-=NOTE=-
As with all of my music reviews, this can and will have strong but censored language. For example, instead of "Donut" I'd say "D***t". If you take offence to the word donut, I'm sorry, I won't mention them again. But I digress. You might also stumble upon sexual slang and drug usage. Still, I do live in Milton Keynes, but anyway. Since the nature of this album largely involves a black rapper, you can expect frequent uses of the "N-word". I would therefore ask that you do not use any quotes from this review out of context, that you bear in mind a black guy said it in the first place, and that there is not one racist bone in my body. With that, please read on.

What do you think of when you think of rock? Some say they think of Def Leppard, some people think of Red Hot Chili Peppers. A few strange individuals say they think of a large stone covered in moss (and I don't mean Pete Doherty, buh-doom) before going back to their Newton's Cradles. But all in all, it's associated by default with angry, angsty people screaming into a microphone over blaring guitars. Now what do you think of when you think of rap? Some think Eminem, some think of the underground scene. The rest turn away from their cradles once more and mumble something about Christmas wrapping paper, but by now you're fed up with them and just... I don't know, hit them.

Linkin Park are, in my opinion, one of the best bunch of rockers I've ever heard. With meaningful lyrics complimenting the loud shouting, and a nice blend of synthesised and instrumental music, they are an audio pleasure that is pretty hard to beat. I've not heard a song by them that I haven't liked, and I'm sure if you think about it hard you can name a track by them that you enjoyed.

This album was planned between Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park and Jay-Z. They basically exchanged ideas over email, and Mike (being a technical show off) mixed up a few tracks. Here's what they came up with.

1) Dirt Off Your Shoulders / Lying From You
A brilliant opening track. Starting with the words "Where's my Frappucino, I ordered a f**king Frappucino?" it begins with the slow and carefully pronounced lyrics of Linkin Park over the synth-like beat to Dirt Off Your Shoulders. It switches quickly onto Jay-Z who instantly steals the show. His fast paced lyrics really fit in with the guitar blasts of Linkin Park, and it's that entire premise that makes this album so unique. Sadly, the song does start to fizzle out after two minutes, the remainder of the track isn't as great - but then, Lying From You isn't the best Linkin Park song there is.

3) Jigga What / Faint <STAR TRACK>
This is my favorite track on the whole album. Faint is my favorite Linkin Park song since it boasts lyrics I can really connect with ("Handful of complaints but I can't help the fact that everyone can see these scars") and some impressive violin work. Jigga What I don't like much - the lyrics are sublime though, and hearing them over the fast paced violin and drum couples is fantastic. The lyrics are shared out equally, with both verses from each song and the chorus from Faint. It could have done with being longer - three and a half minutes isn't long at all - but aside from that this track is flawless.

QUOTE OF THE TRACK
"Now what the hell are you waiting for?
After me there shall be no more
So for one last time, n****r make some noise"

---===---

Now, to talk more about this album. As I've said above the tracks do work very well together, although a couple of songs are a bit short - two of them are less that three minutes long. The general quality of the tracks are quality though, and you can certainly throw yourself around to them.

The performance itself was incredible. It wasn't mimed, and the atmosphere in the venue is visually incredible with genuine fans of both genres. Of course the sound quality isn't as great as the CD, but what live performance is?

But down to the bottom line. Is this album any good? If you like your rock and your rap then yes, it is probably one of the finest purchases you'll ever make. I've seen it selling for a fiver which, although it's pretty pricy for just six tracks, is still good value for money.