Midnight is here ... first salvo of a bewildered LP listener
Hate at first sound? Almost, but not quite.
The first time I went through the first CD of the album, I thought to myself, "Is this Linkin Park I'm really listening to?"
In the past, I would hear a LP song and know at once that it was a track by LP. The first time I ran the Minutes CD, I had to rely on my familiarity with Chester Bennington's voice and the booklet accompanying the CD. It turns out I don't know Mike Shinoda's voice when he's not rapping.
I didn't know what to make of the album. Is this the new Linkin Park, or is it faux Linkin Park? I let the CD sit for a few days. I'm sure by now that I'm not the only one bewildered by this album. Like it or lump it? I decided to sit through the CD again and it sounded better the second time around.
It's an album that's supposed to be political and comes across as a social commentary - but only if the listener is familiar with the events of the past four years.
The 1:40 track "Wake" sounds old Linkin Park, but it's so short that it's better off as an intro to a track. I was just getting into the hang of it when it ended. The lyrics of "Given Up" are oddly reminiscent of an early LP song, Crawling, I think. "Leave Out All the Rest" is a plaintive plea to be remembered in a good light, while I'm torn between interpreting "Shadow of the Day" as a modern-day dirge and as a song of curse.
"Bleed It Out" features Chester and Mike on vocals in the style of the pre-Minutes Linkin Park but the beat is slightly different. "Hands Held High" - I have to listen to it one more time, but as I go through the lyrics, I get the impression it's a dig at the American president.
"No More Sorrow" - now this is a fitting election season song:
The first time I went through the first CD of the album, I thought to myself, "Is this Linkin Park I'm really listening to?"
In the past, I would hear a LP song and know at once that it was a track by LP. The first time I ran the Minutes CD, I had to rely on my familiarity with Chester Bennington's voice and the booklet accompanying the CD. It turns out I don't know Mike Shinoda's voice when he's not rapping.
I didn't know what to make of the album. Is this the new Linkin Park, or is it faux Linkin Park? I let the CD sit for a few days. I'm sure by now that I'm not the only one bewildered by this album. Like it or lump it? I decided to sit through the CD again and it sounded better the second time around.
It's an album that's supposed to be political and comes across as a social commentary - but only if the listener is familiar with the events of the past four years.
The 1:40 track "Wake" sounds old Linkin Park, but it's so short that it's better off as an intro to a track. I was just getting into the hang of it when it ended. The lyrics of "Given Up" are oddly reminiscent of an early LP song, Crawling, I think. "Leave Out All the Rest" is a plaintive plea to be remembered in a good light, while I'm torn between interpreting "Shadow of the Day" as a modern-day dirge and as a song of curse.
"Bleed It Out" features Chester and Mike on vocals in the style of the pre-Minutes Linkin Park but the beat is slightly different. "Hands Held High" - I have to listen to it one more time, but as I go through the lyrics, I get the impression it's a dig at the American president.
"No More Sorrow" - now this is a fitting election season song:
i see pain/i see need
i see liars and thieves abuse power with greed
i had hope/i believed
but i'm beginning to think i've been deceived
you will pay the price for what you've done
---
no/no more sorrow
i've paid for your mistakes
your/time is borrowed
your time has come to be replaced
your time has come to be erased
Labels: Linkin Park, Minutes to Midnight, review of Minutes
posted by
Ienni | 5/20/2007 02:59:00 am
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