Oct 23 2009
Hybrid Theory, by Linkin Park - Album review
Linkin Park possess a unique brand of genius. In the history of music, very few bands possess this quality and even fewer have the ability to exploit their enormous potential to change all perceptions about a music genre to the mainstream. With their debut album, “Hybrid Theory”, Linkin Park succeeded not only to sound original, but despite their friendly MTV image, to please some of the most primal metal pleads.
Released in 2000, “Hybrid Theory” did not exactly change the sound of the millennium, but managed to convey an alternative sound to the dominant band boy pop of the 90s and to be acclaimed with mainstream success. Mingling elements of rap, rock and metal, anchoring guitar riffs with electronic drum beats and DJ vibes and dressing its innovative sound with the grungy vocals of the lead singer, Chester Bennington, the debut LP of Linkin Park is their top-selling album that went 10x Platinum having sold 24 million copies globally.
It’s indeed rare for a debut album to possess such complexity in its sound. With obvious influences from hip-hop and metal, Linkin Park create an unprecedented rich blend that captures the audience, although the guitar riffs are rather simple and their drum beats are a well-served military tempo. However, the screaming, full of angst and rage, yet clear, vocals of Bennington, the MC contribution of the group’s second vocalist, Mike Shinoda, who does all the rapping, the electronic influences in almost all the album’s tracks and the melodic parts that Linkin Park love to use in their songs, compile a complete album that has no throw away tracks.
Apart from mingling different music genres, “Hybrid Theory” echoes diverse influences from other singing styles. There are moments that Bennington performs like Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode or Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots, while the explosive guitar riffs of Brad Delson are influenced by the great masters, The Edge of U2 and Johnny Marr of The Smiths. The lyrical content echoes the troubled childhood of Bennington that involved the divorce of his parents, child abuse from his stepfather, excessive drug and alcohol abuse, isolation, depression, and failed relationships. Although the group’s albums are sold with the indication “parental advisory”, the absence of profanity in the lyrics of Linkin Park is striking.
“Hybrid Theory” released four singles.
“One Step Closer”, an intense, powerful track with distorted guitar riffs and assertive drums, was the first single that became infamous for the only bad word used in the album, Bennington’s 1:48 screaming “Shut up when I’m talking to you”. The track ranked #79 on the Hot 100 chart.
“Crawling”, that won Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2002, describes Bennington’s childhood and reflects, both in lyrics and in its angry vocals, the physical violence and the loss of self-esteem. The track ranked #74 on the Hot 100 chart.
“Papercut”, a powerful rap track, that is also the intro of the album, is the epitome of paranoia. The track was ranked #14 in UK Singles Chart only as it was never officially released in the U.S.
“In The End”, starts with Shinoda’s trademark piano riff and continues with explosive guitar riffs that are anchored with the constant interchange of Shinoda’s MCing and Bennington’s vocals. The track ranked #2 on the Hot 100 chart, #1 on the Top 40 Mainstream, #1 in U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks and #1 in U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay among other top rankings. It is definitely the most successful song of Linkin Park.
Whether they are called nu metal or rap metal, regardless if they are adored by preteens and hated by middle-aged yuppies, and in spite of being considered crap by heavy metal prodigies, one thing is for sure: it may have taken Linkin Park ten years to emerge to the music scene and create their mainstream success, but their originality will take them long further. So, “in the end, it doesn’t even matter”.
