Linkin Park to show a new side

Now the band is focused on showing off its various talents and influences, which include the supergroup U2.

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

Linkin Park has shed its skin.

At least that’s the hope of founding member and drummer Rob Bourdon regarding the band’s highly anticipated third studio effort “Minutes to Midnight.”

“I think that ‘Minutes to Midnight’ was definitely a way for us to pull farther from the whole nu-metal genre,” said Bourdon, calling from Atlanta.

“We like the music we made before, and are very proud of it, but to us it’s great to keep making new types of music and music that really challenges us as musicians.

“I think that ‘Minutes to Midnight’ definitely was an experiment for us. We definitely changed up the way that we do a lot of things, the way we work together as a band writing an album, and we just experimented a lot with different styles.”

While not a style per se, the biggest difference appears to be that of a U2 sound on new track “Shadow of the Day.” Bourdon doesn’t dispel the fact that Bono and Co. hold quite an influence on the members of Linkin Park.

He even goes so far as to say the band incessantly watched a documentary on the making of the Irish group’s 1987 classic “The Joshua Tree” while making its 10-times-platinum 2000 debut “Hybrid Theory.”

U2 sound

This is kind of funny because that album, which includes hit singles “In the End” and “Crawling,” couldn’t sound less like U2. In fact, Linkin Park’s six-times-platinum 2003 sophomore effort “Meteora” is more nu-metal than anthemic alternative rock. This brings us back to “Minutes to Midnight” and specifically “Shadow of the Day,” which not only opens with the drumbeat straight from “With or Without You,” but features a breezy background melody and Edge-like guitar swell to boot.

So why U2 and why now?

“We’ve always been very into U2, but their influence hasn’t really showed up until some of the stuff on the newer record,” Bourdon said.

“When we first sat down with [producer] Rick Rubin, he gave us a suggestion to just write whatever type of music we felt inspired by in the moment, and not to worry about if we thought it could be a Linkin Park song.”

While “Hybrid Theory” pretty much defines the nu-metal archetype, “Minutes To Midnight” is marked by its range and accessibility.

There’s the laid-back hip-hop groove of “Hands Held High,” the metallic “No More Sorrow,” the Gnarls Barkley-sounding “Bleed it Out,” the heart-wrenching “Leave Out All of the Rest” and the mainstream-friendly “What I’ve Done.” 

Diversity

Perhaps against the odds, Linkin Park appears to have left behind its nu-metal chains, and is now just a rock band looking to show off its various influences and talents.

If there is a rally cry behind the band, it must be diversity. Not only does “Minutes to Midnight” have an iPod-on-shuffle feel, but the band’s fourth installment of its Projekt Revolution Tour, which comes to Northeast Ohio for a Friday show at Blossom Music Center, is truly a traveling festival very much in the same vein as the original

Lollapalooza tours. Joining Linkin Park on stage this year will be My Chemical Romance, Placebo, HIM and more.

“Our initial inspiration on putting a big festival together was just to just mix up a lot of different styles of music,” Bourdon said.

“It’s really fun for us to put a wish list together of all the bands we’d love to go on tour with, and we kind of see what works out. This year we’re really excited about all of the bands that are able to join the tour.”

He added, “Audiences are going to have potentially the best day of their lives and are going to see a ton of really talented bands, all at one show. I don’t think there’s been a lineup this strong in a long time.”