Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes

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Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes is the second live CD/DVD/BD compilation by Linkin Park. It was recorded during the band's annual Projekt Revolution festival tour at the Milton Keynes National Bowl on June 29, 2008. It was originally planned to be released on November 25, 2008 but was changed to November 24. The concert featured material from all three of the band's albums, as well as songs from their EP, Collision Course with Jay-Z, and elements from "Reanimation" and Fort Minor's The Rising Tied.

he concert was announced months beforehand and promoted heavily; possibly to gain as much of a crowd as possible for the release of a DVD/CD and to compete with the popular Glastonbury Festival which took place over the previous three days. The concert took place on June 29, 2008. It was the first time Projekt Revolution had come to the UK as part of the first Projekt Revolution in Europe (the other three shows took place in Germany). It was also the first time Linkin Park & Jay-Z collaborated outside of the US. Like all Projekt Revolution concerts several bands played before Linkin Park; Innerpartysystem, The Bravery, Enter Shikari, N*E*R*D, Pendulum and Jay-Z (who performed a full solo set, as well as his collaboration with the headliners). On many of the flyers released by the band, and distributed by the Linkin Park Street Team however, HIM were listed as performing.

Earlier setlists indicated that "Reading My Eyes" was supposed to be played. "Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying from You" was also to be performed but was changed to the regular "Lying from You". Also "Bleed It Out" was originally planned to be after "In the End", but was moved to the end of the setlist.

During "Jigga What/Faint" Shinoda mistakenly forgot to get his guitar in time, however his part was edited in. On the DVD, during the performance of "Bleed It Out", Bennington and Shinoda engage in a "singalong" with the crowd, however due to the length of the show, it was cut out of the CD. (CD's can only hold up to 80 minutes). "Wake" was also cut from the CD for the same reason, instead the ending fades from the end of "No More Sorrow" to "Given Up". 22 songs in total were played at the concert, "Somewhere I Belong", "Papercut" and "Points of Authority" (which featured verses from the Fort Minor songs "Petrified" and "There They Go") appear on the DVD as "hidden content" after the credits.

This concert was supposed to be broadcasted on MTV but for legal reasons, the show ended up being commercially released on CD and DVD. The full show, like many other Linkin Park shows since 2007, was made available to download in MP3 format for those who purchased a code at the show. On October 6, 2008, the band's official website held a contest for anyone 18 years of age or older to submit a name for the CD/DVD. On October 8, five final choices were made into a poll allowing fans to vote for their favorite. The final choices were: "Linkin Park: Midnight In Milton Keynes", "Sunset Revolution: Linkin Park Live In The UK", "Road To Revolution: Linkin Park Live", "Revolution In The Iron City: Linkin Park Live", "Revolution in the UK: Linkin Park Live". On October 13, the website was modified to fit the winning title which was announced as "Road to Revolution", along with the tracklisting.

On October 23, 2008 the footage for "Leave Out All the Rest" premiered on Yahoo! Music. On October 28, 2008, an abbreviated version of the show was broadcast on WOWOW. "Lying from You", "Numb", "The Little Things Give You Away", "Numb/Encore" and "Jigga What/Faint" were not broadcast. On November 6, the official DVD trailer was posted on Linkin Park's YouTube channel (The before-release version). The trailer was also posted on the Warner Bros. Records YouTube channel (both pre and post release editions), and on Warner Music Spain's YouTube channel. Warner Music Hong Kong also produced a trailer of their own and posted it on their YouTube channel. The trailer was produced in English. Warner Music Mexico also produced their own trailer for the CD/DVD release. Unlike Hong Kong's trailer, it had graphics in Spanish. On November 7, the performance of "Breaking the Habit" premiered (though previously broadcast on WOWOW) on the band's official MySpace page. On November 18, the band began streaming the entire album on their MySpace page. "No More Sorrow" & "Given Up" are mixed up in track order on the stream and "Bleed It Out" is uploaded twice, one in the place of "Numb". On November 20, Linkin Park's official website announced the release date would be changed to November 24 and the footage for "Bleed It Out" (amended) premiered on their YouTube channel. The live performances for "Given Up" (amended), "Leave Out All the Rest", "Bleed It Out" (amended) and "Breaking the Habit" are available on the Linkin Park and Warner Bros. Records YouTube channels. On November 25, the footage for "Numb/Encore" & "Jigga What/Faint" premiered on their YouTube channel in one video. Though mistakenly, the footage for "Numb" was placed before "Numb/Encore" but was shortly removed afterwards and replaced with a fixed version. Given Up premiered on their YouTube page on December 2. Due to a feud between Warner Bros. Records and YouTube, Warner Bros. Records ordered YouTube to remove all videos and songs by artists signed by WBR. Because of this, all of the "Road to Revolution" performances were removed from the band's YouTube channel. The performance of "Leave Out All the Rest" appears as bonus footage on the "Twilight" special edition DVD. On December 2, 2009, it was announced the live version of "What I've Done" from the album is nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards.

Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes received a divided reaction among critics, although most agreed that fans will be pleased with the album. Ryan Bird of Kerrang! highly praised the album, calling it the band's "most triumphant moment" as well as describing the concert as "a day of absolute perfection that spread across every last detail". Rick Florino of Artistdirect also praised the album, saying, "Road to Revolution is one of those rare live packages that works on every level." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave a mixed review of the album, saying that it "will surely please fans", although he also stated that "It's not a bracing testament to the band's on-stage prowess." Kate Harper of CHARTattack gave a negative review, calling them "boring to watch", although she praised Jay-Z's appearance. (wiki)

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by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Like nearly every other live release of the new millennium, Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes is a CD/DVD extravaganza, capturing the entire concert twice, once as a CD, once as a DVD for optimal home viewing. In this case, the concert is Linkin Park's June 29, 2008 show at the Milton Keynes National Bowl, where the band was joined by Jay-Z for two songs on the encore ("Jigga What/Faint," "Numb/Encore"), while rapper Mike Shinoda's side project Fort Minor pop up for "The Rising Tide." This is the third Linkin Park live set -- they arrive like clockwork after every tour -- so it's no surprise that there are no surprises outside of the Jay-Z cameo and perhaps just how big and slick the whole thing sounds; it was mastered to be showcased on surround sound in a home theater. It's big but not ballsy, an appropriate sound for an immaculate performance from Linkin Park -- one that may not exactly replicate the details of their studio versions but certainly doesn't find them coloring outside of the lines. It's something that will surely please fans, the ones that have the other two Linkin Park live sets, but it's not a bracing testament to the band's on-stage prowess.