Rock Sound
Forget everything you know about Linkin Park
'Minutes To Midnight' will comfortably, and irreversibly, shatter all your preconceived notions of what the 12-legged rap/rock hybrid juggernaut are capable of achieving. Gone are the clinical, nu-metal stylings that defined 'Hybrid Theory' and 'Meteora', in their place a tangible sense of growth and maturity. They've even found time to make it sound like they're having a blast at the same time.
The links to the past are there - 'Bleed It Out' and 'What I've Done' are more relaxed takes on the Linkin Park of yore, but whilst they're worth their weight in platinum sales, they're far from the most exciting tracks on offer. 'Given Up' grooves like a [expletive] and 'No More Sorrow' is possibly the heaviest track the band have ever recorded, with its Metallica-strength paean to vengeance and retribution.
But between the fragile tenderness of 'In Between' and 'Leave Out All The Rest', the emo-tastic 'Valentine's Day' ("My insides all turn to ash..."), the expansive, multi-tiered vistas of 'Shadow Of The Day' and the jarring 'Hands Held High', the six-piece have expanded their lyrical and musical horizons and have never sounded more relevant.
Linkin Park have finally grown up. Have you?
