Hybrid Theory is the debut studio album by the Nu metal band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000, through Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded at NRG Recordings in North Hollywood, California, and produced by Don Gilmore, the album’s lyrical themes deal with problems lead vocalist Chester Bennington experienced during his adolescence, including drug abuse and the constant fighting and divorce of his parents.
Hybrid Theory takes its title from the previous name of the band as well as the concept of music theory and combining different styles.
This is also the only album on which bassist Dave Farrell does not play. Four singles were released from Hybrid Theory: One Step Closer, In the End, Crawling and Papercut, all of them being responsible for launching Linkin Park into mainstream popularity.
While In the End was the most successful of the four, all of the singles in the album remain some of the band’s most successful songs to date.
Although Runaway, Points of Authority, and My December from the special edition bonus disc album were not released as singles, they were minor hits on alternative rock radio stations thanks to the success of all of the band’s singles and the album; Runaway has also made several appearances on radio stations.
Generally receiving positive reviews from critics upon its release, Hybrid Theory became a strong commercial success.
Peaking at number two on the US Billboard 200, it is certified 12× Platinum by the (RIAA).
It also reached the top 10 in 15 other countries and has sold 32 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling debut album since Guns N’ Roses’s Appetite for Destruction (1987) and the best-selling rock album of the 21st century.
At the 44th Grammy Awards, it won Best Hard Rock Performance for Crawling.
In 2002, Linkin Park released the remix album Reanimation. It included the songs of Hybrid Theory remixed and reinterpreted by Nu metal and underground hip hop artists.
Contributors to the album included Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch, Jonathan Davis, Stephen Carpenter, and Aaron Lewis.
The sound of later Linkin Park albums would involve experimentation with classical instruments such as strings and piano, both of which, along with the same elements of electronica from Hybrid Theory, are prominently included in the band’s second studio album, Meteora.
On August 13, 2020, Warner Records announced a re-release of Hybrid Theory for its 20th anniversary. A previously unreleased demo song, She Couldn’t, was put out at the same time.
Tracklist:
- Papercut
- One Step Closer
- With You
- Points of Authority
- Crawling
- Runaway
- By Myself
- In the End
- A Place for My Head
- Forgotten
- Cure for the Itch
- Pushing Me Away
Japanese edition bonus tracks - My December (Mike Shinoda)
- High Voltage (Linkin Park)
- One Step Closer (video Linkin Park)
Linkin Park
Chester Bennington: vocals
Mike Shinoda: rap vocals, keyboards, programming, samples, rhythm guitar on Crawling and Pushing Me Away, piano on My December, artwork and production
Brad Delson: guitars; bass guitar (3, 8, 12)
Joe Hahn: turntables, samples, synthesizers, artwork
Rob Bourdon: drums, percussion
Additional musicians
Ian Hornbeck: bass (on Papercut, A Place for My Head, and Forgotten)
Scott Koziol: bass (on One Step Closer)
The Dust Brothers: sequencing, and samples (on With You)
Production
Don Gilmore: producer, engineering
Steve Sisco: engineering
John Ewing Jr.: additional engineering, Pro Tools
Matt Griffin: engineering assistance
Andy Wallace: mixing
Brian Gardner: audio mastering, digital editing
Jeff Blue: executive producer
Artwork
Frank Maddocks: graphic design
James Minchin III: photography
Chester Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017)
