Album Review: Grey Daze - Amends

It's difficult to talk about posthumous releases. For one thing, anything critical you say can be taken as insensitivity towards those who are no longer here. "Don't speak ill of the dead," they say, as if lying is a better option. For another thing, the idea of criticism loses a lot of its impact, since anything we may or may not say can't be taken under advisement as a way to improve. What we have is all we'll ever have. So with all of that said, I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to say about this album from Grey Daze, the early recordings of Chester Bennington.

I'm also the wrong person to be talking about this album as a historical piece, since other than hearing the early singles when they were everywhere, I was never a Linkin Lark fan either. The story of how this record led him to that band, and perhaps influenced what would come later, is not one I can tell. All I can do is tell you whether or not I think this is enjoyable music.

The idea of this record was to take songs from the band's 90s records and give them a modern, 'proper' vehicle. That is admirable, but also something that didn't exactly come to pass in the wake of Chester's death. The remaining members of the band re-recorded the music to these songs to update them, but they still sound rougher than the intention surely was. There's a layer of polish that Linkin Park has accustomed us to that is missing here. The guitars are grainier than modern rock should be today, and the arrangements lack some nuance.

But maybe all of that is fitting, since the vocals are Chester's takes from twenty years ago, and they are what you would expect from old, archived material. Perhaps polishing the music more than this would have made for a more confusing experience. In that case, though, I wonder if they couldn't have just cleaned up the original recordings, rather than make this hybrid.

And this is where my earlier concerns creep up. It feels insensitive to say that a record these guys care enough about to bring to life, that Chester himself wanted to revisit, isn't all that good. Most artists take time to grow into their identities, needing to write and record a lot of songs before they master their craft. These songs sound like the works of a band that was still in the process of developing their skills. There are some moments where Chester's angst is palpable, and there are some powerful expressions, but the songs don't have the bite that's needed to be truly memorable.

I know this record was made as a personal expression of grief and friendship, and I appreciate that they wanted to do something to honor their past, and their history. Good intentions, however, don't necessarily make for good music. I'm trying not to be harsh, but the truth of the matter is that this isn't all that good a record, and if it wasn't for the circumstances, I probably would never have given it enough thought to write about it. It's an interesting historical remnant, but that's about it.