Minutes to Midnight (Linkin Park album) Linkin Park started work on their third studio album in 2003, taking a break to tour in support of "Meteora" in 2004. In this time period, the band formed numerous side projects; Mike Shinoda formed his hip hop side project Fort Minor, while Chester Bennington formed Dead by Sunrise, causing the album to be shelved temporarily. The band returned to work on the record afterward, taking on a different musical direction than the 2003 sessions while working with producer Rick Rubin. The album's completion was delayed several times for unknown reasons. Eventually, "What I've Done" was chosen as the album's
A New Day at Midnight Water" was released as a promo-only single in November 2002. Both commercial singles failed to break into the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 35 and No. 23 respectively. The album received critically mixed reviews, but went on to be certified platinum four times. The album is dedicated to David Gray's father, Peter, who died of cancer in 2001 at the height of Gray's popularity. A song entitled "A New Day at Midnight", written about the birth of his first daughter, Ivy, was written during the album's recording sessions but was not included on the album.