Review Summary: Due to it's repetitiveness and intricacies, Hybrid Theory is shockingly a tough album to judge.
Let us take a trip back to the year 2000. Back when George W. Bush won Florida's votes, the internet age was booming, and the entire human genome was deciphered. For many of you though, this is a trip back to a time when things were not as complicated. You would play whatever new Pokemon game that was out and bless the days you had enough money to buy all the junk food you wanted. Life wasn't complicated back then, and Linkin Park wasn't either.
In 2000, Linkin Park released their debut album,
Hybrid Theory. While
Hybrid Theory wasn't anything groundbreaking, it capitalized on elements that mainstream music could begin to incorporate. Short tracks filled with angst vocals, rapping, simple riffs, and turntable scratching, turned out to be the perfect storm for many kids. For good reason too, this formula gave Linkin Park the ability to make some "badass" music. Well.. about as badass as teen music goes without profanity.
Linkin Park comprises of several members. Three of them being integral members on
Hybrid Theory. Chester Bennington is the clear frontman of Linkin Park. He contributes most of the material. This includes impressive singing, shrilling screams, and most of the lyrics found on here. His sidekick is Mike Shinoda. Shinoda plays the piano, adds his own lyrics, and is Linkin Park's second vocalist. His rapping is found on most tracks, adding rhythm to the verses and/or choruses. The final vital member is the DJ/sampler Joesph Hahn, a.k.a. Mr. Hahn. He basically gives the listener one more thing to listen to. The added beat or tune, with everything else, give Linkin Park a lot of moving parts.
The main problem with the
Hybrid Theory is that it sounds like one big song. In a way, my second paragraph's descriptions sum up all the tracks. Many of them don't have distinguishable features or song structure. This has several consequences. The power-ballad "In The End" and the technical "Cure for the Itch" stand out well. Unfortunately for the rest though, it easy to only have one or two favorites since they are all so similar. That explains why "Papercut" and "One Step Closer" are "Hybrid Theory's" more assessable tracks. They're catchiest of the bunch. Tracks like "Forgotten", "A Place For My Head" and "Points Of Authority" often get lost in the mix.
The good news for the album is that there aren't any horrible tracks. If you fancy their standard song formula, at one point or another you'll enjoy each song on here. This is the reason many young listeners find this album so enjoyable. Repetition isn't as big a deal. The material is essentially rationed. That being said, once the listener gets through the entire CD, it doesn't have much replay value. From there on, it only serves to the purpose of nostalgia.
Recommended Tracks- Forgotten, Papercut, Cure For The Itch, One Step Closer
