Linkin Park Albums (5)
'Road to Revolution Live at Milton Keynes'
Release Date 11/25/2008
Tracks 19
Label Warner Bros.
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Like nearly every other live release of the new millennium, Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes is a CD/DVD extravaganza, capturing the entire concert twice, once as a CD, once as a DVD for optimal home viewing. In this case, the concert is Linkin Park's June 29, 2008 show at the Milton Keynes National Bowl, where the band was joined by Jay-Z for two songs on the encore ("Jigga What/Faint," "Numb/Encore"), while rapper Mike Shinoda's side project Fort Minor pop up for "The Rising Tide." This is the third Linkin Park live set -- they arrive like clockwork after every tour -- so it's no surprise that there are no surprises outside of the Jay-Z cameo and perhaps just how big and slick the whole thing sounds; it was mastered to be showcased on surround sound in a home theater. It's big but not ballsy, an appropriate sound for an immaculate performance from Linkin Park -- one that may not exactly replicate the details of their studio versions but certainly doesn't find them coloring outside of the lines. It's something that will surely please fans, the ones that have the other two Linkin Park live sets, but it's not a bracing testament to the band's on-stage prowess. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Minutes to Midnight'
Release Date 5/14/2007
Tracks 12
Label Warner Bros
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Damned if they do, damned if they don't -- that was the conundrum facing Linkin Park when it came time to deliver Minutes to Midnight, their third album. It had been four years since their last, 2003's Meteora, which itself was essentially a continuation of the rap-rock of their 2000 debut, Hybrid Theory, the blockbuster that was one of the biggest rock hits of the new millennium. On that album, Linkin Park sounded tense and nervous, they sounded wiry -- rap-rock without the maliciousness that pulsed through mock-rockers like Limp Bizkit. Linkin Park seemed to come by their alienation honestly, plus they had hooks and a visceral power that connected with millions of listeners, many of whom who were satisfied by the familiarity of Meteora. They may have been able to give their fans more of the same on their sophomore effort, but Linkin Park couldn't do the same thing on their third record: they would seem like one-trick ponies, so they'd be better off to acknowledge their advancing age and try to mature, or broaden their sonic palette. Yet like many other hard rockers, they were the kind of band whose audience either didn't want change or outgrew the group -- and considering that it had been a full seven years between Hybrid Theory and Minutes to Midnight, many fans who were on the verge of getting their driver's license in 2000 were now leaving college and, along with it, adolescent angst. So, Linkin Park decided to embrace the inevitable and jumped head-first into maturity on Minutes to Midnight, which meant that poor Mike Shinoda was effectively benched, rapping on just two songs. In many ways, it seems like even the guitarists were benched this time around, since Minutes to Midnight doesn't really rock, it broods. Apart from a handful of ringers -- "Given Up," the Shinoda-fueled "Bleed It Out," easily the best, most visceral track here -- this is quiet, atmospheric stuff, dabbling with electronic textures that were cutting edge in 1996 but sound passé now. Also sounding passé are the tortured musings of lead singer Chester Bennington, who still is tormented by love, loss, family, any number of items that sound convincing coming from a man in his early twenties, but not so much so when the thirties are approaching rapidly. And yet the way Bennington and his mates, shepherded by producer Rick Rubin, try to sound mature isn't always convincing, either, possibly because it sounds like a skate punk uncomfortably trying on his big brother's suit. They have the chops to rock, and when they deign to do so on Minutes to Midnight they sound comfortable, they sound right, but too often they run away from this core strength. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Live in Texas'
Release Date 11/11/2003
Tracks 29
Label Warner Brothers
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Live in Texas features material recorded during Linkin Park's Summer Sanitarium jaunt in 2003. It draws equally from the band's two studio albums, including past hits from Hybrid Theory and some soon-to-be's from the 2003 follow-up, Meteora. This makes it essential for any LP completist, but the casual listener might do well to steer toward the studio material. Vocalist Chester Bennington and MC Mike Shinoda play off of each other well enough, and their supporting players deftly re-create the layered, processed sound that has come to define Linkin Park. But this also works against the band, because its cool professionalism makes Live in Texas sound somewhat sterile. Sure, there's the usual stage chatter like "I wanna see your hands!" and "Alright, let's do this people!" -- there's even an encouraging pep talk before "Pushing Me Away," dedicating the track to "all the musicians in the house." But besides some impressive harmonies on that cut, as well as the undeniable closing trio -- "Crawling" (in lean and mean stripped-down form), "In the End," and "One Step Closer" -- Linkin Park don't generate very much energy on Live. Bennington seems to struggle with the melody to "Somewhere I Belong," and at times the band seems lost inside its own sound. The buzzing, processed guitars separate from the percussion while the samples and vague turntablist scratches seem like a studio loop on reset. This kind of nit-picking shouldn't matter to LP fanatics; Live in Texas will likely serve as a their memento of the tour. But it's clear that top-shelf production and mixing plays a significant role in making Linkin Park's albums so powerful. [Limited versions of the album came with a bonus DVD of additional music and video footage.] ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Perhaps if the cut-'n'-paste remix record Reanimation hadn't appeared as a stopgap measure in the summer of 2002, Linkin Park's second record, Meteora, would merely have been seen as a continuation of their 2000 debut, Hybrid Theory, instead of a retreat to familiar ground. Then again, Reanimation wasn't much more than a way to buy time (along with maybe a little credibility), so it's unfair to say that its dabbling in electronica and hip-hop truly pointed toward a new direction for the group, but it did provide a more interesting listening experience than Meteora, which is nothing more and nothing less than a Hybrid Theory part two. Which isn't to say that Linkin Park didn't put any effort into the record, since it does demonstrate that the group does stand apart from the pack by having the foresight to smash all nu-metal trademarks -- buzzing guitars, lumbering rhythms, angsty screaming, buried scratching, rapped verses -- into one accessible sound which suggests hooks instead of offering them. More importantly, the group has discipline and editing skills, keeping this record at a tight 36 minutes and 41 seconds, a move that makes it considerably more listenable than its peers and, by extension, more powerful, since they know where to focus their energy, something that many nu-metal bands simply do not. (It must be said that there will surely be consumers out there that will question paying a $19.99 retail for a 36-minute-and-41-second record, though some may prefer getting a tight, listenable record at that price instead of a meandering 70-minute mess.) So, it must be said that Meteora does deliver on the most basic level -- it gives the fans what they want, and it does so with energy and without fuss. It's also without surprises, either, which again gives the album a static feeling -- suggesting not a holding pattern for the band, but rather the limits of their chosen genre, which remains so stylistically rigid and formulaic that even with a band who follows the blueprint well, like Linkin Park, it winds up sounding a little samey and insular. Since this is only their second go-round, this is hardly a fatal flaw, but the similarity of Meteora to Hybrid Theory does not only raise the question of where do they go from here, but whether there is a place for them to go at all. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Linkin Park originally called itself Hybrid Theory and has retained that phrase for the title of its debut album. The "hybrid" in question is one of rap and metal. The guitars and drums lock into standard thrash patterns, over which singer Chester Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda alternate in furious expressions of rage and frustration. "One Step Closer," the track released to radio in advance of the album's release, is a typical effort, with lyrics like "Everything you say to me/Takes me one step closer to the edge/And I'm about to break." ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
