Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory
Released October 24th, 2000
Chester Bennington, Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson, Joe Hahn, Mike Shinoda
Genre: Nu metal
Intro
Oh boy, am I going to get a lot of hate for this. I'm going to make a big confession here. Don't take this the wrong way, please. I don't really like Linkin Park. I'm not a big fan. I mean I have all the highest respect in the world for Chester Bennington and I was really heartbroken when I heard about his passing in 2017, but this isn't my style of music. I don't enjoy rap, I don't really enjoy the nu metal scene, so I've never really explored this band. Shoutout to Joey, he fucking loves Linkin Park- as I'm sure most of you listening do.
Therefor today I am going to right my wrongs and give this band a chance. I will be very objective about these songs, I'm sure that they are amazing because I've heard good things about them, so I will say good things about them and give them praise but I want to make it perfectly clear that this isn't my style of music. Yes it's good and everything but I don't think I would want to put any of these songs in my playlist or anything like that. Here we go, finally I'm going to show this band some love and respect. Let's get into it and what I think about this supposed masterpiece of an album.
Thoughts & Feelings?
Let me dive more into my thoughts, seeing as this is the section of the review. Linkin Park has always been a band that I'm not into just because of the vocals. No offense to Chester, I think he was extraordinarily talented and was the perfect fit for this band, I'm just not into his style. That being said though, I have nothing against these songs. They sound great, and nothing offends me- it sounds good. I am enjoying listening to this album but I don't want to put any of these songs in my playlist.
This album makes me feel weak. Palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, vomit on my sweater already, mom's spaghetti. I don't know man don't ask me to elaborate further.
Smash or Pass?
Papercut - Smash. Okay this is definitely metal, and that's enjoyable to hear. Yeah this is DEFINITELY nu metal, having rap mixed with metal. Like I said, that's not my style but this is a great song. Chester sounds pretty great and of course his voice is iconic. The guitar reminds me of Alien Ant Farm, they have very similar tones. I like the bridge section a lot.
One Step Closer - Smash. Yeah I can understand how people would enjoy this song. This one is really good. I especially like the guitar, that shit sounds pretty great and has a lot of different style and tones involved. That shit's cool. The bridge "shut up" part is fucking excellent. I really enjoy this one.
With You - Smash. Nice and heavy with some weird ass guitar sounds at the beginning, love to fucking hear that. I can't tell who is singing here, sorry everyone I can't give insight into that. Yeah this song is pretty good but I liked One Step Closer more than this one.
Points of Authority - Smash. REALLY weird for me as a thrash metal guy to hear some fucking... what is that, scratching shit called? Turn tables or whatever it is? That's so foreign for me to hear. Pretty fucking cool though. This song is pretty good, I enjoy it more than With You. The guitar is extremely fucking groovy, I love to hear that. That line is so catchy. So far this is my favourite song just based on that one guitar line that is now stuck in my head.
Crawling - Smash. I've definitely fucking heard this song before. Makes complete sense, fucking 429 million plays on Spotify. That's absolutely insane. Yeah objectively this is a good song but I don't think this is a song I'd be super into. Like it's good, but I like the sexy ass metal songs with sexy ass guitar riffs. There seems to be a lack of that in this song, it's kind of more focused on the vocals- which is fine for this genre. For me though I much prefer instruments over vocals. Yeah objectively a good song though. No complaints from me.
Runaway - Smash. The guitar sounds pretty good. This is a very strange song to me though. This sounds pretty standard for the album though. It feels familiar to everything else I've heard so far. The breakdown / bridge I'm really not into though. Could have been executed much better but that's fine.
By Myself - Smash. The opening of this song is sick, I love that heavy ass guitar. Sounds great to me, even though this is one of the least listened to songs on the album on Spotify. This is heavy as fuck, and I really enjoy this one. It's much more my style. Almost though. The screaming is very nice to hear. I wouldn't give this song a medal though, I much preferred Points of Authority.
In the End - Smash. Of course I have heard this song a million times. Yeah this is a great song obviously but again- not my style of music. Super fucking catchy though. I mean this chorus I've heard hundreds of times. Do you know what's fucking crazy? This song has 1.5 billion plays on Spotify. Jesus fucking Christ that's NUTS. Anyway yeah it's a good song and I have absolutely nothing against it. I don't think I enjoy this song as much as I did Points of Authority however. Probably because the guitar is sidelined for this song- it's more about the piano.
A Place for My Head - Smash. Again with the turn table nonsense, so foreign to me. Sounds good though. Totally forgot there was a bassist in this band, so it's nice to hear him show up. Guitar sounds pretty good. The verses are pretty good but I think the song falls kind of flat during the chorus. The breakdown is VERY fucking good. Love that high action screamy shit. Very very good.
Forgotten - Smash. What a cool ass transition, I love how these two songs go so well together. Guitar is pretty cool, I like that ominous tone they use during the verse sections. The pre-chorus is kind of cool but I'm not super into the chorus. It's okay. Another breakdown / bridge section with some screaming, love to hear that.
Cure for the Itch - Pass. What the fuck is this shit? Some weird ass hip hop type of shit. I can't stand this. I want to go back to the cool ass metal songs. Like I said before how this isn't my style, this is EXACTLY what my style is not. I can't stand hip hop and rap and all that. This is just a straight up instrumental hip hop song and I hate it.
Pushing Me Away - Smash. Harmonics are really cool to hear, then straight into the heavy metal guitar. Love to hear that. Yeah this is another standard song for this album but it's just slower and less metal than everything else. It's fine though it reminds me a lot of Numb, even though that isn't on this album. Yeah objectively a good song.
Conclusion
I'm actually really proud of myself and of this review. I took an actual objective view and look at all the songs even though this isn't my style of music. This album is very good and I can understand it's impact it's had on the world and music in general. I think everyone in the band is very talented especially Chester, and I am happy to have heard this album. That being said however- I'm not into Linkin Park. They are not my style of music and even after enjoying this album, I wouldn't want to listen to them again. Maybe someday in the future I can do another review of another one of their albums if requested, but in my free time I won't be exploring them further.
RANK: A-
What are your guys thoughts? Any big Linkin Park fans here or am I just voicing into the open air? Whatever this was a fun review to do and I'm really happy I did it. It's nice to explore a little outside your comfort zone sometimes. What do you guys think? Leave your comments below, and I love you all. Happy Wednesday everyone.
- Sharky
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