Review by MartinDavey87 for Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (2000)
They weren't the first band to do it, but with the album ‘Hybrid Theory’, Linkin Park kicked off the huge rise of the genre known as nu metal that dominated the early years of the new millennium.
Whilst bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn had already garnered a huge following for this particular style of metal, featuring simple song arrangements, detuned guitars, DJ’s and rapping vocals, it was Linkin Park in the year 2000 that really pushed the genre into the mainstream, and with five hit singles and millions of sales, the album would go on to become one of the finest representations for what nu metal was all about.
Whilst bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn had already garnered a huge following for this particular style of metal, featuring simple song arrangements, detuned guitars, DJ’s and rapping vocals, it was Linkin Park in the year 2000 that really pushed the genre into the mainstream, and with five hit singles and millions of sales, the album would go on to become one of the finest representations for what nu metal was all about.
Not bad for a debut album.
While Linkin Park’s debut record certainly has some excellent tunes, it’s the singles which are easily the best, and most recognizable, songs. Tracks like ‘Papercut’, ‘One Step Closer’, ‘In the End’ and ‘Points of Authority’ may all have been played billions of times on the radio or had their videos played on metal television channels, but there’s just some magic in the songs that make them great to listen to through loud speakers, no matter how often you've heard them.
Towards the end of the album, the constant lyrical themes of depression, regret, rebellion, anxiety etc, start to wear a bit thin (a problem that would ensure this genre’s stay at the top would last no more than a couple of years), but with that said, there’s still plenty of great tracks amongst all the singles, including ‘Runaway’, ‘With You’ and ‘Pushing Me Away’.
Coming at a time when metal music in the mainstream was near non-existent, ‘Hybrid Theory’ gives the music world a good kick in the arse, and helped to revitalize a dying genre, and whether you’re a metal fan or not, this is pretty much an essential addition to every music collection.
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Comments (1)
Good review, Martin! I remember Linkin Park being an important developer for my taste in music before diving into "real" metal around 9 years ago, so I decided it was time for me to write a review for this album too, along with Meteora, and I see you already gave my Hybrid Theory review a like. I can't give yours a like because I'm not in the Gateway, but I still enjoy reading it! I agree about the songs you mentioned being excellent singles and most of the remaining songs being pointless fillers, but "Crawling" and non-single "Pushing Me Away" are personally two of my favorite songs since first listening to them in those earlier alt-metal days of mine...