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Printed from https://writing.com/main/books/item_id/2320241-Minutes-to-Midnight
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by Jeff Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 18+ · Book · Crime/Gangster · #2320241
A Musicology Anthology of interconnected short stories based on the Linkin Park album.
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Musicology Anthology Open in new Window. (13+)
An annual challenge to write a short story collection based on an album! Runs April-June.
#1377819 by Jeff Author IconMail Icon



Linkin Park was a really formative band for me when I was growing up. While they were around during my high school years in the late 1990s, their breakout happened in the early 2000s with the release of their Hybrid Theory album in 2000, followed by Meteora in 2003. Both of those albums were ones I listened to nonstop during my early college years, especially working nights and evenings at a bookstore after classes. When I was thinking about what album to choose for this year's "Musicology AnthologyOpen in new Window., I knew I didn't want to attempt another Taylor Swift album (those have not gone well in recent years), so I started thinking about other musical artists whose entire albums I've enjoyed.

After listening to Hybrid Theory and Meteora again, even though there are probably more songs on each of those albums that I recognize, the nu metal sound wasn't really a good fit for what I'm feeling creatively in 2024. Their later albums (Living Things from 2012, The Hunting Party from 2014, and One More Light from 2017) were ones that I'm not as familiar with, so I decided not to pick one of them since it usually takes me a while — and a lot of listening on repeat — to find creative inspiration in a song. I almost went with 2002's Collision Course which was a collaboration between Linkin Park and Jay-Z and is one of my all-time favorite albums, but it's actually more of an EP with just six tracks, and I wanted something a little more substantive to write to.

That left 2007's Minutes to Midnight and 2010's A Thousand Suns. After listening to both albums a few times, I started to get more creative ideas (and an idea for a story with a throughline across all the songs on the album) for Minutes to Midnight, so that's what I ultimately went with for this year's selection. When it first came out "Bleed It Out" and "Shadow of the Day" were the standout songs that I listened to on repeat. The latter is still probably the best, most poignant song on the album, especially in light of Chester Bennington's suicide in 2017, but I've really come to appreciate "Leave Out All The Rest," "What I've Done," and "Hands Held High" in recent years.

I'm really excited to write a longer work inspired by this really diverse, complex album!


# 1 Wake 8.06k
# 2 Given Up 1.70k

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