Chester Bennington's Voice

Linkin Park
#1

Alright, I want to start off by saying I’ve been a fan since I was 10, I am now 24. Favorite band in the world. Back to topic, I know Chester’s voice has seemed to mature over the years. The pinnacle of his voice in my opinion was at Minutes to Midnight. After that, yes it has been good, but after watching live events on YouTube and even had gone to 3 of them myself it seems as if he struggles to sing now, and at times not being able to hold tunes. For example, here is a recent one from KROQ December 2014

I have also noticed that other band members (usually Mike) come in and sing with him at certain points in songs, I’m assuming to cover up Chester.

I am not bashing Chester, I think he has an amazing voice I will just be sad if it’s true. I don’t know if there have been post on this before or if its the first, but I would like to get peoples opinions on this. Please no hate comments, I legitimately want to know if I am not the only one who thinks this. Who knows, he may just have his bad days. Please comment and share or whatever. If Chester got replaced I don’t think I would be able to continue to listen to them, this is coming from a die hard fan. Certain people just make the band and without them they just wouldn’t be the same.

3 Likes
#2

Does that mean Linkin Park’s a boy band now? o.O

#3

some years ago he had op in his vocal chords. one should not forget this. maybe he was caught cold with this concert. this can also pass Chester. if we are caught cold we also do not sound as usual :wink:

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#4

I follow other singers, and they all have problems at singing specially when they do a lot of concerts without having a good break in between. His voice needs a break sometimes, tours are exhausting. But I went to London o2 on the 23rd and he nailed it!! so…nah i don’t think his voice has changed that much, I would say that now he sounds even better, I can’t imagine him singing The final masquerade 10 years ago, it wouldn’t be the same :slight_smile:

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#5

I see what you mean in the first few seconds of listening to this. I put it down to exhaustion/fatigue. I was at the London show on 23rd Nov and he sung it perfectly. He also looked more awake in London!

Personally I feel his vocals have become much stronger in the last couple of years. I don’t think this show is anything to worry about. Perhaps wait until after the Xmas period and see how he sounds during the US tour.

Perhaps fewer shows on future tours should be expected. They aren’t getting any younger!

5 Likes
#6

Awesome, thanks for the feedback Street Soldiers I never really thought about that stuff.

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#7

I hear drinking coconuts helps with your voice.

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#8

neh I don’t think so, although ATS was the first album they released where other band members sang on the album, for example Iridescent, one of my favorites :smile:

#9

i think @paulgardinerlp is bang on target. I think there are various reasons which may affect performance in a show, especially fatigue, as most of LP’s song consist of heavy screaming. This is an off case. Also, most of the bands don’t even sound close to their studio albums in their live performances. So, yes, we can completely ignore this. (to me, even MIke doesn’t sound like himself in this video)
Meanwhile if you think that his performance is deteriorating, i say NOPE NOPE NOPE. Nothing to comment here. grabs popcorn & listens to “Keys to the Kingdom” :smile:

#10

so… honeytly… i am very happy everytime a live version doenst sound exactly like the album version which means it is live!
And no one could sound the same everyday… even we dont when we talk and if you do things that are though for your voice like singing/screaming without much time between it will sound different…
even if he is professional its only human.and could get a cold or so like e very other person…
i was in cologne and it was great :slight_smile:

#11

Well, I don’t expect a live version to sound like the album version. The 3 concerts I’ve been to they’ve sounded good. I wish they would play some of their songs fully though, I love Iridescent but the last two concerts I’ve been to they’ve combined that with like two other soft songs. I want to hear the full version live! (which I have, only once though!)

#12

I thought the same thing when I bought THP. His voice has changed since M2M in my opinion. I can especailly hear it when he screams. I’ve also been to 3 shows (Projekt Revolution '08, and then 2 more concerts in 2011 and Carnivores Tour this year), but haven’t noticed at the shows, just on the albums. I actually thought that his voice was so much better at the concert I attended back in Aug. than on THP (or any album since M2M for that matter). You’re not the only one who hears it, and I understand you’re not bashing him. Just a concerned fan. He is still an amazing singer!

1 Like
#13

I attended a concert during their Carnivores Tour and that annoyed me so much! They played songs that they didn’t play at the other 2 concerts I’ve been to (other than songs from THP obviously lol or Living Things. Last concert I went to was promoting ATS), and I was so excited until they cut the songs short. I was getting into the songs and they’d stop and move onto another one and it threw me off cuz I’d still be singing the previous song lol.

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#14

I think that like everyone else, one can have good days and bad days at work. I saw an LP show last august and it was truly amazing. Even that day Mike and Chester were both feeling not very good but they pulled it out just glorious. Maybe this day in particular Chester was feeling good at all. His voice is still amazing. He needs to get more rest, I guess. :blush:

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#15

Hi Melemi! Just thought I would clear this one up for you :blush: Chester actually posted a tweet not too long ago stating he’s never had surgery on his vocal cords: [Chester’s tweet August 28, 2014][1] [1]:https://twitter.com/chesterbe/status/504910828017967104

And in regards to his voice in this particular video, it sounds to me like he can’t hear himself singing. It’s a tricky business getting a good balance on the in-ear monitors and if a vocalist can’t hear themselves singing over the audience/ band then it’s very easy for them to be out of tune. But really it could be any number of factors! When I saw them in August, the whole band sounded fantastic and I don’t think that Chester’s voice would have taken such a dramatic turn since then.

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#16

ah okay :blush: . typical internet. always these rumors :weary: . I thought that’s true because it was constantly read everywhere. is probably time to go to twitter for me :wink:

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#17

Have to agree with Matias, I was at O2 on 24th and all the singing was great…

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#18

Same on 23rd. Spot on.

#19

His voice is just amazing and I think there’s no reason to worry… I’ve attended a concert in november and it was awesome. Perhaps he didn’t feel that good this day as it was right after the Hunting Party tour in Europe… Furthermore it depends on so many things, like health, technology and the acoustics which affect what we hear and also what the band hears and therefore how they play and especially how they sing…
So Chester probably had a bad day…
I think he has the most amazing voice.

#21

Does anybody know if he ever took singing lessons?