Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Release: 2007
Anyone else think something’s wrong with the world?!
Linkin Park have grown up and figured out that these days records sell great when you either trash Bush or preach that something’s wrong with the world and it needs to change. Even better if you do both. Then again, not so great if you’re doing it dead last in line and don’t have a spark of daring. With their first two albums, Hybrid Theory and Meteora, Linkin Park mostly wowed teenagers, who “fell” for the new rebels, who also came across as way more convincing and reliable than Limp Bizkit.
Minutes to Midnight was a big secret right up until release – not even the label was allowed to listen to the record, let alone journalists (at least legally) getting to hear it a minute before the official release date. And since the undersigned values and respects labels and doesn’t use eMule, the new Linkin Park album was heard for the first time on release day. And I was disappointed!
Where’s the punch? Where’s the passion? Where’s the daring? Where’s the rock??? There are more synths and loops than guitars, which are mostly limited to the odd riff and some backup for the chorus, the vocals are carefully controlled and restrained the whole way through, Hands Held High reminds you of an old Puff Daddy, and there’s even Amen-style chanting in the background. The first hit, What I’ve Done, is one of the few exceptions that recalls the old glory, which is probably why it was carefully picked out of the twelve tracks here, which are anything but convincing.
The singing is too much like whining and moaning about everything – love, the world, social status, politics… oh, and everything’s just awful! The music has been heard before and is more monotonous, boring, and samey than distinctive and interesting. Sadly, everybody sings about this stuff these days, and playing this way is no longer revolutionary. Rick Rubin waved the producer’s baton in the wrong direction this time, and suddenly I’m afraid of two things – Metallica’s record might be bad (???) and Velvet Revolver probably made a smart move when they passed on Rubin’s services.
Like most of their listeners, Linkin Park have grown up – except they’re approaching their thirties, while their old fans are approaching their twenties. New listeners won’t get them; they’ll find them boring, old, and pathetic. Just like their older brothers, sisters, and in the worst case even parents. And they’ve had enough of all that at home!
Minutes to Midnight? The countdown to a music star’s sunset…
Lineup
Chester Bennington – vocals
Brad Delson – guitar
Mike Shinoda – backing vocals, guitar, keyboards
Joe Hahn – programming, samples, rhythms
Dave “Phoenix” Farrell – bass guitar
Rob Bourdon – drums
Production
Rick Rubin & Mike Shinoda
Track list
1. Wake
2. Given Up
3. Leave Out All The Rest
4. Bleed It Out
5. Shadow Of The Day
6. What I’ve Done
7. Hands Held High
8. No More Sorrow
9. Valentine’s Day
10. In Between
11. In Pieces
12. The Little Things Give You Away
