Linkin Park Return - Epic Success or Catastrophic Disaster?

_{I've never done any fanart before, but seeing what a 'canon event' it is for aspiring artists, I thought to myself.. why not.. why not.. (apologies for being bad at it though.. I'd guess that is also a part of the process)}

Today I'm just full-on geeking out in a fangirl mode over the return of Linkin Park. Somehow I hadn't noticed any promotional content so I wasn't even aware and am two days late to the party, but thanks to the heads-up from @m31 I'm finally here.

Here's my immediate reaction to The Emptiness Machine -

Hearing her do the older songs, however.. and yeah, cue the waterworks. And from what I hear, it seems like it's a common occurrence. Sure, everybody processes their emotions differently, some, unfortunately, have resolved to bashing the band in online comments.

I for one think going with a female vocalist was the exact way to go about this, and Emily effortlessly passes the vibe check.
And it is clear that no one is trying to just mindlessly replace Chester and pretend like nothing happened, but rather honour the legacy and do justice to it.

I hadn't heard of Emily Armstrong before so I got curious and wanted to find out a bit more about her as a person.. so I went to X of all the places.. to gather some more info and oh, boy.. Cue the culture police! I did not need to ruin my genuine joy of this with this culture police drama garbage..
https://x.com/Gallerhi/status/1831846661678924113

Fuck the culture police!

Of course, there will always be haters, but some of the negative comments seemed 'interesting' to say the least. There were comments saying that the launch was "Too corporate".. whatever that even means. You mean that LP has a whole team behind them and always had.. and that they are professional about what they do..? Or what?

Other comments suggested that the launch has actually been a disaster and that a PR team has been involved to get bots to flood comments with positive feedback. I mean.. are you really that easily influenced by fake social pressure that you can't draw your own conclusions about what you like or don't like and are so afraid to be swayed by bot comments? Come on, grow up a little, get a spine, or autism, or something, I don't know, I can't help you with this one. xD

If you don't like it, simply don't listen to it, those of us that are vibing with this we're going to do it anyway. The band is obviously having loads of fun, and honestly, I think that's what matters the most. Let them cook!

Back in the day there was this running joke that only 12-year-old girls listen to LP, well, guess what, they've all grown up now, and haven't gone anywhere. So maybe having a female vocalist makes even more sense now.

And I say - Fuck yeah! Bring Linkin Park and cargo pants back, it's been long enough!