Review: Linkin Park – Minutes to Midnight
by lostofficehero on May.16, 2007, under music
In the past two albums, Chester and Mike went back and forth vocally on many of the same songs and it made for a beautiful balance. Linkin Park had been the definition of blurring the rock/hip-hop line with scratch-crazy Mr. Hahn mixing it up in the background and Mike’s rap over Chester’s vocals. For those looking for that Linkin Park, you’re going to need to listen to Hybrid Theory or Meteora because Minutes to Midnight has none of that.
Given the change, I have to say that I do like the album for what it is. On Minutes to Midnight, Chester holds his own by showing us that he can be a hard-rock, Cedric Bixler-Zavala-like (when he was with At the Drive In) screamer on the opening track “Given Up,” to a melodic Maynard/Thom Yorke-esque crooner on the closing track “The Little Things Give You Away,” to everything in between. Mike, on the other hand, falls short vocally. He’s in his own on “Hands Held High,” a mellow anti-war rap that is his best performance on the album. The marching band drums remind me of “The Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance. More on that later. Shinoda attempts to sing on the track “In Between,” and he, of all people, should know that his vocals are off-key. Ironically, he apologizes when starting the song and goes on to sing “trying to be someone else was harder than it seemed, somehow I got caught up in between.” His confusion is captured perfectly on this track. He’s caught in between rapping, singing and rocking out on the instruments. It almost feels like Mike had to be given airtime just for the sake of reminding folks that this is still Linkin Park. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a Mike Shinoda hater, in fact, I loved The Rising Tied - even went to see Fort Minor at the Nokia Theater; I just feel that the band is trying to move in one direction and his need to rap is holding them back.
Linkin Park will be touring with My Chemical Romance this summer for Projekt Revolution and, unfortunately for Linkin Park, I have to compare this album to The Black Parade. Although Minutes to Midnight has its moments, it is not even close to the near perfect package that My Chemical Romance put together in their third album. The Black Parade was fantastically musical, angry, passionate and meaningful all at the same time. LP is no longer angry and the message(activism?) they are trying to convey on Minutes to Midnight comes across as artificial.
Yes, there is a parental advisory sticker on the album, and I have to admit that the past few LP concerts I had gone to made me feel like I was hanging out at an elementary school playground. In that regard, I am happy that this album has a more mature sound, not just in terms of profanity, but also in terms of angst and delivery. Folks that haven’t been Linkin Park fans in the past will like this album more than LP purists like myself. Hardcore LP fans will eventually grow into this album and as a result, Linkin Park will have increased their audience. Smart.
Minutes to Midnight will be the bridge between what Linkin Park was and what Linkin Park will become. I commend their attempt to grow and diversify in musical style. They seemed to borrow from so many rock bands: Metallica (“In Pieces”, “No More Sorrow”), Korn (“Given Up”), U2 (“Shadow of the Day”) , A Perfect Circle (“The Little Things Give You Away”), Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Coldplay and Snow Patrol to name a few. The tracks on the album, when taken independently, sound good (with one or two exceptions), however, the album as a whole doesn’t seem to gel. Here’s looking forward to what’s next from LP and to what should be a great summer tour.
Old Linkin Park Fans, listen to “What I’ve Done”
New Linkin Park Fans, listen to “Shadow of the Day“
May 16th, 2007 on 3:14 pm
not a bad review. still listening to it to process it though.
Leave Out All The Rest sounds like another band — hmm can’t put my finger on who it sounds like.
just a general statement but what’s the difference between scoob’s babe of the week and malik’s hot chick – it’s just blatant gratuitous displays of boobies – and yes I said boobies.