New Divide
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"New Divide" is a song by American rock band
Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...
. The song was released as a single and recorded specifically for the soundtrack to
Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget high-concept action films with fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of special eff ...
's film '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen''. It was written by the band and produced by band member
Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda ( ; born February 11, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's co-lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, ...
. It also serves as the film's main theme and was released as the soundtrack's
lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...
on May 18, 2009, by
Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, En ...
. Despite the film's critical failure, "New Divide" was widely acclaimed by professional critics and remains one of the most popular songs in Linkin Park's discography. It is one of the few songs to top the US Rock Songs,
Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...
, and
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...
at the same time. It is one of the band's highest-charting songs, peaking at number 6 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Its working title was "
Megatron Megatron is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Transformers'' media franchise produced by the American toy company Hasbro and the Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. He is the tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, a villaino ...
".


Background

Linkin Park's " What I've Done" is on the first ''Transformers'' soundtrack and was played in the trailer for a short second.
Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda ( ; born February 11, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's co-lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, ...
first alluded to "New Divide" on March 28, 2009, stating, "We've been working on a new song in the past couple of weeks that has been a lot of fun. The backdrop for the song is built on layered, heavy synths and a sharp performance by he band's drummer,Rob Bourdon." On April 24, Shinoda revealed that they were working with
film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
composer
Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards and a Tony ...
, writing various interpretations of "New Divide" to serve as thematic elements for the film. When discussing the ''Transformers'' sequel with Blabbermouth, Michael Bay said, "I love Linkin Park... they really delivered with 'New Divide' — it's a great song that perfectly matches the film's intensity." Parts of the intro were used in the final ''Transformers'' trailer. The cue "NEST" from Steve Jablonsky's ''Revenge of the Fallen'' musical score features instrumental excerpts from "New Divide". Linkin Park worked with award-winning composer
Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards and a Tony ...
to rework "New Divide" into the musical score. As a result, the song was featured prominently in the film, with instrumental clips of it played several times throughout, in addition to the song being played during the end credits. The song was later adopted as the theme/opening song for the
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
's
San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...
. The song also plays as the background music for the ''
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
'' E3 multiplayer trailer. A live version of the song is included as a B-side to " The Catalyst" and a bonus track for the Japanese release of '' A Thousand Suns''. The studio version of the song is also included as the B-side to "
Iridescent Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear gradually to change colour as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Iridescence is caused by wave interference of light in microstruc ...
". On September 4, 2012, "New Divide", along with " Breaking the Habit", " Shadow of the Day", and " Burn It Down", were released in the "Linkin Park Pack 02" as
downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...
for the music rhythm video game '' Rock Band 3''. The instrumental version of this song was also featured on the Weather Channel's Local on the 8's playlist in January and February 2012. In 2024, "New Divide" was included on the compilation album ''
Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000–2023) ''Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000–2023)'', or simply ''Papercuts'', is the first greatest hits album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on April 12, 2024, through Warner Records, following the '' Meteora 20th Anniversary Edi ...
''.


Composition

The song is composed in the key of
F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp ...
in 4/4 time. The song employs a verse-chorus-verse format, with the second chorus being cut short by a mechanically-themed breakdown meant to emulate the iconic "transforming" sound effect from the Transformers franchise.


Critical reception

"New Divide" received critical acclaim upon its release. Fans lauded it for its aptitude and appeal as the movie's soundtrack. Much of the song's criticism from reviewers is that of the structure, claiming it is too similar to past Linkin Park singles, as well as sounding very similar to " What I've Done" which was used in ''
Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...
''. Videos posted on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
show similarities in structure between the two songs. One of the reviews was from Chris Williams of ''Billboard'' Magazine, who wrote:
" 'New Divide' fits the sci-fi genre: spacious, moody and futuristic. Lead vocalist Chester Bennington gives one of his more straightforward vocal performances, deftly balancing his usual rock edge with a more melody-focused pop vocal. It's a welcome return that should satisfy the band's fan base and bring in some new fans as well."
The song received a first-round nomination for Best Original Song for the
82nd Academy Awards The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2009 and took place on March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. ...
but failed to make it to the final list.


Music video

On May 14, Shinoda revealed that they were currently recording an accompanying music video for the song. The video, shot on location at
Paramount Studios Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production and distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount Global. It is the sixth-oldest film studio i ...
(which distributed the ''Transformers'' films) May 13 and 14, is set in the
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian cave where the bodies of the Dynasty of the Primes and the Autobot Matrix of Leadership are hidden, and was directed by Joe Hahn, the band's DJ. When discussing the video, Shinoda stated " oe Hahn'splanning on using a lot of really interesting cutting-edge visual techniques, blurring the line between our performance and some kind of digital/mechanical reality." Chester Bennington confirmed that the video is related to the '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' movie, saying on his blog, "Honestly, I don't know what's going on in the video. We're in a tomb rocking out and there's a huge dead Transformer." Linkin Park has released two behind the scenes videos of the music video. Both photos and footage of the video shoot were posted on Shinoda's blog site. The video premiered on the band's Myspace site on June 11. There are two versions, the Transformer version or the alternate version which consists only of the band playing. The music video features scenes taken from the movie, and a lot of special effects are also seen and the video was heavily edited in places making use of thermal cameras and using flying food parts as texture around a lot of the thermal imagery. Despite many rumors of the female in the video being
Megan Fox Megan Denise Fox (born May 16, 1986) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the family film ''Holiday in the Sun (film), Holiday in the Sun'' (2001), which was followed by numerous supporting roles in film and television, such a ...
and even vocalist
Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various po ...
's wife Talinda, she is a different actress hired to portray Mikaela Banes. According to Talinda, she is only shown in the thermal lens to look more like Fox. Bassist
Dave Farrell David Michael Farrell (born February 8, 1977), also known by his stage name Phoenix, is an American musician, best known as the bassist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also a member of Tasty Snax, a ska punk band. Early life Farrell wa ...
is not seen in shots of the whole band performing as he injured his wrist during the first day of filming. It is presumed this is the reason for his lack of appearance in the video. However, he is seen many times during the special effects. The video was packaged into the two-disc special edition DVD and Blu-ray of '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen''. As of June 2025, the music video for "New Divide" has over 651 million views o
YouTube


Live performances

Linkin Park debuted "New Divide" for the US premiere for ''Revenge of the Fallen'' outside Mann's Theatre Village, Westwood, California, on June 22, 2009. Afterwards, the song became a staple in Linkin Park setlists. During the 2009 International Tour and the majority of the A Thousand Suns World Tour, "New Divide" bears an extended synth intro. It also opened two shows transitioning out of '' A Thousand Sunss "The Requiem" and "The Radiance", and opened the band's show on its own for the premiere of '' Transformers: Dark of the Moon'' in Moscow, Russia, and the final show of the tour at the 2011 Singapore Grand Prix, bearing an all-new intro nicknamed the "Moscow Intro". During the Living Things World Tour, the song didn't have much movement. For the majority of touring cycle of '' The Hunting Party'', the song was abridged, with the first chorus and second verse removed, with the song restored to studio form in The Hunting Party Tour's North American Summer Tour. The One More Light World Tour also did not see much movement for the song. At the Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington tribute show at the
Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...
, Linkin Park played the 2014 abridged version of "New Divide" as the second song of the encore, after a short reprise of "
Iridescent Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear gradually to change colour as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Iridescence is caused by wave interference of light in microstruc ...
". The band played the song instrumentally to pre-recorded vocals of the late
Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various po ...
, taken from the band's show at the Hollywood Bowl in 2014 as part of the Carnivores Tour.


Commercial performance

In the United States, "New Divide" debuted at number six on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the band's highest debut to date, and their highest-peaking song since " In the End" on the chart. The single dropped sharply to number 39 the week after its release but resurfaced within the top 10 at number nine following the film's worldwide premiere. "New Divide" reached number one on both the
Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...
chart and the
Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...
chart. It has stayed at #1 on Alternative for twelve weeks so far, making it their second longest-running number one there (the first being " Numb"). It is the band's eighth number one on the Alternative Songs chart. The single was certified platinum by the
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
in August 2009, and in December 2010 it topped the 2 million mark in paid downloads. As of June 2014, the song has sold 2,634,000 copies in the US. The song is the band's third and last top-10 hit in the US. "New Divide" has also been successful worldwide. It debuted at number three on the
Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...
and reached the top ten on the Australian
ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...
, debuting at number ten. "New Divide" has since become Linkin Park's highest-charting song in Australia, peaking at #3 on the Aria Top 50 Singles Chart. It reached platinum in Australia after 15 weeks on the chart selling over 70,000 sales. It left the chart after 21 weeks making it the 587th best ever song on the ARIA chart. It has also reached #2 on the New Zealand
RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...
chart and was certified gold after 12 weeks, selling over 7,500 copies. The song went platinum in New Zealand and then left the chart after 20 weeks. The song peaked at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 1 on the UK Rock Chart. In Germany, it reached #4, tying it as their highest-peaking song there. In Finland, it is the band's second highest-peaking song after " What I've Done", reaching #3. It also reached the top twenty in Italy, Turkey, Sweden, and Switzerland.


Track listing


Personnel

*
Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various po ...
– lead vocals *
Rob Bourdon Robert Gregory Bourdon (born January 20, 1979) is an American musician, best known as a co-founding member and the former drummer of the rock band Linkin Park. He remained in the band until their hiatus in 2017; when the band members began work ...
– drums * Brad Delson – guitar *
Dave Farrell David Michael Farrell (born February 8, 1977), also known by his stage name Phoenix, is an American musician, best known as the bassist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also a member of Tasty Snax, a ska punk band. Early life Farrell wa ...
– bass guitar * Joe Hahn – samples, programming *
Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda ( ; born February 11, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's co-lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, ...
– keyboards, backing vocals, synthesizers


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

*http://www.taringa.net/posts/musica/2603214/New-Divide---Linkin-Park-(2009)-%5BNuevo-single%5D.html


External links


Lyrics
at LinkinPark.com
Music video
at LinkinPark.com

on lptimes.com {{authority control 2009 songs 2009 singles Linkin Park songs Reprise Records singles Warner Records singles Songs written by Mike Shinoda Songs from Transformers (film series) Songs written for films Industrial rock songs Song recordings produced by Mike Shinoda