Chester sings affirmation to this sentiment. This no more evident than in “A Place for My Head.” The quirky single guitar riff it starts with quickly turns into a grinding riff accompanied by a sharp, hard scratch as Shinoda begins with lyrics about strife and constantly feeling like he owes somebody. Linkin Park keeps fans on their toes with each album mixed with different flavors and ingredients. The piano returns to bookend the piece brilliantly. The bridge has Chester almost pleading in a tear-inducing voice of innocence about trust before breaking down about trust. It stays within a lighter side until the chorus hits. This track heavily features Shinoda as Chester plays backup. “In the End” accompanies a simple piano intro with some slight scratching. This track alternates between hard Metal and a contemplative Hip Hop beat that has a sonic vibe.
Ripping it up next is “By Myself,” which marks a return for Shinoda. Again, Shinoda’s rap absent as Chester takes the reigns singing about escaping reality. It takes a bit of an Electronica turn with synths throughout. Next is “Runaway,” in which listeners can easily feel his entrapment and angst. Diving into the topic of his prior drug use, Chester has said this track is the hardest to sing live vocally. He alternates seamlessly between singing and screaming, being the give and take that Shinoda would normally provide with his rap. “Crawling” begins with some distortion, which turns into Shindoa’s scratches and strokes from a beat machine as Chester shows his vocal versatility. The mash-up of Rap and Metal melds the two genres perfectly.
Shinoda scratches the track, accompanied by his rapping and Chester’s screams regarding abuse. Athrty.” It appears on 2002’s Reanimation, 2002’s LP Underground 2.0, 2004’s Collision Course, as well as being featured as a playable song on 2010’s DJ Hero 2.
Next is “Points of Authority,” which got four different remixes under the title “Pts. The guitars deliciously grind and drums beat like the headache of said toxic relationship. The track hits its crescendo when Chester shouts, “Shut up when I’m talking to you.” Shinoda shows off his mad turntable skills throughout “With You” as he raps about a toxic relationship that will never heal. Entering on a tight riff, “On Step Closer,” spreads out as Chester spits out his soul about familial fighting while the guitars grind out the tune’s aggression. Chester’s singing combined with Mike Shinoda’s rapping work together and against each other, as if trying to make sense of the paranoia while the hypnotic melody plays into the theme. It also reached number two on the Billboard 200, as well as topping charts the world over.īeginning the album with a hollowed out bass beat and grinding guitar, “Papercut” tells the story of paranoia and is reportedly one of lead singer Chester Bennington’s favorite songs by the band. This successful debut album is certified Diamond with over ten million units sold in the US alone by 2010. Although Linkin Park has produced several albums over the years, Hybrid Theory is still considered their best. Don Gilmore (Temple of the Dog, KORN) produced while Jeff Blue (Better than Ezra, KORN) acted as executive producer for Warner Bros. Linkin Park recorded the album from March to July in 2000 at NRG Recordings in Hollywood, California. Their critically acclaimed album, Hybrid Theory is now celebrating its fifteenth anniversary. With the release of their debut album on October 24, 2000, they broke boundaries within three different Metal sub-genres: Nu Metal, Rap Metal and Alternative Metal. Although Rock band Linkin Park was active prior to the year 2000, it was not until then that their popularity soared.