To be honest, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this four months later, and I'm a Linkin Park fan. It's just crazy to see this happening. Part of it feels like it was "always going to happen" but another part is like "wow, how unexpected is this?!"
I have always felt Chester should sing music like STP (as I felt LP held him back range wise) but I never would've thought in a million years that Chester would take over for Scott. It's still as much of a shock now as it was back then. Feels kinda surreal.
As a longtime STP fan, I feel the same... for the most part.
I liked a few LP songs back in the day, but after going to the Family Values Tour in 01', seeing LP live, and Chester singing with Scott, I had a new found respect for him (t
hat recording of 'Wonderful' is amazing). Listening to his solo stuff, and other collaborations, I felt like he'd be much better suited in a rock band. Playing WITH STP sounded awesome, but playing "AS" STP is just something I can't get past. So, to me, it's not about Chester at all, he's grown on me over the years, and seems like a perfect fit with these guys. I just hate everything else about the situation.
I actually think Chester would have benefited more if they started a new band, and weren't constrained to STP's style. By staying "STP" they're kinda limiting themselves to an already established style of music from the band, where if they started with a clean slate, they'd be free to do more (
and Chester probably wouldn't be trying to write/sing like Scott).
Kinda like the thing with VR. I think Chester's voice & abilities would have been better suited with their heavier rock sound. But either way, he's versatile enough to be a great match for both.