Minutes to Midnight

By Matt

I'm taking another little interlude here to talk about something that has been on my mind this morning. Today is the day that Linkin Park's new album, Minutes to Midnight, comes out and I've been pretty excited to get it since I heard their new single, "What I've Done." I may not seem to be the typical LP fan, but I really dig their music and think there is something much deeper going on beneath the surface of their lyrics. Which I will explain now.

Hybrid Theory, their first album, is a very angry album. "One Step Closer" is probably the most famous and just full of a fun rage that's perfect accompaniment for squealing tires and football locker rooms. Through HT there's a frustration with futility, futility in the singers and in others. Frustration becomes manifest as anger several times, but I think there is a rarely glimpsed sight of hope at some points. I don't think that there are any specific lyrical reference I could give here, but I just kinda feel that in the music.

Then comes Meteora. Meteora's liner notes give very detailed impressions on how the songs were created and why and how they changed. On the CD itself there is a video on the making of the album which corresponded with the band collaborating with a grafitti artist to make a giant mural that would abstractly explore the imagined themes of the new album. The theme of Meteora, in light of all that, is "the making of," going behind the craft and looking at the reasons and why's and wherefors. And I think that carries through to the lyrics. While HT was more piss and vinegar, most of Meteora is much more articulate and looking into why they are frustrated and angry.

And just looking at the titles of some of the songs can give it away: "Numb," "Easier to Run," and evidently they're looking for "Somewhere I Belong." I don't think it's any coincedence that the video for the latter song takes place in a church. So, looking through that lens I think that LP's music expresses frustration with people who have hurt them and their inability to forgive or receive forgiveness; frustration with God because they feel ignored or hurt; frustration with Christians and the Church for being hypocritical and conforming. Whatever it is, it didn't find the mainstream appeal with fans of HT, and I don't want to say this condescendingly, but it's probably because it wasn't the simplistic screaming of the first album.

So, that's what brings me to Minutes to Midnight. What is the direction of this album going to be? Will it continue the progression made with Meteora or regress back into an easier to swallow package which adolescent boys will identify with more? Well, if the first single is any indication, it's progressing.

"What I've Done" is that single and the video is definitely worth taking a look at (http://youtube.com/watch?v=8sgycukafqQ). I think you can see right off the bat that their frustration is taking a different turn, a bit more global and responsible and, well, mature. I think it is also interesting that some of the lyrics sound as if they could come out of a praise chorus:

In this farewell
There is no blood
There is no alibi
Cause I’ve drawn regret
From the truth
Of a thousand lies
So let mercy come
And wash away

What I’ve done
I’ll face myself
To cross out
What I’ve become
Erase myself
And let go of
What I’ve done

Reading the lyrics for some other songs it seems that they're definitely becoming more political than spiritual though. Not exactly what I was expecting and in some ways is disappointing. I tend to be distrustful of anyone singing their politics and at this point, it seems more like a "popular" thing to do than being genuine. Looking at the way they've changed from quasi-goth to nerdy to now indie rocker hip over the course of the three albums kind of cements that in my mind at least. However, that's just my bias so maybe I'm reading it wrong. But the thing that's interesting, on the 1/3 of the album I've listened to so far, their most seriously/political songs are also the most "playful" sounding. LP is a band that likes to take themselves pretty seriously, at least on the albums so hearing them having a little bit of fun on their new one is interesting, and it sounds pretty good too.

One of the other interesting things is that this is the first album to be released with a Parental Advisory sticker on it. While on some of their live and remix albums there has been naughty language, they have avoided being potty mouths up until now on studio ones. So, that's an interesting choice too. I agonized over buying the edited or PA version and ended up getting the PA (that's what Best Buy had). And here's how I rationalize that: it's what the artist intended. While I enjoy LP's music, I am buying this album mainly due to curiosity that I have explained above. And buying edited means not buying what they intended, thus the purchase that I'm okay with. However, in some ways I wish they had just skipped the f-bombs. Swearing a cuss isn't necessarily any more powerful than just finding the right words to say. So, in that way it's disappointing that they went the easy path, but I'm sure they had their reasons too.

LP are men who I believe have a lot of questions and frustration with "the bad business" they see here on earth (I've been reading Ecclesiastes out of The Message in the mornings). And I think a lot of those questions come out of their faith, or lack of it. However, they are questing for God, or something, and they are doing it in full view, in public. It's been interesting for me to watch and I realize now that my prayers should be with them as they try to make sense of the smoke and spitting into the wind that they are living through. That someone will come up alongside them as they wrestle with these questions and share with them the wisdom and guidance that they are looking for.