"Politics, operatic bridges, profanity, leather jackets ... what's happened to Linkin Park? Going by appearances, it seems they're all grown up."

TodayOnline, having recently listened to Minutes to Midnight in Kuala Lumpur, posted an interesting read on their site. The following excerpts are key details from their publication:

- The new Linkin Park sound is one that is decidedly mature, mixing everything from opera and dance beats with a "pop" feel. "It was a conscious decision," said Bennington of the change in direction. "We didn't want to make the trilogy. We didn't want it to sound like (previous albums) Hybrid Theory or Meteora."

- The concluding track, 'The Little Things Give You Away,' is the band's response to how the authorities in the United States dealt with the Hurricane Katrina crisis in New Orleans, a disaster that Bennington said "shouldn't have happened." Hands Held High, however, is an anti-war anthem in which co-lead vocalist Mike Shinoda raps about falling bombs, saying: "When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die."

- As for the aesthetic makeover - for the first time, all six band members are on the new album cover, looking snazzy in leather jackets - Bennington laughed and said they had enjoyed "dressing like guys".