TIME is running out for America's top-selling nu-metal band Linkin Park.
That is, if you believe the title of their latest album, Minutes To Midnight, a reference to the Doomsday Clock.
The latter is a symbolic clockface devised in 1947 by the influential magazine, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, in the University of Chicago.
It tracks the peril posed by nuclear, environmental and technological threats to human existence. It uses the analogy of the human race being at a time that is 'minutes to midnight' where midnight represents catastrophic destruction.
Last adjusted in January this year, the clockface is now set precariously at five minutes to midnight.
That same sense of urgency heralded the band's hotly awaited third studio album in May - fans around the world counted the minutes to its release.
Buying frenzy in the United States buoyed it to the top of Billboard's album chart with sales of 622,000 copies in the first week of its May 15 launch. It also made its debut at No. 1 in many countries, including Britain, Germany, France and Japan. In Singapore, the album has sold 28,000 copies so far. The first single, What I've Done, topped the 91.3FM chart for three consecutive weeks in May.
When Life! scored an exclusive interview earlier this month with Linkin Park's lead singer, Chester Bennington, time is again a crucial factor: Due to his busy timetable, he could spare exactly 10 precious minutes.
In fact, he spoke by phone from his dressing room just moments away from getting up on stage with his band to play live in Tinley Park, a suburb of Chicago. Instead of the angry young man who spouts tirades onstage, the guy turned out to be unfailingly polite and surprisingly soft-spoken.
Asked if fans can expect a different experience when his band plays at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Nov 13, his reply was cogently delivered: 'I definitely think so.'
'We'll be playing a longer set,' he added. 'Fans will find that it will be energetic, with lots of everything thrown in. In terms of repertoire, we'll be drawing from almost everything we have.'
Different sounds
BORN in Phoenix, Arizona, Bennington graduated from high school and played in a now-defunct local grunge band called Grey Daze, before joining Linkin Park in 1999.
The 31-year-old is married to former Playboy model Talinda Bentley, with whom he has a son (he has another son from a previous marriage).
Regarding the first gig that Linkin Park played here - at the Padang in 2004 - where 15,000 tickets were sold, he still harbours fond memories: 'Singapore's a beautiful country and we had a lot of fun. We are excited and can't wait to come back.'
Since they burst onto the scene in 2000 with their debut, Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park are now one of America's best-selling bands, chalking up worldwide sales of over 40 million records.
Bennington's vocals, coupled with founding member Mike Shinoda's rapping, prove to be a potent formula in popularising their melodic blend of nu-metal and rapcore.
It is a fusion of hip-hop, heavy metal and funk that counts Limp Bizkit, Korn and Slipknot as practitioners.
And recognition also came in the form of awards for this band whose line-up is rounded up by Rob Bourdon (drums), 28; Brad Delson (guitar), 29; David 'Phoenix' Farrell (bass), 30; and Joe Hahn (DJ), 30.
Linkin Park have earned two Grammy Awards - for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2002 with Hybrid Theory's hit single, Crawling, and for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration last year for Numb/Encore, a cross-genre experiment in which the song, Numb, from their 2003 second album, Meteora, is meshed with a track by rapper Jay-Z.
Not content to rest on their laurels, the band have opted to create a markedly different sound in the new album, where the head-banging ruckus of Given Up and second single, Bleed It Out, is crowded out by stripped-down, more contemplative tracks, such as Shadow Of The Day and Hands Held High.
'We celebrated when each of us stepped outside our comfort zone and performed or wrote in a way that we never had before,' the band wrote in the CD notes 'This album defines... who we've become as a band.'
Six facts about the sextet
1) Three high-school friends from Agoura Hills, a Los Angeles suburb - Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon - first formed the band Xero in 1996 by roping in Joe Hahn, Dave Farrell and singer Mark Wakefield.
2) After Chester Bennington replaced Wakefield in 1999, the band was renamed Hybrid Theory before legal issues necessitated another name change - to Linkin Park, in homage to Santa Monica's Lincoln Park.
3) They have their own tour called Projekt Revolution. This year, they rocked their way across the United States with bands like My Chemical Romance, Placebo, Saosin and Julien-K.
4) They set up the charity, Music For Relief, with the Red Cross in 2005 to help victims of world catastrophes and combat global warming.
5) Aside from their three studio albums, they have also released a remix album, Reanimation (2002); Live In Texas (2003); and a Jay-Z collaboration project, Collision Course (2004).
6) Besides Singapore, their upcoming Asian tour will take them to cities like Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul.
More socially conscious bent
'We didn't want to do more of the same thing and repeat ourselves,' explained Bennington to Life!. 'So when we're working on this record, the natural choice was to get someone else to produce it.'
Instead of reuniting with Don Gilmore who had produced their first two albums, Shinoda co-produced Minutes with Grammy-winning producer Rick Rubin, who has worked with the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash and Dixie Chicks.
Bennington admitted that it was a great experience working with Rubin: 'He is one of the world's greatest producers. He is very intelligent and mellow, and takes a hands-off approach.'
Another difference that sets Minutes apart from past albums is that it took more than a year to complete compared to the band's usual duration of three to six months.
But Bennington clarified that it wasn't so much that the process was thorny, but rather, the delay was due to the band members taking time to push themselves towards making something different.
'We wanted to experiment and ended up writing about 150 songs,' he said. 'If we had stuck to the same formula, the album would have come out a lot quicker.'
While he was reluctant to dispense advice to fans who do not want the band to change (which makes up only a small percentage, he emphasised), he did highlight that other bands that his band admires - like U2, the Beatles, Depeche Mode and Metallica - have all adapted to different musical styles and evolved.
'Even musicians whose music is totally different from ours, like Madonna, have sustained long careers by reinventing themselves,' he said.
'Most of our fans who grew up with our music know that we're always trying to be different - from collaborating with Jay-Z to how we had worked with other musicians on our Reanimation remix album.'
When pressed about his favourite tracks off Minutes, he named the slow-burning epic, The Little Things Give You Away, whose lyrics he co-wrote with Shinoda after a visit to hurricane-devastated New Orleans.
'It's a beautiful song that is very different from the other songs that we've done,' he said. 'And the inspiration behind it means a lot to us. In the case of New Orleans, it is sad and unfortunate because not a lot has been done, with almost half of the city remaining destroyed.'
As hinted by the song lyrics ('Hope decays/Generations disappear/Washed away/As the nation simply stares'), it is obvious that Linkin Park are adopting a more socially conscious bent as they mature as a band.
They also have a charity to their name, Music For Relief, which is working with Habitat For Humanity to raise money to rebuild communities in the Gulf Coast.
According to Bennington, it is equally important that the sense of support also radiates within the band.
Two years ago, Shinoda formed another band Fort Minor on the sideline and released a critically acclaimed album, The Rising Tied. But Bennington does not feel that it is unhealthy for band members to pursue side projects.
'We are very supportive of each other's interests,' he said. 'I'm not sure if it keeps other bands together, but it works for us.'
It has long been reported that Bennington himself is recording a solo album, but he revealed that, due to the recent release of Minutes and the ongoing promotional tour, his as-yet-untitled project will not be out in the near future.
He once said that whenever the band perform in Singapore, he had to put on his best behaviour and refrain from cursing, which happens often at Linkin Park's live shows.
When asked whether he is going to be naughty or nice on his return visit, he replied, without hesitation: 'Nice. We're all gentlemen in the band.'
Linkin Park will perform at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Nov 13 at 8pm. Tickets from $68 to $148 (excluding booking fee) are available from Sistic (http://www.sistic.com.sg/ or call 6348-5555).
That same sense of urgency heralded the band's hotly awaited third studio album in May - fans around the world counted the minutes to its release.
