I hope this won't get censored, cause what i am about to say, could be quite a hit in the face to some Linkin Park fans or, if they even care, for Linkin Park themselve.

I have listened to Linkin Park for 9 Years now. While the first four to five years it was Linkin Park almost exclusively i moved on after having excessively listend to every snippet I could get of them. I still listen to them sometimes, when new stuff is coming out or just to remember the "old days". 

Linkin Park has never been one of these bands who come and go fast. Although beeing pretty mainstream they kept developing musically, also apart from their music, for example dome design-projects and of course designing everything themselves. 

But still it is no question Linkin Park has never been groundbreaking or musically advanced as other musicians like let's say The Beatles. Why compare them to The Beatles? Well there are many sophisticated musicians, but of course everyone has his own preference. Still almost everyone will agree, The Beatles were groundbreaking and musically sophisticated. It's not like I want Linkin Park to be more like the Beatles but as I moved on to other Artists I asked myself, why doesn't Linkin Park doesn't make better music? What I listen to now is Tom Waits, Peter Gabriel, Adam Green, The Beatles, Jaques Brel, Regina Spektor, to name my favorites. 

What do these Artists give me what Linkin Park does not have? Its not only the kind of music that is different, it also is the character is has, the feeling it transports, the fusion of lyrics, voices and instruments that get something right Linkin Park doesn't. 

But why have I, arrogantly watching my past favorite, not turned my back on them, and why do I still hope maybe they would evolve and improve. They have improved, Minutes to Midnight is an improvement for me but what im talking about is somethig more, signs of musical genius. The reason I still have not given up my hope is because they have already shown that, glimpses of it, they have show, they have the potential for musical genius in them but it is hard to find. 

Examples:

- Kenji (Shinoda)

- Session(Hahn)

- High Voltage/Dedicated (especially the drums)

- Leave out all the rest(Verse)

- P5hng Me A*wy (electronic fusion)

Most of the time Mike Shinoda was strongly involved, also Hahn, the drums also had some big scenes. Linkin Park has pretty good versse from time to time too. Leave out all the rest, Crawling, Somewhere I belong, its always Chester, who has a voice I cant complain about at all. But a good voice is not everything. Other Artists who dont sing better technically, still do it better. Why? It is because they can offer more behind their voice. I good verse is not only a beautifully sung verse, it has lyrics that get a complex message to the point in simple but elegant words, pronounced appropriately and filled with deep meaning acoustically which is only possible if the vocalist has a deep understanding of what he is singing and - best case - the idiomatic skill to have written the lyrics by himself.  

Chester has a beautiful voice but he always seems to me to only express his feelings superficially. He has grown up under difficult circumstances and the lyrics seem to express much of it but he has never sung about some kind of conclusion, an understanding he has gotten in spite of people who do not know his situation first hand. Something more than just telling, what he feels but also what he thinks about it. I cant claim him doing it. Its his decision  - or maybe its not. Maybe he cant express what he thinks about it intellectually. This is what I think. Chester Bennington is a weak spot of Linkin Park because he hardly developes. Actually from HT to MTM he has hardly improved. Not technically, but he was good there anyway but neither in the subtle skill to express a message perfectly acoustically.

While Shinoda doesnt sing as well technically he pronounces his character in a song better when (rarely) he sings than Chester(f.e P5hng Me A*wy live). This becomes really obvious when he raps. On his solo song Kenji he finds just the right words to perfectly construct the scenes his grandparents experienced during World War 2, the atmosphere and psychological situation of the people. Also Cigarettes and Right Now are pretty well concerning 'authenticity' and originality.  

Chester has never been a really good songwriter. It was alright in the past but he doensnt keep up with Mike. His solo album was not too bad but it was not creative at all. 

So what I feel about Linkin Park when Im looking forward is more the Shinoda-Linkin Park, and when I doubt their potential its more the Chester-Linkin Park.  

I wouldnt say they should get rid of Chester, he is a part of the whole thing and I dont know if they would keep up as a band without Chester although Im sure MIke would do something on his own. 

But I have a strong feeling Chester holds LP back from where it could go with somebody more qualified.

I excited to see if A Thousand Suns will (hopefully) prove different.

Please excuse my own idiomatic missteps because im German.