“Hands Held High,” one of the most powerful songs on Linkin Park’s new album, includes lyrics about bombs blowing up mosques, a bumbling leader, high gas prices and general world confusion – an obvious missive against President Bush and the war in Iraq. Or maybe not. Tell that interpretation to Mike Shinoda, the rapper/musician who writes most of the lyrics for the blockbuster band, and you’ll get an earful on making assumptions about the group’s most adventurous album to date, “Minutes to Midnight.” “We’re not a political band. And I see some of the stuff that you’re referring to …… Read more »
NEW YORK – There are plenty of big things about Linkin Park’s upcoming Minutes to Midnight. They include the producer (Rick Rubin), the expectations (um, real huge) and, naturally, the accompanying tour . So it’s easy to understand why LP chose the massive, marble-filled Museum of Television and Radio as the location to announce that tour: the reborn Projekt Revolution, which they founded in 2003. “This is very important tour for us, so we’re excited to announce the return of Projekt Revolution,” Linkin Park co-frontman Chester Bennington said. “We wanna go out there and kick as much ass as we… Read more »
For all the talk about Linkin Park killing off nü metal on the upcoming Minutes to Midnight, it’s rather puzzling that the first sound you hear on the album is the crackle of a needle hitting a record. After all, one of the, uh, tenets of the genre was the head-bopping DJ – think guys like LP’s Joe Hahn or Limp Bizkit’s Lethal – the dude responsible for, literally, putting the needle on the record (and for appearing out of place in all the press photos). So was co-frontman Chester Bennington kidding when he told MTV News back in September… Read more »
On May 15, Linkin Park will unleash Minutes to Midnight, their much-anticipated follow-up to 2003’s Meteora. And though the album has been in the works for nearly four years now, it’s actually based on a concept that’s much, much older – and much, much creepier than you might expect. “The title is a reference to the Doomsday Clock, which was created by these scientists at the University of Chicago after the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Japan to end World War II,” Linkin Park co-frontman Chester Bennington explained. “Given the idea that mankind now had this ultimate destructive… Read more »
Rick Rubin never having won the Producer of the Year Grammy was the musical equivalent of Martin Scorsese never having won the best-director Oscar. And on Sunday, two weeks before Scorsese is expected to finally get his prize, Rubin was at last honored – and then honored again and again and again. In the end, Rubin walked away (not literally – he did not attend) with five Grammys: for Producer of the Year; Album of the Year and Country Album of the Year for the Dixie Chicks’ Taking the Long Way; Record of the Year for the Chicks’ “Not Ready… Read more »
Linkin Park are to release their third studio album ahead of a headline slot at this year’s Download Festival. The as-yet-untitled-set is confirmed for release on April 30th, with the U.S. rockers also preparing a single to hit a week prior, on April 23rd. Co-produced by Rick Rubin and the band’s co-lead vocalist Mike Shinoda (who toured his side project throughout 2006), the set is described as ‘unpredictable’ by the band’s other singer Chester Bennington. “[It’s] dark and spooky, poppy and very melodic…” he says. “We’re straying away from a lot of the predictable sounds we’ve had in the past.… Read more »
Rock group Linkin Park are threatening to leave their record label, saying Warner Music has limited resources and is lagging behind in the industry. The band’s management company said in a statement that they doubted Warner’s ability to sufficiently promote the band’s upcoming album due to recent cost-cuttings at the company. Linkin Park claim to be responsible for 10 per cent of Warner’s music sales. However, representatives at Warner are accusing the band of overstatement, saying they have accounted for only about three per cent of American sales over the last five years. “While Linkin Park’s talent is without question,… Read more »
Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda has spent the last six months raising funds for tsunami victims, designing a line of DC shoes, co-authoring a book and establishing a scholarship at his alma mater, the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. And what did he do in his off time? Not much. He only recorded a solo album. While backstage at last month’s Music for Relief: Rebuilding South Asia concert, the workhorse MC/producer told MTV News that he’s been keeping busy with a hip-hop-tinged side project that he hopes won’t offend Linkin Park’s guitar-lovin’ fanbase. “It’s not straight hip-hop,… Read more »
London – A British judge has rejected a bid by American nu-metal band Linkin Park to trademark its name for use on posters, leaving shopkeepers free to sell unofficial posters of music and show business personalities. In a landmark judgment that means the band cannot sue suppliers of unauthorized posters, Judge Richard Arnold said on Tuesday that unlike merchandise such as CDs and books, a famous name appearing on a poster was purely descriptive. “Third parties are, of course, entitled to take and exploit pictures of celebrities – the copyright in a picture of Linkin Park belongs to the creator… Read more »