Review Summary: Decent enough music, but the total playing time is a steal.
Before we begin, a warning: 21 minutes and 19 seconds. That’s how long this meeting of the minds between rockers Linkin Park and rap mastermind Jay-Z lasts. Of course, its lenght places it firmly in the EP category, but the powers that be at Warner Brothers decided to market it at full album price. The excuse? It came with a DVD. That, however, does not excuse charging nearly 20 euros (almost 25 dollars!) for 20 minutes of music, especially when said music is not all that great.
Of course, people as savvy as Jay-Z and as obedient as the Linkin Park musicians couldn’t produce anything other than a perfectly tailored album, honed to perfection to ensure maximum results. And that’s exactly what this is – a seamless blend of Jay’s rapping with nothing but the best parts of LP songs (lots of those “screamed” sections we used to love so much), backed by a fully electronic beat. That’s right, even the (fairly prominent) guitars are synthesized, which is slightly worrisome in light of LP’s “real” records – while the drums here are obviously digital, and there is no bass to speak of, the guitars sound exactly the same as on
Hybrid Theory or
Meteora, raising some questions as to Brad Delson’s performance on those albums.
But never mind that – is the music any good!? Yes it is, even if it’s shamelessly MTV-oriented and a little short-lived. The album is well balanced between Jay-Z moments and Linkin Park moments, even though the rapper comes out slightly on top. Likewise, there is a clear division between songs –
Dirt Off Your Shoulders/Lying From You and
Points Of Authority/99 Problems/One Step Closer are basically LP tracks with a guest rapper, while
Big Pimpin’/Papercut and
Izzo/In The End are basically hip-hop tracks that happen to use Linkin Park samples. The two remaining tracks –
Jigga What/Faint and lead single
Numb/Encore – show a good balance between the two facets, being quite appealing examples of what the rap/rock hybrid can achieve.
The masterminds behind this album – Z and Linkin rap mogul Mike Shinoda - also tried to make it sound like a jam, by inserting comments and remarks in between songs. The first thing heard on the album is someone asking for their “f/%&!ing frappuccino”, which indicates that yes, for the first time, Linkin Park are associated with an album where there is swearing; guess you can’t be a choirby forever… Likewise, someone named Randy is quipped at in the end of the first song, whilst further on a voice declares: “this is fun!” However, the fact that both parties are interpreting actual songs from their repertoire – rather than improvising – belies that intention. Still, it was a pretty good shot that might fool the kids this is aimed at.
Overall, the mash-up sounds pretty well, with high points being hit on
Numb/Encore and
Points Of Authority/99 Problems/One Step Closer, the best song on here that could just as easily have been split into two shorter, but equally stellar tracks. The rest, while never offending or below-average, is somewhat more undistinguished. Some songs don’t even stay long enough to make for a proper evaluation –
Big Pimpin’/Papercuts rushes by at 02:36, and
Izzo/In The End barely makes the 02:45 mark. There are spots of excellent rapping by Jay-Z throughout (basically every time he opens his mouth), but the fact that his lyrics focus on one thing only – the awesomeness that is Jay-Z – makes for a somewhat awkward contrast with Linkin’s processed anger and hurt-misundesrtood lyrics. There are also some unforgivably cheesy lines, like
”52 cards roll out/remove silicon case”. What the hell…?! Still, it’s interesting to witness the fabricated MC duel between Hov’ and Mike Shinoda on
Izzo/In The End.
All in all, then, this is a recommended burn if you’re into the rap/rock fusion and/or are a fan of either artist. However, we cannot get over 21 minutes and 19 seconds. I mean, what a f#$%!ng ripoff!! So, for the love of God, don’t
buy this album. If you’re really curious to hear it, be smart and do what I did: burn it off a friend. Then think about what a sucker he was for plopping 25 bucks for it. Or better yet, follow System of a Down’s advice and
Steal This Album. Either way, prepare for a pleasant and worthwile listen, but don’t expect anything great.
Recommended Tracks
Numb/Encore
Points Of Authority/99 Problems/One Step Closer
