They may not be that just yet but if current plans for global domination go according to the script Linkin Park will be very soon. Stuart Clark travels to London to hear the band’s new album Meteora and finds that American rock’s hottest property are surrounded by the kind of security normally reserved for Michael Jackson
We are treated to de rigeur vocal gymnastics from Chester Bennington and crunching nu-metal riffs from his band mates. But Meteora is curiously lacking in soul
Lyrically, Crave possesses less of the grand gothic guignol of their debut, with a slightly more sophisticated, if not always staggeringly original, approach to wordplay
To be fair to the perpetually bellyaching rap-metallers, this time they are at least moaning for the good of society and not just for personal pain - the current American regime gets a right old Bush-whacking on this record.
A stuffed-full and truly delish chocolate box of small but perfectly formed releases: the debut EP from the pretty/violent Holy Ghost Fathers; a Road Relish split single from Nina Hynes and Adrian Crowley; and - just in the nick of time! - the compilation A Quiet Riot: Songs To Save Your Life
LIMP BIZKIT are a rock'n'roll phenomenon. Notching up in excess of 20 million album sales over the past two years, they're in the vanguard of the nu-metal movement that has seen guitar rock reclaiming its place at the top of the singles charts. In Madrid to catch the band live, PHIL UDELL first hears passionate words from the frontman, FRED DURST. But, amid a welter of controversy, the raging music is put on hold as Limp Bizkit's show in the Spanish capital is cancelled – an ominous foreshadowing of the events that will see their UK, German and Irish dates also sensationally cancelled
