Under The Influence #83: Crostpaths on “Hybrid Theory” by Linkin Park!

There can’t be many people on Planet Metal who don’t know who Linkin Park are. Back in October 2000 they unveiled their debut record “Hybrid Theory“, which spawned four huge singles in “One Step Closer“, “In the End“, “Crawling” and “Papercut“, all of which helped deliver the Californian Nu-Metal act to the Global stage. Lyrically dealing with the struggles of their now dearly departed and much loved vocalist Chester Bennington though an up bringing that included issues with drug and alcohol abuse as well as the divorce of his parents. Taking inspiration from Pop song structures, rapper Mike Shinoda does his work to the verses while Bennington takes the choruses by storm. Musically DJ Hann brings the Hip Hop beats and electronics in contrast to Brad Delson’s rhythm guitar parts and the results speak for themselves.

Crostpaths comment “I can’t pretend this album is an authentic or original choice, but it’s always been and always will be Hybrid Theory. It was as if the stars had aligned when that album dropped. My parents had brought me up on a relatively varied and healthy diet of Rock & Pop. As I began to form my own tastes I was drawn to Hip-Hop and Rock/Metal the most, inevitably jumping on the baggy trousered bandwagon of Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach etc. I’d argue that Linkin Park were (and probably still are) the centre point of all of that. The perfect commercial package whilst still having that raw and “heavy” edge. Of course, hitting adolescence around that era meant the angst of the lyrics drew a deep personal connection that may not have been there had I discovered the record later in life (as I said, the stars just seemed to align). There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t been said about it already. It was omnipresent for many years after release and seems to have had another resurgence after Chester Bennington’s untimely death in 2017 and the recent 20th anniversary of the album’s release. It’s significance will always come flooding back via huge waves of nostalgia“