LINKIN PARK's SHINODA Says 60 Songs Have Been Written For New Album

May 3, 2006

LINKIN PARK rapper Mike Shinoda recently spoke to MTV.com about the songwriting process for the band's new album, their first since 2003's "Meteora". So far, the sessions with producer Rick Rubin (SLAYER, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, AUDIOSLAVE) have yielded something in the neighborhood of 60 songs, Shinoda said.

"When we were making 'Meteora', we wrote 70 to 90 songs to come up with the 12 tracks that are on the album," he said. "For this one, we're going to write more than that. We're about halfway into it. But it'll be out this year. And I can already tell that the record is going to sound a little different than our previous ones.

"Rick and I are going to be producing it together, and that's something different too," Shinoda continued. "We've always based who we are on the fact that we all listen to different kinds of music, and we try to mix all those different styles as seamlessly as we can. And Rick's done everything from BEASTIE BOYS and RUN-DMC to DIXIE CHICKS and JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE and SLAYER. At the core of his being, Rick understands so much. He doesn't have to work for it. So in the studio, there's no thought, there's just feeling."

Shinoda said LINKIN PARK are close to determining just where they'll record the new album. He said Rubin's Laurel Canyon mansion — which has played host to sessions for everyone from SLIPKNOT to the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS — is definitely the early front-runner.

"We're starting to get a feel for what the songs are sounding like, and we're going to determine where we want to work based on them," Shinoda said. "It's early, but from what we've already heard, we can't wait to get into a studio. We're completely excited to start work."

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