emotion that Chester had in his voice, and that I never really was a true hardcore fan of LP, he wasn’t really the apart of my childhood due to my age and wasn’t he MAIN part of my teenage years either. It might also just have to do something with the fact I really love Emily’s raspy vocals. And not like she can’t do amazing cleans either.

These are the songs that I prefer with Emily over Chester: (Also just because I prefer Emily’s versions, it doesn’t mean Chester’s are way worse in any way, let’s hypothetically say, if I considered Emily’s versions 10/10, I’d consider Chester’s versions 9.9/10

Waiting For The End

Lying From You (even the very first performance where her voice cracked a few times - voice cracking isn’t a sign of a bad performance or a bad singer unless it really disturbs the flow of the entire song)

Keys To The Kingdom

Papercut

Faint

One Step Closer

And these are songs that I consider absolutely equal to Chester’s versions, where I wouldn’t be able to pick one over the other:

Bleed It Out

Crawling

Castle of Glass

What I’ve done

In The End

Any songs that I haven’t mentioned either Emily hasn’t performed or at this moment, I don’t find them to be better or equal to Chester’s versions, tho there are three songs that I might change my opinion about in the future, those three being New Divide, Numb, and Breaking The Habit.

I’m finished digging my grave, I really want to see what you think lol.