Hybrid Theory

1	Papercut 3:05
2	One Step Closer 2:36
3	With You 3:23
4	Points of Authority 3:20
5	Crawling 3:29
6	Runaway 3:04
7	By Myself 3:10
8	In the End 3:36
9	Place for My Head 3:05
10	Forgotten 3:14
11	Cure for the Itch 2:37
12	Pushing Me Away 3:12

Barnes & Noble

Like 311, Los Angeles quintet Linkin Park use two vocalists to capture alternate ends of the sonic spectrum. Chester Bennington provides angst and vulnerability with his alt-rock roar, while Mike Shinoda offers rancor and rhythm through a percussive hip-hop delivery. But that's where any comparisons to 311 end. Linkin Park are much darker and more aggressive, peppering their songs with lurching rhythms, dissonant samples, and brash, down-tuned guitars. The band's debut, Hybrid Theory, is impressively cutting-edge, fusing the industrial assault of Stabbing Westward with the insurrectionary charge of Rage Against the Machine. As confrontational as songs such as "Papercut," "Points of Authority," and "By Myself" are, they're infused with enough melody to keep Linkin Park away from the blindly raging terrain of acts such as Slipknot and Mudvayne. And when the Park get kinda sensitive, as on "In the End," which blends delicate piano and soulful vocals with staccato raps and surging rhythms, they reach an entirely new level of hybrid. Jon Wiederhorn

All Music Guide

Linkin Park originally called itself Hybrid Theory and has retained that phrase for the title of its debut album. The "hybrid" in question is one of rap and metal. The guitars and drums lock into standard thrash patterns, over which singer Chester Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda alternate in furious expressions of rage and frustration. "One Step Closer," the track released to radio in advance of the album's release, is a typical effort, with lyrics like "Everything you say to me/Takes me one step closer to the edge/And I'm about to break." William Ruhlmann