When asked us to pick three influential albums for this feature, Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory was one of the first that came to mind. Growing up during the nineties I witnessed the Nu-Metal genre when it was at its peak and Linkin Park, along with Limp Bizkit and KoRn, were very much at the forefront of that scene. I distinctly remember the endless times the videos for “In The End” and “Papercut” featured on TV and ,in the end, I just bought the album so that I wouldn’t have to wait for the videos to come on to hear the songs.

Hybrid Theory may very well have been the band's major label debut, only the limited edition Hybrid Theory EP and a demo tape preceded it, but it was also Linkin Park's heyday. Although the official studio follow up Meteora was almost as good the more recent effort, “Minutes To Midnight”, which as good as it is, could never hope to top those first two releases.

What “Hybrid Theory” did  was to make me realize that a band didn't only have to release good singles but that album tracks, previously unheard, could be just as good, if not better. Not only does Hybrid Theory contain the genre defining classics “Crawling”, “In The End” and “One Step Closer”, but it also features some real corkers buried in the album tracks in the shape of “With You” and more importantly the extremely underrated “Point Of Authority”. The latter has to be the greatest Linkin Park song ever written highlighting perfectly Chester Bennington’s fantastic vocals and Mike Shinoda’s emcee skills. Other stand out tracks are “Runaway”, the perfect song about teenage angst and “Forgotten” which showcases rap metal at its very best.

Hybrid Theory was excellent when I was eleven and, as the years have passed by, it still remains one of my favourite albums. Linkin Park my have changed their musical stance of late, but this was certainly a milestone in their career and as well as my musical evolution.

Let us know your views on Hybrid Theory

Track Listing

Papercut
One Step Closer
With You
Points Of Authority
Crawling
Runaway
By Myself
In The End
A Place For My Head
Forgotten
Cure For The Itch
Pushing Me Away

Line Up

Chester Bennington - Vocals
Rob Bourdon - Drums
Brad Delson - Guitars/Bass
Joseph Hahn - Records/Sampling
Mike Shinoda – Emcee/Vocals

Related Links

Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight CD Review