Nick Ruskell, Kerrang!, Fall 2015
Korn invented it, Limp Bizkit exploded it, and Deftones gave it a brain. But no other band distilled, perfected and sold as much nu-metal as Linkin Park did with Hybrid Theory. See, Linkin Park weren't just grabbing a lift on a musical wave created towards the end of the century, they were becoming the masters of it.
Their rapping, low-down riffs, samples and lyrical angst came with something not a lot of other runners in the nu-metal race had: enormous songs perfect for the radio, the club dancefloor and the charts. Some eyed LP with suspicion - a bit too calculated, a bit too radio-friendly - but within a year, Hybrid Theory had sold over five million copies, and Linkin Park had become one of the biggest bands in rock. Celebrating 15 years since its release this year, it stands as one of the most important records of this century, sowing the seeds for a whole new generation of bands such as Bring Me The Horizon and Of Mice & Men to flourish.
What do you remember of the Hybrid Theory recording sessions?
Mike Shinoda (Vocals): "I remember it being a lot of work to get things together. Chester [Bennington, vocals] moved out to California from Arizona to join the band. It felt like we were all making a really big commitment. We came up against a lot of pressure from people trying to tell us what to do, though. They all wanted us to do this, do that, sound like this band or that band. We resisted and fought every step of the way so we could have the album we wanted."
It exploded pretty quickly - what was it like on those first tours?
"It's funny, because what I remember about that first tour was that it felt like it was constantly winter. We basically chased the winter around the world for two years! That was kind of hard. But I also remember, 'This is happening.' It was a strange feeling to have all that success come to you so quickly, but it was great as well."
Not all the critics liked the album at first. Did that affect you?
"People would say that we'd sold out, that we weren't this, we weren't that, but that just bounced off us, really. We were just being ourselves, playing the music we wanted to. Because of the success, we did question if we had 'sold out'. But we didn't compromise what we wanted to do, and we did it, so we were happy."
And finally, why not Lincoln Park?
"There's a Lincoln Park in every city in the States. When we changed the band name from Hybrid Theory, we spelled it so we could get the domain name!"
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