Released two years after Hybrid Theory, the band invited some of their DJ and rapper mates to reinvent the record, with varying degrees of success. The criminally underrated With You (with Chester’s cathartic, guttural ‘ With youuuuuuuuuuuuu’), the joyous ‘ Hoo-hah!’ in Forgotten, the electro-wizardry of Cure For The Itch… this is more than an album of four mega-singles.Īway from the record proper, we find ourselves in the midst of its kind-of sister album, Reanimation. And while it’s always great to hear the pained wails of Crawling, the simply timeless In The End, and nu-metal aggro of One Step Closer, there’s still so much below the surface. From the opening pulses of Papercut, few records strike at the heart of what it means to be cutting edge, the sound of a band determined to shake things up, pulling from influences as diverse as Depeche Mode and DJ Shadow. Listening to Hybrid Theory today is just as exhilarating as it was in 2000. Building on the foundations of their peers in Deftones and Korn, Linkin Park ’s debut had the accessibility turned up to 11, with shimmering production and lyrics so infectious you’d need gloves to handle them.Īnd, to mark two whole decades since its release, Linkin Park have opened their vault to bring us a chonking great six-record box set that follows the embryonic stages of the band – originally known as Xero – to the brain-mangling 2002 remix album Reanimation. Merging the worlds of hip-hop and electronica (previously seen as enemies) with rock and metal, this ‘hybrid’ felt fresh, energising and the perfect sound to usher in a new millennium. It was that perfect gateway drug for millions of teens around the globe to discover alternative music through its monumental hooks, bouncing beats and the unstoppable, never-bettered vocal interplay between Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda. It’s not hyperbolic to say that Hybrid Theory is one of the most important rock albums of all time.
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