Iconic Linkin Park album celebrates 20 years in October 2020
Hybrid Theory is getting a special re-release this month commemorating 20 years since it was first released on 24th October 2000. Remembering an album that unexpectedly took the world by storm and spoke to angsty teens worldwide.
Linkin Park formed in California in 1996, and went on to become one of the highest selling rock and metal acts of all time. This debut album fused hip hop and metal together in a way only hinted at previously, and drove it through a mainstream audience harder than a finishing a test on quantum entanglement, whilst on fire.
Whilst rap and metal has joined forces in the past – Bring The Noise by Anthrax and Public Enemy a prime example, this album really turned it onto a mainstream audience. Loud, heavy and angry, it added a new layer to the musical epidemic created by KoRn‘s standout debt album a few years previous.
This was the music I grew up on. I first started listening to metal in 2000, and Hybrid Theory would have been one of the first metal albums I purchased. I had previously only been exposed to the typical UK mainstream music of the 90s. This was one of my first real tastes of heavy music.
I remember first seeing the videos for Papercut and One Step Closer on Kerrang! TV and getting hooked on the sound. I grew up in the 90s, a torrid time for heavy metal. The rise of grunge and alternative rock bands stole the limelight, consequently taking metal out of the headlines. However, It was Linkin Park, amongst other similar bands at the time that really got me listening to metal.
Now I know exactly what you are thinking, nu-metal is a filthy word and shame on me for calling it metal. But without bands like Linkin Park, Papa Roach and Limp Bizkit I might not be listening to metal today. Many thousands of others in my generation may not either.
Hybrid Theory was one of my favourite nu-metal albums, and it has sold 12 million copies in the US, being certified 12x platinum. Making it one of the highest selling hard rock and metal albums in the U.S. It wasn’t a quick success, still releasing singles from the album a year after release, but sales just haven’t quit.
Second single Crawling won Best Hard Rock Performance at the 44th Anniversary Grammy Awards in 2001. DJ Hahn‘s super simple but extremely effective work adding a tasteful layer of emotion. No rapping on this track, the feel is much closer to the emo movement that would follow years later. No doubt hugely influenced by tracks like this. Hybrid Theory also won Best Rock Album at said awards.
Without the phenomenal success of this album, nu-metal may have died out sooner than it did. Hooray you may say, but people have to listen to music for it to remain relevant, whether we like the term mainstream or not. Bands that changed their style and moved on from the nu-metal scene – including Disturbed and Papa Roach may never have remained relevant long enough to survive. Who knows, metal may never have recovered to the level it is today without the success of this album.
When I saw In The End for the first time I was seriously impressed. If nu-metal is to ever have a designated anthem then surely this song is it. Excellent use of melody, followed by increased tempo and energy to round out the song. The fact it has almost 1.5 billion views on YouTube show how it has certainly stood the test of time. Nu-metal can often be contrived in it’s attempt at aggression, but you always felt it was real with Chester Bennington (tragically realised in his passing in 2019).
Linkin Park never produced another album like this. Noticeably toning down their intensity in favour of a radio friendly approach on succeding albums. But nothing will take away what a cracking album this is. Causing a monumental shift in music only few albums can claim. Nu-metal or not, this will always be one of my favourite albums.
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