Today was the release of Minutes to Midnight - Linkin Park's third major album release. It is sweet... like candy!
Rolling Stone Review: LP - Minutes to MidnightRap metal is dead. Linkin Park are not, because they were always more than the meager sum of that combination -- more pop and classic rock in their riffs, hooks and drive, even on Collision Course, their 2004 mash-up with Jay-Z. On Minutes to Midnight, co-produced by Rick Rubin, Linkin Park are more of something else -- topical -- and furiously good at it. In the last song, "The Little Things Give You Away," the band coolly torpedoes George W. Bush's petty, disastrous arrogance on Iraq and New Orleans (for starters), building from acoustic strum and soft-shoe electronics to magisterial Seventies-arena guitar and lacerating disgust. "All you've ever wanted was someone to truly look up to you," Chester Bennington sings. "And six feet underwater/I do."I really have enjoyed my couple of listens to the cd. I will post a review later in the weekend after a full "digestion" - but here is a hint. I "likey."
That's not all. Bennington is not going over old-girlfriend ground when he promises, "Your time is borrowed," in the hammering thrash of "No More Sorrow." And Mike Shinoda's state-of-disbelief rap "Hands Held High" comes with military-funeral drums and an "amen" chorus. This would be as much fun as a filibuster if Linkin Park did not pay equal attention to the punch and detail in the gritty stomp "Bleed It Out" and the balled-fist guilt of "What I've Done." "Shadow of the Day" is a too-literal echo of Joshua Tree-era U2, but most of Minutes is honed, metallic pop with a hip-hop stride and a wake-up kick. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" Bennington barks over the jingle bells and distortion in "Given Up." The answer all over this record: nothing that getting off your ass can't fix.
I got the cd for free basically. Norma won a $5 gift card at Target for being the "Red House Advisory Teacher of the Year." I won the "White House Person Who Made a Difference for May" and also got a $5 gift card. So wham - $10 and the $9.98 cd was free. If it's free... it's for me! If it's LP and it's free... it's a definite for me!!
Well, as you have guessed if you frequent this blog... I have been BUSY. End of school is approaching and we are up to our ears in finals, AVID interviews, and finishing out the year strong. Not much time to write. I need to get some work done. Cheers for now.
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