Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park > Reviews > A style of music for everyone .. almost!

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Raw, Energetic  .  .  .  .  Excellent Album
Disadvantages:	Loud and crazy !  !  !  !  !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

"Hybrid Theory" by Linkin Park

This is an exceptional album, and if you are into Linkin Park then this has to be a must!

I hadn't listened to this album for a while until quite recently one I was journeying from Liverpool back to Derby. I was sat at traffic lights wondering what to listen to because the radio was a little boring and I picked it up out of the many CDs accompanying the revolver in my glove box ... ! (Joke before any Coppers try to track me down! Good luck, as I never seem to be in the country at the moment anyway!! haha)

Straight into the CD player it went, ejecting the Hed Kandi CD I had been listening to for about the last 3 weeks, thinking time for something new and something different.

Linkin Park, HYBRID THEORY, is a perfect selection of music for driving. It is an album that is raw, energetic, kinetic, and fully of emotion. If I had long hair, it would be one of those albums that would give you very bad neck ache the next day, as your head beats back and forth throwing those long locks all over the room. Lucky I have a skinhead really, because such action could be deemed rather dangerous when driving!!

This is the kind of album that provides an instant adrenalin rush and captures a mix of difficult musical genres, managing to very successfully blend rap, indie, rock, metal, and electronica dance. There seems to be a theme with many of the albums I have bought in the past and it's based upon taking a punt …. Often I like one song that much that I take a chance on the album, and this was one such album, but thankfully the gamble paid off. It doesn't always do so though! I remember purchasing "The Best of Extreme" because I love "More Than Words", but the remainder of the album is not what I was expecting!

Officially, I think the Californian based band are described as "nu-metal", but I don't tend to take much note of all the sub musical genres that appear to have sprung up over the last couple of years. Linkin Park are one of the fabulous examples of modern day music who succeed in breaking down the musical boundaries and span their wings across a number of musical spectrums and genres. It is unusual for such a band to include both a singer and a rapper, Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington. The album is produced by Don Gilmore of Pearl Jam fame.

1) "Papercut" (3:05) ~ Starts with drum beats, a keyboard riff and heavy metal type guitar intro, before the introduction of the rapper and then singer. The blend of different styles is very evident from the start of the album and this is a great track to start the proceedings, featuring heavy guitar riffs and synthetic sounds whipped up together to create a storming opening track, and fusing rap and singing across one another at various stages of the song.

2) "One Step Closer" (2:35) ~ The second track starts with an enticing heavy guitar riff, typical of a more heavy metal band, as the vocal talents of "Everything you say to me …. Takes me one step closer to the edge … I'm about to break!". This is a very vocally raw track with the elements of singing shouting that is typically associated with death metal. Now, although this is certainly not to my taste usually, it just works!

3) "With You" (3:23) ~ Begins with the rapper, turntable scratching and synthetic sounds, before the introduction of the heavy guitar riffs, and then back to the rap with synthetic sounds, before the raw singing vocal and heavy guitar sounds enter the fray. It's a great track that moves from one style to the other, melodic one moment and crazy the next.

4) "Points of Authority" (3:20) ~ A very synthetic opening to the track, followed by rap and a very mixed up guitar riff and percussion beats …. Before the singing kicks in.. "You like to think your never wrong…"

5) "Crawling" (3:29) ~ Probably one of the most well known Linkin Park tracks and a definite highlight. Starts with very light synthesising sounds for about 20 seconds, before the a quick guitar strum introduces the lead raw vocal "Crawling in my skin … these wounds they will not heal … fear is how I fall … confusing what is real"

The rap the kicks in… "There's something in me that crawls beneath the surface…"

This is a fabulous mix of different genres, which is very raw and energetic and generates adrenalin in the listener, provided you like the style of music that is!

6) "Runaway" (3:03) ~ Synthesisers and light percussion introduce this track, followed by a heavy guitar sequence, and then back to synthesisers, before the load vocal begins.

"I wanna run away, never say goodbye…"

Again, a fusion of different styles, switching between more melodic synthetic sounds back to metallic guitar sequences and raw vocals, interspersed with rap. Plenty of metal shouting vocals in this track also, which add to the mayhem. The kind of track that my parents would hate!

7) "By Myself" (3:09) ~ Mental from the beginning with a good 10 seconds of heavy guitar riffs and heavy percuission, before synthesisers give the song a more melodic feel, and the rap starts, then the mayhem begins again….

"I can't hold on … it's all too much to take in…"

8) "In The End" (3:36) ~ The song I bought the album on the strength of. It begins with a great keyboard introduction and then the rap .. "It starts with … one thing …"

The keyboard intro continues throughout the track and is the hook for this particular track. This track is a fusion between hip-hop, rap, electronica dance and metal. The vocal is strong and probably more melodic at times than any of the other tracks on the album. The guitar playing is not as hard as on the other tracks, more within the rock genre, and the drumming is more varied.

A great track, which finishes where the rack started, with an outplay of the keyboard

9) "Place For My Head" (3:04) ~ Starts with a corking guitar riff that is followed by a mix of percussion beats and turntable scratching, before the rapping kicks in and the initial guitar riff continues. The tone and tempo change to a heavy sequence of guitar sounds when the song kicks in, and the track inter-changes between the lighter and heavy sounds when the rap and singing switch.

10) "Forgotten" (3:14) ~ Another track that is mental from the beginning, with heavy guitar riffs and a mix of rapping and singing right form the beginning. The tone changes 20 seconds in and like many of the songs, mixes a lighter blend of synthetic sounds and guitar riffs with rap, before heavier percussion and guitar riffs in the change to singing.

11) "Cure For The Itch" (2:37) ~ Starts with someone coughing and spluttering, as an MC introduces the music. This song provides a mix of excellent turntable scratching that Mix Master Mike of Beastie Boys fame would be fairly proud of. This song is full of samples, mixed up percussion beats, and synthetic noises, blended nicely with piano riffs for a track without any rap or singing. This is a great track and you could be mistaken for thinking it was The Prodigy or The Beastie Boys themselves.

12) "Pushing Me Away" (3:11) ~ A light synthetic intro, with chiming keyboards sounds before a short heavy burst of guitar, and a much softer vocal than is evident on most of the other tracks. The rap on this track is generally always interplayed with the lead vocal. The chorus is more in keeping with the rest of the album, changing tempo completely from the verses of the song.

I must admit that I found myself being very surprised that I actually enjoyed this album and it's one I don't really listen to enough. But, as I have in excess of 320 CD's, it's difficult to listen to them all!! My iPod tells me that the 4,165 songs I have loaded on my iPod constitute 275.4 days of listening, so on that premis, I think most people do not generally listen too much of their musical collection.

I have listened to about 10 albums today, 3 of which I have reviewed this evening! All of which are quite diverse as well 1!

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading, I'm gonna go and watch Final Destination 3 with Little Big Brother! (One down from me, but one up from Little Bro!)

Newty