Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory Is An All-Time Classic! A Once In A Generation Album?! The Full Circle Album Review

Every other week (on average), I will review some of my favourite albums over the years on The Full Circle. And there is no better way to start with Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory. This is an album that I grew up listening to, and is a timeless classic. I give a summary review then track-by-track and create my Hybrid Theory Full Circle which is my 5 favourite songs from them (that one was so tough!)

What's your Hybrid Theory Top 5? Do you agree with my album review? Let me know in the comments and hope you enjoy my review of this timeless classic!

Linkin Park Hybrid Theory Full Circle Songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ou4d2kX6yJ9QdKVRlD2IY

Linkin Park Hybrid Theory In Full: https://open.spotify.com/album/6PFPjumGRpZnBzqnDci6qJ

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, my name is DC. I am the host of The Full Circle, a show where we link songs together with the last song linking back to the first song, hence completing the Full Circle. This week is an album review show, and I am going to talk about the very little known album, Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory. The full circle. With DC. This is the first time that I'm doing this as part of the main show. So alternate weeks I will be doing the normal show, and then these kind of episodes are going to be happening because I want to talk about my favourite albums over the years. I want to be talking about albums that I've grown up to, albums that have inspired me, albums that I think have turned me into who I am, essentially. And Lincoln Park are the perfect example of that. They are the band that they're like the gateway band. They're the band that got me into heavy music, into rock music, into metal music, into that genre of music. Hybrid theory, I know how many people love that album. And I was very lucky to hear it when it when it was out when I was, you know, then like nine years old. And it was something special, truly remarkable. A bit about my love for Lincoln Park. I'd hear them on the radio, I'd watch them on the music videos. It's such a shame that music videos don't exist to the same extent. And me and my friend, me and my mate Alex, we would sing the lyrics, rap the stuff, sing the choruses, we'd be kids and just enjoy it. And it was it was one of those just such nice moments in life. And I think the thing about Blink Apart, which I think also worked really well for them, is that they were clean, is that they didn't swear. They were a bit different to other quote-unquote new metal bands. And I think that was the cool thing about them. What I'm gonna try and do is I don't want it to be nostalgia. I want it to be as if I heard it for the first time. What what was my initial feelings for the first time I heard this album? Overall, I mean, I thought it was incredible. I just remember being wowed by the raps and the choruses, so catchy, so radio friendly, so accessible, just so easy to digest. I could play it for my family, so there was no worry about having to be like, oh this swears, I can't play it. What if what if I get in trouble? And it was just ah, it was just superb. Incredible album. Hearing it for the first time was was majestic. And hearing it since has been has been incredible as well. And that has an album that will never get old for me, and I'm sure it won't get old for a lot of you. So let's go through it track by track. So the first song is Paper Cut. Now, what a way to start the album off. The rap, the chorus, it's and the scratches, just so so good. Video is a bit creepy, but whatever. It's just an absolute banger to start the album off. Sets the tone right there. And at the time, I absolutely loved it, and I think it's a great album opener. Then you go to one step closer, which obviously now is just an absolute staple. Everyone knows, shut up when I'm talking to you. It's just a great, great sing-along song. Controversially at the time, I wasn't too fussed about it. And I think it makes sense because it was probably a bit less rappy and a bit more, yeah, a bit more rock, just rock focused, less on the rapid. And I guess, like I was saying back then, maybe must my interests and my tastes, as much as I'm into lots of dramas and music now, definitely rock is at the forefront for me. And I think that song, maybe at that time, was just not as interesting to me as some of the others who were on the album. And then we go on to with you. Oh, those the the DJ, the the scratching at the beginning. I think the Dust Brothers have a part to play in that one. Super fun. Really love that song. I think that's just a great again, classic Mike to chester combination. And yeah, a really solid song. That could have easily been a single, couldn't it? And then you've got Points of Authority, which they released the reanimation version as a single, which actually did well on the UK charts. But this version is so when I first so this is a weird one because when I first heard it, it was probably one of my favorites. And I remember sometimes I'd play Hyper Theory and Shuffle, and I put the CD in and I'd shuffle it, and I was listening to it with my mum, and I remember I the Poise of Authority. I thought I was like, Oh, you've got to wait for this one. Poise of Authority, it's so good. And then that was the last song. And I was like, This is the best song, Mum, this is the best song, and it was like one of her least favourite ones, and I was so disappointed, it was so funny, but yeah, I just remember that quite vividly. But interestingly, as much as I do like that song, I think my interest for it went a bit lower when they did Jay-Z and Lincoln Park, the collision course album, the collision course EP, and they did the Points of Authority 99s problem once it closer mashup. Now that is so good because the majority of it is points of authority essentially, and then Chester saying shut up on and a bit more rap in that on the second half. But ah, that that version then just makes the original Point of Authority not as interesting to me, but still a really, really good song. And then we go to Crawling, which is again just another fan favourite. Obviously, I do really like the song now. I think again, back then, just another song that I just wasn't as fussed about as maybe some of the others, like Paper Cut or some of the others we're gonna go into. It was just it was just like that. I can't explain it, but I mean it doesn't mean that I didn't dislike it. I still really, really liked it. It was just it's weird saying this now, because obviously now it all just oh my goodness. But back then, like I say, if I had to choose, I'd probably choose other songs over it to listen to if I had to put a song on repeat. With that song, they've obviously released the the anniversary, the anniversary vinyls, which I do have, when they released that, and if you're part of the underground, which I was and still am actually, they they released songs, they release demos. And one of those songs is called Blue, which is on the anniversary editions. Listen to Blue, and you'll notice at the end. Again, and that blue blue is really good, but at the end, you can see that they take a bit of that and put it on crawling, and that's yeah, and you can you can see that. So that's quite cool to see where the all the inspiration from how like other songs of this before turned into into into the songs that we know and love now. So then we've got Runaway, which was one of the songs that they made when they were called Zero, Stick and Move. And yeah, that's a good one. That's a really good one. I'm surprised that could have been a single again. All of these songs could have been singles, couldn't they? Fun, just catchy, like water dripping at the start. I think that's probably the reason why it didn't get released, because I always find like the beginning of crawling and the beginning of runaway sounded the same. So maybe that's why it didn't get released. It's like a little water dripping, but yeah, just the weird electronics. That's what made them so cool. Just the electronics. And that was uh that was a fun one. And then you've got probably one of my personal favourites by myself. I preferred non-singles because I don't know, I was always like, yeah, I like hearing the non-singles more. I like choosing songs that haven't been released more, and that's always been a thing of mine. And I think my view is if I don't like a song that hasn't been released more than a song that's been released, then I would argue that the album could have always been better. Because I always think that there should be at least one song that's like, hey, that should be kept as an album song and not released as a single. I get that you want to release your best songs as singles, but I don't know, there's just something special about finding a song that's just incredible and it hasn't been released, and I prefer that more to the singles. And by myself is definitely one of them. I remember Mike when they performed Hybrid Theory and Full At Dallas Festival, we were there. I remember when Mike did unfortunately not start the song, but yeah, it was it was it was great. It was great. Uh hearing that album alive is incredible, and that's one of my favourite songs, just again, classic Mike, Chester, Chester screaming, just oh so good. And then obviously, in the end, in the end, their most stream song, I think over three billion streams on Spotify. Incredible. And I was mentioning my mate Alex earlier, he always thought that Lincoln Park had sworn from the beginning because there was a line that says, when they fought with me, and he thought that it wasn't fought, he thought it was a different word. So he always thought that that they always said a said a swear word. Yeah, I I obviously they don't. And I I I've heard it back and I've never I can't hear that. Bless him, but you know, it is it's one of those, but yeah, such a tune, piano versus chorus, chester, oh that's just incredible. Great rapping, great singing. What a tune. And then the next one is Place for My Head, which I think at the time, and is it still now? Probably, but at the time it was probably my least favourite song. And it's not that I disliked it again. This is such a high threshold. This is the other thing, I'd always compare them to other songs on the album. I just wasn't as interested with this song as some of the others. It is what it is, but it's still I mean it's still a really good song, really, really good song. And then we've got Forgotten. I think that's probably my favourite song. That is so good from the top to the bottom, bottom top of a star. Oh, it's just so good. And I always remember that someone put on YouTube or somewhere like extended edition, and all it was was the ending of Place for My Head, which goes into Forgotten. They just took that little ending from a place from my head and just put it to the beginning of Forgotten, and they call that Forgotten Extended Edition. So it was like 10 seconds longer with that bit, and you're like, Come on, funny. I mean, it's clever. I guess it technically it they have extended it, but it was like, oh come on, that's a bit of a joke. And then the most different song on the album, Cure for the Itch, have a think about it. DJ Hahn doing some DJing, doing some scratching. That's that's I just love it. I mean, some people probably will say oh, it's a weak song because it's so different, but I just think it was a welcome change of pace and it fits the album so well. Yeah, Mr. Hahn, what a legend. And he completely completely kills it in that song, and I think, yeah, I think he really did, really did cure the itch very well, didn't he? Cure the itch very well indeed. And then last but not least, pushing me away, a great ending, a beautiful one. And I love when Mike goes for, you know, we're all out of time, this is terrified. You know, it's just such a such a great way to end the album. And I think it's funny because now people would say that that album was short back then. Now that's that's the norm. That's the norm, isn't it? I mean, apparently 12 songs these days are seen as too long, which I don't know, it's just something I can't comprehend. But incredible 12 songs, genuinely no filler, it's an absolute once-in-a-generation album. An album that I will always adore. Lincoln Park has a played a huge part in my personality. I actually found out the other day that when people maybe feel a little bit low or just need something to relax to anything, they might play some Lincoln Park, and that doesn't surprise me because they do just make incredible music that you can just chill out to and just enjoy and just put a smile on your face. And hybrid theory started it all off. Just an incredible album. And if I were to create a full circle and choose the best, my what I think is the best five songs, so the first song would be Papercut. I'm gonna do an album order. So the first song would be Paper Cut, and then I would go for By Myself as the second song, and then I would go for In the End as the third song, and then I would go for Forgotten as the fourth song, and then I would go for Cure for the Itch as the last song. Hence completing the full circle album review of Lincoln Parks Hybrid Theory. Yay! Thank you so much for checking out this album review. If you liked it, give it a cheeky little comment and say you liked it. Give it a cheeky little subscribe or rating if you can. And please do check out the proper show. That's a bit mean. I think this is part of the proper show now because it's part of the weekly release. But just check out all the shows that go up. And if you like this, just carry on checking it out. It means a lot. Thank you so so much. Just remember this stay safe. Don't eat beef.