Jump to content

Minutes to Midnight (Linkin Park album): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Line 7: Line 7:
| Released = {{flagicon|European Union}} [[May 11]], [[2007]]<br>{{flagicon|Australia}} [[May 12]], [[2007]]<br>{{flagicon|World}} [[May 14]], [[2007]]<br>{{flagicon|USA}} [[May 15]], [[2007]]
| Released = {{flagicon|European Union}} [[May 11]], [[2007]]<br>{{flagicon|Australia}} [[May 12]], [[2007]]<br>{{flagicon|World}} [[May 14]], [[2007]]<br>{{flagicon|USA}} [[May 15]], [[2007]]
| Recorded = [[June 2006]] – [[January 2007]] at [[The Mansion]] in [[Los Angeles, California]]
| Recorded = [[June 2006]] – [[January 2007]] at [[The Mansion]] in [[Los Angeles, California]]
| Genre = [[Alternative rock]]<br>[[Experimental Rock]]<br>[[Alternative Metal]] <!-- Do not delete the genres -->
| Genre = [[Alternative rock]]<br>[[Experimental rock]]<br>[[Alternative metal]] <!-- Do not delete the genres -->
| Length = 43:51
| Length = 43:51
| Label = [[Warner Bros. Records]]<br>[[Machine Shop Recordings]]
| Label = [[Warner Bros. Records]]<br>[[Machine Shop Recordings]]

Revision as of 00:33, 6 May 2007

Template:Future album

Untitled
For other uses, see Minutes to Midnight (disambiguation).

Minutes to Midnight is Linkin Park's upcoming third studio album, scheduled for release worldwide on May 14, 2007, and May 15 for the United States and Canada.

Meaning

The title is a reference to the Doomsday Clock, where "Minutes to Midnight" is a measure of the proximity of the world to nuclear destruction.[1] At the time of the title's announcement, the clock stood at 5 minutes to midnight. Mike Shinoda has explained that the album has various meanings:

Don't take that at face value. There are layers of meaning, most are metaphoric...It’s definitely a reference to the doomsday clock—the Apocalypse—a metaphor for death and rebirth, but it could also be applied to the music industry, sort of tongue-in-cheek.[1]

Release

The album was delayed multiple times, first scheduled for summer 2006, then fall 2006, then early 2007, and now May 14, 2007 worldwide with the North American release the day after. In an interview in September 2006, Shinoda explained, "When songs are pouring out you don't ever want to stop that. We already have over 100 roughs for songs. We've narrowed it down since but we're not ready to commit to those yet."[2] From the early demo sessions, "QWERTY", which was rumored to be on Minutes to Midnight, has appeared on the Linkin Park Underground v6.0 CD on December 5, 2006 in both live and studio demo versions. The song has now been confirmed as a B-Side track and will not be included on Minutes to Midnight.

"This was a year-and-a-half long process of really hard work and experimentation in the studio that yielded about 150 rough songs," guitarist Brad Delson told Billboard.com. "Not only is this album incredibly diverse, but the depth of the material is really strong."

The first single, "What I've Done", was released on April 2, 2007, and debuted at number one on the U.S. Modern Rock chart.[3]

"Given Up", "What I've Done" and "No More Sorrow" made their live debut on April 28, 2007 in Berlin, Germany. Live performances of these three songs at the AOL sessions were released on AOL on May 5, 2007.

The entire album was leaked on May 4, 2007.

CD/DVD Special Edition

Linkin Park will be releasing a CD/DVD Special Edition of Minutes to Midnight. The DVD will contain the following:

  • 5.1 versions of all 12 tracks
  • The "What I've Done" music video
  • The Making of "What I've Done"
  • The Making of Minutes To Midnight Documentary

Among the DVD-ROM features are included:

  • Wallpapers
  • Screensavers
  • "Buddy" icons
  • A PDF booklet with Lyrics
  • MP3 versions of all 12 tracks

Sound

In a recent interview with Chester Bennington it is explained that the nu metal sound from their previous albums is completely gone. He also stated that the new album is a mix of punk, classic rock, and hip-hop beats.

"Rick has brought more of a stripped down, classic-rock and hip-hop kind of feel."

"This time around, Mike Shinoda is singing a lot more. It may seem like he's not on the record, but he's doing a lot of the harmonies. He also sings a couple of songs alone. "We're presenting ourselves in a different way."[4][5]

Track listing

  1. "Wake" - 1:43
  2. "Given Up" - 3:11
  3. "Leave Out All the Rest" - 3:31
  4. "Bleed It Out" - 2:46
  5. "Shadow of the Day" - 4:52
  6. "What I've Done" - 3:28
  7. "Hands Held High" - 3:55
  8. "No More Sorrow" - 3:43
  9. "Valentine's Day" - 3:19
  10. "In Between" - 3:18
  11. "In Pieces" - 3:40
  12. "The Little Things Give You Away" - 6:25

The digital version of the album on iTunes features two bonus tracks with all pre-orders. The track titles have not yet been revealed to the public.

Leak

On May 4, 2007, 11 days before its official U.S. release, the album was leaked onto several peer-to-peer networks on the internet. Later that day Mike Shinoda commented on his response to the leak:

"It couldn't be more exciting to give you all new music, especially after all the hard work we put into it. This album was almost a year and a half of experiments, mistakes, inspiration, and careful craftsmanship. We put everything we had into these songs, and want you to hear every second of it. I can't wait for you to absorb all the levels of meaning in the songs, and the layers of music, eventually forming your own ideas about what the songs mean to you.

At the same time, a leak leaves out some very important parts of this piece of work. We put months of creative energy into the ART of the record, in the booklet, special edition, and big book...almost as long as it took to record Hybrid Theory. The album has amazing photos, lyrics, and notes about how the songs came together--it's the visual half of the record. On the other hand, the super-special-edition book is packed with exclusive images, stories of the making of the songs, gorgeous art, the CD and a DVD that tells the story, showing the actual moments of inspiration caught on camera. For me, it's almost hard to imagine anyone really experiencing this album without that part of it.

Even the song sequence alone is very important. It's WAY different to hear the songs in a random order than to listen to this record from beginning to end. At the very least, if you've already downloaded the songs, do us a huge favor and listen to them in the right order...it'll be way more rewarding."

— Mike Shinoda

Trivia

  • Mike Shinoda performs rap vocals on only two tracks this time, "Bleed It Out" and "Hands Held High". This is a significant decrease compared to previous albums. The rap vocals on the album are reportedly much closer styled to Mike Shinoda's side project Fort Minor than his traditional Linkin Park verses.
  • The cover photo was taken at the Salton Sea.
  • This is Linkin Park's longest studio album to date, with a total of 43:51.
  • This is the first Linkin Park album to feature all band members on the cover, to be co-produced by Mike Shinoda, to receive a parental advisory logo (excluding Collision Course, the mash-up album with Jay-Z) and where Mike Shinoda sings lead vocals for a full length track ("In Between"), rather than rapping.
  • This is the first Linkin Park album to contain guitar solos.

References

  1. ^ a b Official Linkin Park Message Board
  2. ^ Hope, Clover (September 06, 2006). "New Songs Still Pouring Out Of Linkin Park". Retrieved September 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |year= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  3. ^ "Timbaland Soars To No. 1 After Sales Explosion". Billboard. 04-12-2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Folhateen Article. April 3, 2007.
  5. ^ Linkin Park Say Nu-Metal Sound Is 'Completely Gone' On Next LP
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Minutes_to_Midnight_(Linkin_Park_album)&oldid=128536379"