First Listen: Linkin Park Minutes to Midnight Fails to Shine

Will the Real Linkin Park Please Stand Up?

Linkin Park burst onto the scene with heavy guitars, Chester Bennigton's vocals that switched from raw to soaring an back again and Mike Shinoda's aggressive rap. It was a sound that was a fresh and welcome change from sameness of early 21^st century angst-alt music. It's a shame that a band that was so groundbreaking has turned in such a pedestrian and disappointing effort with "Minutes to Midnight."

When "Minutes to Midnight" hits stores, it will be one of the year's most eagerly awaited offerings, but a first listen shows that it yields little of the excitement of the band's major label breakthrough "Hybrid Theory." The same ingredients are mostly in place- the guitar lines are strong and Bennington's fine vocals are front and center, but the sound has been tweaked until it is only a shadow of the music that sold millions of CDs. Bennington seems to have taken on the mantle of undisputed front man, and Mike Shinoda has been relegated to what amounts to "special guest star" status on a few of the songs. The only track that comes close to capturing the magic of Linkin Park's early recordings is "Bleed It Out," the stand out cut in a CD where each song blends into the next with little to distinguish any of the tracks.

Linkin Park inspired a lot of bands that populate modern rock radio, but by staying stagnant, the new CD sounds the same as most everything else on the radio. "What I've Done," the first single from the CD, reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, but after only four weeks on the chart it has dropped to number 25.

The CD isn't a total loss, and it's not even bad, but it's not the splendid album that Linkin Park has proven they are capable of creating. Expect major sales the first week, but watch as the album sales sink like a rock without solid singles to give the CD legs.