Depending on where you're standing, we have Linkin Park to either thank for inventing the rapcore genre, or blame them for heralding one of the most irritating musical composites ever. Either way, Minutes to Midnight, the nu-metallers' third studio album (they've also had numerous 'mash-up' albums, but everyone knows that they don't count) will do little to sway either party, as it has little in common with the Californians' previous output. Despite having enormous success with their 2000 debut Hybrid Theory (recently certified diamond in the US) and knowing very certainly which side their bread is buttered, Linkin Park have gone out on a limb and sidled away from the hardcore emo sound that their previous material had been laced with. In its place lies a mostly softer racket that skips around various genres but doesn't master any of them. The result is a disjointed hotchpotch of an album that's just about listenable, but rarely enjoyable. Wake, Shadow of the Day and The Little Things Give You Away all stab at mid-tempo radio-friendly power-rock, but quickly descend into Nickelback territory, while the hit-and-miss ballads Valentine's Day and the Evanescence-esque Leave Out All the Rest suggest that it's the ageing process and not passion for experimentation that's forced Linkin Park to alternate styles. The most palatable tracks here are surprisingly the old-skool ones: Given Up is fast-paced emo and classic Linkin Park that hurts your throat through aural osmosis alone; Bleed It Out sees lead vocalists Bennington and Shinoda verbally spar and is one of only two tracks that feature rapping. It's with In Pieces that the band's talents are truly stretched, however, and its interesting use of a schizophrenic drum beat, almost poppy, Police-like guitar riff and swarm of melodies divulge what could have been. If there's one thing that Linkin Park can take from this album, it's that change is not always that good - especially when it's verging on bloody dad-rock.

Your Comments

No comments have been posted for this article yet. Be the first!