ALBUM REVIEW: Amends – Grey Daze

Since the turn of the 21st century, there have been very few bands who can be said to have had as much impact within alternative music as LINKIN PARK. Thanks to a run of modern classic albums such as Hybrid Theory and Meteora helping them to emerge as clear leaders of the burgeoning alternative-metal which they had emerged from, the band would eventually grow from scrappy rap-rock upstarts on the likes of One Step Closer, into genuine world-conquering mainstream-crossover stars thanks to hit singles like In The End and What I’ve Done. Chief amongst the reasons for their success was the considerable vocal talent of lead singer Chester Bennington who, along with rapper Mike Shinoda, formed a unique and incendiary pairing quite unlike any other of their contemporaries. Sadly, the band’s future would come into question with Bennington’s sudden and tragic passing back in the summer of 2017 leaving a worldwide legion of fans in mourning, and seemingly putting an end to (at least as of now) LINKIN PARK as we knew it, whilst also throwing into chaos a planned reunion of his lesser-known previous band, post-grunge outfit GREY DAZE, announced just before the vocalist’s death. Now, almost three years on from Bennington’s death, his former bandmates Sean Dowdell (drums), Mace Beyers (bass) and Cristin Davis (guitar) have, with a little help from some famous friends, completed their tribute to his legacy – an album of re-imagined older material entitled Amends.

In order to fully realise GREY DAZE‘s vision, across its 11 tracks, Amends utilises a who’s who of musicians from across the spectrum of rock music; a move which sees the likes of KORN axemen Munky and Brian ‘Head’ Welch applying their alt-metal credentials to B12, Chris Traynor of BUSH trading off against P.O.D.’s Marcos Curiel on What’s In The Eye, and Jasen Rauch of BREAKING BENJAMIN appearing alongside a second Head performance on US rock radio hit-single-in-the-making She Shines, to name but a small handful. Of course, this being for all intents and purposes, a direct tribute record in memorial of Bennington, all of these guest spots are tastefully-inserted and all work well within the context of the record and the overall intended purpose of highlighting his considerable vocal talent – never distracting, but always adding to the musical canvas.

Essentially, Amends is a record of two styles – heartfelt ballads and heavier material with harder vocals more familiar to fans of LINKIN PARK, though in truth Bennington’s versatility means these are frequently intertwined across the same song. Opening track Sickness sets things going on the slightly harder side of things, the synth-backed rocker being guided along with gusto by a young Chester’s instantly spine-chilling and newly-polished vocal performance from 1997 and some choice guitar riffs from first special guest, Page Hamilton of HELMET.

Follow-up track Sometimes meanwhile, sees GREY DAZE seemingly setting off on a fairly-typical but still effective acoustic ballad, before sharply stepping up a gear with yet another of Bennington’s monster choruses as he now-somewhat-heartbreaking bellows “Maybe things’ll get better/Maybe things’ll look brighter”, in one of the album’s most instantaneous hooks. It’s this alternation which the album quickly finds its groove; the likes of 1997 reworks The Syndrome and Just Like Heroin deftly proving the talent latent in the young frontman that he’d go on to utilise to great effect for the rest of his career.  That much of the album seems to follow a set formula isn’t to say it doesn’t occasionally deviate into moments of experimentation though – albeit to arguably mixed effects.

B12 sees Bennington spitting rapped verses oddly akin to an alt-rock take on BILLY JOEL’s seminal We Didn’t Start The Fire, whilst album closer Shouting Out seemingly eschews almost all rock elements entirely for a soaring out-and-out pop ballad aided by guest vocals from prolific pop songwriter Laura “LP” Pergolizzi, before closing the album with a voicemail recording featuring Chester stating “I love you, talk to you soon” to the recipient, in another move sure to reduce many fans to tears in the context of today. Also likely to draw tears is Soul Song – another moving ballad made all the more heartbreaking with the knowledge that Bennington’s son Jaime Bennington provides the track’s additional vocals – duetting, in a manner of speaking, with his deceased father’s younger self.

Amends is by no means the greatest album to bear Chester Bennington’s name of course but, put simply, it never needed to be. Whilst not every single moment tackled on the album is a success, the mere existence of these sessions will likely be more than enough of a fitting eulogy for the vast majority of the late singer’s fanbase to remember him by, and the love and care by the members of GREY DAZE and their collaborators that has clearly been poured into their realisation of this album can only be commended. As such, the relative merits of Amends from a critical standpoint will almost certainly end up taking a backseat to what is undoubtedly an on-the-whole strongly-crafted memorial and fitting potential final eulogy to one of modern alternative music’s most beloved and dearly-missed figureheads. Rest in power Chester Bennington.

Rating: 8/10

Amends is set for release on June 26th via Loma Vista.

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