The fusion of hip-hop and rock is about as new an idea as making a music video.
Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J and The Beastie Boys were some of the first mainstream hip-hop acts and all came equipped with rock heavy beats. That’s why it baffles me when people still see novelty in the mixture of these two genres.
All that, and I still decided to go back a few years and give Reanimation another go-round.
I was never a big fan of Linkin Park, but once I saw who they brought in to add the Run-D.M.C. to their Aerosmith, I was astonished. To have a list of MCs so dense and relatively underground including Aceyalone, Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch, Planet Asia and Evidence gave them my respect concerning their knowledge of hip-hop. This whole arsenal just for a remix album? I was eager to dig in.
Reanimation begins with a low-key instrumental melody “Opening” that also serves as the intro to their final number “Krwling.” This was a very effective technique because it brings in a type of album element that rarely appears on remix discs.
The album starts out rather slowly with the underdeveloped “Pts.Of.Athrty” and “Enth E Nd” before it gets jump-started by the alchemist arrangement “Frgt/10” which contains a healthy serving of Chali 2na. Reanimation continues to plod with “P5hng Me A*Wy” and “Plc.4 Mie Haed” until we reach the rambunctious “X-Ecutioner Style,” courtesy of Black Thought, that is criminally short at 1:53.
Nonetheless, after that comes the highlight of the album “H! Vltg3.” Evidence and Pharoahe Monch trade off verses over a much mellower beat than Linkin Park is accustomed to, but the results are well worth it. The next four tracks are quite strong: the Aceyalone graced “Wth>You,” the well-developed new rendition of “Ppr:Kut,” the sonic “Rnw@Y” and the still touching “My<Dsmbr" (the titles are messed up versions of previous Linkin Park songs).
Yet Reanimation falters because it seems to do everything it can to break up the fluidity of the album. Linkin Park includes numerous skits and phone calls that honestly just flat out have no place on this disc and only distract the listener. At 20 tracks long, there is just way too much unnecessary material. While the hip-hop artists Linkin Park brought in help Reanimation tremendously, it’s just not enough to get over the plodding, undeveloped songs or the random phone calls thrown in.
If you are a fan of Linkin Park, you are sure to enjoy this disc. If you are attracted to the numerous hip-hop talents, just be aware that you’ll most likely use your skip button.