Minutes to Midnight by LINKIN PARK

Minutes to Midnight is the third studio album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on May 14, 2007 through Warner Bros. Records This album showed some change of genre of linkin park from nu metal to other experimental genres. The album has been certified double platinum in the United States and shipped over 3.3 million copies worldwide in its first four weeks of release. It is their first studio album with a Parental Advisory label. The album debuted at number one in the United States and in 15 other countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, around the world. In the United States, the album had the biggest first week sales of 2007 at the time, with 625,000 albums sold. The album reached number twenty-five on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007. The album has sold more than 8 millions copies worldwide as of October, 2009. The album is named in reference to the Doomsday Clock. Minutes to Midnight was delayed several times before its release. First scheduled for Summer of 2006, then Fall of 2006, then early 2007, the album's release date was finally set for May 15, 2007. In an interview in September 2006, Shinoda explained: "When songs are pouring out you don't ever want to stop that. We already have over 100 roughs for songs. We've narrowed it down since but we're not ready to commit to those yet." From the late stages of the demo sessions, the song "QWERTY", which was rumored to be on Minutes to Midnight, appeared on the Linkin Park Underground v6.0 CD on December 5, 2006 in both live and studio demo versions. "This was a year-and-a-half long process of really hard work and experimentation in the studio that yielded about 150 rough songs," guitarist Brad Delson told Billboard.com. "Not only is this album incredibly diverse, but the depth of the material is really strong." The first single, "What I've Done", was released April 2, 2007, and debuted at number one on the United States Modern Rock chart. "Given Up", "What I've Done" and "No More Sorrow" made their live debut on April 28, 2007 in Berlin. Live performances of these three songs at the Sessions@AOL were released on AOL on May 5, 2007. On May 12, 2007, Linkin Park played "Bleed It Out" on Saturday Night Live, along with "What I've Done". Also, on May 18, 2007, Linkin Park appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and again performed "What I've Done" and "Bleed It Out". On January 16, 2008, "Valentine's Day" finally made its live debut in Hannover, Germany. Country Release Date Worldwide May 14, 2007 (2007-05-14) Canada May 15, 2007 SONGFACTS 1 Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington on In Pieces: "I got divorced recently and that was very difficult. I also got remarried so there was a big contrast in my life. For a while I couldn't be completely happy with the new life I was starting and I couldn't end the last one. This is a song about all of that." 2.THE LITTLE THINGS YOU GIVE AWAY This song deals with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and its effect on the city of New Orleans. The band finished this song after visiting New Orleans after the hurricane hit. (thanks, Bronte - Wrexham, Wales) This is one of the few Linkin Park songs with a guitar solo. (thanks, Jake - Albuquerque, NM) Guitarist Brad Delson in Kerrang! magazine: "This is our favorite song on the record. It's the biggest statement that we've ever made. Nothing could go after it as everything would get eclipsed by it, that's why it's at the end." Singer Mike Shinoda in the same Kerrang! interview: "Brad has always avoided solos because he doesn't like to show off. But when he played that solo, though, it was one of the most emotional moments we've recorded. It says what the lyrics are saying without any words." 3. BLEED IT OUT Linkin Park singer Mike Shinoda in Kerrang! Magazine: "I wrote the lyrics to this about 100 times. it's always frustrating as a lyricist to come in with a new version that you spent hours on and have the band tell you that it's not there yet. in one case, they listened to my lyrics for 30 seconds and told me to start over again. that was pretty hard. it felt like I was bringing in the lyrics, getting punched in the face and then going back to the drawing board. When it finally came together I said to the band 'I don't think anyone but us could have made a song like this'. It's a f--king bizarre death-party-rap-hoedown!" 4.WHAT I'VE DONE In this song, Chester Bennington sings about things we've done that we regret - how we want to forget it all and move on. According to Bennington, the theme of the song is "admitting to your faults of the past and kind of accepting it and moving on and trying to become something better." The album title Minutes To Midnight refers to military terms of nuclear warfare, otherwise known as the Doomsday Clock. It is a political statement, but could also indicate the pressure the band was under to finish the album. (thanks, Steven - Anderson, CA, for above 2) Rick Rubin produced this track, and stripped Linkin Park's sound down to give them a more raw feel. Rubin did something similar in his work with Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France) Mike Shinoda in Kerrang! Magazine: "On the other albums, Brad (Delson) and I started every song together (separately). But this was the only song that we wrote together and was the last one we finished. We wanted a song that encapsulated the feel of the whole record and I think this is that song. You're going to get something different out of every time you listen to it." This debuted at #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart April 12th 2007. "What I've Done" was the third song in this tally's 19-year existence to begin its chart life at #1. The other two were R.E.M.'s "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California." The album Minutes To Midnight went to #1 in 28 of the countries in which it was released. ℗ 2007 Warner Records Inc.