Reanimation

This, my friends, is a tough one. If I were to stay true to the music fan in me, I’d have to say that Reanimation is a pretty damn impressive approach to a follow-up record and that it actually gave me goosebumps on at least one occasion.

However, the journalist side of my brain is repeatedly slapping me round the face telling me to shut up and cop on – that Reanimation is a loosely disguised marketing ploy to increase the sales of Hybrid Theory without going through the motions of actually writing new songs, thus cashing in on the gullability of hardcore fans who’d buy a packet of chewing gum if Linkin Park endorsed it.

Upon reflection, I think a little of both is true. Fact is, love ‘em or loathe ‘em, LP wrote an album of very fucking good rock songs. Whether or not they can do it again only time will tell, but releasing a record of remixes and guest vocals is – although artistically viable – a bit of a bloody cop out. We’ve all heard the songs before and we probably even know the words to the chorus. Besides, there’s only so many different things you can do with a melody. However, with a guest list boasting the likes of Jon Davis, Aaron Lewis, Jay Gordon, Paroahe Monch and Zion, you can hardly pass it off as a self indulgent fancy.

So the conclusion is fairly simple. If you like Linkin Park, then you’re going to enjoy hearing their songs from a different angle. If you couldn’t give a toss whether they released another album or not, then it’s hardly worth your while even reading the inlay.