Now, I don't usually get all girlish and fidgety over a band but upon first listening to Linkin Park Road to Revolution I felt that delicious surge of energy creep up through my veins. The CD/DVD compilation Road to Revolution immortalizes a concert in the UK's Milton Keynes: incidentally the first concert on the European leg of the band's Projekt Revolution tour. The accompanying DVD houses three additional bonus tracks from the concert which were left off the physical CD including, "Somewhere I Belong", "Wake", and "Papercut". And, as an extra Scubby snack, there is a multi-page pullout complete with some wicked photos of the tour.
I love angry, sexy music with driving rhythm guitar leads and perfectly punctuated screams. This album is clean. Take a handful of punk, toss in a bit of rap which lead singer Chester Bennington is known for, top it off with good old fashioned rock and roll and you have the perfect Molotov Cocktail for the Linkin Park uninitiated. This album is explosive in beautiful energy so that those indoctrinated to Linkin Park will feel a sense of fulfillment, and those who are virgins will dig the intensity.
I love the set-list; as the fury from the baited crowd builds, the band morphs into a pit of balled-up, raw emotion cascading in a cacophony of frenzied sound. The CD and subsequent DVD is definitely a crowd-pleaser housing gems from their nine year catalogue including, "One Step Closer", "From The Inside", "Numb", "Breaking the Habit", "In the End", and "Crawling" to name a few.
Tracks one through four are a smashup of intense guitar riffs and electrifying vocals, climaxing with "Given Up". Linkin Park is a powerhouse of choppy speed metal with deliberate, punctuated refrains. Each song blends effortlessly into the next, with the crowd's energy and rhythmic baying adding an aura of real-time to it. Close your eyes and I swear it's almost like being there.
The guitar lead from track three, "No more sorrow" is spellbinding. The song starts off with a frenzied clapping from the crowd and gets progressively louder accompanied by a shotgun style distorted rhythm guitar reminiscent of Metallica's "Don't Tread on Me". Without missing a beat, the percussion falls in, carrying a choppy and urgent undertone.
What follows are eight more virtuosic tracks deliberately played to summon a frenetic response from the crowd. "Numb" is a precursor to the encore "Numb/Encore" where
Jay-Z, yes, that Jay-Z, comes onstage to collaborate with the band and rips out such melodic overtures that I am left blushing.
Linkin Park is a band that shows exceptional ability, technique and artistry in their music. This CD/ DVD is a testament to their ability to stay relevant in a "fifteen seconds of fame" driven world. Linkin Park effortlessly demonstrate that not only have they helped create a scene, but they aren't going anywhere either.
