On December 15, Linkin Park is releasing the album “One More Light: Live,” dedicated to late lead singer Chester Bennington. This album is a collection of 16 songs the band performed on their summer 2017 tour, before Chester’s suicide in July. The songs range from their newest album “One More Light” to “Hybrid Theory” (2000), “Meteroa” (2003) and “Minutes to Midnight” (2009.) The rendition of “Crawling,” is available as a pre-release on Apple Music.
Listening to “Crawling” gives me many emotions. First, it’s one of the first songs I remember listening to by LP. It was something that spoke to my tween self, especially the lyric, “There’s something inside me that pulls beneath the surface.” I remember being insecure and uncomfortable in my own skin, and it helped when I thought, wow someone like Chester knows these feelings too. Now, when I listen to it, I get chills. These feelings that went away for me, didn’t go away for him. This rendition is something I will forever cherish. His voice is so raw and pure. The fans cheering and singing along in the background makes me feel like I’m at the concert with them.
The Top 5 songs of the album release that I can’t wait any longer to hear (besides my fav Crawling) are:
1. Bleed it out
2. Numb
3. In the End
4. New Divide
5. Battle Symphony
For me, listening to LP after Chester’s death is a totally different experience. I didn’t keep up with them as much anymore but still, his passing shocked and hurt me. Many stars like Amy Lee, Tony Paleromo, and Steve Aoki have expressed their devastation. It is well-known that Chester had a history struggling with addiction, and depression. However, what took many people by surprise was that he seemed to be in high spirits. His wife, Talinda Bennington, released a video on Twitter in September, of him with his children 36 hours before his suicide. Through this video, she exposed to her followers that depression “doesn’t have a face.”
I hope the pain and grief Chester poured into his lyrics are relieved. And I wish those feelings for his family, friends, and fans are replaced by the comfort and hope he provided.
In my opinion, mental health is slowly being destigmatized. Our society is finally realizing its importance. It’s something people of all sexes and ethnicities struggle with, and need to take care of.
PLEASE, if you or someone you know needs help or just to talk to someone, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Picture via Google
Sources:
Golgowski, Nina. “Chester Bennington’s Wife Shares Video Of Him Laughing Hours Before His Death.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Sept. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chester-bennington-seen-laughing-before-death_us_59bed2e7e4b02da0e142d99d.
“Papa Roach Drummer Was ‘Shocked’ by Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell’s Deaths.” Audio Ink with Anne, audioinkradio.com/2017/11/papa-roach-drummer-shocked-chester-bennington-chris-cornell-deaths.
Kreps, Daniel. “Linkin Park Announce Live Album ‘One More Light Live’.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 15 Nov. 2017, www.rollingstone.com/music/news/linkin-park-announce-live-album-one-more….