Minutes To Midnight

£4.44

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

Everyone s a critic! - If you are a massive fan of their old sound, of the Nu metal, then you should definitely avoid this album. If you are a music fan with an open mind then you should definitely purchase this. The sound that they have created is incredibly different. I really don t know why they changed that much. Once I like a band s sound I really don t like it when they try and reinvent themselves to change that, and that s exactly what Linkin Park have done here. I bought Meteora as my first Linkin Park album back in 2003 and I instantly loved it. The sound of the music was so unique, and to a 13 year old, pretty surprising as well. Meteora was the band s pinnacle and it is such a fantastic album. Then, after a couple of years of no activity from the band, I was highly anticipating a new album, after loving their sound. However, after hearing What I ve done, I couldn t believe what they had done to their music. I still can t stand that song because it s the song that ruined Linkin Park, and that is so irritating. So, not long after I watched a 4Music special that was on at midnight to hear some more of their songs, hoping that they had some better music other than What I ve done, this pathetic single (which I bought anyway!). They played the single, Given up and No more sorrow. I was really surprised with what I heard. It was either all soppy pathetic with poor singing in What I ve done, or aggressive testosterone filled screaming in No more sorrow and Given up. I was totally confused! I left it until a few months after release before I purchased this album. I thought they were trying to be all cool and they were sell-outs because instead of making the music that the pl fraternity loved, they were trying to go mainstream and be recognised by other listeners and then try to be popular. Anyway, after listening to What I ve done time and time again and despising every moment of it, I decided to purchase the album. So I sat down at night and listened to the album, trying to take in the diverse sound that I was hearing. At first listen I hated this album. It took me a good lot of listens and really trying to be open minded, to like this album. Now, I think this album is pretty good.Wake - This has some digital and electronic sounds in it and is just a run up to the opening song, Given up.Given up - For me, I don t like this song. The key jangling gives the song a strange effect and the screaming is far too much. Also the cursing and F word in the song is not to my liking. One thing that I really respected about LP was that they could make this amazing, powerful music without swearing. That obviously changed though, probably with the influence of Shinoda s hip hop group Fort minor. Leave out all the rest - One of my favourite songs on the album. I would probably put this as my third favourite song. With these softer songs that don t sound anything like Linkin Park, all you have to do is to forget about their previous efforts that you liked and just concentrate on the nice sound. Bleed it out - The first and only song to have rap and singing/screaming in it, which probably sounds most like the old songs as a result. This also has the F word in it, but I think the sound is good. The rapping is very different from the verses of old, which were clever, whereas what you will hear in this song is Mike trying to put energy in the music but actually sounding quite silly.Shadow of the day - My favourite song on the album. I like the sound and once I think of that one special person then I am totally in a great zone. I suggest that everyone else do the same. This is a standout song, by any means. What I ve done - My least favourite song on the album. It irritates me so much, and that Na, na, na that Mike does is so stupid! Chester s voice is strained and weak sounding and the whole song is just pathetic. The band were trying to be all mature with this song, but what we have is an awful tune. Hands held high - A Christian song with the F word in it. I am still surprised that the band could create this type of song. It s quite a nice song, about this world and war etc. No more sorrow - This is also one of my favourite songs on the album. The drumming in the intro is crazy sounding. It sort of reminds me of the old Linkin Park. This is similar to Given up, the other heavy song, but twice as good. Valentines day - A really depressing song about being left alone. It sounds like the loved one has died and Chester has been left alone to mourn her. A very sad song. It sounds quite nice nevertheless, mixing the strong voice of Chester with softer sounds. In between - my second least favourite song on the album. It is quite weak and if you didn t know then you would never have guessed that this was Mike singing. I wouldn t suggest he did this again. He sounds a bit like Jack Johnson when he sings and I can t stand him. In pieces - My second favourite song on the album. It is softer but Chester s voice sounds strong. The beat also sounds reggae-like, which I like because I m a big fan of The Police. The little things give you away - A soft sounding song based on the floods at New Orleans. The guitar sounds really smart, almost water-like. It s a good listen.

Extremely Disappointing - First off I d like to say that I love their earlier album s, and that I was looking forward to this. I heard What I ve Done and thought it was alright, not as good as their earlier stuff, but not terrible. However, I had the feeling that it wouldn t be very good from just reading the tracks on the back so I refrained from buying it. I then asked a friend what he thought the best track was. As soon as he said, Uhhh, probably What I ve Done I was thinking sssshhhhhhiiit. So I borrowed it off him, gave it a listen, I it was just boring to me. Lacked originality and there were too many very quiet songs for my tastes. I saw them live recently at the Milton Keynes Bowl, and I will say this: they were the first band that I d come to see (excluding all poor support bands I ve ever seen) that had been disappointing, and that I left feeling that I d wasted money. I will not go to see them again. The older stuff they played was good, but they played so much off the new album it was ridiculous. Also, they left the stage 3 times, okay, once they came back with Jay-Z which was amazing, easily the highlight of the show, but other than that it just seemed they were trying to waste time.Another thing, their set was 1 and a half hours! For a headline band, thats pretty short, and thats being generous as they took so many breaks during the set. I ll level with you, they have 3 albums right, the first two are little over half an hour, and the new one is a bit longer, so if they had played ALL their songs the set should have been about 2 hrs or just under, but they seemed to skip so many of the good songs.Also playing Bleed It Out s chorus for 8 MINUTES is NOT a good way to end a gig. I was counting the minutes to the end of the show at that point. Anyway, back to the album, the only songs I like (to an extent) are Given Up, No More Sorrow and What I ve DOne, essentially the heavier songs. However, the heaviest parts of No More Sorrow and Given Up where chester shouts Thieves and hypocrites over and over is terrible, which annoys me as I want to like it, but that part annoys me every time I hear it.If you re a fan of the band s earlier work ignore this album, or borrow it from a friend, do not buy it, because I can guarantee your disappointment.

Not as bad as expected!! - This is not even close to being a 4 or 5 star album. Bands clearly have to evolve and usually when this is done correctly for every fan they lose they will gain 5 more, however Linkin Park have unfortunately evolved into overalll nothingness, the distinct lack of heaviness makes this record a bit of a chore to listen to. There are moments of promise dotted around the album but on the whole very little actually grabs you and forces you to keep playing it over and over.The only really promising songs are the main single What Ive Done and Given Up, but once again despite the attempts to evolve it is very similar to the first track of Meteora though i must admit the simple but catchy guitar riff is a winner. On the subject of the guitars though it does sounds very synthetic and digitally enhanced and any reallyt gutsy playing is well and truly lost, Brad Delson by all reports is in any other surroundings a throughly decent guitar player with a wealthy knowledge of theory, however in Linkin Park he sounds like a typical teenager who has learnt that he can detune his guitar and play with one finger. But on the whole this is his best contribution to any of the Linkin Park albums.The singing on the whole is losing its way too, it sounds very naisely and does begin to grate quite quickly but i am really starting to slag this album off in a way that paints the wrong picture. This is by no means the worst album i have ever heard.... far from it, the reason this album is receiving such a wide range of reviews is because it IS Linkin Park and as such we expect better. Should this have been done by another band then the reviews might well have been more favourable.Not a classic but worthy of a listen, just dont expect anything of the magnitude of One Step Closer!!!!6/10

Proving MORE than their worth!! - I loved LP and got this album knowing all the mixed reviews it had. Overall it s not as agressive as Meteora or Hybrid Theory tho there are a few songs that are still signature of the old LP. The new tracks hit out at something more and so extraordinary it really does break the mould from other commercialized bands who would just churn out the same old sounds. I loved it coz it s an experimental album and a unique piece that stands as high as their others.

Dissapointing - I could have given this album an even lower score because i find it annoying in most cases and from LP it is pitiful.but having sed tht there are good tracks on here and it is listenable. but for me, the only way i can listen to it is to forget that it s linkin park and just listen to it normally but even doing that i still don t particullarly like it.basically, if you hav heard a few of linkin parks songs but mainly the newer ones like numb and hit the floor the newer ones then get meteora, if you like proper nu-metal then get hybrid theory, the only reason to get this album is if you like the pop-rock style of the music or you just want to complete a collection of linkin park albums. (i don t have anything against you getting this, but just don t call yourself a fan of linkin park if this is the only one you like cos this isn t Linkin Park)if you want proper Linkin Park then don t get this!!!!

• Meteora
• Hybrid Theory
• Tales Don t Tell Themselves
• Reanimation
• Good Morning Revival