This is one of my older reviews. I didn't bother editing it, so enjoy it in its original state:
What happens when you combine rock, heavy metal, hip-hop and synthetic keyboards? Linkin Park's answer to this question is Hybrid Theory, their first full-length album. Another band that used a similar combination of music is earlier group Faith No More, and though Linkin Park isn't quite as "Epic," they still manage to make a unique and interesting meal from the same ingredients.
Linkin Park sound is hard as diamonds, with an extra dose of rhythm via hip-hop, though Chester Bennington's vocals do sort of detract from this feeling and his screams seems to fall short of intimidating. This is not so with Mike Shinoda, though, as his rapping fits perfectly.
The song flow also works really well. In fact it works so well that it seems like the band is playing the entire album, back-to-back, just for you. None of the songs are throwaway here, but some are still better than others. The most notable songs are "Papercut" and "One Step Closer," two very different songs that seems to go together very well, "Crawling," one of the singles, "By Myself," the only place where Bennington's screams truly work, "In the End," the closest thing Linkin Park has to a ballad on this album, "A Place for My Head," where Shinoda's rap skizizzles shine their brightest, "Forgotten," which should have been another single, and my favorite song, "Points of Authority," which takes the formula and produces the best product on the album.
Overall, perhaps I misjudged Linkin Park, because this album is original, interesting and actually very well done.
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