Following Linkin Park announcing a dramatic comeback, the name behind their widely known third album has shocked fans
Fans are only just realising how an iconic Linkin Park album got its name shortly after the band announced their sensational comeback.
It’s fair to say that they are one of the most popular and successful rock bands of all time, so it’s no shock that the announcement of their comeback has sent shockwaves through social media.
The band had been on a hiatus ever since lead singer Chester Bennington died by suicide back in 2017, aged just 41
But yesterday, they announced a world tour with a new lead co-vocalist in Emily Armstrong of Dead Sara, sending fans into a frenzy.
Linkin Park are making a comeback with new co-vocalist Emily Armstrong (Timothy Norris/Getty Images for Warner Music)
And this resurgence has gotten fans talking about one album in particular.
The American band released their third album, titled Minutes to Midnight, in May 2007, debuting at number one in 16 countries, marking their third consecutive number one album in the US since the group formed in 1996.
But where does the album’s name actually come from?
Well, it’s inspired by the annual Doomsday Clock announcement, which occurred on 23 January earlier this year, and fans of Linkin Park are just realising that this is where the name has come from.
Every January, the announcement takes place as it has done since the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists started the tradition in 1947, in order to communicate the level of threat to humanity to the general public.
Basically, it warns people about how close mankind is to ‘destroying our world with dangerous technologies of our own making’, and is supposed to be a call to action for world governments.
People were nervous about this year’s announcement, but the Doomsday Clock was left unchanged during the announcement, as it maintains its position as the closest it has ever been to midnight, or impending doom, until the next announcement in 2025.
Each year, experts meet to assess events of the past year, often looking at conflicts, threats of nuclear weapons and climate change.
While it had been set at 100 seconds to midnight in both 2021 and 2022, some chilling developments on the world stage forced the hands to creep closer to twelve.
This was largely due to the invasion of Ukraine and the threat of a nuclear war.
The Minutes to Midnight album was released in 2007 (Steve Granitz/Getty Images)
Posting on Reddit, one Linkin Park fan shared some handy trivia about the link between the Doomsday Clock and the band’s third album.
“Fun fact: The album title ‘Minutes to Midnight’ is a reference to the doomsday clock,” they wrote.
“The fewer minutes there are until midnight, the end of the world due to climate change or nuclear war is closer.”
Lead vocalist, Chester Bennington, spoke about the title of the album in an interview with MTV News back in 2007.
“The title is a reference to the Doomsday Clock, which was created by these scientists at the University of Chicago after the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Japan to end World War II,” he said.
“… Naming the album was harder than anything else. We always find ourselves over-thinking titles of all the records and even when it came down to naming the band.
“… I was watching a documentary on the doomsday clock and they kept repeating the phrase ‘Minutes to Midnight’.
“From that perspective; midnight is the end of the world as we know it. That’s a little dreary for me but I thought it worked.
“The fact that the album is so different from the previous records and that we were more mature and embarking on a new era seemed to fit well with the title. I think the title really captured how we were feeling and where we were going in so many different ways.”
After realising the connection, some fans admitted they’d even started taking the clock more seriously.
“Linkin park made the album ‘seconds to midnight’ based on the meaning of this clock. I take the Doomsday Clock seriously in honor of that album and nothing else! [sic]”
