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It has come to my attention a band I grew to like very much is coming back from what should have been it’s death notice, after the grim end of the guy who was their lead singer for many years. They–no, let’s be clear–Mike Shinoda, one of the founding three members, has chosen a new lead singer, Emily Armstrong, who, no sooner than she’s chosen to lead, has been grilled by skeptics and critics and a member of the deceased singer’s family. They’ve also replaced the founding drummer with a new face. And, their founding guitarist has supposedly expressed a need to distance himself by remaining a creative force for the team but avoiding public performances.
[If I am getting any of the details wrong, please feel free to enlighten me with cited sources. Don’t just sound off on hearsay. Do that on your own blog.]
In short, I’d say the band is suffering from what it’s former lead vocalist started and made so popular…the darkness of the music. And, that darkness has not only lead to a death and disorder among the founding members but has also probably hounding the band from the start, when they were “Xero,” then “Hybrid Theory.”
In short, I became a big fan of the band around 2004 because, while the lyrics were often dark and tragic, I could understand them and liked the earthy, edgy beats the band made. If their music can be considered rap, it’s the first rap I could process without feeling lost in the rapid-fire lyrics and static beats (of other rap music). Every song feels like someone throwing paint at a wall, slapping together some crazy mural. When the music stops, you look at what you created and have an epiphany. I see movies unfolding when I listen to Linkin Park’s previous albums…and I don’t mean semi-unsettling, military-infused, Transformers wrecks.
In short (though not short), I suggest the band needs to do what it’s done more than once, already, start a new “thread.” “The band formerly known as Linkin Park” (as I shall call it and explain soon enough) is sort of like a phoenix (with someone going by that nickname in the band), peeling out of its own ashes, again and again. So, why not do it…again? Re-brand. Re-name. Start the next chapter.
Don’t leave yourselves in the ditch created by the lead singer you chose. Just as your new lead singer, a refreshing choice, doesn’t need to linger in history of controversy, either. A band drenched in horror stories while trying to restart the flame that made it so…eh…bright?…does not have a long future. You’re like a bad Christmas Carol bound by chains and locks. Your new lead singer comes from a band with the word “dead” in its name; that’s not a great start. Shed that crap and be reborn, maybe with a lighter sound. You wouldn’t be the first band to try that. Just as you’re not the first band to lose members and find new ones.
The nature of Linkin Park’s most famous–if not all of their–music is eerily grim, like the letters of a suicidal teenager. So, how does anyone really come away from that with a clear head and good sense? You don’t. When C.B. died, the band got hit by one of the bombs they sing about in their lyrics. I’d go so far as to say their music is prophetic. They sing about rebellion, anger, sadness, fear and death…and now they’re facing all of that. The (first?) bomb has hit. [Or, maybe the first bomb was when you had to take on the name Linkin Park to elude a lawsuit.]
Hybrid Theory went from a band name to an album title when a Welsh band called Hybrid raised an index finger (or two fingers) and made a big stink around the year 2000. New lead singer C.B. suggests the name Lincoln Park (or Linkin Park, before LinkedIn was a thing) because it’s a place he often passed on the road in Santa Monica, CA. The founding members liked the idea and made the name change.
[I’m not going to go into all of the details found online. You can do the paper trail yourselves.]
I think the best solution to the lingering problem is to start fresh with a new name yet retain the potency of the old music, which, in essence, comes from the combination of beats and lyrics. You say screaming is a key part of the appeal?…I’m not so sure about that.
If that was the former lead singer’s “signature move,” who says that has to be the heart of the band’s music forever? If you want to be the next AC/DC, go ahead. But, C.B. started the screaming, right? Before him…no screaming? So, you were a band before he joined…right? And, sure, the screaming apparently appealed to some fans. But, that voice died. And, if you try to replace it, you upset anyone who remains loyal to…a tombstone. [I have personal issues with anyone who ends their own life; it’s a very disturbing subject I try to avoid.] If you ditch the screams (and don’t keep performing the old songs), you risk losing lingering fans with new scream-free music. It’s a risk, but it’s also a major opportunity. Your screamer is gone…but your brilliance and other talents are not.
Mike, if you’re the mind behind the lyrics (or you worked with your pals Brad and Rob on all of the lyrics), keep it up. And, keep those beats flexing and flowing in new ways, in new songs.
I’ve got a few new band-name suggestions I’d like to throw at you. [You can’t use the word “Phoenix” because…well, that’s been done to death–ha. Phoenix Theory would be a major NO.]
You started as Xero. It’s been almost 30 years since that name began. How about Xero 2 Thirty? [Feel free to play around with the spelling on that, as you seem to like altering spellings. Oh yeah; and don’t even think Xero Dark Thirty. Avoid that.]
Think about Hybrid Theory; reflect on your old name/album. [I am not saying you should use it, just to be clear.] In a way, it’s rather prophetic, as you shift and tear through your career. You were not a singular, one-tone entity for long. You keep changing in some way, even if the past few albums have been consistently sharp, angry and dark. Hybrid cars are all the rage right now. How about a (new/better) hybrid band name, one without any risk of controversy? Is there a name that could honor/respect your band’s past while shedding a bright light on the future? A new park to focus your inspiration? A new “Link” in the chain? Linkin Chain Theory perhaps? Too complex? Well, work with that. Smooth it out.
Your new lead singer has a last name that sparks inklings of ideas, Armstrong. Run with that. Linkin Strong…Linkin Steel…Linkin Stone…Stronghold…Strongbox…Stronghouse (a haven for broken spirits still burning to craft new music)…Changelink (instead of chain-link or changeling).
Other band-name ideas…
Xerney (sort of a hybrid of Xero and Journey with none of the Phil Collins or Pokémon lawsuits). [No Google search finds for that one…that’s a good sign!]
Patchworx. No…wait…there is at least one company with that name. Well, try working on the spelling, maybe. Patchwerks. Patchward.
Hybrix…
If you feel hooked on remaining Linkin Park, which I wouldn’t entirely hate, I suggest you find a way to make new music and let the past lay in the albums you made. IF you go on tour/stage, and some fans would like to hear the old music, you have a choice. You can indulge them and take the risk without the singer who made those songs famous…or you can simply say, “No. Sorry. That sound isn’t available to perform. But, keep loving the old albums. We enjoyed working on them and are pleased to know you still love them.”
Not everybody can be the Foo Fighters or AC/DC; and what would Foo Fighters do without Dave Grohl? [And, didn’t he get his start in a band called Nirvana?…which he no longer is a part of…so…? Think about that.] I can only hope they endure long after their losses, they’re one of my other favorite bands. [It seems the music I like tends to get hit with tragedy. Yet, No Doubt is no more; but I still listen to a few of their songs. Coldplay keeps trying (most recently looking like a blend of other artists and remotely sounding like Linkin Park in a somewhat nauseating rap? song about prayer)…I don’t know why; I still don’t like them.]
Whatever you call yourselves, I hope the new music will be as enjoyable if not more enjoyable than your past albums, which tended to be too dark to play casually. Your past music wasn’t exactly group/party dancefloor music. It was more like…sit alone in your room and vent music. Catharsis. So, maybe try something that’s…eh…less anti-social? And, if not, if you keep it “the same,” I hope it’s as good without the old sound. [But, it’s kind of hard to shift from a male lead vocal to a female one without breaking a few eggs.]
A group that shall remain unnamed became timeless legends by constantly reinventing themselves, over decades, not years. They didn’t stick to one style of music or physical appearance. They kept changing. And, when their only members (no replacements) started to pass on, the music endured. Not just some of the music; all of it. Maybe past events were the sign you needed to see/experience to know it’s time for a change. But, change doesn’t mean you have to suck or forget the good stuff you made. It’s opportunity for new success (too).
[If you and Emily can sound like Koven in their recent track “Turning Point,” that blend of sharp vocals and a dance-worthy beat, at least, in small doses, you’re off to a good start. I think you can do even better than Koven and make a whole song, a whole album, that’s great, not just parts that get looped for some online video game’s benefit. And, knowing you, I won’t struggle to understand all of the lyrics.]
I haven’t been able to listen to any Linkin Park music without unsettling feelings since 2017. Maybe some members of the band feel the same way. The only real way to get over a death is to take a positive from it and get on with life. What did you learn? How can you grow from this? [And, how can I go back to enjoying the old music if I keep thinking about the tragedy that ended it?]
Now, lastly, if I may address all of the sudden critics and haters of the new arrangement, give the new girl a chance! Linkin Park wasn’t born in a day, and it was a hybrid of something invented by three high-school pals and one screeching lead singer. It’s month one, as of me writing this notice. She’s just dipping her toes in the tepid pool water. Give her time to find footing and, maybe, make her own suggestions which could be just as good as the old one(s) that made the band famous. [And, to be clear, fame is wide, public attention; it is not limited to one person or one band name.]
Keeping the name Linkin Park shouldn’t be an insult or any sort of crime against the deceased lead singer. [Now, if the band says it still has the same sound, that would be a bold-faced lie and wrong.] If you want to wage that war, could you take it up with every other band that lost somebody yet kept going? I doubt you’ll accomplish anything. If letting the band die and leaving the remaining members adrift because of the fateful decision of one man is the right thing to do, will you accept new music and a new name from Mike and his pals? Or, would you rather they stop making music and die, too? [That would be criminal thinking.]
If I may borrow from the famous collection of songs, “in the end, it doesn’t even matter” who the lead singer is, unless the band’s ethics don’t approve. It’s the band’s choice to pick the “Catalyst” who works best with their remaining parts to keep the whole pleasing to its audience. You who disagree can remain “Numb;” you can “Runaway” or suffer a “Papercut,” for all that I care. I know; you are “Faint,” “one step closer” and about to break. I’ll leave you “Crawling” in your skins while you sift through the ashes of what was. Well, even if the band changes, perhaps “breaking the habit” is a good thing; it may cultivate growth instead of beating a dead horse or ending up in rehab (or prison). One band member’s death doesn’t mean the whole band has to die or starve when they want to continue making music people enjoy. As long as they’re never “lying away from” me or twisting my brain into a suicidal pretzel, I’m good. At the very least, a new lead is “one step closer” to new music and the possibility of something better than the past, which was riddled with teenage angst and “Points of Authority.”
Oh, look at “What I’ve Done.” I used my creativity to cope with the upheaval of this band I like.
You know what they call something that never changes or improves and can only fit one role? Typecast. Mike Shinoda doesn’t need to be typecast just because one key to the van that drove Linkin Park (just one of the band’s names) is gone. The Foo Fighters rock on without their previous drummer; when Nirvana fell apart, Dave Grohl shed that skin and rose from the ashes with a new (and better) group. The Goldbergs didn’t die when it lost its no-pants-at-home father figure (even if that really did take some of the energy out of the show). Voltron didn’t die when Sven got sucked off by Hagar and her crew. The princess filled in and made the blue lion even better.
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