Product Description

Debut album by California nu-metal band. Highly melodic, memorable pop songs, fused with samples, turntables and the heavy, aggressive riffing of metal. Performed by two vocalists, a singer and a rapper. Recorded with Pearl Jam producer Don Gilmore, it includes three top 20 singles.

Track Listing

1. Papercut
2. One Step Closer
3. With You
4. Points Of Authority
5. Crawling
6. Runaway
7. By Myself
8. In the End
9. A Place for My Head
10. Forgotten
11. Cure for the Itch
12. Pushing Me Away

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1006 in Music
• Released on: 2000-10-30
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
It may be too cynical to assume Hybrid Theory changed its name to Linkin Park in order to appear right next to Limp Bizkit in your local record bin. But rock-rap workouts like "One Step Closer" and "Papercut" do make Linkin Park a comfortable fit with Fred Durst and his ilk. Producer Don Gilmore (Pearl Jam, Lit) and twin vocal threats Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda serve up industrial-strength rap and rock melodicism with equal aplomb on this debut effort. "Points of Authority" aims to sound like Trent Reznor mixing it up with Metallica, whereas guitarist Brad Delson's Edge-y harmonics help "In the End" and "Pushing Me Away" evoke a dark romanticism akin to A Perfect Circle. Curiously, the band gets by with no bass player, while sample-happy DJ Joseph Hahn's step into the spotlight on the instrumental "Cure For The Itch" suggests a potential for eclecticism that could help Linkin Park outlive its seemingly transient genre. --Bill Forman

Customer Reviews

My opinion
I first heard Linkin Park's `Crawling' on a Saturday morning music show- I had never heard anything like It. I'd never really been into music before, but the angst ridden, thundering chorus of this song really spoke to me. On the strength of the single alone I bought the album and - to my delight - loved it!

Even though the album and band where bourn for an era where short-lived Nu-metal ruled the world, after which many bands failed to move on from the sound which popularized them and subsequently where soon defunct, linkin park have survived and have since built on the solid foundation of Hybrid Theory, pursuing various sounds and becoming one of the only successful bands to meld together rap and metal.

I'd be lying if I said I liked any of there more recent albums any where close to as much as their debut, but nethertheless I owe it to them for introducing me to the kind of music I now love, and though I've since moved on to liking a broader musical spectrum I still hold a fondness and nostalgia for an album which, I can listen to even now and still love every song.

I'd recommend; A place for my head, Crawling, Paper cut, points of Authority and One step Closer....if I had to choose.

Linkin the tracks together is an art
Hear me out on this one. Might not be entirely positive, but it's honest.

Linkin Park. Hybrid Theory. So much hype from so many quarters and up to now I have refrained from buying into what I felt was the pressure from the music industry to like pop rock. Stereotyped rock music sanitised for the populous which was kept to a basic recipe without too much deviation. I was pretty certain I'd find the album too samey, too safe, too commercialised.

So I brought it then.

Simply, I was kind of right. It is pretty commerical but it isn't that safe or middle of the road. I'll hold my hand up and say there are hi-lights and there are moments that made me think twice before branding them with my bland rock brush. The main issue with the album is the production of it, and in more ways than one.

Firstly, I find it over produced. Too much going on to appreciate the music. I could not tell you if the guitarist (or guitarists for that matter) are any good as they are drowned out in layer upon layer of riffs. Vocals are strong, but it is like a kid in a sweet shop who been sick from too much chocolate - there was no need for so many effects to distort what is obviously a good singing voice, too many effects (like the chocolate) spoilt it.

The sameness. It hit me after the album hi-light 'By Myself'. By this point I was doing ok. The early part of the album is ok, dips in quality dramatically (half saved by throwing in the single 'Crawling') before rising for the middle section with 'By Myself'. After that, I can't quite tell you if it was good or not. Got a bored, all sounded the same. If you like the music then this album is a sure fire winner, if you don't completely get into it then there is the risk you will end up gazing into the ether waiting to be inspired.

Track 11, Cure For The Itch sums it up completely with the name. It was just like I had an itch that was irritating me, not able to really neither concentrate nor enjoy the music as things had grown stale. This was like a soothing cream, erasing the boredom, re-lighting my concentration. Completely different, hiphop beat, general mess around - but it broke the album up. Unfortunately it was track 11 out of 12, any earlier would have enhanced the second half of the album tenfold. Instead it only made Pushing Me Away a pleasant track.

Just feel that Linkin also are not 100% sure of their own identity. Always hovering around a likeness to another artist, without every really nailing it before flitting off to experiment with another style.

So they missed a trick here with the album production, a poor start, bad placement of the wildcard track and grouping average songs around one or two killers. An album should be peaks and troughs, but there should be a natural order and flow that leads the listener through the journey, this seemed to chop and change too quickly. Add this to the distinct lack of variation and you get a patchy album that could have done much much better.

*** Like: Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Rage Against The Machine, Alien Ant Farm ***

Record Sales Justified?
Linkin Park's debut album. It has sold over 15 million copys, which is probably more than most bands can hope to sell over their entire career. Is it good? Yes, it is.

Linkin Park had their own sound. It was different from anything that other bands released, with their unique fusion of rock and rap, dj-ing and sampling. It is still the best album that they have released.

Linkin Park is a very melodic, yet heavy band. almost every song is amazing.

1. papercut 8/10 sets the tone perfectly
2. one step closer 8/10 i like it, except the 'shut up' part, its too raw.
3. with you 9/10 no-one else likes this song, but i really do
4. points of authority 7/10 catchy raps
5. crawling 9/10 you've gotta have heard this song before
6. runaway 6/10 it is dwarved by crawling and by myself
7. by myself 8.5/10 heavy and less melodic than other songs
8. in the end 10/10 the most famous linkin park song. hands down. and it IS that good!
9. A Place for my head 6/10 i dont really like this song; doesnt flow that well.
10. forgotten 9/10 'once the papers crumpled up, it cant be perfect again'
11. cure for the itch 5/10 interlude
12. pushing me away 10/10 a bit like numb actually

hybrid theory is a showcase of just how good nu-metal without the stupid meaningless swearyourheadofffornoreason in it (limp bizkit anyone?) definately worth the money, but then again, you probably have it already.