The song released online has never been published before and was created during the recording sessions for the band’s last album, “One More Light”. It was then, as Shinoda explained, that they managed to record a few songs that ultimately did not make it onto the album. The compositions could be additions or material for the next album. Unfortunately, in 2017, two months after the release of the album, the band’s vocalist, Chester Bennington, committed suicide.
For many years, unreleased songs were simply put in a drawer, because the remaining members, although they did not rule out a return, did not want to rush anything, much less look for a new vocalist. However, something changed in 2020.
It was then that Shinoda informed fans about the existence of several songs that were essentially completed and had a chance of being released to listeners in the future. In the same year, the song “She Couldn’t”, recorded in 1999, premiered. With this song, the musicians celebrated the 20th anniversary of Linkin Park’s debut. On October 1, the next single was a demo of the song “In the End”. Last year, the musicians released the previously unpublished single “Lost”.
Finally, the time of “Friendly Fire” came on February 23, 2024. The recording was made in daylight and is accompanied by a special music video recorded while he was still alive Chester Bennington.
“It’s a song from ‘One More Light’ that we mixed with a few other songs to see if it was suitable for the album or if we would use it on the B-side of the single” – this is what he said about the new track Mike Shinoda.
He said a little more about it Brad Delson.
“‘Friendly Fire’ was always one of our favorites during the shoot ‘One More Light’. However, there was something not quite right with the song, so when we reached the finish line, we decided to postpone it for later. When we later started looking for an unreleased song to add to our collection of unused hits, I was blown away by its vocal power, story and sound. It turned out that this song is closer to us than we thought. So we met to combine some of the elements that for some reason didn’t come out during the ‘One More Light’ session. (…) It’s a beautiful, fascinating, heartbreaking story that speaks to me today,” he commented.
“Friendly Fire” announces a special release by Linkin Parks, which will include 20 singles of the group, recorded between 2002 and 2023. The mentioned album will be released on April 12, and it includes such hits as: “Crawling”, “Faint”, “In The End”, “One Step Closer” and “Numb”.
After death Chester Bennington in 2017, a hugely successful group LinkinPark suspended its activities. The group is currently focusing on releasing reissues of old material and publishing unknown songs. For now, however, there is no talk of returning with new material or concerts. All rumors about Bennington being replaced by the new voice he was supposed to become have also died down Deryck Whibley With Catfish 41but he firmly denied it.
LinkinPark is one of the most famous bands representing the so-called alternative metal. The band’s biggest hits include the songs “One Step Closer”, “Crawling” and “In The End” from their first album “Hybrid Theory” (2000).
It is the best-selling debut of the first decade of the 21st century. In the USA, it achieved diamond status for over 11 million copies sold (over 30 million copies sold worldwide). In total, the group sold over 70 million records during its activity.