According to a CBC radio program I heard this morning, a pathetic fallacy is when in writing you attribute human emotions or intentions to non-human things. I find this device is especially effective in the Linkin park song Valentines Day: “And the clouds above move closer / looking so dissatisfied”. Actually I have really enjoyed listening to their latest album, Minutes to Midnight. Great writing and well produced… the tracks are quite short (I guess to be radio friendly) but there’s a lot of variety in style here, ranging from the boisterous screaming metal rock style (No More Sorrow) to the indie-esque stripped down vocal-centric – almost “pretty” stuff (In Between), to a tune that opens with Kid-A Radio-head like electronic programming and melds into conventional rock (In Pieces). This is worth a listen (although it’s definitely “mainstream” having sold over 4 million copies since being released in May).

More info on this album: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minutes_to_Midnight_(album)