LINKIN PARK MINUTES TO PLATINUM, THANKS TO SONGWRITING PAIRS

Linkin Park’s new effort, Minutes To Midnight, has gone platinum, but it was a unique writing process that kept it interesting for the band.

Linkin Park’s new album Minutes To Midnight has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of one million units. It only took four weeks to attain the mark, which is impressive in the topsy-turvy world of the record industry in 2007. The album reached Number One in 32 countries, and has reached the platinum mark in 16 countries.

To keep their recordings fresh, Mike Shinoda and bassist Phoenix said the band paired up in configurations they never tried before.

“(Linkin Park drummer) Rob Bourdon and I got on the phone like the first week we started writing after we met with Rick and came up with this idea of putting the guys together in pairs, but put them together in pairs that usually don’t work together or in some cases have never worked together. And the reason that subject came up is because I realized I had never written with Rob one-on-one, ever. And then, so we put… (to Phoenix)…who was your first partner? Was it (Vocalist) Chester (Bennington) or (guitarist) Brad (Delson)? [Phoneix] “It was Brad first.” [Shinoda] “You and Brad, and [DJ] Joe and Chester. On the other albums it was usually Brad and I that started almost all the demos. And on this record, all of the sudden you start flipping up the combinations, and it’s like each duo had a sound. Rob and I had this weird, it was a little bit hip-hop a little big Jam band kind of thing going on. It was Brad and Joe I think was the co

Linkin Park will deliver their music to the masses starting July 25, when they embark on the Projekt Revolution tour with My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, and others. Before that they’ll play the Tokyo Live Earth concert on July 7.