Minutes To Midnight (Limited Edition/Parental Advisory) [Digipak] [PA] - Linkin Park > Reviews > Minutes to Midnight - Would definitely recommend

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Excellent

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

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Well, if you're reading this review, I'd just like to let you know, I know what I'm talking about here. I have been a loyal Linkin Park fan for about 7 years now, it might not sound a lot to you, but it is when you have only been alive for 15!

But dont be put off because of my age, dont believe I dont know what I'm talking about because believe me, I do. Anyway, enough of the small talk, lets get 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 Chester repeatedly screaming the word "misery" for approximately 20 seconds towards the end of the song. Also there is a very catchy 'jingle sound' during the verse, believed to be made by Brad shaking his car keys with Mike clapping alongside.

3) "Leave out all the rest" [3:29] - And then the emphasis on the layers and textures of the music returns with this song. No screaming is involved in this song, just singing with a good beat in the background. The lyrics themselves are actually quite sombre and depressing, talking about dying and "leaving behind some reasons to be missed". But still a very good song.

4) "Bleed it out" [2:44] - The second song from the album to be released as a single, being officially released on 20th August 2007. This song is only one of 2 on the album that contains rap vocals from Mike Shinoda. Bleed it out has a genre of alternative/nu metal, and peaked at #29 on the UK singles chart.

5) "Shadow of the day" [4:50] - The third song from the album to be released as a single, being officially released on 16th October 2007. Shadow of the day opens with a reverse/edited keyboard loop, which was experimented with several times before the final one was decided. The guitar elements are all clean, until after the second chorus where distortion elements come in. This is the second longest track on the album, and does not contain any vocals from Mike. Also the end of the album version of the song is an instrumental, which then leads into the beginning of What I've Done.

6) "What I've Done" [3:25] - The first song from the album to be released as a single, being officially released on 7th May 2007. What I've done is definitely the most famous song from the album. The song starts out with a piano riff reminiscent of the Halloween theme, before going into a raw guitar sound. This song differs from most of Linkin Park's previously released songs (except Breaking the Habit) in that it features almost no lead vocals from vocalist Mike Shinoda, save for a brief "na na na" refrain at the end and contributing harmonies throughout.

7) "Hands held high" [3:53] - The other song from the album that contains rapping 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 his guitar creating the long reverb effect similar to the sound of an E-Bow. This is the second heaviest song on the album, and I think this should be released as the next official single.

9) "Valentines day" [3:17] - This song is quite soft, again a contrast from the heaviness of the chorus of 'No More Sorrow'. This song is quite similar to 'leave out all the rest', as the lyrics are quite sombre and depressing here, although not as much. Here Chester is singing about being alone on Valentines day for the first time, provoking a feeling of feeling sorry for him.

10) "In between" [3:17] - Another slower paced song, concentrating more on the textures and layers of the music, rather than the more heavy rock beats everyone associates with the old Linkin Park. 'In Between' can actually be described as quite a calming song, perfect to listen to if you're trying to wind down or revise. This song is mostly made up on Mike's vocals and some quiet instuments in the background.

11) "In Pieces" [3:38] - This song is quite different to the typical Linkin Park song, as the typical song usually has quite quiet verses, usually consisting of Mike rapping. Then as you get into the chorus it there is a sort of explosion effect as Chester starts screaming. But 'In Pieces' is very different, as there is no 'explosion', the song stays at the same pace throughout. But there is some nice guitar sound in the background, another quite calming song.

12) "The Little Things Give You Away" [6:24] - This is the longest song on the album. But this is definitely not one you will switch off if it is playing, as it is one of the best songs on the album. But as it has quite a slow start, some people think the whole song is going to be slow and a lot of people associate slow with boring. But this is not the case for this song. The best bit of this song is towards the end where there is just music playing and you think the song is just going to fade out. Then suddenly Chester kicks in with his vocals, a fantastic way to end this song.

To sum up this review, if you are thinking of buying Minutes to Midnight, go for it, you seriously won't be disappointed. Don't listen to these people that say Linkin Park have gone rubbish, after the massive success they had with 'Meteora' and 'Hybrid Theory'.
Don't be afraid of change.