Information about Hybrid Theory

Hybrid Theory
Studio album by Linkin Park
Released	October 24 2000 April 9, 2002 (Special Edition)
Recorded	March - June 2000 at NRG Recordings in North Hollywood, California
Genre	Nu metal, electronica
Length	37:51
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Don Gilmore
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Rolling Stone (12/07/2000) link Q Magazine (1/01, p.111) Melody Maker (11/14/00, p.51) Sputnikmusic link
Linkin Park chronology
Hybrid Theory EP (1999) Hybrid Theory (2000) LP Underground 1.0 EP (2001)
Alternate cover
Special Edition cover
Singles from Hybrid Theory
# "One Step Closer" Released: February 13, 2001# "Crawling" Released: May 1, 2001# "Papercut" Released: June 18, 2001# "In The End" Released: November 20, 2001

Hybrid Theory is the debut album by the American nu metal band Linkin Park. Released on October 24, 2000 by Warner Bros. Records, Hybrid Theory received much critical acclaim and proved to be a commercial success worldwide, peaking at #2 in the U.S. Billboard 200 and charting in eleven other countries. The album also helped Linkin Park to achieve themselves as one of the leading bands in the nu metal scene.

Hybrid Theory also produced four hit singles “One Step Closer”, the Grammy Award-winning “Crawling”, “Papercut” and “In The End”. The diamond-certified album has sold 24 million copies^[1] worldwide as of 2006, making it the highest selling debut album of the twenty-first century and remains the band's best-selling album.

Background

In 1996, Xero was formed by Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson, who recruited DJ Joe Hahn, drummer Rob Bourdon, bassist Dave “Phoenix” Farrell and then-vocalist Mark Wakefield.^[2] Wakefield resigned, however, due to the group's failure to achieve mainstream success and eventually became the manager of Taproot. Later Farrell would also leave to tour with the Tasty Snax.^[3]

During this time, Xero inquired through Zomba's Vice President of A&R co-ordination, Jeff Blue, for a new vocalist. Blue came up with positive results about Phoenix native Chester Bennington, originally of the band Grey Daze, who impressed him with his unique and vivid singing style. ^[4] Reflecting about Bennington, Delson elaborated that “He really was kind of the final piece of the puzzle [...] We didn't see anything close to his talent in anybody else.”<ref name="rhythm" />

Soon after, the band renamed themselves as Hybrid Theory and released a self-titled EP. However, after resolving a copyright issue with electronic music producers Hybrid, they mutually decided on the name Linkin Park, suggested by Bennington who mentioned a park in Santa Monica known as Christine Emerson Reed Park, which was then named “Lincoln Park”.^[5][6] Linkin Park had produced a nine-track demo that was sent to various recording companies in 1999.^[7] Initially, they faced denial from most recording companies, and were even blacklisted by some. During this time, Warner Bros. Records expressed interest in the band. Jeff Blue also joined the label after resigning from Zomba.^[4] This move saw a definite record contract signing for the band.^[8]

Recording and production

After facing initial struggles to find a producer willing to take charge of a newly signed band, they found Don Gilmore.<ref name="band bio" /> Most of the songs were remakes of the songs off of the nine-track demo recording (see remade tracks) below. The rap sections in most of the songs had undergone the most significant changes, with most of the choruses remaining similar.^[9] Four weeks were dedicated to re-recording the tracks. Some re-recorded songs were partially reminiscent of the tracks that were featured on the Xero sample tape. A noticeable aspect in almost all of the songs is Brad Delson's Drop D tunings.^[10] Due to the absence of the bassist, Dave Farrell, the band hired Scott Koziol and Ian Hornbeck as stand-ins. Delson also played bass in a majority of songs. The Dust Brothers provided additional beats for the track “With You”. After recording was completed, Andy Wallace mixed the tracks.

Track listing

1. "Papercut" – 3:04
2. "One Step Closer" – 2:36
3. "With You" – 3:23
4. "Points of Authority" – 3:20
5. "Crawling" - 3:30
6. "Runaway" (Mark Wakefield, Linkin Park) – 3:04
7. "By Myself" – 3:09
8. "In the End" – 3:37
9. "A Place for My Head" – 3:04
10. "Forgotten" – 3:14
11. "Cure for the Itch" – 2:37
12. "Pushing Me Away" – 3:12

Bonus disc

1. "Papercut" (Live at Docklands Arena, London) - 3:13
2. "Points of Authority" (Live at Docklands Arena, London) - 3:30
3. "A Place for My Head" (Live at Docklands Arena in London) - 3:11
4. "My December" - 4:20
5. "High Voltage" (Remix) - 3:45

Remade tracks

The majority of Hybrid Theory's tracks are represented by remakes of older songs and demos, which the band recorded between 1997 and 1999. In some cases, the songs were almost completely rewritten keeping few of their original elements.

• "One Step Closer" (originally entitled "Plaster");
• "With You" (originally entitled "Now I See");
• "Points of Authority" (originally entitled "Points & Authority");
• "Crawling" (of which a demo was recorded under their previous name Hybrid Theory);
• "Runaway" (which draws its main riff from the older "Stick N' Move" from Xero);
• "By Myself" (whose original title "SuperXero", was the first name for the group);
• "In The End" (originally entitled "The Untitled");
• "A Place for My Head" (originally entitled "Esaul");
• "Forgotten" (originally entitled "Rhinestone" when the band was called "Xero").

The rap sections in most of the songs had undergone the most significant changes, with many of the choruses remaining similar. The songs written when the band was known as Xero are also changed more significantly than those from the Hybrid Theory band name era.

One track that was cut from the album was the remake of "High Voltage". The song's original version had been featured on Hybrid Theory EP. The updated version appeared on the second disc of Hybrid Theory Special Edition. It is believed that the song was meant to be track twelve on the album, between "Cure for the Itch" and "Pushing Me Away", because "Cure for the Itch" and "High Voltage" seem to be transitional (like most tracks from 2003's Meteora).

In 2002 an entire remix album was made for Hybrid Theory entitled Reanimation. It featured reinterpretations of every song on Hybrid Theory as well as the special edition bonus tracks "High Voltage" and "My December".

Personnel

All songs written by the members of Linkin Park, with occasional collaboration stated below. Mark Wakefield and David Farrell contributed to earlier versions of several songs before each of their departures from the band.

• Chester Bennington - Vocals
• Mike Shinoda - Vocals, Emcee, Guitar, Keyboard, Engineer, Sampling, Digital Editing, Beats, Drawing, Sketches, Producer (My December & High Voltage)
• Brad Delson - Guitar, Bass
• Rob Bourdon - Drums
• Ian Hornbeck - Bass on "Papercut", "A Place for My Head" and "Forgotten"
• Scott Koziol - Bass on "One Step Closer"
• Joseph Hahn - Turntables, Sampling, Illustrations, Drawing, Sketches
• David Farrell - Co-writing credits on "Place For My Head" and "Runaway"
• Mark Wakefield - Co-writing credits on "Runaway", "Place for My Head" and "Forgotten".
• The Dust Brothers - Additional Beats on "With You", programming
• Brian Gardner - Digital Editing, Mastering
• Don Gilmore - Producer, Engineer
• Steve Sisco - Engineer
• Andy Wallace - Mixing
• James Minchin - Photography
• Matt Griffin - Assistant Engineer
• Jeff Blue - Executive Producer, A&R'''

Chart performance

Album

Chart	Peak position	Certification (if Any)	Shipments
Billboard 200[11]	#2	Diamond
UK Top 40[12]	#4	3x Platinum
Swedish Top 60[13]	#4
Italian Album Chart[13]	#2
New Zealand RIANZ[15]	#1	5x Platinum	75,000+
Austria[16]	#2
Finland [17]	#4
Poland [18]		Platinium	50,000
Switzerland[19]	#5
Mexican Top 100 Albums		Platinum[20]	150,000+

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2000	One Step Closer	Modern Rock Tracks	#5
2000	One Step Closer	Mainstream Rock Tracks	#4
2000	One Step Closer	Billboard Hot 100	#75
2001	Crawling	Billboard Hot 100	#79
2001	Crawling	Mainstream Rock Tracks	#3
2001	Crawling	Modern Rock Tracks	#5
2001	In the End	Modern Rock Tracks	#1 (5 weeks)
2001	In the End	Mainstream Rock Tracks	#3
2001	In the End	Billboard Hot 100	#2
2002	In the End	Adult Top 40	#15
2002	Papercut	Modern Rock Tracks	#32
2002	In the End	Top 40 Mainstream	#1
2002	In the End	Top 40 Tracks	#2
2002	In the End	Top 40 Adult Recurrents	#9
2002	Runaway	Mainstream Rock Tracks	#37
2002	Runaway	Modern Rock Tracks	#40

References

External links

• Hybrid Theory at Discogs
• Hybrid Theory official lyrics page

•  • [ e] Linkin Park
Chester Bennington Rob Bourdon Brad Delson Dave "Phoenix" Farrell Joe Hahn Mike Shinoda
Discography
Studio albums: Hybrid Theory Meteora Minutes to Midnight
Other releases: Hybrid Theory EP Reanimation Live in Texas Collision Course
Singles
"One Step Closer" "Crawling" "Papercut" "In the End" "Pts.OF.Athrty" "Frgt/10" "Somewhere I Belong" "Faint" "Numb" "From the Inside" "Lying From You" "Breaking the Habit" "Numb/Encore" "Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying From You" "What I've Done" "Bleed It Out" "Shadow of the Day"
Other notable songs
"A Place for My Head" "Cure for the Itch" "It's Goin' Down" "P5hng Me A*wy"
Videography
Frat Party at the Pankake Festival The Making of Meteora Live in Texas Breaking the Habit Collision Course Minutes to Midnight
Related articles
Dead By Sunrise Fort Minor Grey Daze Julien-K Linkin Park Underground Machine Shop Recordings Music for Relief Projekt Revolution Relative Degree Styles of Beyond Tasty Snax Xero