The 18th Letter teams with Chester, Mike and company for this new single, which is up for preorder on iTunes now. In the video clip, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park talks about what happened behind-the-scenes of their first video, “One Step Closer,” questionable wardrobe at the 2002 GRAMMYs, working with Rick Rubin, and his Paul McCartney, Jay Z mashup in 2006.

One more from LP’s Recharged remix project.

Another one from Linkin Park’s Recharged remix LP, featuring guest verses from Cody B. Ware and Styles Of Beyond’s Ryu. Not quite a Fort Minor reunion, but close. “Fort Minor, we major / let’s take it to phase 2 / I’ve been on the internet / Hearing fans talk / maybe we should consider it.”

From Linkin Park’s new remix project, RECHARGED, out October 29th.

The Rad Omen collective takes on Linkin Park’s “Roads Untraveled”, remixing it with an electronic backdrop, and a trap breakdown, featuring a verse from Bun B.

     All of that being said, with the production for Linkin Park’s new album, Minutes To Midnight, being handled by legendary Def Jam producer Rick Rubin, hip-hop fans are ready to give the group a chance – but is this album for them? For those living under a rock, Rubin may have cut his teeth producing classic acts like The Beastie Boys and Run DMC, but he’s also softened up a bit in his later years. Most recently receiving accolades (read: Grammys) for producing 2006 albums for The Dixie Chicks and Red Hot Chili Peppers – so this could go either way. 

     Truth be told, Linkin Park’s Minutes To Midnight may be the album that finally got the hip-hop fans to listen, but in essence this is their most rock oriented disc yet. It begins with the abrasive, explosive “Given Up”, which finds lead vocalist Chester Bennington doing what he does best – screaming his emotionally charged vocals, in key. Focusing less on the rapped Shinoda vocals the group is usually accompanied with, the LP features many well-executed, aggressive rock tracks in this vein. Case in point is the album’s lead single, “What I’ve Done”, featuring trademarked Shinoda eerie pianos and snapping funk drums; or again on the politically charged “No More Sorrow”. Politics rear their ugly head later on the album’s last track, the Hurricane Katrina inspired “The Little Things Give You Away”.

     Shinoda’s rhyme element hasn’t been completely sacrificed here, as two of the LP’s best tracks feature him getting his Fort Minor on. After the album’s first few straightforward rock tracks, the beautifully executed “Bleed It Out” features Shinoda exercising a Luda-esque flow with a barrage of poignant lyrics (“candy paint on his brand new hearse”), while Chester’s addictive hook eggs him on. Later on “Hands Held Out”, Shinoda speaks inspiring words on the fucked-up state of affairs the world is in, over marching drums, while the crew backs him up like a tattooed and messy-haired men’s choir. 

     The other side of Linkin Park is their soft ballads, which offsets Chester’s scream and Shinoda’s attitude. But some of these tracks work better than others. “Leave Out All The Rest” is too much of a downer after being sandwiched in between the energetic pair of “Given Up” and “Bleed It Out”. “Shadow Of The Day” is a bit of an improvement, however seems a bit too lovey-dovey for the rest of the LP (guess they can’t forget those female TRL fans). Treading the line between hard and soft cores is potential hit, “Valentine’s Day” – however next February may be too far off to market that one. The best of the bunch is actually “In Between”, which finds Shinoda taking up the singing chores from Chester, almost channeling RJD2′s “Making Day’s Longer”. 

     It’s hard to pick up on Rick Rubin’s influence on the new Linkin Park album  – so those expecting them to go all Beastie and turn out another “99 Problems” throwback jam, look elsewhere. It seems more like Rubin sat back and worked more as a composer, rather than programming a drum machine. With Minutes To Midnight, Linkin Park has definitely matured, and perhaps this growth will land them the Grammy nods they are obviously striving for – but truth be told – we miss the rhymes.

     What makes this collaboration so incredible is that it began as just another “Black Album” remix by Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, which somehow made it’s way into the hands of Jay-Z, fully blossoming into a 4-day studio session and live performance between the two acts. Yes, “retired” rapper Jay-Z came out of retirement (again) to go back into the studio with Linkin Park to re-record all of his vocals, as well as do a live performance with the band, before retiring back into his comfortable presidential chair at Def Jam. So this time, rather then blending acapellas and chopped up rock samples, the two artists literally shared the studio and stage together, making music history in the process. 

     So just how well does Collision Course fit together? Because this is an album that features two main artists, it will be received differently by both groups of fans. From the hip-hop fan’s perspective, the six-song EP is hit & miss. The opener, “Dirt Off Your Shoulders/Lying From You” is a powerful reinterpretation that sets the standard for the album, perfectly meshing the two songs together into an easy crowd-pleaser. Similar chemistry is found on “Numb/Encore”, a somewhat subtler mash-up that harmonizes Jigga’s original hook with LP’s submerged strings and melodic pianos, creating wonderful fusion. Finally, the forgotten “Jigga What Jigga Who” blended with “Faint” also comes off incredibly well, literally transforming one song into the other right before the listener’s ears. 

    But like most mash-ups, the results aren’t always golden. Both “Big Pimpin’/Papercut” and “Izzo/In The End” focus less on the musical aspect of mashing-up, and instead simply insert Mike Shinoda’s rap lyrics next to Jay-Z’s verses, both over the original beats. While this might be exciting for Linkin Park’s fans, Jay-Z fans might be questioning why this sub-par lyricist gets to trade mics with the almighty Jiggaman. Furthermore, it would have been nice to see Linkin Park at least replay these beats live, rather than just laying down the original instrumentals. Triple mash-up “99 Problems/Points Of Authority/One Step Closer” also fails to deliver, as nobody can out-rock Rick Rubin’s original, not to mention the fact that Jay-Z’s lyrics are drowned out by LP’s heavy guitars. 

     While half of Collision Course works better than the other half, major props are due for the added DVD that comes packaged with the CD. The documentation of the studio session is priceless, and the live performance at Hollywood’s The Roxy is a legendary musical moment, as you can feel the fans’ excitement to be witness to this surprise event. As to whether or not MTV will help organize another “Ultimate Mash-Up” remains to be seen, but this is truly one event not to be slept on, regardless of how loud the end result bangs.