A Light That Never Goes Out

A Light That Never Goes Out

Released as a tribute to late frontman Chester Bennington, this live album captures Linkin Park in all of their live glory.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
A Light That Never Goes Out

The year was 2000 and Linkin Park had just released their debut album, Hybrid Theory. Fronted by Chester Bennington, the LA band brought to the global music scene, then perforated by the likes of Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, a little something different. Fusing heavy metal with hip-hop with electronica and Bennington's screamo vocals, they quickly became a personal saviour to angst-ridden teenagers all over the world. With 27 million copies sold, Hybrid Theory ranks as one of the world's best-selling albums.

Across their seven studio records (last year's One More Light being their last with Bennington, who committed suicide just a few months after its release), themes of anxiety, depression, resentment and alienation echoed throughout their discography. From being on the verge of a meltdown (One Step Closer, Numb) to feeling completely helpless and out of depth (In the End, Waiting For the End, Nobody Can Save Me), the band, or rather the late frontman himself, had lived through it all.

Released after the untimely death of Bennington, One More Light Live is a concert album recorded during the band's world tour last summer. The record is aimed at giving their fans a chance to experience and, for those who'd previously attended their concert in South America and Europe, relive the band's full glory in a live setting. But more than that, it serves as a tribute to Bennington's singular voice and musical legacy from the remaining members of Linkin Park.

The record contains seven tracks from the band's most recent output, the somewhat much-maligned, lite EDM-leaning One More Light, interspersed with nine of their biggest hits culled from their back catalogue including Hybrid Theory, Meteora, Minutes to Midnight, and Living Things. Introduced by the crowd chanting the band's name, it opens with electronic-leaning tracks Talk To Myself, Burn It Down and Battle Symphony.

Then we're treated to the acoustic renditions of One More Light, Crawling, and Leave Out All the Rest. Bennington's vocal prowess, however, shines the brightest on the more traditional Linkin Park numbers such as New Divide, the soundtrack to 2007's Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, What I've Done and Bleed It Out as well as crowd-favorites In the End and Numb.

Taken from One More Light, penultimate track Heavy sounds less like a Chainsmokers track here than it does on the album -- further proof of this band is best heard live. Closer Bleed It Out concludes the set with Mike Shinoda's rap and Bennington's spine-chilling scream. Worthy of a standing ovation, to say the least.

Despite choppy editing here and there, One More Light Live does its job in capturing the band's legacy as a nu-metal trailblazer and as one of history's most successful rock bands.

And with this album, Chester Bennington is immortalised as the voice of troubled souls everywhere.

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