Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (2000)

This record and the band Linkin Park as a whole, are both kinda "sign of the times" for the period of early 2000s. So called "Nu Metal" was everywhere, as it was for some weird reason seen as the coolest thing ever back then. Even tho I was born after the initial hype for this type of music and, by extension, for Linkin Park, I still remember songs like "In the End" being used for AMVs and stuff in the early days of YouTube.

Most of the music fans nowadays, are content with the fact, that the days of edgy Nu Metal music are over - this genre and all those band are really looked down upon now. I'm not like that tho. For a lot of people (including me), Nu Metal music has a lot of sentimental, legacy value, that makes a lot of songs, albums and bands actually and unironically enjoyable and worth discussing. That being said, let's discuss Linkin Park's debut LP.

Although the sound of this record is obviously dated and sometimes hard to enjoy even for the toughest Nu Metal apologists, it still can go hard! Guitars sound heavy and menacing, the electronic elements feel creative, and vocals are definitely impressive. Yeah, some of the lyrics might sound silly and corny, but I think we really should embrace this atmosphere instead of bashing it.

The record opens with a classic - "Papercut" feels like a quintessential early Linkin Park song. It contains every aspect of band's typical songwriting, maybe except of the chromatic breakdown, but there's too much of them in this album anyway... I like this one a lot. The simple melodic motive during the choruses and that heavy riff during the verses are very satisfying both to play and to listen to. The outro is very cool too - just peak Nu Metal. The same can really be said about "One Step Closer", although I don't play it much nowadays, since I've already overplayed it during my middle school years... When listening to this album I much prefer the deeper cuts, like extremely heavy and chunky "With You" or even better "Forgotten", which might really be my favourite track off this record, atleast nowadays. Although both of this songs feature prominent agressive vocals from Chester that can get a bit tiresome, there's enough melodic qualities and creative dark riffing that make these songs still hold up for me.

One other song that I like a lot too is the mighty "Points of Authority", that may be my most listened to Linkin Park song ever. I love it! The thing that makes it for me it's the main riff. It sounds jagged and frayed, like it's been cut up randomly. The franticness of it composes very well with Mike's notorious rapping and the choruses resolve it all in satisfying way. One thing I don't like about it (although it can really be said about this entire era of music) is the excessive and jarring use of cool DJ scrathing sounds in the breakdown. Overall effects and production in this specific part of the song, always bring it down a bit for me...

The song "Runaway" is a pretty cool discovery that I overlooked for years! It's neat and very well written. It surprised me how much I enjoyed it even though it's so buried in this album. Again, the breakdown is a weak spot for me here, but it's a not that significant of a gripe. Interestingly enough, some parts of this song kinda remind me of early Karnivool (australian alt/prog-metal band) songs, like "Headcase" or "Lifelike". The ebow-like harmonic droning thingy sound (heard during intro) seems to be a popular trope of 2000s metal.

"By Myself" feels like a lowpoint for me. The main riff seems cheesy and over-the-top and the song just doesn't really offer much that it honestly. Mike's rap verses are uninteresting and Chester's vocal performance again, despite being impressive is sometimes too taxing for my ears to sit through the song...

Other deepcuts of "Hybrid Theory" include "Place for My Head", which is a neat, short-and-sweet metal song and a somewhat refreshing-sounding "In the End" ripoff - "Pushing Me Away". This song is nuts. It's like "In the End" and "Numb" had a child that became a number 1 hit in an alternate universe. It's a nice song, but it's funny that it's so similar. Interestingly enough, I once read that "Pushing Me Away" actually came first and the band believed it was the strong composition on the record. Then, they challenged themselves to top it off, and wrote "In the End" that way, which became a generational song that was blasted in every teenager's bedroom throughout the period of 2000-2012. It really is the song that I have not much to say about. I Like it, it is what it is, and it is legendary.

When it comes to "legendary" songs, there's also "Crawling", that I have mixed feelings about. On one hand the lyrics are evocative and to-the-point, but on the other both them and the performance seem bland and poorly-aged.

I almost forgot to talk about the curiosity that is "Cure for the Itch". I absolutely love this "song"! It goes so hard and is a nice little treat. It also has a surprisingly significant legacy (look up the song "Itch for the Cure" by BMTH!!). This idea of a short interlude-type hiphop inspired instrumental, electronic track was later continued with on "Meteora" with a similarily cool track called "Session".

There's also a couple of bonus tracks. I've never been a fan of "High Voltage" (I absolutely understand why it didn't make the cut for the actual tracklist), but "My December" is absolutely wonderful. It's indeed very wintery sounding. It brings to mind images of snowflakes slowly falling, and a moody walk during mid-december evening... Beautiful song. Recent renditions of that songs are very notable too, as Emily's powerfull voice do this song justice!

When you take this record as it is, it becomes really enjoyable to listen to, even with all of the stigma it's become associated with nowadays. I always liked it and often came back to it. Yeah, there are a lot of questionable and dated productional and compositional decisions that place it in this specific, narrow period in time when such an album could've been released, but as I said - I believe this aspect should be embraced! "Hybrid Theory" has an undenialably huge legacy and was groundbreaking upon its release, so we should treat it with appropriate respect.