Speaking of bands who have 'had their day', Linkin Park would, at least for me, be a prime example of this. Their catalogue up to, and including, Meteora (yes, I realize this is just two studio albums, this remix disc and a live album) was pretty good. After that, they are taking nothing short of a nose dive into obscurity. Sorry boys, but the overly repetitious nature of Minutes to Midnight drives me crazy and what I've heard from A Thousand Suns comes off as the sound of a band trying way to hard to be different.
That said, I wasn't initially a huge fan of Hybrid Theory, the album on which this remix collection is mostly based, when it first came out; I'm still not a fan of "Crawling" to be honest. However, this album made me a fan of the band. This remix album seems to take the standard rap-rock nu-metal sound just a bit further, a bit more beat-heavy, a better balance of the rapping/singing dynamic, and it really works for me. Sure, I could do without the fake phone calls and I'm not saying that all the tracks are awesome, but on the whole – especially for a remix album – it's a very good set. The big singles from the previous album are given more energy; the other tracks are also treated to a good overhaul.
It should be mentioned that this album can be a bit heavy on the scratching and DJ-styles, but if you're already familiar with the LP sound, this shouldn't be a big surprise. Again, I don't know if it's the reorganization of the band's sound that makes this disc work for me, but whatever it is, I kinda wished that the band would have explored this sound more on follow-up disc (or, at least gave Meteora the same remix treatment).
| Recommended track(s): | Pts.Of.Athrty; Plc. 4 Mie Hæd; Wth>You; 1stp Klosr |
| Worth another listen? | Yes! |
| Overall rating: | Four Stars |
No comments:
Post a Comment