May 11, 2007
The West Australian

Linkin Park drummer Rob Bourdon tells Matt Giles why the band have changed their sound and turned political

Late last year an amusing headline emerged on the internet: “Linkin Park say nu-metal sound is completely gone on next LP.” Amusing because it suggested that only then, after years of derision from a music world that has shifted from the obnoxious hyper-masculinity of rap-rock to the sexual ambiguity of new-new wave, had Linkin Park thought that maybe it was time for a change.
  
Linkin Park were once juggernauts, releasing Hybrid Theory in 2000 to massive popularity, eventually selling more than 15 million copies, then repeating the process in 2003 with Meteora, which to date has topped 10 million sales.
  
But since then they’ve been silent, apart from collaborating with Jay-Z on the Collision Course EP, and have moved toward the rear of popular music’s priorities.
  
To come back now with an outdated, rap-rock sound would have been risky at best, laughable at worst. According to Linkin Park drummer Rob Bourdon, that was never on the cards.
  
“At some point we were making certain songs that sounded way too different from songs we’ve done before,” he says from Los Angeles. “It was kind of scary to even entertain the idea of putting them on the record. But after working on the songs together and finding some that were amazing in our opinion, we didn’t care anymore if they were Linkin Park or not,” he said.
  
One of the major differences in sound with their new album, Minutes to Midnight, is the decreased influence of hip-hop. Still present in places, in others it’s been replaced by handclaps, live pianos and acoustic guitars. The most conventional song is lead single What I’ve Done, with Linkin Park’s trademark chugging guitars and singer Chester Bennington’s soaring choruses. But there is a whiff of change to it, a lilting keyboard and the cascading riffs reminiscent of big balladeers like Coldplay.
  
“What I’ve Done was the last song we wrote on the album,” Bourdon says. “That song is definitely a mix between some of our new sound to what we’ve done before. It’s a great transition song from our old sound to our new sound.”
  
Linkin Park wrote a staggering 150 songs for Minutes to Midnight. Bourdon says he and his bandmates are at the peak of their songwriting powers, but he also gives credit to their producer on this album, Rick Rubin, the man who helped explode rap in the 80s and resurrect Johnny Cash’s career in the 90s. Bourdon explains that after taking a year-long break from music in 2005 “we wanted to find a producer who would help push us into new territory and redefine our sound as a band.”
  
From the initial 150 they voted on the final 12 songs that would make the album. The band expanded the horizons of their recording process as well as their songwriting. They reduced the production gloss and, at least for Linkin Park, adopted more of a live sound.
  
“I think the album sounds a lot more organic,” Bourdon says. “Some of the songs we recorded as a band, which was a first for us. It definitely feels more like we’re performing the song for you live.”
  
The subjects of the song have evolved as well. Bennington and Shinoda still exorcise their personal demons, but also visit political issues. Final song The Little Things You Gave Away is an epic condemnation of the 2005 flooding of New Orleans, while Hands Held High is a sombre but clear attack on George W. Bush. While such criticism of the American political climate is not quite the risk now as it was when Meteora came out, it’s still encouraging to know a band are prepared to change their tune.
  
“I think the most important thing for a writer is to make something you feel good about that’s honest,” Bourdon concludes. “We were really making music we were personally excited about and was coming from us, without trying to mould a song into what it should sound like. I don’t think there really is any right or wrong as far as making the kind of music we make. We just have to do what makes us feel fulfilled as songwriters.” Minutes to Midnight is out on Warner tomorrow.