Like the first
Linkin Park remix album --
Reanimation, which arrived over a decade prior --
Recharged offers reworked versions of an entire LP, this time 2012's
Living Things. Ten years is a long time and in 2013, it is perfectly acceptable for a hard rock band to give themselves over entirely to electronic dance music -- or, more accurately, EDM, and, in particular, its most visible variation, dubstep (in 2011,
Korn did a whole new album of dubstep, in fact). There are a couple of big names here --
Pusha T shows up on "I'll Be Gone,"
Dirtyphonics remixes "Lies Greed Misery,"
Money Mark comes in for "Until It Breaks" -- but a lot of this is kept in-house, with
Mike Shinoda doing a few remixes and LP producer
Rick Rubin "rebooting" "A Light That Never Comes." EDM and
Linkin Park isn't necessarily an awkward fit -- especially for
Living Things, which often showcased their elastic, atmospheric side -- but it's also true that this is the kind of album that appeals primarily to hardcore fans looking for a new spin on the familiar; in other words, this is unlikely to convert EDM listeners to the pleasures of
Linkin Park. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine