Minutes to Midnight is the third studio album by Linkin Park, released on May 14, 2007, through Warner Bros. Records. The album was produced by Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin, and it is Linkin Park‘s first studio album produced without Don Gilmore, who had produced the band’s two previous albums.
Minutes to Midnight is the band’s follow up album to Meteora (2003), and features a shift in the group’s musical direction. For the band, the album marked a beginning of deviation from their signature nu metal sound. Minutes to Midnight takes its title from the Doomsday Clock symbol. It is also the band’s first full length album to carry a Parental Advisory label.
Linkin Park started working on their third studio album in 2003, taking a break to tour in support of Meteora in 2004. In this time period, the band formed numerous side projects; Mike Shinoda formed his hip hop side project Fort Minor, while Chester Bennington formed Dead by Sunrise, both of which caused the album to be shelved temporarily.
The band returned to work on the record afterward, taking on a different musical direction than the 2003 sessions while working with producer Rick Rubin. The album’s completion was delayed several times for unknown reasons. Eventually, What I’ve Done was chosen as the album’s lead single in April 2007, with the album seeing release in North America on May 15, 2007.
The album debuted at number one in the US Billboard 200 and in 15 other countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada. In the United States, the album had the biggest first week sales of 2007 at the time, with 623,000 albums sold, going on to be certified five times platinum in the US.
It was also certified double platinum in New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, and Australia and certified platinum in Canada, France, Switzerland and in the UK. It has sold more than four million copies in the US. It was ranked number 154 on Billboard’s Hot 200 Albums of the Decade. Despite its commercial success, Minutes to Midnight received mixed reviews from critics.
Tracklist:
- Wake (Instrumental)
- Given Up
- Leave Out All the Rest
- Bleed It Out
- Shadow of the Day
- What I’ve Done
- Hands Held High
- No More Sorrow
- Valentine’s Day
- In Between
- In Pieces
- The Little Things Give You Away
Linkin Park
Chester Bennington: lead vocals; rhythm guitar on “No Roads Left”, backing vocals on “Hands Held High” and “In Between”
Rob Bourdon: drums, percussion, backing vocals on “Hands Held High”
Brad Delson: lead guitar; string arrangements on “Leave Out All the Rest”, “Shadow of the Day”, “Hands Held High”, “The Little Things Give You Away”, and “No Roads Left”, keyboard and backing vocals on “Hands Held High”
Dave “Phoenix” Farrell: bass guitar; backing vocals on “The Little Things Give You Away” and “Hands Held High”
Joe Hahn: turntables, sampling, programming, backing vocals on “Hands Held High”
Mike Shinoda: rhythm guitar, keyboard, piano, production; string arrangements on “Leave Out All the Rest”, “Shadow of the Day”, “Hands Held High”, “The Little Things Give You Away”, and “No Roads Left”; acoustic guitar on “The Little Things Give You Away”, lead vocals on “In Between”, “Hands Held High” and “No Roads Left”, rap vocals on “Bleed It Out” and “Hands Held High”, backing vocals on “What I’ve Done”, “Shadow of the Day”, “No More Sorrow” and “The Little Things Give You Away”
Production
Rick Rubin: production
Dana Nielsen: engineering
Andrew Scheps: engineering
Ethan Mates: engineering
Andy Baeza: engineering
Phillip Broussard, Jr.: engineer assisting
Neal Avron: mixing
Nicolas Fournier: mix assisting
George Gumbs: mix assisting
Dave Collins: mastering
Tom Whalley: A&R
Ellen Wakayama: creative directing
Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017).
