ALBUM REVIEW: Linkin Park "Minutes to Midnight"

It's been 3 years since the alternative rock band Linkin Park has released new content. During their hiatus they've collaborated with Jay-Z, and Mike Shinonda, the rap vocalist, developed a successful side project under the name Fort Minor. Fans have missed lead vocalist Chester Bennington's pent up rage and Shinonda's resonating rhymes. Now with the release of their latest album, Minutes to Midnight, they are hoping the band is still filled with thought provoking lyrics and evolved harmonies.

I've been a consistent fan of their music, but after a first listen, I was only captured by two tracks. The first was "Leave out all the rest." It's your basic Linkin Park melody, starting off slow and steady with a solemn Chester at the mike, and then raging guitars to amp up the emotion erupting around the chorus. It's a nice throwback to when they did the formula correctly.

The other track that I really like is "Hands held high." Before you watch the youtube clip, know that it's actually synched to a Columbine tribute--which is probably why it's one of the only clips that haven't been removed by the music company. The best part of this track is Shinonda's drumroll-speed rhyming of the lyrics:

"Do you see?/The soldiers that are out today./That brush the dust with bulletproof vests away./It's ironic./At times like this you pray,/But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday./There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads,/inside your markets, your shops, your clothes,/My dad, he's got a lot of fear I know/but enough pride inside not to let that show./My brother had a book he would hold with pride/A little red cover with a broken spine./In the back he hand wrote a quote inside,/when the rich wage war, it's the poor who die."

Hear the whole thing here:

Shinonda most certainly delivers what's long been awaited. But I think the next time they release an album they'll all have to step it up just to keep up with his artistic evolution.