1. Opening
2. Pts.Of.Athrty
3. Enth E Nd
4. [Cali]
5. Frgt/10
6. P5hng Me A*wy
7. Plc.4 Mie Haed
8. X-Ecutioner Style
9. H! Vltg3
10. [Riff Raff]
11. Wth>You
12. NtrMssion
13. Ppr:Kut
14. Rnw@y
15. My [Stef]
16. By_Myslf
17. Kyur4 Th Ich
18. 1stp Klosr
19. Krwlng

The 'Sophomore' album release is often dreaded by artists, especially ones who do remarkably well with their debut album. Rather than try to hurry out a successor to their best selling album Hybrid Theory for their 'Sophomore' effort, Linkin Park decided to turn over their successful debut album to a myriad of re-mixers for a fresh take on the songs that made Linkin Park a success. The result is [Reanimation] a grab bag of musical styles and sonic assaults. While this innovative 'experiment' does bear some real fruit [Reanimation] unfortunately still falls in the dreaded 'Sophomore Slump' that many bands find themselves in.

As a complete album [Reanimation] is nowhere near as good as Hybrid Theory and if this were a CD I'd probably only give it a mild recommendation (mostly for the top songs remixed from Hybrid Theory). But as a multi-channel surround sound experience [Reanimation] is a must for fans of Linkin Park or anyone wanting to experience the future of Digital music. [Reanimation] is a Hard Rock symphony with a wide range of dynamic audio which jumps from speaker to speaker. It's got rich tones with deep bass which is truly enveloping. [Reanimation] pulls you in and then seems to run sonic circles around you in one of the more dynamic surround mixes I've heard. The tone of [Reanimation] is decidedly futuristic and I could easily see animators use this DVD as the backdrop for a Heavy Metal like film.

Many of the stand outs songs on [Reanimation] are the same stand outs from Hybrid Theory including: KRWLNG, ENTH E ND, PTS.OF.ATHRTY, 1STP KLOSR. Interestingly these four songs bookend the DVD. I also really liked WTH > YOU which seems to benefit from the remix and is one of the better fusion of musical styles and MY DSMBR which takes the well known song and gives it some nice sonic texture with a fresh interpretation of the tone of the song. Some of the weakest points on the album are the non musical interludes which ineffectively try to 'bridge' the album together including [CHALI] and [Riff Raff] which both contain my biggest pet peeves on albums - messages from people's answering machines! [Reanimation] would be a much better album without these pointless interludes. [Reanimation] seems to be strongest when it's tapping it's hard rock roots and weakest when it meanders into rap.

The Audio
[Reanimation] was specifically mixed and mastered for DVD-Audio and it shows. [Reanimation] packs more sonic punch than even the most aggressive sci-fi film soundtrack and sonically is definitely a model for how Hard Rock can work even better in multi-channel surround.

Owner's of DVD-A capable players can experience [Reanimation] in either high resolution multi-channel surround sound (48 khz/24-bit) or high resolution stereo (44.1 khz/24-bit) DVD-Audio players. If you don't have a DVD-A capable player you'll be able to enjoy [Reanimation] in either Dolby Digital 5.1 surround of Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.

I did notice a CONSIDERABLE difference between the (48 khz/24-bit) DVD-A and the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks. While both tracks do a great job with the surrounds, the separation of sound and instruments, the richness of the bass and overall clarity is quite noticeably better with the high resolution DVD-A. While [Reanimation] does sound good in the high resolution stereo mode, the mix shines best in multi-channel surround. [Reanimation] is a great disc for DVD-A owners to compare the experience between the 4 available audio formats on the DVD. It's really eye opening and an excellent demonstration of the power and quality of high resolution audio.

Special Features
In addition to the music on [Reanimation], there are also three music videos and a making of documentary. The menu system for [Reanimation] leaves a lot to be desired, so to get to the Special Features, you need to click on 'Playlist' from any song and then 'Main' which is on the top right corner. It's easy to miss because the lettering for Main blends with the background, and is positioned so it's actually partly cut off.

The PTS.OF.ATHRTY music video is a mix of Final Fantasy, The Matrix and Halo. Presented in Letterboxed Widescreen the music video is really a massive computer animated space battle that could easily be a 'cut scene' for an X-Box video game. PTS.OF.ATHRTY is a real treat for anyone who is a fan of the animation style from Final Fantasy and really plays more like a mini movie than anything else.

FGHT/10 also done with computer animation, but this time around it's much a much more subtle and subdued type of animation. FGHT/10 is presented in letterboxed widescreen and follows a rouge as they're being chased through the night streets by police armored in riot gear. The rouge 'tags' buildings with LP (Linkin Park) as they're pursued by the police. Another Matrix-esque video which is well done and enjoyable.

KYUR4 TH ICH is a complete departure from the other two videos on this DVD. Also presented in Letterbox the video for KYUR4 TH ICH is a series of fisheye home videoesqu shots of people breakdancing. It's a pretty short video and nowhere near as interesting and exciting as the first two.

The Making of PTS.ATHRTY - a 5 min short making of documentary focuses mostly on the director Joseph Hahn (who is also a member of the band) and the original concept for the video. It's an interesting segment that covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time.

Final Thoughts
I have real mixed (excuse the pun) feelings about [Reanimation], sonically I think the DVD-A presentation is a real treat for any Hard Rock Fan, but musically the album doesn't hold together. After my first listening to the DVD-A I found myself skipping over tracks to get to the ones I liked and after several listenings I found myself wishing that Linkin Park had given Hybrid Theory a Multi-Channel DVD-A release over [Reanimation]. Shortcomings aside [Reanimation] is definitely something worth checking out, if for no other reason than to experience this fantastic mix. [Reanimation] breaks ground for a hard rock multi-channel mix and for that I'm recommending music loves (especially Hard Rock ones) to check it out.