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AJ Jorge May 26th, 2007

Been listening to Linkin Park’s newest album - Minutes to Midnight for a week now.

I can’t shrug off the fact that the album is relatively tame compared to their first two albums. I miss Chester’s ear popping shouts and loud vocals. Mike Shinoda’s rap is more relaxed and pleasant. Not that I’m dissing the album. It’s just that it’s not the Linkin Park trademark that I know.

There are mixed reactions to this album. Some like it while others completely trash it. I don’t complain though. Out of the 12 tracks, I probably like 7 or 8 songs. Unlike in the previous albums where I can’t get enough of their songs and I still want more.

I think I may have to listen more to grasp all there is to it in this album.

Special mention to the tracks that I like:
Bleed It Out - Chester nails this one. Chester sings the chorus and Mike raps the rest. Great song. I hope this will be their next single. I bleed it out digging deeper just to throw it away…

What I’ve Done - Linkin Park summarizes their transformation from the loud punk rock band from before to a pleasant sounding one. This track is their carrier single.

Joe (Hahn) came up to Mike and me and asked us to take the whole idea of Minutes to Midnight and apply that to how the band has changed. So, in a way, it’s us saying goodbye to how we used to be…The lyrics in the first verse are ‘In this farewell, there’s no blood, there’s no alibi,’ and right away, you’ll notice that the band sounds different: The drums are much more raw, the guitars are more raw and the vocals aren’t tripled. It’s just us out there … and that’s how Rick wanted it. - Chester Bennington, March 2007

Shadow of the Day - great lyrics and Mike and Chester yet again blends great.

I’m tired to nitpick the whole album. The above three tracks are those songs when I turn the iPod’s volume up and completely enjoy listening to them.

Needless to say, Minutes to Midnight is a really different Linkin Park sound. You will either hate it or embrace the new phase of Linkin Park.

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