Linkin Park – Minutes To Midnight

I’ve always been a Linkin Park fan, or at least I was when Hybrid Theory came out. I loved that CD, and to this day I still really enjoy a lot of those songs. When Meteora came out I had moved on to new things and never got around to checking out the record – although Numb did always impress me. Now they’re back with a new, high profile release, gloomily titled Minutes To Midnight; and while I still enjoy it, I can’t help but wonder where the intensity from Hybrid Theory is.

The album starts off with Wake, an instrumental song that, unless you have the speakers cranked up high, you can barely hear the first half of it. With thirty seconds left it finally kicks in but fades into nothing only for Given Up to kick in with an actually decent introduction leaving you with the thought that you just wasted two minutes of your life on almost dead air. While the rest of the album isn’t nearly as pointless as that first introductory track, the remaining eleven tracks do seem to be lacking a certain punch.

Leaving behind the metalcore, thrash, and industrial rock elements that bonded together in Hybrid Theory, the band seems to be experimenting with a much more technical song writing approach making for a much mellower album. This isn’t always the case though, once listen to Bleed It Out and it’s clearly evident the band still knows how to creative an interactive, energetic and entertaining rock anthem. It’s completely evident that the band is enjoying themselves on this song and letting loose, where as most of the record sees them trying to contain that energy which, in turn, gives the album a feeling a restraint. Songs like In Pieces, No More Sorrow and Leave Out All The Rest show a promise to reach that height but ultimate fail to capture that one shining feeling.

Despite all of that complaining, two of the best three songs on the album (the other being Bleed It Out) are more melodic than anything Linkin Park has really done before. The first is the radio friendly hit singleWhat I’ve Done which sees that signature Linkin Park sound and style with an heavier emphasis on pop sensibilities and a slight tinge of Muse in there for good measure. The second, and by far the best track on the album, is a sparse track with only a pipe organ and marching snare pushing the whole track forward. The song, Hands Held High, sees Mike Shinoda taking the lead in vocal duties and anyone who liked anything by Fort Minor (particularly Where’d You Go) will fall heads over heels in love with the track and have it on repeat for hours. While not a signature Linkin Park tune, Hands Over Heels is a passionate, powerful,and emotional track that immediately pulls you into the album.

The biggest problem I have with this record is the missing link in between the Linkin Park I discovered seven years ago on Hybrid Theory and the new, mellower one that appears on Minutes To Minute. Maybe Meteora would be able to fix that gap for me, but as it is, I just can’t help but feel that Minutes is missing the intensity that a rock band needs to have. Most of this record just seems to cater to the radio friendly rock sound.