Linkin Park released Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes in Europe on November 21, 2008. The live album and DVD captured their June 29 performance at The National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England, during the Projekt Revolution tour. Jay-Z joined them for two songs, adding a reunion with their Collision Course collaborator to a set spanning their first three studio albums.
The show took place during the touring cycle for Minutes to Midnight, with almost 50,000 people attending, according to the release announcement. At the time, it was the biggest concert in Projekt Revolution’s six-year history. Chester Bennington described Milton Keynes as one of the most memorable dates the band had played. In the announcement carried by antiMusic, he said they wanted to “share that experience with the fans that couldn't be there.”
Minutes to Midnight gave the performance much of its shape. Its songs accounted for eight of the CD’s 18 tracks, including “Given Up,” “Leave Out All the Rest” and “The Little Things Give You Away.” Material from Hybrid Theory and Meteora remained central, but familiar songs could take different forms. “Pushing Me Away,” originally the closing track on Hybrid Theory, appeared as a piano version. Mike Shinoda performed “Hands Held High” a cappella, giving the newer album an unaccompanied vocal passage within the show. Almost half the audio release came from the band’s 2007 studio record, documenting how extensively those songs had entered the live repertoire.
Jay-Z’s appearance connected that expanding repertoire to the partnership that had produced the 2004 EP Collision Course. He joined Linkin Park for “Numb/Encore” and “Jigga What/Faint,” placing their mashups near the end of the performance. “Numb/Encore” had already won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 2006 Grammys. At Milton Keynes, those collaborations formed part of a larger Linkin Park set: the band followed the guest performances with “Bleed It Out” to close the show.
The home release involved choices about how to present the night. The CD contained 18 tracks, while the DVD’s main program included “Wake” and a longer version of “Bleed It Out.” Three other performances, including “Papercut,” were placed in the DVD’s bonus content. Listening to the audio disc and watching the concert film therefore meant encountering different edits of the performance, with additional music and more of the closing song available on video.
Fans helped name the package before it reached stores. In October 2008, Linkin Park invited suggestions through their website, then put five finalists to a vote. When announcing the winning title, the band credited an LP Underground member using the name LPASIANOTTER for the suggestion. The audience’s involvement extended from the concert itself to the name printed on its release.
The recording subsequently earned recognition for one of its live performances. “What I've Done” from Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes received a Best Hard Rock Performance nomination at the 2010 Grammys.
