Rock N' Roll's arguably one of the most popular and impactful band Linkin Park has always had a greater influence on most of the music lovers and musicians alike. In 2000, when the band's debut album "Hybrid Theory" made its breakthrough entry to the charts, it saw the band rising to be one of the most commercially successful band of the past three decades. Selling over 27 million copies worldwide and earning them major promising accolades, "Hybrid Theory" still remains as a crown prince of rock n' roll in terms of a hard hitting album.
The actual story behind the album goes somewhat like this, In 1996 what started out as a rap rock band Xero, by lead guitarist Brad Delson, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mike Shinoda, drummer Rob Bourdon, turntablist Joe Hahn, lead vocalist Mark Wakefield and bassist Dave Farrell would later recruit Chester Bennington as the vocalist after Wakefield's departure from the band after Bennington's then band Grey Daze was disbanded, so his lawyer recommended him to Jeff Blue, vice president of A&R coordination for Zomba, who at the time was seeking a lead vocalist for Xero. Blue sent Bennington two tapes of Xero's unreleased recordings — one with vocals by former Xero member Mark Wakefield, and the other with only the instrumental tracks — asking for his "interpretation of the songs". Bennington wrote and recorded new vocals over the instrumentals and sent the tapes back to Blue. 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 joined, the group first renamed itself to Hybrid Theory and released a self-titled EP. Legal complications with Welsh electronic music group Hybrid prompted a second name change, thus deciding on "Linkin Park". Throughout 1999, Linkin Park was a regular act at the Los Angeles club, The Whisky.
The album in term of its song writing and composition drew inspiration from acts like Depeche Mode, Deftones, Stone Temple Pilots and Guns N' Roses to name a few. 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 been described as nu metal, rap metal, rap rock, alternative metal, and alternative rock.
However, what makes this album special was the idea of incorporating different genres ranging from Hip-Hop, metal, hard rock, Punk to electronic music into one and the angsty attitude of it substantial lyrical content.
And so, today in its 20th anniversary, we'd love to thank Linkin Park and the "Hybrid Theory" for making our childhood a memorable one.
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