Iridescent

"Iridescent"
Single by Linkin Park
from the album Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
Working title:	Iridescent New / Desolation
Recorded:	2008-2010
Released:	May 28, 2011
Format:	CD, Digital
Length:	03:59
Stems:	Neko Keyboard Sounds and Samples
Time signature:	4/4
Tempo:	120
Key:	A Minor
Live debut:	September 7, 2010
Last performed:	October 27, 2017 June 30, 2016 (LOATR/SOTD/Iridescent)
Writer:	Linkin Park
Producer:	Rick Rubin, Mike Shinoda
Label:	Warner Bros.
Linkin Park single chronology Burning In The Skies (2011) Iridescent (2011) Rolling In The Deep (Adele Cover) (2011)
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon tracklist
The Requiem The Radiance Burning In The Skies Empty Spaces When They Come For Me Robot Boy Jornada Del Muerto Waiting For The End Blackout Wretches And Kings Wisdom, Justice, And Love Iridescent Fallout The Catalyst The Messenger

"Iridescent" is the twelfth track on A Thousand Suns and the fourth single from the album, in conjunction with the release of Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, in which the song is featured.

Background

"Iridescent" is a ballad about a person in the face of a place destroyed by nuclear warfare. It was inspired by Mark Twain's short story "My Boyhood Dreams" which deals with disappointment resulted from unfulfilled dreams. It starts off with dramatic piano before building up with guitars, powerful drums, and big gang vocals in the bridge that lead to the song's climax. Chester has cited the song as one of his favorites on the record due to the way it builds and climaxes.

Mike Shinoda explained how the song came together, "Iridescent just started with that piano bit. It was kind of like when we've done the acapella or piano and vocal versions. It kind of was that. I wrote it just piano and vocal and then built everything on top of the piano and vocal version. So not anything crazy there, it was just a very traditional writing process."

"Iridescent" was originally the title of a different (unknown/discarded) demo when making the album. When making this song, the band titled it "Iridescent New" for its demo title.

Transformers 3 Remix / "Energy Up Version"

The song was picked up and reworked for use on the Transformers: Dark Of The Moon soundtrack as explained by Mike Shinoda, "A few months ago, I got on the phone with Michael Bay, who wanted to discuss the possibility of our band continuing our run with songs paired with the Transformers films. We (he, his team, and our band) all have enjoyed working together on the past two, and he wanted to discuss the ideas we might have for Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon. In particular, one song came up immediately. Ever since we started playing Iridescent live, the song has been a fan favorite at the show. For the film, there’s a new, slightly shorter version of the song, which is floating around the internet now. We’ll be shooting a video for the song tomorrow, directed by Joe Hahn." This alternate "Energy Up" version features drums right from the start of the song rather than them coming in later, and is about a minute shorter in length.

The band posted an LPTV episode titled "Iridescent Rehearsals" in which they show an inside look into the remix being worked on in tour rehearsals. An exchange between Dave, Mike, and Brad is shown, where Dave asks Mike what the point is of learning the remix. Mike says he is open to performing either version live, but Dave says the radio edit cuts the song down and it is more appropriate for the band to perform the studio version during the Linkin Park shows. At Brad's suggestion, the band settles on learning the remix in case it is needed for television or a special appearance, but they will play the regular version in their concert sets. The only performance of the remix, which the band calls the "Energy Up Version" came at the Moscow, Russia Transformers 3 Premiere in June 2011, which was filmed for MTV.

In May 2020, Mike said about the remix, "Actually I think almost every sound used in the remix of "Iridescent" was in the song. We just turned them up or EQed them or compressed them. The reason for the remix was I think that the radio department at the label said, "hey, if you're going to go out with this song and the movie and whatever, we'd like to hear it pick up energy, like get to the point faster with a shorter version. And for it to have more energy earlier." That was a cool idea. To me it didn't ruin the song, I felt like it was a cool version of a song - kind of a subtle remix so we did it. Kind of a pain in the ass though because we were on tour working on it. I remember just having to go back and forth about mix notes and adding and subtracting things a lot. It was just tedious, it was fine though."

Tracklist

CD Single

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Iridescent	Linkin Park	4:01
2	New Divide	Linkin Park	4:30
3	What I've Done	Linkin Park	3:25

iTunes Single

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Iridescent (from Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon)	Linkin Park	3:59

Music Video

Transformers Version

A music video for the Transformers: Dark Of The Moon mix of "Iridescent" was shot in Los Angeles, California starting on April 14, 2011 and was directed by Joe Hahn. Mike explained, "When Michael Bay called us about putting a song in the new 'Transformers' movie, the one that came immediately to mind was 'Iridescent' because it's been a fan favorite at the shows. It's definitely a less in-your-face song. There's a somber tone to it and a hopeful tone to it. ... Michael actually loved pairing it with the movie because there's something that he feels it speaks to about the story line." The goal of the video was to combine the soulfulness of what the band does with the soulfulness of the film. Joe said, "The video explores how human existence might be affected by the elements of Transformers robots and the threat of the Decepticons. What would it be like to be citizens in a decaying universe? I tried a lot of new things here, and we had a lot of fun shooting it."

During the shooting, the band members had to do some things they weren't comfortable with. Mike, for instance, really doesn't like snakes and had to hold one for 5 hours; and Chester had his face mashed in warm milk. Joe personally picked three snakes to be used in the video. In July 2020 on his Twitch stream, Mike said, "Phobias? I don't like snakes, so the Iridescent video was difficult."

The single was mixed in Dolby Surround 7.1 audio format by Neal Avron and the video was converted into full 3D by Passmorelab, being shown in select theaters worldwide following the end credits for Transformers: Dark Of The Moon. The company had previously worked with Linkin Park on a 3D version of "Waiting For The End".

"We had a very tight schedule to complete all the 3D elements of Iridescent in time for the Transformers 3 premiere. Throughout the 3D production process, we worked very closely with the band's digital post-house Ghost Town Media in Los Angeles to stay true to the director's vision for the video. Without a high level of communication and efficient workflow between everyone involved with this project, it would not have been completed on time. The collaborative end result is truly a beautiful and dramatic use of 3D. Hahnʼs post-apocalyptic vision and our 3D mesh wonderfully," said Greg Passmore, CEO of PassmoreLab. The 3D video was also available on the band's official YouTube channel for a limited period.

An alternative version of the video exists and is currently available on the Warner Music Japan YouTube channel. This version is slightly different from the original, with the scene with Optimus Prime at 1:13 being replaced by a scene with dogs running. Some of the colors present on the original video are also absent from this version, specially the red color. Bumblebee is shown in black and white instead of yellow.

Video Credits

Artist Name: Linkin Park
Song Name: Iridescent
Director: Joe Hahn
Producers: Bill Boyd
Video Commissioner: Devin Sarno
Record Label: Warner Bros. Records

Stars Of The Season Version

Stars Of The Season is an annual gala fundraising affair for Banner Children's at Cardon Children's Medical Center in which Chester has taken part in many times.

For the event and hospital's fifth anniversary, an "Official Event Music Video" featuring Linkin Park's "Iridescent" was shot at the hospital, located in Mesa, Arizona, in October 2014. Chester was the only Linkin Park member on the video.

Chester and his wife, Talinda, were the honorary chairs of the event alongside David Curran, M.D.

The music video was written and directed by David Kinsler and produced by Jack Chapman (who also edited the video) and David Curran, M.D. Sephora Skye Kinsler stars the video as an angel.

Video Credits

Featuring Chester Bennington
Introducing Sephora Skye Kinsler (as the angel)
Written and Directed by David Kinsler
Produced by Jack Chapman, David Curran, M.D.
Edited by Jack Chapman

Versions

Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.

Studio

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Iridescent	A Thousand Suns	4:56	2008-2010	September 8, 2010
Iridescent	Iridescent Transformers: Dark Of The Moon - The Album	4:01	2011	May 27, 2011	Drum beat in the intro. Shorter break between first chorus and verse 2. Different lyrics during bridge. Different mix. Renamed to "Iridescent (Version 2)" in 2019. Also known as "Iridescent (Energy Up Version)".
Iridescent	A Thousand Suns	4:56	November 2008-August 2010	May 29, 2012	Less reverb on Mike's vocals in the first verse. First released in the HDTracks edition and included in all subsequent issues of the album.
Iridescent	A Thousand Suns Instrumentals	4:56	2008-2010		The CD dates from September 15, 2010. Official instrumental version.

Live

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Iridescent	Live In Madrid	5:01	November 07, 2010	April 1, 2011	A Thousand Suns+ DVD. Includes bonus MP3 of the show.
Iridescent (Live)	iTunes Festival: London 2011	5:04	July 04, 2011	July 8, 2011
Iridescent	Live In Red Square	4:19	June 23, 2011	July 21, 2011	Energy Up version. Released as a prize for the "Iridescent" "Super-Fun Trading Fun-Cards" game. After all six cards were collected, the person could enter the codes of each card at linkinpark.com to get a free download of the full show.
Iridescent (Live From Paris, 2010)	A Thousand Suns - Live Around The World	4:58	October 25, 2010	June 19, 2012
LOATR/SOTD/Iridescent	Live At Admiralspalast Berlin, Germany		June 05, 2012	March 29, 2013	DVD only. Living Things+ bonus DVD.

Live

"Iridescent" was regarded by the band as a fan favorite during the A Thousand Suns touring cycle. The song debuted on KROQ's Kevin and Bean Breakfast Show in 2010, and was played at every show of the A Thousand Suns cycle except for the final three shows on the Australian 2010 tour in Melbourne, Homebush, and Bruce. The song was usually played after "Wisdom, Justice, And Love", like on the album, but it was occasionally played in conjunction with "Numb". In 2010, the song was played after "Wisdom, Justice, And Love" in sets A-1, A-3, B, B-1, and the Madrid setlist, after "Numb" in the one-off New York City setlist, and was completely omitted in set B-9. "Iridescent" didn't see much movement in 2011. During the North American 2011 tour, it was played after "Wisdom, Justice, And Love" in sets A-1, B-11, C-5, and C-6, and after "Numb" in set B-13. The European and Asian 2011 tours had "Iridescent" after "Wisdom, Justice, And Love" in sets A, B, D, E, and the one-off Moscow and Singapore setlists, and followed "Numb" in set C. A shortened version of the song was used during the band's presentation of A Thousand Horizons in Japan. The show in Moscow featured what was dubbed the "Energy Up Version", which was just the version of the song found on the Transformers 3 soundtrack. That show is the only performance of that version of the song to date.

Once the Living Things cycle kicked off in West Hollywood, the bridge and final chorus of "Iridescent" returned in the "LOATR/SOTD/Iridescent" medley. The drums from the single version are also played during the "Shadow Of The Day" portion of the song.

"Iridescent" returned during the tribute show for Chester, where it was part of the opening medley and opened the encore. Both times it was played were shortened. The first was a new arrangement that included a mashup with "The Messenger" as an intro and ended after the second chorus, while the second was solely the bridge and final chorus. Jon Green joined the band for both performances of the song.

Mike performed a shortened piano version of "Iridescent" in Moscow while touring in support of his solo album Post Traumatic. He later debuted the studio version in Toronto, and would continue to play the song fairly consistently for the remainder of the tour. For some of the west coast dates on Monster Energy's Oubreak Tour, Phoenix joined Mike and the band for the song.

While the full song wasn't included in the setlist, a heavily effected version of the bridge vocals were used in Set B's version of the Inception, Creation, and Resolution Intros on the From Zero World Tour, first being used at the show in London. A small snippet of the intro sample was also played before "Leave Out All The Rest".

Variations

Linkin Park

Last Updated: May 1, 2020

Type	Description	First Played	Last Played
Intro	w/ "The Messenger" v1 + Chorus	October 27, 2017	October 27, 2017
Outro	Transition into "Roads Untraveled"	October 27, 2017	October 27, 2017
Alternative	Energy Up Version	June 23, 2011	June 23, 2011
Alternative	Ballad Medley (LOATR/SOTD/Iridescent)	May 18, 2012	November 14, 2016
Alternative	Hollywood Bowl Arrangement	October 27, 2017	October 27, 2017
Alternative	Shortened (No Bridge or Final Chorus)	October 27, 2017	October 27, 2017
Alternative	Shortened (Bridge and Final Chorus only)	October 27, 2017	October 27, 2017

Mike Shinoda

Last Updated: July 10, 2019

Type	Description	First Played	Last Played
Alternative	Piano Version	September 1, 2018	September 1, 2018
Alternative	Shortened (No Second Verse or Second Chorus)	September 1, 2018	September 1, 2018

Live Guests

Linkin Park

Last Updated: May 1, 2020

• Jon Green (The Bonfires)

Mike Shinoda

Last Updated: May 1, 2020

• Phoenix (Linkin Park)

Promotion

On May 25, 2011, Linkin Park announced a contest for fans to create an original piece of art for "Iridescent". The winner would be showcased in front of more than 30 million fans online and would be featured at Linkin Park's performance for the Transformers: Dark Of The Moon premiere in Moscow's Red Square on June 23. The submission deadline was June 12. The winner was Wan Muhammad Azzim.

The premiere event featured the first and only ever live performance of the single version of "Iridescent". The performance of the song was highlighted on MTV, MTV2, mtvU, VH1 Classic and Palladia at 8:55pm ET/PT on June 24. A 30-minute piece aired the following week on June 30 in English speaking countries.

On July 22, 2011, the show was released in MP3 format as a prize for the "Iridescent Super-Fun Trading Fun-Cards" game as Live In Red Square. After all six cards were collected, fans could enter the codes from each card at Linkin Park's website to get a free download of the full show.

Lyrics

Album Version

When you were standing in the wake of devastation
When you were waiting on the edge of the unknown
And with the cataclysm raining down
Insides crying, "Save me now"
You were there, impossibly alone
 
Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?
You build up hope, but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go
Let it go
 
And in a burst of light that blinded every angel
As if the sky had blown the heavens into stars
You felt the gravity of tempered grace
Falling into empty space
No one there to catch you in their arms
 
Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?
You build up hope, but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go
Let it go
 
Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?
You build up hope, but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go
 
Let it go [x2]
Let it go / Woah, oh
Let it go
 
Do you feel cold and lost in desperation? (Oh)
You build up hope, but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go
Let it go

Transformers Version

When you were standing in the wake of devastation
When you were waiting on the edge of the unknown
And with the cataclysm raining down
Insides crying, "Save me now"
You were there, impossibly alone

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?
You build up hope, but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go
Let it go

And in a burst of light that blinded every angel
As if the sky had blown the heavens into stars
You felt the gravity of tempered grace
Falling into empty space
No one there to catch you in their arms

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?
You build up hope, but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go
Let it go

Let it go
Let it go
Let it go
Let it go / Woah, oh

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?
You build up hope, but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go
Let it go

Gallery

• 

  Single

• 

  Promo

• 

  Iridescent contest winner

• 

  Transformers: Dark Of The Moon - The Album digital version

• 

  Transformers: Dark Of The Moon - The Album US CD

• 

  Transformers: Dark Of The Moon - The Album artwork without Black Veil Brides

• 

  Transformers: Dark Of The Moon - The Album EU CD

• 

  Dolby: The Sound Of HD³

In Other Media

• "Iridescent" is featured in the 2010 film Alpha And Omega.
• An alternate version of "Iridescent" is featured in the 2011 film Transformers: Dark Of The Moon and was included in its soundtrack album.

External Links

• Iridescent (Music Video): LPTV | Vimeo | WMG | MTV | DolbyInsider's YouTube | Paramaount Pictures France's DailyMotion
• Iridescent (Alternative version): WMJ
• Iridescent (Official SOTS Music Video): Official SOTS Advisory Council YouTube
• Iridescent (Madrid 2010 & MSG 2011 Live Clip) - WMT
• Iridescent (Madison Square Garden 2011) - WMG
• Iridescent (Moscow 2011) - LPTV | Vimeo | Paramount Pictures France