Chester Bennington tells the untold story behind production of the tracks on “LIVING THINGS” and praises Mike Shinoda!



“Mike Shinoda” is an inspiration
Chester — “members of Linkin Park is really only one person with talent, and our secret weapon is Mike Shinoda. His existence in itself is an inspiration. Because he works harder than anyone whom I met and he always makes everything, always works, and always search quality of the levels beyond that of a human being. It is a really an extraordinary thing. Therefore whenever he is near, one can continue wanting to make an serious effort, and it comes to be possible.


He overwhelms me to make a good album. Then he supports me naturally to try not to think of various things not to fall into self-satisfaction. And because all the members have a voice in this band,
I do not start instructions I sit down, and Mike does not do such a thing.


We have a system of very good checks and balances. Therefore when somebody becomes negligent and gains weight and comes in sandals on a day of important photography, we must regard that looks are important. Because it is demanded that a Rock star be seen appropriately if we’re seen as such, then it is not good.


I am beginning to think that it is a blessing to have those that don’t stop paying attention.
This is not something which I had in my hand in nature, because I was not given such a splendid chance, free of charge.


Because, as long as we can get along, fans love our music. This is not the thing that is possible for anyone in a really special thing. Therefore all such things become one and do support doing what on should do.”


“LIES GREED MISERY” is deep, just like the Linkin Park we know.
“This song was one of the rare kinds that just came out of nowhere. Mike told me to scream anything, just let out my anger and I did just that. Before we realized it, we had a song on our hands. In the beginning it seemed too pop, like a tune you could dance to. We had to take out the party vibe and add a darker ‘I’m enjoying your destruction’ element to it. I think this song represents the kind of emotions that arise from standing up to a bully, or when a tyrant is taken down and the people are celebrating around his grave. Like I said, it’s a really dark song, but it also has a weird ‘pizza party’ kind of feel to it. Maybe the combination of crazy style and symphony has something to do with that. You’re at a party outdoors, drinking margaritas, hanging with tanned people, maybe swimming… then you play this song. I mean, it is a party song after all.


But that’s not all, you start screaming out loud. I hope you choke on your lies, swallow up your pride, suffer all alone in your misery. And well… it’s a terrible thing to say to someone. This song is incredibly complicated, mentally unstable maybe, but brilliant at the same time.”


‘VICTIMIZED’ shows the band in their true form.
“In a way, VICTIMIZED is also an insane song. It starts with what sounds like folk… then rapidly dips into Hip-Hop, Punk Rock, Death Metal and back to Folk music. It’s just crazy, in a way there’s no real meaning to it. One of the things I like about our new album is that we included a song like this. It’s because of these things that I love our band so much. We have so many different styles… you can’t really pin us to one, and that’s exactly what we’ve been aiming for.”


Unexpected reactions to “BURN IT DOWN”

“It’s interesting, since ‘BURN IT DOWN’ was released, we’ve been getting a lot of e-mails from people saying something like, ‘I can finally work out to your music again.’ It’s something we never even considered while making this album. You don’t really think, ‘This song is perfect for doing push-ups to!’ or ‘I can’t wait to jog while playing this song.’ But it made us happy to hear these things, because it meant that this album has a lot of energy. ‘LOST IN THE ECHO’ and ‘IN MY REMAINS’ are both… reminiscent of our earlier days. Didn’t the album make you want to do push-ups? I don’t know why, but it makes me want to go out and exercise!”

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