Collision Course (with DVD) [ENHANCED] [EXPLICIT LYRICS]

Linkin Park, Jay-Z

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 30, 2004)
• Original Release Date: November 30, 2004
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Enhanced, Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B00069A6P4
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (237 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,996 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The first question everyone asks about Collision Course is "Is this album more Jay-Z or Linkin Park?" The wrong answer is that it's Jay-Z with a loud band or a back-and-forth of covers where one rearranges the other. The right answer is that this CD/DVD set is quite possibly one of the best cross-genre pairings of its kind. What started off as an exercise at "mashing" a Linkin Park track with a Jay-Z track turned into a fantastic pickup game between two artists at the top of their worlds. Each brought a short list of their best songs to the field and walked away with a six-song trophy. This is recess in the supergroup sandbox, and the boys shared their toys. "Numb/Encore" and "Izzo/In the End" are near-perfect plays of seamless sonic moves and mic assists from heavy metal to hip-hop and back. Both artists have spent a little time in the other camp on various parts of their records, but it's the collaboration that makes this album a winner. It may be true that Linkin Park is less than convincing than J-Hova on "Big Pimpin'/Papercut," but there's no evidence of "I" on this team. In fact, the DVD clearly shows Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda taking on the role of head coach as he commands the digital workstation, the mixing desk, and all the players with a collective spirit. --Pete Hilgendorf

Recommended Jay-Z and Linkin Park

The Black Album	The Blueprint	Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter
Meteora	Hybrid Theory	Reanimation

Product Description
MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups is one of the biggest musical events in years, premiering on MTV with a show featuring the multi-platinum Linkin Park, the biggest contemporary rock band in the world, joining forces with the multi-platinum Jay-Z, one of the biggest stars in hip-hop. Mash-Ups brings together artists from different genres to seamlessly blend their songs, creating an exciting and unique musical experience. Offered in both CD-sized Digipak and Amaray package, it features a CD with versions of existing Linkin Park and Jay-Z tracks mixed together in the studio; and a DVD featuring two versions of them performing these Mash-Up tracks for MTV.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good CD, February 14, 2005

By	Mark Twain - See all my reviews

Reading some of the other comments here, you would think this CD is terrible. The fact is that most of these users who say its bad actually hit the nail on the head, but don't even realize what they've said. IT'S A MASH-UP. It says so ON THE LABEL. This was not meant to be a stand alone Linkin Park or Jay-Z album. Neither is it meant to be part of either artists' lineup. It is an addendum, people. That being said, you can't match it up against Linkin Park's or Jay-Z's past works other than as a reference. Though it does have the original recordings of both, they have been twisted and reshaped to make new songs.
Now, rating this CD/DVD by the CORRECT method I would have to give it 4 stars. I personally loved the collaboration, and felt that both artists' put some quality work into this album. My only complaint is the meager 6 songs. The DVD is a nice addition, and is great to watch. But the CD is almost like a teaser. Great bass, awesome (yet familiar) guitar riffs and perfect synchronization put this CD in its own class. I think this CD is a great one, but I would highly recommend sampling a track or two before purchasing to see what you are getting into.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid, but not amazing, December 12, 2004

By	David Zakar "DMZ" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The album, on the whole, is pretty solid stuff. I'm a Linkin Park fan, however, and if you're a Jay-Z sorta person, you might not be as enthusiastic - this sure ain't hard-core rap. LP, on the other hand, has always had some lighter rap from Mike Shinoda (who mixed this CD, so I see), so Jay-Z compliments their sound pretty well.

The DVD, though, is great. I was less than impressed with Jay-Z - it seemed like Mike and Chester had a lot more energy between the two of them at the show. This might be the usual for Jay-Z, but it didn't bowl me over. Still, the show is fun to watch, and the camera work is a lot less chaotic than Live in Texas.

If you're getting this for Jay-Z, you'll probably be disappointed. Linkin Park fans will enjoy both the CD and DVD, I think. Don't go into this expecting amazing music - it's fun to listen to, and certainly it's creative, but it is not some sort of artistic masterpiece.

If it were a full-length album, I would give it a 4/5, but frankly, there's just NOT enough music to rate it that high. Given more the four days of time it took to make the album, though, a 3/5 ain't too bad. Hopefully the two of them will collaborate in the future on new material.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Surprise, Surprise..., December 2, 2004

By	Airic Xero "EZLP @ BG" (OhiO) - See all my reviews

In Linkin Park's second side album between their cd's, like Reanimation was between Hybrid Theory and Meteora, once again a great success. Reanimation is also an excellent hip-hop blended album for Linkin Park and if you don't own that, I advise you to pick it up. Anyways, onto this review.

Linkin Park is the biggest and most influencial rock band of the new millenium, and Jay-Z (even though he's retired) is one of the most popular hip-hop artists too. Even though I am not a big hip-hop fan, Linkin Park already features a lot of hip-hop vocals. The reason Linkin Park's hip-hop vocals work to me, are because of the guitar riffs behind them. Each and every song catches a new beat and adds new style to great lyrics. Even though Jay-Z is a different kind of rap then Linkin Park, the music still meshes very well.

#1 - Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying from You ... Now first off I'd have to say that originally I hated Dirt Off Your Shoulder. With the additions of the guitar riffs behind Jay-Z voice and the addition of Mike Shinoda to the hip-hop vocals, I changed my mind. This is my favorite song on the cd and to rate with the numbers system 5/5.

#2 - Big Pimpin'/Papercut ... definately the bust on the cd. Papercut in itself was a good song. Big Pimpin' in itself was a good song. The mix between the two, uh-no. The slow-down of Papercut's lyrics with the Big Pimpin' music behind it, a little rough and not much edge to the sound. I recommend to pass on this song. 1/5... and that's a compliment.

#3 - Jigga What/Faint ... excellent! Jay-Z rapping over the Faint music sounds incredible. The fast-paced song picks up even more with Jay-Z and his fast mouthed lyrics. When Linkin Park comes back in with their own part to Faint, it matches up to it's original quality. Great song 4.5/5

#4 - Numb/Encore ... the most family oriented song on the cd. A good mix of Jay-Z and Chester Bennington in this song. Chester's additional lyrics of "What the hell are you waiting for" throughout Jay-Z Encore lyrics sounds quite soothing. A great concert song, and a very good song on this cd. Once again ... 4.5/5

#5 - Izzo/In the End ... another suprisingly good song. Izzo by Jay-Z is one of my least favorite songs. The mix between the two however sounds great. In the End is of course Linkin Park's most famous song. Mike's mix and match with Jay-Z once again flows very nicely with the music and it's a good listening song. It doesn't quite match up with a few of the others though but still good ... 4/5.

#6 - Points of Authority/99 Problems/One Step Closer ... very close to the greatness of Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying From You. The mix of these three songs in absolutely insane. The beginning with Jay-Z rapping over Points of Authority sounds like how it should have originally been. Then after Points ends, Brad Delson kicks in the guitar from One Step Closer and Jay-Z continues to sing throughout One Step Closer mixing in with Chester and Mike. The police scene in 99 Problems with Jay-Z and Mike is my favorite part of this cd. Great song 5/5.

The DVD includes the MTV Mash-Up performance which I thought included great energy and sounded great also. It's another good addition along with the cd, and except for the short length I would give the dvd a 5/5.

Overall I would give the CD/DVD combo a 4.75/5 ... I know it's a weird number, but it's not perfect, but it's very very close! Incredible how great the mash-up really sounds between two total different ends of the spectrum of music. I recommend this for another hip/hop or rock fan.