Collectibles #18: Linkin Park Minutes To Midnight (2007)

Released this year, Minutes To Midnight is Linkin Park's third studio album and so far, its 625,000 copies sold in its first week is the best debut week sales for any album released this year.

Clearly, LP is still a juggernaut when it comes to music, despite its frontman Mike Shinoda having ventured into a side project with Fort Minor and scoring huge success with them as well. However, this album marks a sonic shift in LP's music.

There is less of Chester Bennington and also less of the heavy nu-metal sound that characterised their first two albums. There is more emphasis on melody and arrangements, brought about by the arrival of Rick Rubin on the soundboards. Rick Rubin is of course, one of the premier rock producers, having worked with heavyweights like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day and U2.

The album has spawned two hit singles so far - What I've Done and Bleed It Out. The former spent a massive 15 weeks at the top of the Billboard Modern Rock Charts. Clearly, LP are still on a roll, and they are rolling their tour to Singapore as well.

What: Linkin Park Asia Tour
When: 13 November 2007, 8pm
Where: Singapore Indoor Stadium
How Much: $68, $88, $128, $148 (excluding $2 SISTIC fee)

This will be LP's second visit to Singapore. The last time they were here, they performed at the Padang, in front of 15,000 fans. I was one of them.

I remember waiting for more than an hour before the band showed up. And having bought their Live In Texas CD/DVD release and watching it before the show, I found their performance to be largely similar to the DVD version.

And they stuck very closely to their album version of the songs, leaving little room for improvisation or little imperfections. I mean, perfection is good, but when it's too perfect, it seems artificial and not really live. If you get what I mean.

So having caught them live before, I'm not that keen on catching them this time round. But if you haven't watched them live before, and have some spare cash on hand, maybe you can try the $68 tickets. But no doubt, it will be another sell-out show, as LP still have the muscle. So buy early if you don't want to be disappointed.

This CD/DVD combo version of the album is the US edition. The regular Asian edition is black in colour.