Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight

[Broken Parachute]

Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight
Record Label: Warner Brothers Records
Release Date: May 15th, 2007

First off, let me just say that Linkin Park has been my favorite band since I was about 10 years old, perhaps even younger. The band has impacted my life and my music tastes for close to 7 years now and I was excited at the chance to hear a new album. Minutes to Midnight, the band's third full length studio album, features Linkin Park in their most untraditional form. If you were a casual fan from the Hybrid Theory era and decided you want to check out the new album..you may be surprised at what you hear.

For me, this album gave me mixed emotions. I didn't know at first what to think of it. The music itself, the instruments and mixing, has improved. For the first time maybe in his lifetime, guitarist Brad Delson is actually playing the guitar like it should be played. It seemed in previous albums as if he just went through the motions with ordinary chord playing to produce a lackluster sound. On Minutes to Midnight, he actually is noticeably better. The drumming and bass playing hasn't changed too much, but the better guitar playing brings the music as a whole up an entire level. The lyricism however is just as bad as maybe it always was. Their lyrics are still cliche, boring, and....really about nothing at all. The only song that seemed to be written pretty well was Leave Out All the Rest. Other than that, the songs are all pretty boring.

The best song on the album is probably Leave Out All the Rest. It's a slow sort of ballad type song, totally not typical of Linkin Park, and it worked well for them. I loved Chester's voice in particular in this song, and the lyrics (as said above) are pretty decent. The worst song on the album is Bleed it Out. The song sounds a little different at first which isn't bad, but about 40 seconds in it just turns horrible. The singing is horrible and the lyrics are atrocious. I don't know how they let this song make the album cut, and I'm sure that they had other stuff they had been working on that is better than this song.

One positive thing I certainly noticed is that without a doubt in my mind, Chester has become a better vocalist. His voice on this album (save one or two songs) is far superior to any other work he has ever done. It's not just about stadium rock vocals, anymore. His voice is actually a part of his music now. On tracks such as Shadow of the Day and Valentine's Day, it is most obvious. His voice has become slightly more...soothing, for lack of a better term. Also, Mike Shinoda singing, rather than rapping, on In Between made me laugh. It turns out his voice isn't all that bad...but let's not get used to it.

Overall, the album in general kind of disappointed me. The songs were not that interesting and kind of bland. I am very happy for the band, that they finally got another album done, but it's not their best work at all. While the album had some good tracks (Valentine's Day, Shadow of the Day, Leave Out All The Rest), as a whole it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I still love the band, I will still see them live when I can, and I will still enjoy their music. Minutes to Midnight is not their best album as a group, but Chester's best album as a vocalist.

Positives: Chester's voice, two or three really catchy songs.
Negatives: Lyricism is as bad as I've ever seen it, horrible choice of a first single (What I've Done)...Leave Out All The Rest would make a much better single.

Chester Bennington - Vocals
Mike Shinoda - Vocals, Guitars
Brad Delson - Guitars
Dave "Phoenix" Farrell - Bass
Rob Bourdon - Drums
Joseph "Mr." Hahn - Mixing

Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/linkinpark)

[Chris Fallon]

Minutes To Midnight is Linkin Park's St. Anger. I agree with your ratings except for the production - I think Rick Rubin did a bad job, and makes it sound hollow and filtered.

Well-written review, my man. It's an incredibly disappointing album, and it just kind of goes to show that rap-rock bands can't really evolve. Limp Bizkit couldn't do it, neither could Korn - and sadly, Linkin Park can't really do it without sounding like they're reaching.

[Broken Parachute]

Thank you for the feedback. I really was hoping that since Meteora was a pretty decent sequel to Hybrid Theory, that this album would be awesome. It was disappointing, though. I still enjoy listening to it, though. I can never hate them.

[animmortalsoul]

This was kind of a weird review for me. It all seemed pretty positive until the last paragraph. I wish you would have described the parts that were let-downs in a bit more detail. Well-written, but a bit general in my opinion.

[DaGaR]

seriously you were practically praising the album until the very end. how about you actually say why it's disappointing rather than merely stating that it's a letdown. that's kind of your job as a "reviewer" if you wanna call yourself that.

[mr chainsaw]

seriously you were practically praising the album until the very end. how about you actually say why it's disappointing rather than merely stating that it's a letdown. that's kind of your job as a "reviewer" if you wanna call yourself that.

Don't be a douche and at least give it another read before you make a dumb comment. He said he had "mixed emotions" in the first sentence of the second paragraph. He told you that the guitars and vocals had improved, but the songwriting had not. For me, that seems like enough important information to make a conclusion. Plus, do you really need a specific example of how a Linkin Park song could sound bland?

[Broken Parachute]

seriously you were practically praising the album until the very end. how about you actually say why it's disappointing rather than merely stating that it's a letdown. that's kind of your job as a "reviewer" if you wanna call yourself that.
Why don't you listen to the album and make your own conclusions. I'm just giving you my opinion.

As stated above, I told you I had mixed emotions, and then I said that even though they've gotten better as musicians they couldn't put a good album together. Where did you lose me? I didn't praise the album, I praised the band.

Plus, the ratings show you how I felt too. My ratings were all subpar except for the vocals.

This was kind of a weird review for me. It all seemed pretty positive until the last paragraph. I wish you would have described the parts that were let-downs in a bit more detail. Well-written, but a bit general in my opinion.I had a paragraph stating my positives and negatives, but I took it out for some reason. I should have left it in.

[Broken Parachute]

I edited it with my favorite and least favorite songs to balance the review out. It makes more sense now.

[we are cured]

i listened to this record last night, and i agree with your review. good job john.

[ktanders]

This is a very generalized look at the album. I mean, I agree with alot. Hyrbird Theory was miles above this one. But you downed alot of areas in brief. You should explain a bit more. But again, I agree its not near as good as any of their other albums.

[Broken Parachute]

This is a very generalized look at the album. I mean, I agree with alot. Hyrbird Theory was miles above this one. But you downed alot of areas in brief. You should explain a bit more. But again, I agree its not near as good as any of their other albums.For example, what did you want to see specifics about? I'm not going to write a book and explain every detail of the album. I wrote what I thought, now you have to listen to it and make your own inferences.

[ktanders]

It's just vague I think. And I don't think the guitar should be played a certain way. Brad Delson, is just one of those simplistic guitarists, and you shouldnt buy the album expecting Omar Rodriguez stlye guitar lines. He even said "Delson tries to make his guitar playing sound like a keyboard or strings to try to fit in with the hip-hop and electronic sounds of the band". As you can see, he does it intentionally, it's cool he mixed it up a little bit, but he doesn't have to play it a certain way. Let Delson be Delson.

The album isn't as good as most latter LP releases. But I do believe it was slightly over-analyzed with the intent of comparison. No big deal though. Nice review!

[Broken Parachute]

It's just vague I think. And I don't think the guitar should be played a certain way. Brad Delson, is just one of those simplistic guitarists, and you shouldnt buy the album expecting Omar Rodriguez stlye guitar lines. He even said "Delson tries to make his guitar playing sound like a keyboard or strings to try to fit in with the hip-hop and electronic sounds of the band". As you can see, he does it intentionally, it's cool he mixed it up a little bit, but he doesn't have to play it a certain way. Let Delson be Delson.

The album isn't as good as most latter LP releases. But I do believe it was slightly over-analyzed with the intent of comparison. No big deal though. Nice review!"The way it should it be played" is just an expression. In other words I was saying that he's gotten better, that's all.

Thanks.

[vandalsandquinn]

Good job John, this is alright

[TwilightEpidemi]

dude, dont let these other guys give u crap. everyones a critic. and i agree with everything u said about the album. i mean, u cant really describe the bad parts of the album that much. i mean theres some songs that i dont like for no reason at all. just it doesnt turn me on.
good review!

[Mr. Jacob]

good review... it's right on for me

[Mr. Jacob]

seriously you were practically praising the album until the very end. how about you actually say why it's disappointing rather than merely stating that it's a letdown. that's kind of your job as a "reviewer" if you wanna call yourself that.

write a better review then... and since it will be so perfect, we won't criticize it

dick

[Never Last]

Minutes To Midnight is Linkin Park's St. Anger. I agree with your ratings except for the production - I think Rick Rubin did a bad job, and makes it sound hollow and filtered.

Well-written review, my man. It's an incredibly disappointing album, and it just kind of goes to show that rap-rock bands can't really evolve. Limp Bizkit couldn't do it, neither could Korn - and sadly, Linkin Park can't really do it without sounding like they're reaching.

I do think the album is a disappointment but I have to disagree with you on the part about Linkin Park not being able to evolve. Chester's voice has incredible range and that's something no other nu-metal band had.

This album actually got 4 out of 5 stars from Rolling Stone. I hate RS but I guess that's pretty cool. And I pretty much agree with the review. In Pieces is probably my favorite song though.

[Chris Fallon]

I do think the album is a disappointment but I have to disagree with you on the part about Linkin Park not being able to evolve. Chester's voice has incredible range and that's something no other nu-metal band had.

This album actually got 4 out of 5 stars from Rolling Stone. I hate RS but I guess that's pretty cool. And I pretty much agree with the review. In Pieces is probably my favorite song though.

To some, they may have evolved on this album and I can understand as to why they would say that. For me, I think they have devolved, because they don't sound even remotely the same to me.

Obviously, I see why they went the slow route and made a record that is more about atmosphere than pure energetic rock. Not one song on this record sticks out to me like a lot did on the previous records. I don't hear any songs like "In The End" and "Numb," songs that, the first time I heard them, I loved them for their honesty and arrangement.

I wouldn't take Rolling Stone's opinion seriously, because the critics there don't know the ground from their heads in their asses. I never find their reviews to be more than biased bullshit. But that's just me, so don't take it on a personal level.

[Never Last]

To some, they may have evolved on this album and I can understand as to why they would say that. For me, I think they have devolved, because they don't sound even remotely the same to me.

Obviously, I see why they went the slow route and made a record that is more about atmosphere than pure energetic rock. Not one song on this record sticks out to me like a lot did on the previous records. I don't hear any songs like "In The End" and "Numb," songs that, the first time I heard them, I loved them for their honesty and arrangement.

I wouldn't take Rolling Stone's opinion seriously, because the critics there don't know the ground from their heads in their asses. I never find their reviews to be more than biased bullshit. But that's just me, so don't take it on a personal level.

Nah like I said in my post, I hate Rolling Stone including its reviewers. To me LP just made this album to make critics happy, which is why I said it's pretty cool. They took away the amazing production and the layers and layers of samples, beat etc. which is why to me the album is not even better Meteora.

[No IThinkNot]

Horribly disappointing.

[barbedheart]

The album, I will admit, was not their best effort. I kept expecting driving lyrics, like the ones from their previous albums. However, saying that their lyrics mean nothing is complete bull. All lyrics have meanings behind them...you just have to have enough of a brain to figure out what they mean, or enough of a soul to relate them to your own life. And in saying that they made a mistake choosing "What I've Done" as their first single, you made a very stupid comment. "What I've Done" was a strong choice for a single...perhaps, not the best on the album, but it's a song anyone with a brain or soul can relate to. I know it strikes a chord in my heart, which is important. This may not be the best album they have or ever will release, but it's deep and easy to relate to...I'm not disappointed at all.

[ihavechappedlip]

Chester's voice sounds very amateur on What I've Done.

[eatbabiesyum]

good review :)

[tbagurdrumset94]

I thought this album was great when I first heard it. But after hearing their old stuff, this doesn't stand a chance.