Collision Course (MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups Presents/Parental Advisory/+DVD) [ECD] [PA] - Jay-Z & Linkin Park

...and a documentary of how Collision Course was formed, in only 3 days!

Documentary and Live Show:
The documentary last for about 15 minutes and gives a taste of what goes on in the recording studio. I really enjoy watching this part of the DVD as it shows that Linkin Park and Jay-Z really enjoy making the music, this isn't about the money this is about creating something they can be proud of. The main man behind the whole project ...
...best tracks were missed off Collision Course. I am a little gutted that there was no room for a new versions of Linkin Park's Crawling or Somewhere I belong, but I'm grateful for what I've got. It's easy for me to sit here and say what I want, but I bow to Mike Shinoda's talents and can only assume there were reasons why these tracks didn't get Mashed Up.

I was initially put off paying my £10 for only 6 tracks, but I'm really glad ... more

I haven't reviewed any CD's so far and after this I may never review a CD again as I think they are possibly the hardest things to comment on and review and I have great respect for the people who not only review albums on Ciao, but do the albums justice with their reviews. However, I am going to give this my best shot as I think this is something that many people may regret missing if they never get an introduction.

What happens when you take two of the most respected and influential artists from Rap and Nu Metal, put them in a studio together for a day and mix in two days rehearsal time? MTV's Ultimate Mash Ups of course! The idea behind Mash Ups is simple, get two artists to work together to mix up a few of their tracks.

Apparently MTV asked Jay-Z who he would like to work with and he said Linkin Park. Not all that surprising really as although Linkin Park are an alternative Nu Metal band they do have Hip-Hop influences apparent in their music. The once in a lifetime performance took place on July 18th 2004 at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood. Thankfully those clever people at MTV decided to record the whole thing and release it as a CD/DVD.

>>>>>>>>>>>Artists

The though that some people may not know who Linkin Park or Jay-Z are is almost prosperous considering their achievements, but just in case you have never had the pleasure;

************Linkin Park are: ************

Rob Bourdon === Drummer
Brad Delson === Guitarist
Mike Shinoda === MC/Vocalist/Piano/Beats
Joseph Hahn === DJ
Dave "Phoenix" Farrell === Bassist
Chester Bennington === Vocals

One of the most unique and original alternative metal combinations. The band comes from California and mixes influences from Hip-Hop, rock and Electronic vibes with powerful song writing to create diverse and. The debut album Hybrid Theory was released in 2000 and has shifted more than 14 million units globally. Linkin Park won a Grammy for "Best Hard Rock Performance" as well as receiving nominations for "Best Rock Artist" and "Best New Artist". In 20030 they released Reanimation, a reworking of their Hybrid Theory Album featuring collaborations with some of the most "dope" non mainstream artists. In 2003 Meteora, the second studio album was released and added a lot to the successful structure of Hybrid Theory.

************Jay-Z is: ************

Jay-Z's real name is Shawn Corey Carter; he was born and raised on the tough streets of Brooklyn. The name Jay-Z comes from his friends calling him "Jazzy" because of the type of clothes he wore. Jay-Z's debut was in 1996 and every album he released has sold in excess of a million copies. He set up the record label Roc-a-fella with Damon Dash which has some of the most prominent Rap stars and producers on its books, add to that a clothing range, huge arena tours and even Hollywood movies and it's fair to say Jay-Z and his Roc-a-Fella label are a commercial success. Jay-z has worked with the biggest name in Rap (B.I.G, DMX, Ja Rule, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott, Ludacris) as well as the hottest producers including Kanye West, The Neptunes, Timberlake and a load of other people who I have never heard of but are apparently the best at what they do.

Jay-Z Discography:
Reasonable Doubt - 1996
Vol 1. - In My Lifetime - 1997
Vol. 2 - Hard Knock Life - 1998
Vol. 3 - Life and Times of S. Carter - 1999
Dynasty - Roc La Familia 2000 - 2000
Blueprint - 2001
MTV Unplugged - 2001
Best OF Both Worlds - 2002
Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse - 2002
The Black Album - 2003

(I'm sorry if I missed any albums off, but there have been so many releases, re-releases and other remixes its hard to know what is what!)

>>>>>>>>>>>Collision Course

I have been a big fan of Linkin Park since the Hybrid Theory album and although I've never bough a Jay-Z album (I did purchase "Hard Knock Life" as a single…), I have admired his apparently endless talent and influence on the music scene. So you can imagine my excitement when I first heard that an album of Jay-Z Vs. Linkin Park was on the way. I was even more excited when I heard the single Numb/Encore.

However, when I went to buy the album I noticed that there are only 6 tracks, and so I left empty handed and a little disappointed. It wasn't for a few months after this that I looked at the album again, something in the back of my mind was compelling me to buy it. On close inspection I realised the glamorous cardboard exterior contains a 6 track CD and a DVD, how could I have been so stupid? I picked up my copy and barged my way to the till, the shop was empty so my barging caused no injuries, but it was barging nonetheless.

>>>>>>>>>>>$%@£&*?/{}!

If anyone has listened to Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory album you may know that there is not one swear word on the whole album, which is something of a rarity in this music genre. However, this album comes with a Parental Advisory sticker and deservedly so! Most of the obscenity comes from Jay-Z and Linkin Park throw in a little for good measure. Although there is a high level of swearing, it never reaches a level that you start to wonder if they are taking the $%£?. I'm personally not against the use of strong language on CD's after all that is why we have Advisory stickers! I honestly don't believe you can take swearing out of Jay-Z's music and not take something away from the overall effect of the song. I have seen "Clean" versions of the videos on websites and you could probably find a clean version of the studio tracks too if you look hard enough (the Numb/Encore radio edit is obviously expletive free for a start).

>>>>>>>>>>>DVD

Not only does the DVD contain the live performances of all the tracks, it also contains the original MTV Ultimate Mash Ups TV show and a documentary of how Collision Course was formed, in only 3 days!

Documentary and Live Show:
The documentary last for about 15 minutes and gives a taste of what goes on in the recording studio. I really enjoy watching this part of the DVD as it shows that Linkin Park and Jay-Z really enjoy making the music, this isn't about the money this is about creating something they can be proud of. The main man behind the whole project is Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda, the man is a genius. I'm not saying that the rest of the band or Jay-Z didn't have a massive input to the project, but Mike's ability to pick tracks that will gel so well together as well as his eye for detail are amazing. The reason why Linkin Park's albums do so well is that everything on has had to pass through a very strict quality control. When writing "Somewhere I belong" for the Meteora Mike and Chester wrote 40 different choruses before reaching the final version. The live performance last for 30 minutes and its amazing that they can perform so well after only 2 days rehearsals. I know that they have been performing these songs for years individually, but the interaction between Jay-Z and Linkin Park is amazing and you'd think they had been doing this for 2 years not 2 days.

Special Feature:

The special feature of the DVD is the original MTV Ultimate Mash Ups TV show, which last for around about 22 minutes and features most of the live performances mixed in with footage of the 3 days working on the project, most of which is not included in the documentary, so thankfully this isn't just repeating the same footage.

As you'd expect with a DVD you can pick individual parts of the DVD, whether that be a liver performance or part of the documentary. The DVD is pretty basic, there are no fancy menu screens, just a little animation and the chapter lists, but so what? I'm not bothered that the DVD doesn't have some stupid screen that takes 3 minutes to finish messing about before I can pick what I want to watch. The menus are quick and straight forward, simply stick in the DVD pick your track and in a few seconds you're watching it.

>>>>>>>>>>>CD

The CD contains the Studio Recordings of:

Dirt off your shoulder/Lying from you
Big Pimpin'/Papercut
Jigga what/Faint
Numb/Encore
Izzo/In the end
Points of authority/99 problems/One step close

Mike Shinoda says on the DVD that the best way to do a Mash Up is to pick the tracks that people will know best, and whether you are a Jay-Z or a Linkin Park fan you will be pleased with some of the choices.

~~~~Dirt off your shoulder/Lying from you~~~~

Dirt off your shoulder - originally appeared on The Black Album
Lying from you - originally appeared on Meteora

A great start to the CD, the lyrics from Linkin Park's Lying from you are put over the Jay-Z's track, as the track progresses and Jay-Z begins to rap the track changes almost unnoticeable to Lying from you and Jay-Z rapping over some gritty guitars. The track ends with Linkin Park rocking out with Lying from you.

The track acts as an introduction to what is coming, Jay-Z and Linkin Park have quite separate parts in the song, but it still fits amazingly well.

~~~~ Big Pimpin'/Papercut~~~~

Big Pimpin' - originally appeared on Vol. 3 - Life and Times of S. Carter
Papercut - originally appeared on Hybrid Theory

The second track is quite interesting. The lyrics from one of Linkin Park's most popular and rocking songs placed so easily over the beats from Big pimpin'. The track works well, but lacks any of Linkin Park's pure power with no sign of guitars just the addictive beat of Jay-Z's track. This is probably the most disappointing song on the CD as this was one of my all time favourite Linkin Park tracks. That said it still works ok and is not so weak that you want to skip past as Jay-Z keeps the interest levels up.

~~~~ Jigga what/Faint~~~~

Jigga What - originally appeared on Vol. 2 - Hard Knock Life
Papercut - originally appeared on Meteora

The third track on the CD and the third to begin with a Jay-Z track. This time though it builds up perfectly through a mixture of Jay-Z and Linkin Park until it unleashed into the full sound and force of Faint and Jay-Z rapping at an alarming rate with help from the great vocal talents of Mike and the distinctive sounds of Chester.

~~~~ Numb/Encore~~~~

Encore - originally appeared on The Black Album
Numb - originally appeared on Hybrid Theory

The track that was launched as a single what seems like an absolute age ago and is still popping in and out of the Top 40. The track opens with a slightly altered version of Numb and provides the perfect beats for Jay-Z to rap Encore. Again as the track progresses Chester gets his chance to put his mark with his haunting vocals. The track is missing the same loud guitars and drums from the original track, but the re-worked version works perfectly fine without them. This is the track that Linkin Park were happiest with and with their high standards that means it's good.

~~~~ Izzo/In the end~~~~

Izzo - originally appeared on Blueprint
In the end - originally appeared on Hybrid Theory

Back to opening with Jay-Z, this time he opens his own track while rapping to Izzo, its not long before Mike and Chester pile in with In the end, and although the whole track is without the Linkin Park sounds it is still a great track. In fact the tempo of the track seems to brings ore meaning to the In the end lyrics and really allows Chester's vocals to get across. Although I do like this version of In the end, it's a shame that the piano sounds from the original have been lost as they really add to the whole effect of the track.

~~~~ Points of authority/99 problems/One step close~~~~

99 Problems - originally appeared on The Black Album
Points of authority and One step close - originally appeared on Hybrid Theory

The track opens at full tempo to Points of authority with Mike rapping alone until Jay-Z joins in. There is a great section between Mike and Jay-Z before the song shifts up a gear into One step closer. The track uses the force of Linkin Park and the laid back style of Jay-Z and yet maintains them both and it works really well.

This is in my opinion the best track of the CD, the interaction between Jay-Z and Linkin Park is fantastic and 99 Problems seems to fit perfectly to both Points of authority and one Step closer.

>>>>>>>>>>>Conclusion

The great thing about the CD/DVD combination is the difference between the Live and Studio versions of the tracks. They are the same tracks but the live versions have so much more energy to them. I always though anyone who said something like that was talking a load of rubbish, but it now makes sense.

I'm sure I've not done the tracks any justice with my reviews it is difficult to review a normal track, but 2 tracks mixed together! If you like Jay-Z or Link Park or you just want something that is different to the normal Rap and Rock that is around at the moment, you could do much worse.

I haven't listened to Jay-Z's albums so I can't really say whether any of his best tracks were missed off Collision Course. I am a little gutted that there was no room for a new versions of Linkin Park's Crawling or Somewhere I belong, but I'm grateful for what I've got. It's easy for me to sit here and say what I want, but I bow to Mike Shinoda's talents and can only assume there were reasons why these tracks didn't get Mashed Up.

I was initially put off paying my £10 for only 6 tracks, but I'm really glad I did as this is the most played thing on my PC, MP3 and CD player, in fact wherever I am so are these tracks. The DVD is also easily the most watched DVD in my house. Originally I was annoyed that there were only 6 tracks and I didn't know if it would be value for money, now I'm annoyed that there are only 6 tracks because I want more!

I've got 99 problems but this CD aint one!

 

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