Linkin Park and Rakim Found Guilty of A Bone Chilling Metallic Eruption

I remember Linkin Park from their "Hybrid Theory" roots. Rock and rap taken to a new millennium level. "Crawling" and "Closer To The Edge" showcased lead vocalist Chester Bennington at his psychotic best. One minute keeping a steady simmer on his escalating rage, the next exploding at the expense of any surface dweller who dares cross his path in an adversarial way. Since those early days this nu metal outfit has hovered at or near the top of Billboard's Rock Charts. Along the stepping stones of their career they've burnished credibility as rockers who radio programmers don't treat like a dinner platter so straight out of the oven that it's extremely hot to the touch. "The Hunting Party" album isn't going to amble this way until June. Until then "Guilty All The Same" will do as an appetizing sampler platter. Put on the big boy pants folks because this song's bristling pace is going to have you begging for an EKG reading. Notice how the accompanying video features swirling clouds? What excellent imagery and well choreographed to fit the song. Doesn't even matter that the amplification comes down just enough for old school rapper Rakim to drop science on your posteriors. The band's fangs bite equally hard. Hold on a second while I figure out which metal band's uncompromising zealotry they borrowed from. Rob Bourdon gallops along at a mile a minute, drumming like someone forgot to remind him this isn't 1992 anymore and he's not making a guest appearance on that year's "Unsung" LP. Brad Delson is beastly wild. Did he or did he not quaff down some PowerAde before letting rip with chord after chord of relentless punch? If not he could've fooled me. Rakim's presence is especially appreciated during stanzas where Brad reloaded, hit his intended target, and now desperately needs to refuel at the oxygen bar. Usually Mike Shinoda raps commentary writ large but Rakim's very much up to the task as rap purists no doubt recognize. Right on time for an era when the U.S. is fragmenting and may precariously slide into the abyss altogether, Rakim expresses the unspoken sentiments of many of us out there working merely to keep from drowning in the undertow. We're thinkin "I want to be rich" but the fill in your own adjective here we slave under has his designs on being wealthy. The music business itself isn't safe from Rakim's accusatory delivery. Make the dough then watch it get sucked back into the studio system. Chester on the other hand takes the spiritual approach to Q & A. He's a seeker who wants answers but knows he's really going to have to drop the throttle down in order to have any hope of getting some. Methinks a supreme being's hidden hand lingers at the core of his discontent. He has what we need. We're doomed to be unclean. Show us how you would have us live our lives. Chester's style of singing goes far deeper than the diaphragm. In the abiding manner of your no quarter given NFL team, he goes straight up the gut. You can bet his uvula gets an indescribably rib shaking workout. NFL is a team game. Linkin Park goes the length of the metal field, each bandmate leaving it out on the turf. I'm a writer/blogger. I should know what to say in the face of a pulverizing display of horsepower. Simply put, "Guilty All The Same" is as electric as the chair that's fried so many societal deviants. I sentence you out there in the audience to upward of three listens. I'm a noble judge so believe me when I say this is going to get more seismically wonderful with each new hearing. "Guilty All The Same" makes good on uncorking crunch all the way.