Minutes to midnight.. or minutes to devastation?
Linkin Park's 3rd studio album "Minutes to Midnight" is due to release on may 14, 2007 in the world and on may 15th 2007 in North America. The title is a reference to Doomsday clock where minutes to midnight is the proximity of the world to a nuclear destruction. At the time of the release of the title, the time was 5 minutes to midnight. Mike Shinoda has explained that the album has various meanings -
Don't take that at face value. There are layers of meaning, most are metaphoric...It’s definitely a reference to the doomsday clock—the Apocalypse—a metaphor for death and rebirth, but it could also be applied to the music industry, sort of tongue-in-cheek
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 2nd, 2007, and debuted at number one at the US modern rock chart.
TRACKLIST
- "Wake"
- "Given Up"
- "Leave Out All the Rest"
- "Bleed It Out"
- "Shadow of the Day"
- "What I've Done" – 3:28
- "Hands Held High"
- "No More Sorrow"
- "Valentine's Day"
- "In Between"
- "In Pieces"
- "The Little Things Give You Away"
- "Minutes to Midnight" (iTunes exclusive)
THE CHANGE.. WHATS NEW?
In a recent interview with MTV.com, Chester Bennington explained that the nu metal sound from their previous album has been completely removed. He also explained that the new album is a mixture of punk, classical rock and hip-hop beats. In the December issue of the blender magazine, Chester says, "Rick has brought a more of a stripped down, classical rock, hip-hop feel. We are using vintage guitars and drums carved out of wood and skin to get a more tribal feel. Its definitely not nu metal."
Chester also confirmed that the "rap/rock" and"nu metal" that Linkin Park was known for is almost non existent in the new album.
This time, Mike Shinoda will be singing a lot more. It may seem that he is not on the records but he is doing a lot of harmonics. He also sings a couple of songs alone. Linkin Park is presenting themselves in a new way, they've had haircuts, new clothing, its just a new new thing..!!
Another thing to note is the "parental advisory" symbol which appears the first time in any linkin park album(exception of collision course jay-z and linkin park). This time a couple of songs will be having course language.
The album cover is also interesting. Its totally different from the grungy and complicated covers of reanimation, hybrid theory and meterora. The cover is rather simple. For the first time, any of the six members will be appearing on the cover. Also, this will be the first time that Brad Delson will be giving a solo performance.
I wish all of the best to Linkin Park for their new album... but will this "new thing" be as successful as their past? That remains the BIG QUESTION. We will find out in due course of time
