Review Summary: Not the same person telling you to forfeit the game
Flash back to 2007; nu metal a mere memory, faded into irrelevance. Linkin Park had been on a pseudo-hiatus for a couple of years, with Mike Shinoda creating his Fort Minor persona and Chester Bennington starting his Dead by Sunrise side project. Anticipation had been building up within Linkin Park’s fanbase as rumblings of a new album rose to the spotlight, highlighted in their release of the non-album song QWERTY, a full-throttle punk metal song hinting at an even heavier sound than that of
Hybrid Theory and
Meteora. With the anthemic What I’ve Done gaining ubiquitous radio traction, excitement for a new Linkin Park album had reached an all-time high.
If
Meteora defined Linkin Park in 2003,
Minutes to Midnight became the true Linkin Park forevermore. Oscillating between brutality crushing the likes of anything off of their first two albums and a newfound emphasis on tenderness,
Minutes to Midnight is a pure amalgamation, a testament to Linkin Park’s
Hybrid Theory ethos.
Minutes to Midnight offers everything from alternative hip hop to punk rock, soft rock to heavy metal, and yet remains sufficiently cohesive to thematically function as a singular album experience.
Kicking off with arguably the best two-song combination of their career, Chester pours out emotion in its rawest form. Given Up’s chorus refrain ends with the blunt “what the *** is wrong with me,” followed by a bridge repeating the phrase “put me out of my misery,” a cry for help made even more chilling by his untimely death in 2017. Leave Out All the Rest acts as a poignant counterpart, imploring the listener to “forget the wrong that I’ve done” and “help me leave behind some reasons to be missed,” making it another track made even more tragic by Chester’s passing. Lyrically, the album touches on everything from struggling with inner demons to rebelling against the Bush administration’s inadequacies, and the repeated “thieves and hypocrites” line in No More Sorrow rings even more true in the current political landscape. The more introspective side of the album is absolutely devastating in its lyrical content, with pessimism transcending the darkness alluded to on previous albums.
If the first two albums were more of a group effort,
Minutes to Midnight puts the spotlight on Chester, pushing his vocals to previously-unseen heights. The high notes on
Meteora already had Chester soaring deep into tenor range, but on the chorus of Given Up, Chester one-ups his earlier abilities, holding some of the most powerful clean B4 belts of his career. Given Up as a song is structured directly around the 17-second scream bridge, a masterful blend of high belting with fry scream distortion. And the “God” scream is arguably even more brutal, emphasizing the pure despair of the song’s message not through any discernable lyricism but through a demonic shriek of despondency.
On the other side, Chester Bennington’s soothing vocals take center stage on the abundance of ballads. Valentine’s Day and Shadow of the Day begin with airy, breathy vocals before building up into crooning choruses, Chester laying down emotion in each word. In Pieces utilizes Chester’s mid-range to its fullest extent, taking advantage of his vast array of vocal textures in the chorus to add an edge to specific words such as “alone” to create a more haunting effect. Chester delivers an impeccable vocal performance on every song, with his energy effortlessly ebbing and flowing in perfect harmony with the rhythm of the music behind him.
Brad Delson’s guitarwork also gets the opportunity to shine through. While not exceedingly complex, In Pieces’ guitar solo elevates the song’s slower vibe, and No More Sorrow’s bridge shockingly has a riff resembling slam. Compared to the hyper-compressed guitar tones of nu metal,
Minutes to Midnight offers a vast variety covering the clean to distortion spectrum, enhancing the duality of emotions portrayed throughout the album. Rob Bourdon’s drumming also gets a makeover, delivering a war-like pattern on Hands Held High and a particular drive to kick the punky verses of Given Up into gear. The overall musicianship on display here is levels above their previous work, requiring far less production wizardry for the final product.
On a songwriting level, Shinoda once again holds the reins, his knack for crescendos unfaltering. Shadow of the Day’s strings set up an explosion of energy into its second chorus, continued by another well-placed guitar solo, and Valentine’s Day and The Little Things Give You Away’s vocal overlaying in their outros harkens back to Papercut’s ending in beautiful harmony. In slightly playing with their typical song structure, Shinoda adds even more variance to the album without compromising the band’s strengths. Opting for a piano intro to What I’ve Done is another example of paying homage to prior hits. Additionally, the powerful rap verse on Bleed It Out is another example of Shinoda ensuring that remnants of the band’s former sound are still carried forward on
Minutes to Midnight, and the utilization of strings and other production tricks once again triumph in heightening emotional tension throughout each song.
In 2007, Chester Bennington ascended to his peak vocal form, and as the rest of the band embraced their specific strong points and blended them together,
Minutes to Midnight came together as a culmination of a collective. With its diverse soundscape, impeccable production, enhanced guitarwork, and full embrace of the more delicate emotional side of the band,
Minutes to Midnight rose as the album that forever changed Linkin Park’s trajectory and further established their claim as the tour-de-force rock band of the 21st century, undaunted by the ever-changing industry landscape.
