Minutes to Midnight is Linkin Park’s third studio album, released on May 9, 2007. This is the first Linkin Park album to feature all band members on the album cover, to be co-produced by Mike Shinoda, and to receive a parental advisory sticker (excluding Collision Course, the mash-up album with Jay-Z).
“What I’ve Done”, was digitally released on April 3 in the UK and April 2 in the US. The CD single was released on April 30.
Release
The album was delayed multiple times, first scheduled for summer 2006, then fall 2006, then early 2007, until finally, the release date was set for May 15, 2007. In an interview in September 2006, Shinoda explained, “When songs are pouring out you don’t ever want to stop that. We already have over 100 roughs for songs. We’ve narrowed it down since but we’re not ready to commit to those yet.”
From the early demo sessions, “QWERTY”, which was rumored to be on Minutes to Midnight, has appeared on the Linkin Park Underground v6.0 CD on December 5, 2006 in both live and studio demo versions. The song has been confirmed as a “fan club only” track and is not included on Minutes to Midnight.
“This was a year-and-a-half long process of really hard work and experimentation in the studio that yielded about 150 rough songs,” guitarist Brad Delson told Billboard.com. “Not only is this album incredibly diverse, but the depth of the material is really strong.”
The first single, “What I’ve Done”, was released on April 2, 2007, and debuted at number one on the U.S. Modern Rock chart.
“Given Up”, “What I’ve Done” and “No More Sorrow” made their live debut on April 28, 2007 in Berlin, Germany. Live performances of these three songs at the AOL sessions were released on AOL on May 5, 2007. They also play in the background on the band’s official website.
On May 12, 2007 Linkin Park played “Bleed It Out” on Saturday Night Live, along with “What I’ve Done”. Also, on May 18, 2007, Linkin Park did a “special appearance” on Jimmy Kimmel Live. This turned out to be a special concert at the House of Blues, with the whole studio audience being escorted by double decker tour bus to the venue, with the band driving. Linkin Park again performed “What I’ve Done” and “Bleed it Out”.
CD/DVD Special Edition
A CD/DVD Special Edition of Minutes to Midnight is available. It contains a 32-page art book featuring the lyrics and conceptual art by Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn, along with pictures of the recording process. The bonus DVD contains the following:
Users have experienced problems accessing the DVD-ROM features, as certain computers may not be able to access the enhanced portion of this disc. LP Forum Members are looking into why this is.
In Canada, Warner Records recalled the CD/DVD Edition due to the faulty DVD. The final release date for the repaired discs is yet to be known.
CD/DVD Super Fan Edition
Linkin Park will also be releasing a CD/DVD Super Fan Edition of Minutes to Midnight. It will only be available by ordering from the official Linkin Park merchandiser, BandMerch.com. This edition features the DVD from the Special Edition, as well as an extended 68-page art book and 6 frameable collector’s cards placed in die-cut pockets inside the linen wrapped, embossed case. The Super Fan Edition is currently Out Of Stock, as the art books were not made in time for the release, and all orders will be delayed.
Sound
In an interview with Chester Bennington it is explained that the new album is a mix of punk, classic rock, and hip-hop beats. “Rick has brought more of a stripped down, classic-rock and hip-hop kind of feel.”
“We were looking back at the things that we had done in the past… and I think we just figured that we had exhausted that sound. It was easy for us to replicate, it was easy for other bands to replicate, and we just needed to move on,” said Mike Shinoda.
“This time around, Mike Shinoda is singing a lot more. It may seem like he’s not on the record, but he’s doing a lot of the harmonies. He also sings a couple of songs alone. We’re presenting ourselves in a different way.”
This is their first album where Mike Shinoda sings lead vocals for a full length track (”In Between”), rather than rapping. It is also the first to contain guitar solos (particularly on “In Pieces” and “The Little Things Give You Away”). Unlike the two previous studio albums, Minutes to Midnight contains profanity and politically charged lyrics.
All sampling elements by Joe Hahn that existed in the previous two studio albums are completely absent, except on the songs “What I’ve Done”, “In Pieces”, and “The Little Things Give You Away”. Hahn contributes more with programming, electronica, and other elements to many of the songs in the album.
Mike Shinoda performs his trademark MC vocals on only two tracks, “Bleed It Out” and “Hands Held High”. This is a significant decrease compared to previous albums. The rap vocals on the album are much closer styled to Mike Shinoda’s side project Fort Minor than his traditional Linkin Park verses. Despite a decrease of Mike Shinoda as a main vocalist, he has two solo songs on the record. In addition to his rapping on “Hands Held High”, he also provides the main vocals for “In Between”, which features background vocals from Chester Bennington. He also sings solo on the bonus track “No Roads Left” in a much more aggressive rock style than on “In Between” with no backing vocals from Bennington.
Guitarist Brad Delson used the E-Bow heard on “No More Sorrow” originally when the band was piecing together “The Little Things Give You Away”. The band decided not to use the effect for the solo in that song and instead ended up creating “No More Sorrow” out of the effect.
Reception
The album has polarized critics and fans. In a two out of five stars review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All Music Guide described the album’s sound as “passé” and summed the band’s effort up as “opting to create a muddled, colorless murk.” In a harshly critical review by NOW Magazine, Evan Davies panned the album, calling it a “a rehash of the same lame hiphop/metal/electro,” and “narcissistic garbage.” In the UK, NME magazine’s Dan Silver awarded it 2/10, calling it the “sound of a band trying and failing to forge a new identity”, and referring to the song ‘Hands Held High’ as “far and away the funniest thing you’ll hear all year”.
On the other hand, Rolling Stone said, “Rap metal is dead. Linkin Park are not.” Rock Sound, giving the album 8/10 stars, praised the change of style and “tangible sense of growth and maturity,” ending their review with, “Linkin Park have finally grown up.” IGN rated it 7.4 out of 10, also calling it a “more mature sound”.
The album received mixed reviews overall on Metacritic, with an average vote of 57/100, slightly below the 62/100 score of their previous album, Meteora.
Track listing
“Wake” – 1:40
“Given Up” – 3:09
“Leave Out All the Rest” – 3:29
“Bleed It Out” – 2:44
“Shadow of the Day” – 4:49
“What I’ve Done” – 3:28
“Hands Held High” – 3:53
“No More Sorrow” – 3:41
“Valentine’s Day” – 3:16
“In Between” – 3:16
“In Pieces” – 3:38
“The Little Things Give You Away” – 6:23
Bonus tracks
“No Roads Left” – 3:48 (B-side released with all pre-orders of the iTunes version of the album)
“No More Sorrow” – 3:47 (Live) (Best Buy purchase and Zia Records Bonus Track, originally performed at AOL Sessions on March 5, 2007)
“Given Up” – 3:11 (Live) (Best Buy purchase Bonus Track, originally performed at AOL Sessions on March 5, 2007)
“What I’ve Done” – 3:27 (Live) (Best Buy purchase Bonus Track, originally performed at AOL Sessions on March 5, 2007)
“Breaking the Habit” – 4:23 (Live) (Wal-Mart purchase and iTunes Bonus Track, originally performed at Wal-Mart Soundcheck in 2007)
“What I’ve Done” – 3:24 (Live) (Wal-Mart purchase Bonus Track, originally performed at Wal-Mart Soundcheck in 2007)
“Faint” – 2:46 (Live) (Japanese edition Bonus Track)
source:wikipedia
