Linkin Park

Collision Course (with Jay-Z)

Somewhat Unfortunate

Review Score:

(6/10)
"Collision Course" is Linkin Park's second remix record, their first being "Reanimation," a brilliant 2nd take on their debut record "Hybrid Theory." Unlike "Reanimation," however, "Collision Course" features Jay-Z and each song is actually a hybrid of an LP song and a Jay-Z song. Technically, it's not really a Linkin Park record (though if you watch the extra features you can see it clearly is) but part of the MTV "Mash-up" series.

Another difference between this record and "Reanimation" is that the latter is actually a strong release with its own merit. "Collision Course," on the other hand, is a randomly assembled mosaic of two very different artists with songs of very different content. I understand that the point of the Mash Up series is to join two diverse artists, but in my opinion this is just too much - or rather it may not have been done in the best way.

What you really have here is 12 songs, not 6. Each track is roughly half a Jay-Z song with Mike Shinoda and Jay-Z rapping LP lyrics over it, and then an awkward, often abrupt transition into an LP guitar riff with Jay-Z rapping his own lyrics over it and Chester occasionally screaming. It's rare on this album that I feel the two styles are actually *combined*. Instead it's usually Section A - the Jay-Z section; Section B, the LP section.

Making the problem much worse is the lyrical differences between the two artists. Every Jay-Z song is topically centered around something like "I'm a pimp and I couldn't care less what you think of me." Every Linkin Park song, on the other hand, seems to be some emotional cleansing that is completely centered on how someone has hurt or affected them. Neither is bad on its own, but they mix like oil and water. The one exception to this is "Points of Authority/99 Problems" but in this case Mike Shinoda wrote entirely new lyrics for it that match Jay-Z's. It would've been much better had they done this as extensively for each song. As it is, the paraphrase another reviewer, any remix artist could've thrown this together in a weekend. The genius of "Reanimation" in completely absent on "Collision Course."

The DVD, however, makes this barely worth the purchase. Not that it's especially great, just that it adds some cool behind the scenes footage of LP and Jay-Z in the studio working on the record.

Overall I feel this is more for the Jay-Z fan than the LP fan. Most LP fans will be let down and somewhat horrified, especially at the major-keyed happy-go-lucky "Izzo/In the End." Hopefully Linkin Park will get back in the studio and Jay-Z will figure out whether or not he's actually retired.

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