Line #81 Music/MinutesToMidnight


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minutestomidnight.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''And the shadow of the day\
3	will embrace the world in gray...'']]
4
5	->''What I've done''\
6	''I'll face myself''\
7	''To cross out what I've become''\
8	''Erase myself''\
9	''And let go of what I've done''
10	-->-- "'''What I've Done'''"
11
12	''Minutes to Midnight'' is the third studio album by Music/LinkinPark, released in 2007. The album marked a [[NewSoundAlbum definitive shift in the band's repertoire]] in many ways, spurred on by the band members' desire to experiment in the studio.
13
14	Following the {{nu metal}} sound of their successful first two albums (''Music/HybridTheory'', ''Music/{{Meteora}}'') [[DeadHorseGenre steadily falling out of style]] nearing the end of the 2000s, ''Minutes'' marked the band's first foray away from that genre and towards [[ArenaRock arena-ready]] {{alternative rock}} and [[AlternativeMetal metal]], overseen by record producer Music/RickRubin. As such, the instrumentation used in songs is generally lighter, and lead vocalist Mike Shinoda embraces singing and harmonizing over his traditional rapping.
15
16	Further unique characteristics of ''Minutes'' include its political themes, revolving around the DoomsdayClock (which inspired the album's name), environmentalism, UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, and social unrest, which helped transition the band members into a more mature phase in their development. The recurring concerns of betrayal and loss helped keep the subject matter consistent with the band's previous work. The album also contains profanity unlike its predecessors, which made it the band's first full-length album to receive a Parental Advisory label.
17
18	While ''Minutes'' became a massive hit, debuting at #1 in 15 countries, the change in the band's style heavily split their fanbase, and remains a point of mild division in their history considering they would only experiment further with alternative influences in future releases. Older listeners who loved their work in nu metal thought [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks the band had sold out]], while others [[PeripheryDemographic who enjoyed softer rock and may not have had an entry point to the band]] embraced the newer direction.
19	----
20	!!Tracklist:
21	# "Wake" (1:40)
22	# "Given Up" (3:09)
23	# "Leave Out All the Rest" (3:29)
24	# "Bleed It Out" (2:44)
25	# "Shadow of the Day" (4:49)
26	# "What I've Done" (3:25)
27	# "Hands Held High" (3:53)
28	# "No More Sorrow" (3:41)
29	# "Valentine's Day" (3:16)
30	# "In Between" (3:16)
31	# "In Pieces" (3:38)
32	# "The Little Things Give You Away" (6:23)
33	----
34	!!Principal Members:
35	* Chester Bennington – lead vocals
36	* Mike Shinoda – vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboard, piano, production
37	* Brad Delson – lead guitar
38	* Dave Farrell – bass
39	* Joe Hahn – turntables, samples, keyboard, programming
40	* Rob Bourdon – drums, percussion
41	----
42	!!''The Little Tropes Give You Away''
43	* AlbumIntroTrack: "Wake", a calm and uplifting instrumental.
44	* AntiLoveSong: "Valentine's Day", ostensibly:
45	--> ''And the ground below grew colder\
46	As they put you down inside\
47	But the heartless wind kept blowing, blowing\
48	So now you're gone, and I was wrong\
49	I never knew what it was like, to be alone\
50	On a Valentine's Day, on a Valentine's Day''
51	* AtomicFBomb: Found at the end of the bridge of "Given Up".
52	* AudienceParticipationSong: "Hands Held High" features a chorus of amens, which the audience gladly replicates live.
53	* BackToFront: The "Bleed It Out" music video does this creatively. While the band performs in real time, the surrounding bar fight rewinds from its culmination to its beginning.
54	* BreakUpSong: "In Pieces", ostensibly.
55	* CallBack: The video for "Given Up" has various callbacks to the band's previous music videos between all the special effects.
56	* CarefulWithThatAxe:
57	** Chester bellows it out hard (read: swings that axe like a goddamn hurricane) in the bridge of "Given Up", capped off by the infamous seventeen-second, two-note scream.
58	** He then repeats the screaming throughout the latter half of "No More Sorrow"
59	* DarkerAndEdgier: Not so much in music or style, but in lyrical content. The lyrics to "Hands Held High" are notably pretty angry, with swear words:
60	--> ''Jump when they tell us they want to see jumpin'\
61	Fuck that! I want to see some fists pumpin'\
62	Risk somethin', take back what's yours\
63	Say somethin' that you know they might attack you for''
64	* DemotedToExtra: Mike is largely demoted to a backing vocalist who harmonizes with Chester, rather than one half of a tag team. Only two songs feature him rapping, and only one features their signature VocalTagTeam.
65	* DoomsdayClock: The title of the album stems from this. While they didn't really get into their concerns toward nuclear warfare until the following album, ''A Thousand Suns'', the video for "Shadow of the Day" references this amid political unrest. The opening features Chester waking up at 11:55 pm and proceeding to go out, and the song is just under five minutes long.
66	* EpicRocking: The end of "The Little Things Give You Away" has two minutes of Brad, Chester, and Mike harmonizing with one another to awesome effects.
67	* EpicTrackingShot: The camera in the "Given Up" video never once pans away or cuts.
68	* HisOwnWorstEnemy: The single line of the refrain for "Given Up" invokes this ''ad vervatim''.
69	-->''"I'm my own worst enemy!"''
70	* InTheStyleOf: The ArenaRock concerns of the album sound very similar to Music/{{U2}}: indeed, Chester's mannerisms in the "What I've Done" video seem to mimic Bono's.
71	* IncrediblyLongNote: The last line of the bridge in "Given Up" combines this with MetalScream, resulting in a ''seventeen-second long, two-note'' scream. However, Chester generally avoids holding it for that long during live performances in order to preserve his voice.
72	* MinimalisticCoverArt: A black-and-white, shadowy picture of the band from a distance.
73	* NewSoundAlbum: Very much so. This led to their decline in popularity, even though they broke out of their niche to appeal to a wider fanbase. It was also a "new technique album," where the band abandoned their usual songwriting practice of recording the songs as individual productions, then figuring out how to play them live, and wrote songs based on jam sessions.
74	* PrecisionFStrike: Twice in "Bleed It Out":
75	--> ''Yeah here we go for the hundredth time\
76	Hand grenade pins in every line\
77	Throw 'em up and let something shine\
78	Going out of my ''fucking'' mind [...]\
79	Candy paint on his brand new Hearse\
80	Can't contain him he knows he works\
81	''Fuck'' this hurts, I won't lie\
82	Doesn't matter how hard I try''
83	* ProtestSong: The video for "What I've Done" is very moving, as it juxtaposes various hate groups, nuclear bombings, and starving people with freedom fighters, peacemakers, and the privileged elite.
84	** "Hands Held High" protests UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror.
85	** It is rumored that "The Little Things Give You Away" is about the [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush Bush]] Administration's delayed response to Hurricane Katrina, though this has not been confirmed by the band.
86	* RapRock: The notable ''lack'' of rapping was one of the main criticisms of the album. Only "Bleed It Out" can be classed as rap rock, as the other song with rapping in it ("Hands Held High") is a PoliticalRap song that sounds like it belongs in Music/FortMinor.
87	* RepurposedPopSong: "Leave Out All the Rest" was used to promote both Creator/DannyBoyle's film ''Film/{{Sunshine}}'' and the first ''Film/{{Twilight}}'' movie.
88	* StepUpToTheMicrophone: The rest of the band encouraged Brad Delson to play more prominent guitar parts, despite the fact that he was previously too shy to play solos because he hated showing off. He also contributed harmonies for a number of the tracks.
89	** This also marks the first time Mike began to sing, rather than just letting Chester sing the choruses or the entire vocal harmony.
90	** Additionally, Mike gets two songs to himself, one PoliticalRap song that sounds like it would belong to Music/FortMinor and another song that has him singing solo for the first time. The iTunes version adds another track that just featured Mike Shinoda singing
91	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "In Between" was the softest song the band had released up to that point (other than the ''Hybrid Theory'' B-side track "My December", as well as the then-unreleased "She Couldn't", also from the ''Hybrid Theory'' sessions). That being said, "Leave Out All the Rest" and "Valentine's Day" are also this.
92	* SwitchingPOV: "Hands Held High" switches from the perspective of the average American in the first verse, to the perspective of an average Iraqi in the second verse. It shows how the war in Iraq destroys the life of both the American kids who fight, and the innocent Middle Eastern people who face the threat of bombings every day.
93	* UncommonTime: "The Little Things Give You Away" is done in 3/4.
94	* VideoFullOfFilmClips: Since "Leave Out All the Rest" was done to promote Creator/DannyBoyle's ''Film/{{Sunshine}}'', the video features the band on the spacecraft of the film, though there are no clips featured explicitly from the film.
95	** An alternate version of "Leave Out All the Rest" was done for ''Film/{{Twilight}}''.
96	** Similarly, "What I've Done" has an alternate music video full of ''Film/{{Transformers\|2007}}'' clips.
97	* VocalTagTeam: Only "Bleed It Out" features this dynamic. Otherwise, Chester has all the lead vocals with Mike doing backing vocals. The only exceptions being "Hands Held High" and "In Between", where Mike has the whole song.
98	* WatchingTheSunset: {{Invoked\|Trope}} in "Shadow of the Day":
99	--> ''The shadow of the day\
100	Will embrace the world in gray\
101	And the sun will set for you''
102	* WeHaveBecomeComplacent: The purpose of "What I've Done" is to warn against this and instead begin to embrace the fact that we all need to step up and make a difference.
103	* AWildRapperAppears: A variation. The album doesn't feature a lot of rapping, so when Mike ''does'' show up to rap, it feels like this is in effect.
104	----
105	-->''Forgetting''\
106	''All the hurt inside you've learned to hide so well''\
107	''Pretending''\
108	''Someone else can come and save me from myself''\
109	''I can't be who you are''\

Context Music / MinutesToMidnight