Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight

I haven't done any music reviews on my blog before, and now two come along at once! Linkin Park have been a bit on and off for me. When I first heard their stuff years ago I quite liked it. Then the whole Nu-Metal bandwagon started, they became really popular with kids five years or so younger than me so I went off them. I think I was in an "Everything popular is crap by definition" phase. I recently found their stuff shared on someone's iTunes at work and quite liked it. Now they've made a return with a new album so I thought I'd give them another chance. I bought the special edition, which was packaged rather exquisitely in what looks like a hardback bound book with the CD at the front, several pages of lyrics and making of info and the DVD at the back. The music is very similar to their older stuff, a mix of soft rock, scratching and some quicker harder rock with an overall vaguely political message. Sticking with what's worked in the past isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I had rather hoped they'd progress a bit further in the intervening years. There are some stand out tracks, like the U2-ish Shadow of the Day and the single What I've Done, though I think the last few tracks on the album let it down a bit. I've not watched the DVD yet, so I shall comment on that in a later post if it deems itself worthy.