Minutes To Midnight (Limited Edition/Parental Advisory) [Digipak] [PA] - Linkin Park

Advantages: New approach with their distinct flavour
Disadvantages: Won't be for all Linkin Park fans

First of all, I have to say that I am a complete Linkin Park fan so I was waiting for "Minutes To Midnight" with eager anticipation. Having said that I know a bad song when I hear it and likewise, a bad album. This is not one. My initial response to Linkin Park's newest album was lukewarm, to say the least. I had expected something different but with the Linkin Park sound thoroughly threaded through each song like veins of familiarity. To a certain ...
...your typical Linkin Park album. You truly need repeat listens to fully soak in all of the work they have put in. It's obvious from the outset that they have tried something new with their style and it is wise to listen with an open mind. I think it is naive to think that a band will continue to churn out the same stuff time and time again. It is actually preferable, in my opinion, for an artist to explore new avenues in order to give their music ... Read review

Advantages: Some very strong tracks.
Disadvantages: Somehow a bit unfulfilling.

Okay, I am not a Linkin Park fan, in fact I have never really liked them, so when my 13 year old said he wanted the new CD I thought I would buy it and then, for conversations sake, listen to it.....well, it was in my car for the last 3 weeks, and now he finally has it. I am not sure if Linkin Park are American punk, post punk, mosh rock, or a mixture of all, what I do know is that this is, in my opinion, a very strong album. The first track, "Wake" ...
...to what one would expect at the end of a rock opera, or a performance artist, trapeze etc, finishing their act, seemed like a bit of a strange opener, but not unpleasant. "Given Up" - very 'moshy' quite fast, gets the foot tapping if driving, and at home when noone was looking, I did have a bit of a 'fling myself about' moment, like this track a lot. "Leave Out All The Rest" - Powerful, slower than the previous track, excellent lyrics, for me has ... Read review

Advantages: Shows Linkin Park can completely change and still be as brilliant as ever
Disadvantages: Not all fans approve, some disagree with the change.

...down to the album. Minutes to Midnight. What can I say? Definitely one of the best albums released this year. Contains 11 proper songs, each as good as the last, and the wake. 1) "Wake" [1:41] - The introduction to the album. A good way to bring the quality of the album in slowly. 2) "Given up" [3:09] - The heaviest song on the album. Quite a contrast compared to the calmness of the wake, but helps to emphasise the metal genre of this song, with ...
...vocals from Mike Shinoda. As Minutes to Midnight only contains 2 songs with rapping vocals, this is a significant decrease compared to previous albums. This song also features background vocals from the entire band (the "men's choir" singing "Amen" is actually each member of the band). 8) "No more Sorrow" [3:42] - For this song, the band experimented with different effects before settling on the effect of Brad shaking his finger on the strings of ... Read review

Advantages: my opinion
Disadvantages: too long?

Minutes to midnight- final revision after 6 months of deep listening All people said that M2M was such a different album and I agree. It's totally unusual from all the points of view. But almost all the fans I talked to were criticizing it really bad and they said they're not LP fans anymore just because of M2M. Some other people said it's much better, that they liked it more. About me, I can say I was absolutely disappointed when I listened to ...
...why? Why should we argue these guys so much about this album? Why should we blame them for some things that they are supposed to have done? It's not fair. I'm starting to analyze M2M in my own point of view and see why to argue and why not. Throughout the career of a music band many things can occur. When they first appeared on the stage in 1999 with the genial Hybrid Theory E. P. Linkin Park was in a total chaos. Very insecure, they couldn't trust ... Read review

Advantages: very addictive to listen to, good for revision and driving
Disadvantages: not a typical everyday CD

From a personal point of view, I expected to find the album a lot like their first, and hoped it wasn't like the second as I thought that the rapping lost some of the depth, not necessarily because of the lyrics, but because again, it didn't sound like I had expected. However, I put the CD into my player and it didn't move for a few more days, because I didn't mind listening to the music and I would fully recommend it to anyone who needs music playing ...
...because it isn't the 'typical sound' but they haven't completely objected to buying it. Typically I would have bought this CD and put it to one side after the listen, but it also another very good CD to listen to while driving ... it really is good and if you haven't got it already, I would recommend it. ... Read review