Feeding The Craving Till Next Time
Back in June Linkin Park’s Project Revolution finally crossed the pond making its UK debut at the Milton Keynes Bowl. For those lucky enough to spend a warm summers day in what the locals affectionately call “the wok”, this was more than the usual run of the mill Project revolution shenanigans as not only were they part of the biggest ever Project revolution, but for one night only Linkin park were joined once more by Jay-Z, reigniting their ‘Collision Course’ partnership for all to revel on. Roll on six months and its here for all to enjoy, whether you witnessed it first hand or merely want to see what the fuss was about.
Having only received a CD sampler of ‘Road To Revolution’ it’s a tad difficult to comment on the DVD aspect of the double release, leaving us at R13 to be teased with a few tracks. But hey, in these so called credit crunch times, anything will do. A studio version of ‘Leave Out All the Rest’ nicely sets things up, smoothly ushering in a sleek Linkin Park sheen but it’s the roar of the crowd that heralds the start of the live proceedings that truly ignites the sparks. Complete with hand claps, a near pitch perfect Chester Bennington and even a hint of a British summer’s evening glistening through each beat, ‘Leave Out All The Rest Live’ subtly makes its entrance, embracing you tenderly before erupting into a lighter-in-the-air wave of energetic emotion that will have the spine tingling. From this there are further studio versions of ‘Numb/Encore’, ‘One Step Closer’ and ‘Breaking The Habit’ but its when these songs are set loose in their live environment that the brilliance of the band and the captivating magic of Linkin Park is able to shine through.
Matched only by his headlining slot at Glastonbury a few days earlier, the appearance of Jay-Z at Milton Keynes was undoubtedly a summer highlight for thousands and once again it is captured here as ‘Numb/Encore’ explodes with a raw addictive force matched only by the 50,000 crowd members’ excitement for the collaboration. Bubbling with relentless adrenaline packed aggression, ‘One Step Closer’ threatened to start riots back in June as Linkin Park choose its raw energy as the perfect starting block for their set opener and once more, captured on CD it still holds the same menacing allure as Bennington and Mike Shinoda’s vocals are blitzed by a crowd onslaught matched only by their continued enthusiastic singing for ‘Breaking The Habit’, bringing a touch of Project Revolution Milton Keynes to speakers across the country.
For those who have experienced the full force of Linkin Park live, ‘Road To Revolution’ will merely act to reinforce the already prevalent notion that these guys know how to put on a live show. Astonishingly slick and amazingly intense, Linkin Park live is a gigantic force that refuses to give way to anything, a fact that the CD aspect of ‘Road To Revolution’ captures well. For those yet to experience the might of Linkin Park, this is the next best thing, the ideal way to feed the hunger before the band return to blow minds once more. For now, take comfort in ‘Road To Revolution’ relive that day in June and ease the pain as you count down the days to their return.