Hybrid Theory

Hybrid Theory (stylized as [HYBRID THEORY] ) is the debut studio album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000, by Warner Bros. Records. 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 eventual divorce of his parents. Hybrid Theory takes its title from the previous name of the band as well as the concepts of music theory and combining different styles. It is also the band's only album in which bassist Dave "Phoenix" Farrell does not play, though he was credited as a band member and a songwriter on two tracks.

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.

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 Recording Industry Association of America (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 one of the best-selling albums of all time. It is the second best selling rock album of the 21st century in the United Kingdom. At the 44th Grammy Awards, it won Best Hard Rock Performance for "Crawling". 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 released at the same time.

Background

High school friends Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon formed the rap rock band Xero in 1996. After their graduation, they recruited Joe Hahn, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell and Mark Wakefield to perform in the band. Though limited in resources, the band began recording and producing songs within Shinoda's makeshift bedroom studio in 1996, resulting in a four-track demo album, entitled Xero, released in November 1997. Delson, who by that point was a student at UCLA, then introduced the band to Jeff Blue, the vice president of A&R for Zomba Music, whom he had interned for in college. Blue immediately took interest in the band, but this did not produce a record deal. After watching a Xero performance in 1998, he believed the band needed a different vocalist. Frustrated with the lack of label success, Wakefield and Farrell left the band.

Blue was recommended Arizona-based vocalist Chester Bennington, formerly of Grey Daze. Blue called Bennington on March 20, 1999, his 23rd birthday, and sent him tapes of Xero's unreleased recordings the following day. One contained vocals by Wakefield, and the other consisted of only the instrumental tracks — with Blue asking for Bennington's "interpretation of the songs". Bennington wrote and recorded new vocals over the instrumentals and sent the tapes back to Blue. By March 23, Bennington was in Los Angeles auditioning for Xero. The band auditioned numerous people for the vocalist job, with Shinoda later admitting the group's visual impression of Bennington initially led to concerns about his image, though Bennington clearly was the best performer among the candidates. As Delson recalls, "[Bennington] really was kind of the final piece of the puzzle [...] We didn't see anything close to his talent in anybody else."

After Bennington officially got the job, the five members renamed the band Hybrid Theory. Bassist Kyle Christner was then recruited on a temporary basis; with these members, the group released a self-titled EP. Through a street team, the EP was mainly promoted through internet chat-rooms and forums. In October 1999, Christner left the group. The vacancy was filled by Scott Koziol and Ian Hornbeck, who alongside Delson all contributed bass tracks for the band's recordings. Still unsigned, the band once again turned to Blue, who by that point had left Zomba and had become vice president of Warner Bros. Records; by November 1999, the band had been signed to a contract. The band changed their name again, deciding on "Linkin Park".

Writing and recording

The music that would ultimately become the Hybrid Theory album was first produced by Linkin Park in 1999 as a nine-track demo tape. The band sent this tape to various recording companies and played forty-two different showcases for recording industry representatives, including performances for Los Angeles promoter and impresario, Mike Galaxy's showcase at The Gig on Melrose. However, they were initially turned down by most of the major labels and several independent record labels. The band was signed by Warner Bros. Records in 1999, due in large part to the constant recommendations of Blue, who had joined the label after resigning from Zomba.

Despite initial difficulties in finding a producer willing to take charge of the debut album of a newly signed band, Don Gilmore ultimately agreed to head up the project, with Andy Wallace hired as the mixer. Recording sessions, which mostly involved re-recording the songs off the demo tape, began at NRG Recordings in North Hollywood, California in March 2000 and lasted four months. Shinoda's rapping sections in most of the songs were significantly altered from the original, while most choruses remained largely unchanged. Due to the absence of Dave Farrell and Kyle Christner, who took part in the 1999 extended play, the band hired Scott Koziol and Ian Hornbeck as stand-in bassists; Delson also played bass throughout most of the album. The Dust Brothers provided additional beats for the track "With You".

Shinoda and Bennington wrote the lyrics of Hybrid Theory based in part on early demos with Mark Wakefield. Shinoda characterized the lyrics as interpretations of universal feelings, emotions, and experiences, and as "everyday emotions you talk about and think about." Bennington later described the songwriting experience to Rolling Stone in early 2002:

It's easy to fall into that thing — 'poor, poor me', that's where songs like 'Crawling' come from: I can't take myself. But that song is about taking responsibility for your actions. I don't say 'you' at any point. It's about how I'm the reason that I feel this way. There's something inside me that pulls me down.

Composition

The music of Hybrid Theory draws from diverse inspirations. Bennington's singing style is influenced by acts such as Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots, while the riffs and playing techniques of guitarist Brad Delson are modeled after Deftones, Guns N' Roses, U2, and The Smiths. The lyrical content of the songs primarily touches upon the problems that Bennington encountered during his childhood, including constant and excessive drug and alcohol abuse, the divorce of his parents, isolation, disappointments, and the aftermath feelings of failed relationships. Stylistically, the album has mostly been described as nu metal, rap metal, or rap rock, but sometimes also as alternative metal, alternative rock, or hard rock.

The album eventually produced four singles. "One Step Closer", the album's second track and first single, was gradually recorded in increments after Linkin Park struggled with "Runaway", and features a guitar riff and electronic percussion in the introduction transitioning into a bridge with distortion-heavy guitars and aggressive drums. It is also famous for the "Shut up when I'm talkin' to you!" refrain screamed by Bennington one minute and 48 seconds into the song. The music video for "One Step Closer" was shot in a Los Angeles subway and became an instant hit, eventually receiving heavy rotation on MTV and other music television networks. Stand-in bassist Scott Koziol is shown performing with the band in the video.

The second single was "Crawling", which Bennington described as "about feeling like I had no control over myself in terms of drugs and alcohol."

"Papercut" was the album's third single, and its lyrics describe paranoia. The music video for "Papercut" features the band performing in a hallway opposite a completely dark room on the walls of which are scribbled the song's lyrics. Various supernatural themes are present in the video, and special effects are used to create eerie renditions, such as the "stretching" of Shinoda's fingers and the "melting" of Bourdon's face.