Minutes to Midnight (Linkin Park album) come". "Herald Sun" writer Karen Tye gave it 3½ out of 4 stars and praised the band's new sound, asking, "Who knew being a plain old rock band could suit Linkin Park so well?". Despite commending the band for their ambition, "The Guardian"s Caroline Sullivan gave the album 3 out of 5 stars and perceived "their decision to stay roughly within the shrieky boundaries of their genre" as a weakness, while writing that "the sound still pivots on the interplay of walloping guitar chords and self-flagellating lyrics". Among those with a more negative view of the album was Stephen Thomas
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.