Monday, April 25, 2016

LINKIN-PARK-A-THON!!!!! Minutes to Midnight MUSIC REVIEW

Now I think you guys have heard this joke before:

Some random guy #1: Hey man, what time is it?

Some random guy #2: It's...passed "Minutes To Midnight".

Some random guy #1: Shiiiiiite....then why are we still in Lincoln Park?

Some random guy #2: ....I don't know....and I don't even know who you are.

Some random guy #1: ....Me neither....I don't even know who I am...

....Okay, you probably never heard most of the last conversations, but you know what? It's still a terrible, stupid joke that is too easy to write so that's why I'm not gonna start this review with that joke.
....
....
....Fudge, I just did, didn't I?....



Minutes To Midnight is the third album from Linkin Park, published in 2007, and was the album that shows a less subtle development in their musical style and approach. People may consider this as a step-down to the more familiar (and radio-friendly) rock (and hip hop) sound or a step-up from what others say a bad next evolution of rock.

....Well....

The music fans and critics who think Nu-Metal is a killer of Rock n Roll...I wouldn't call it that (plus, you can't kill Rock n Roll. You can change it, though). But I can understand the hate. A lot of the bands categorized as being Nu-Metal are not that great or decent (that includes you, Limp Bizkit *growl*). If you try to listen to them now, you can easily tell how dated they sound. But that doesn't mean there wasn't any good Nu-Metal bands that existed, even now. And most of them are surely already improved from where they first came out as--just Linkin Park did.

But like I said earlier, they changed very unsubtly, and it was obviously intentional. In an interview, Shinoda stated it: "We were looking back at the things that we had done in the past... and I think we just figured that we had exhausted that sound. It was easy for us to replicate, it was easy for other bands to replicate, and we just needed to move on." 

...In which, I call "bullschtick"!! Seriously?! "It was easy for other bands to replicate"?!

 PFFFFFFT~ OH YEAH, WAY TOO EASY TO EFF IT UP, THAT'S FOR SURE. =3=

Hence, why we got a "stripped-down classic rock and hip hop kind of feel". And critics as well as some (or most) fans weren't pleased...or displeased...or slightly otherwise, look basically the overall reviews of this album shown as "mixed". Now, at first I wanted to reuse the same gif as a reaction to these reviews but I've come to realize of my true opinion about their opinions. (Queue the suspense music)

I think that they have a better understanding in music than me, because for some reason, I still really enjoy Minutes To Midnight. Yeah, in fact, I looped the disc on my player for more than two hours for this review and I never got tired from humming every track (and bobbing my head when necessary). This is still my favourite album from them (I might do the Top Album List for Linkin Park...MIGHT DO).

For one thing, Rob Bourdon's drumming is finally heard loudly (Yay)! It is as loud as I could hope for after I complained about its low volume in Meteora and Hybrid Theory. In this album, it shines alongside Brad Delson's guitar play. Buuuuuuuuuut, it does feel like he's painting by numbers on certain tracks. I mean, I really do understand that the drummer will need to repeat the same pattern time and time again, but I'm kind of a guy that likes to see a drummer go to the extra mile. And Rob does show it in tracks like "Wake", "Given Up", "Bleed It Out", and "No More Sorrow", but it is an extra mile not enough personally.

Speaking of which, Brad's part on most of the tracks are less heavy and distorted, at least not around the chorus. I mean, with tracks like "Wake" and "Given Up", you can tell the riffs he plays are heavy, but not as close as being distorted as in the last two albums. This by no means a bad thing (and in these tracks too show Brad and Rob working together much better). In tracks like "Bleed It Out", "Shadow of the Day", "Valentine's Day" and "No More Sorrow", he does show a sense of caring when he plays notes rather than playing the power chords a lot while Mike Shinoda and Phoenix provides the rhythm. He even does solo on "In Pieces" (which he have said countless times, he doesn't do guitar solo) which was like the best thing I ever heard (by Linkin Park standards) until something new came along.

Chester Bennington is a natural singer, seriously. When he doesn't scream sing, he sings so beautifully that sometimes it's pretty chilling too. But it's not just him who is shining on with amazing vocal performance--Mike Shinoda was also doing more vocal work too. Aside from being the backing vocal, he also sings in "In Between" and raps in "Bleed It Out" and "Hands Held High". I honestly don't think Chester would be able to sing as good as Mike for "In Between", either (I say so because the bands also agreed that Mike's voice fits the song).

I think it's come to the point where we should be asking.... 
WHERE'S MR. HAHN?!?! 
 Ah, don't worry, dammit. His contribution is more to providing the jingling keys and handclap tracks (Brad's addition, though that I know but who's gonna do those things during live performance?) in "Given Up", the eerie atmospheric violin track (with the help of David Campbell's orchestra team, yes I know that too but who's gonna do those things during live performance?) in "Leave Out All The Rest", machine drumbeat (okay yeah, Rob played it but who's gonna--oh, he does it on live performances?...well, scratch that) and reversed keyboard tracks in "Shadow of the Day", as well as small scratching elements in "What I've Done", "Wake" and "The Little Things Give You Away" (oh and backing vocals too). Okay, look--just because a lot of the tracks don't have more of Mr. Hahn's mixing, that doesn't mean they needed one nor Mr. Hahn never contributed to anything. During the earlier process, it was noted that each of the members would come by to the studio with their own "seeds" (yes, that's what they called the demos they made--very deep, I know). So I'm sure at least one of the tracks here are from Mr. Hahn's seeds.

And lastly, the lyrics in this album. No matter how much I read these lyrics while listening to each track, the album stayed true to its title as it has a theme of politics and war. "No More Sorrow" and "In Pieces" are two of the examples that use these themes. While I am not into such themes, I can actually get behind with the messages it brought out. Plus, in all fairness, the way the songs delivered such themes are generic in a good way (meaning that they're not pointing fingers at specific figure) and I'm all for it. And, at least that leaves only one song being more "specific" which is "Hands Held High" (and I really like this song, honestly). Now, when I say the delivery is generic, I don't mean that they use the theme in the most generic way possible either. The tracks with said themes goes more in depth, focusing on the emotions and the reactions that the theme caused. And tracks like "What I've Done" and "In Between" are the perspective of the people who caused the panic, the sadness, hatred and the chaos. I think from here, it proves of them becoming more mature, more understandable and open-minded (and poetically dark and melancholy like in "Valentine's Day", "Shadow of the Day" and "The Little Things Give You Away").

Now, I can see their (the critics and fans) point why Minutes To Midnight is not as good as Hybrid Theory and Meteora. Not only does it sound almost different, but in an experienced critic's ears and minds, the sound and the lyric they presented in the album felt very lacking and mediocre. But personally, I really couldn't see those faults except what they have developed in this album. Yes, they unfortunately thrown their Nu-Metal side into the bin, but that doesn't mean the meat they hid behind the skin is rotten. By no means, this is a bad album or the worst album from Linkin Park. Hell, I could argue that this is not even the weakest album they ever put out. The aggression is there but it also fuses with the sound of sadness, resulting a melancholy album.

...And maybe that's why it's my favourite album...

Regardless, there's actually one album that is...to me...and I think some of us agreed...the weakest album from Linkin Park....and we'll get to that next month.

With that said, this album got my rating of: 4/5

Favourite Tracks: Valentine's Day, Bleed It Out, What I've Done, Shadow of the Day, Wake, No More Sorrow, Leave Out All The Rest
Like tracks: Hands Held High, In Between, In Pieces, The Little Things Give You Away

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