Iridescent (song)

"Iridescent"
Song
B-side	"New Divide" "What I've Done"

"Iridescent" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was announced as the band's fourth single from their fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns, which was released on September 14, 2010. A music video for the song will be directed by Joe Hahn, the band's turntablist. "Iridescent" will serve as the theme song for the upcoming film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, continuing the streak of the band's songs being the theme songs of the Transformers films.

Background

In April 2011, a splash screen appeared on the band's website, that contained a distorted Autobot image and a snippet from "Iridescent" (this is no longer available). A few days later, Mike Shinoda, one of the band's lead vocalists, confirmed that the song will be the fourth single from A Thousand Suns. He also confirmed that a shorter version was made for the film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which is circulating around the internet. Shinoda said that the collaboration began when Michael Bay, the director of the film series, phoned him about the possibility of the band continuing their run with songs paired with the Transformers films (having chosen "What I've Done" for the first film and having recorded "New Divide" specifically for the second). Shinoda decided to put "Iridescent" in the film due to the fact it was a fan favorite and called it a "natural fit", despite the song not being an "in-your-face" kind of tune.

The film's composer, Steve Jablonsky, who is a longtime fan of the band, agreed with the choice, saying that the song fit well with his score, as well as the film's story. Both Shinoda and Jablonsky agree that the song is an appropriate choice for the film, since the film is described to be more "serious" than the previous films and is consistent with where the band is at (learning from mistakes; going in different directions).

Some LPTVs (behind-the-scenes footage) show the creation and development of "Iridescent", such as the inclusion of gang vocals in the third chorus of the song and the initial discussion about the song.

Track listing

CD and Digital single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Iridescent (Transformers: Dark of the Moon Mix)"	3:59

UK iTunes single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Iridescent (Transformers: Dark of the Moon Mix)"	3:59
2.	"New Divide"	4:29
3.	"What I've Done"	3:25

Promotional US CD single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Iridescent (Transformers: Dark of the Moon Mix)"	3:59

Music video

The official music video will be directed by Joe Hahn, the band's turntablist. In an interview with MTV, Mike Shinoda stated: "All I know about the concept is that Joe Hahn sent me an e-mail that said something about 'In the valley of the blind, the one-eyed man is king', or something like that. And the next thing I know, I've got horns growing out of my shoulders, and I've got one blind eye, and I've got a white dog and a snake on a throne made of antlers. I think you'd have to ask Joe what that all means." Hahn recently announced that the video has been completed.

In the behind-the-scenes video for "Iridescent", which was released on May 31, 2011, Hahn stated that he wanted to combine the "soulfulness" of Transformers: Dark of the Moon to the soulfulness of what they do, as well as elements of robots tying into human existence.

The music video for "Iridescent" was released on June 3rd, 2011.

Chart performance

Chart (2011)	Peak position
German Youth Airplay Chart	14
German Airplay Chart	74
US Billboard Alternative Songs	21
US Billboard Rock Songs	29