Hybrid Theory is essentially a crafted blend of nu-metal, grunge, alternative rock and electronic styles. What makes this blend so special is that these styles had all been developing in mainstream and underground scenes throughout the 90s, with Linkin Park taking them all in and putting them forward in a radio friendly album. The notion of which I’m sure would turn some heads to scorn at. However, the difference with Hybrid Theory is that it seems constantly aware of its intended viability, and as such it treats itself accordingly by not throwing any ideas out there to change the game but instead giving a consolidated interpretation of the past decade’s most popular styles, all filtered through ear-grabbing pop production.
The result is a collection of tracks that may not have aged well in concept, but have seemingly resonated with audiences and influenced pop production since their inception. "Papercut" and "One Step Closer" are both nu metal inspired bangers, however instead of delving into the usual nu tropes of blind rage and excessive profanity, these songs take a more emotional lyrical approach. Vocalist Chester Bennington displays a hearty sense of power in his voice, as years of sex and drug abuse are channelled through his screams. Opposing the nu metal sound is the more pop oriented tracks, with In The End and Crawling being huge standouts, the latter of which was the bane of copyright-stricken Youtube videos in 2008. Both tracks work incredibly well as singles, with In The End essentially being a pop song to showcase every aspect of Linkin Park’s sound; the combination of Mike’s rapping with Chester’s chorus vocals that scream of struggle and failure, bolstered by Linkin Park’s inclusion of gritty distorted guitars and turntable scratching. In The End is as much of a surface level example of Linkin Park’s sound as you can get, with elements of the track having seemingly seeped their way into mainstream music following its success. Any top 40 rap song during the 00s had to have a cleanly-sung chorus hook as a result. Meanwhile the vocal stuttering, whilst clearly a product of its time, continues to be used in pop songs to this day. Tracks like In The End might be considered an entry-level song for Linkin Park’s sound and the genres it takes influence from, but in reality that’s the exact point of the song and the band thoroughly knew that. They do experiment slightly with their sound on tracks such as the guitar-driven “A Place For My Head” or the turntablist behemoth “Cure For The Itch” but the band never go too far outside their comfort zone to keep the album commercially viable. Linkin Park knew that people would come to this album without having an inkling of the genres of which they were influenced by, and they played their cards accordingly by giving them what they wanted and in a way, needed to hear.
In reality, what Linkin Park was doing in the US wasn’t too different to what Damon Albarn was doing with Gorillaz in the UK. Gorillaz sounded like a melting pot of the brit pop and hip hop styles of the 90s, the likes of which made the band instantly viable to younger audiences, no less helped by their visual counterpart. Personally, I would never have delved deeper into brit pop or the wider branches of indie music if it wasn’t for Gorillaz, and the same could be said about my love for Linkin Park getting me into heavier and alternative music, as well as hip hop.
Hybrid Theory completely sold me on Linkin Park when I was younger, and they soon became my favourite band as a result. For me, the album acted like a gateway towards the music I would soon get into. Metal, grunge, 90s hip hop and electronic music were all styles that I would soon discover as a result of this album’s infectiousness. So at the age of 21, when I watch videos of Mike Shinoda talk about the influences of Linkin Park, three years after Chester’s death, it comes as no surprise to hear him talk about how the Public Enemy and Anthrax 1991 tour influenced him to start blending rap and rock music. Or how the sound of Hybrid Theory was influenced by the chaos of The Refused’s “Shape of Punk To Come”, or how the stuttering effects on the album’s vocals were influenced by the glitchy electronica of Aphex Twin’s “Richard D. James Album”. These are all artists that I naturally got invested in over my years of interest in music, all of which were unknowingly the result of my love for Hybrid Theory.
I can talk all day about the appreciation I have for this album and what it showed me at such a young age, but what I really want to take away from it is the fact that we shouldn’t immediately ignore a popular album or band just because they are commercially viable. I’d argue that bands like Bring Me The Horizon have been doing a similar thing over the past ten years, with Oli Sykes even citing Linkin Park as an influence multiple times. Sure, they weren’t the first to do what they did and they might not even be the best at doing it, but they can bring that sound to a large audience and keep that audience hooked. Of course these bands and the trends that they follow will all eventually die out, but their impact at the time can bring you onto something you’ve never heard before. We can all cringe at the attempts of popular artists such as Billie Eilish and Yungblud to emulate alternative artists of the past in what seems like soulless, manufactured pop music. However, whilst I and many others do not enjoy their music, I think we should appreciate these artists for making it easier for younger audiences to get into the alternative music that influenced them, just like Linkin Park did with Hybrid Theory twenty years ago.
