Linkin Park

Collision Course (with Jay-Z)

success, but at what cost?

Review Score:

(6/10)
linkin park reaches back to their roots with the help of jay-z on this collaborative work. what you'll hear here is the combination (or "mashing" as they like to call it) of each of their styles into what i feel is the true definition of rap/rock. the appeal, theoretically, should be twice as broad, but really it's no broader than before: half of linkin park's audience and half of jay-z's audience will enjoy it, whereas the other halves will wonder where their artists of choice went wrong.

the problem here is that linkin park and jay-z have very distinct messages; think "big pimpin'/papercut". jay-z raps about having wealth, women, etc.; the stuff of life. linkin park, on the other hand, screams (in a very good, acceptable way, mind you) about NOT having good relationships, about instability and insecurity. here is where the audience's schism will occur: people who listen to jay-z or linkin park for the message they propagated will find themselves hard pressed to enjoy this album. for example, "in the end" just doesnt have the same calling-out that lp's audience (myself included) would feel listening to the original. it's as if they're just singing/rapping because they happened to sing/rap in the original versions. not to say that linkin park's the only victim here; both really bring each other down in this regard. not to mention that many songs that you may have loved are probably missing: only 6 jay-z tracks and 7 of lp's are included here.

however, the resultant sound, as opposed to the message (or lack thereof), is phenomenal. this is what linkin park seemed to set out to do in the first place with their b-sides before hybrid theory; however, finding they had more success with the rock crowd than the rap, the band evolved into simply a "rock" band, despite having officially birthed the rap/rock (or rock/rap, if you prefer) genre to the mainstream. now, thanks to jay-z, lp can finally say they have a true rap/rock album. in essence, this album is more about the evolution of linkin park's sound, rather than of jay-z's. he'll always be known as a rapper; lp is now officially a rap/rock band, at least if you consider this more than just a side project. for this, you'll probably come away feeling more of an lp vibe than of jay-z; therefore, fans of jay-z's sound are likely to be further turned off.

overall, the sound is euphonious; you'll wonder why linkin park never sounded like this before. the album bodes well for the future of linkin park's sound, at least in terms of their original rap/rock goal, which turns out to have sounded the best so far. however, given the overall lyrical message, and depending on who you like more and why, this may turn out to be the kind of music you'll listen to while you're doing something else, music you listen to for the sake of ignoring it, rather than for the sake of listening to music.

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