Minutes to Midnight, the highly anticipated and hyped new album from Linkin Park has been a long time coming, over 4 years since their last self album, Meteora, hit shelves.

Minutes to Midnight shows a massive step in a new direction for the 6-part band, but is it a massive step in the wrong direction?
The albums pace is constantly stumping itself by having a heavy song then a soft song following it, repeat and you have the entire album going up and down, leaving the listener unsure of the albums creative direction. The other issue with this formula is some of the heavy songs are rather soft, making you wonder what happened to the old Linkin Park.

While the album appears to be slopped together rather hastily showing no direction or natural flow that most other albums incorporate, and song-wise, the flow is really slow, with most songs taking a good first half of the song to ramp up. There is still hope for Minutes to Midnight.

The album admittedly takes quite a number of sittings before you catch the feel or vibe of the album. Many people will be shocked during their first listening, as the album has a heavy political and anti-war theme. Almost long gone is the lyrical ways of Chester on past albums, but thankfully we get a good one in the form of "Given Up".

There is one nagging song that I feel, although fitting with the albums lyrical theme and lyrically it is a very powerful song, should of been saved for the new Fort Minor album, (should Shinoda continue the project). Valentines day is also an odd one, starting off soft and then switches to a more heavy sound but ends abruptly and leaving you wanting to hear the end that doesn't exist. "Given Up" and "Bleed It Out" are the two songs that show their worth on this album, while the last three tracks, "In Between", "In Pieces" and "The Little Things Give You Away" just feel out of place and stuck in to fill out the end of the album.

Once you get over the fact that this album is nothing like their previous releases it shines, barely. Unfortunately for Linkin Park the album is quite bland and lacking, finishing the album leaves you wanting more or wondering what happened with the recording process.

6/10