With the rapidly-growing popularity of file-sharing sites Napster and Limewire gifting a generation of kids access to every type of music all at once – rather than just what was played on the radio or what their pocket-money could afford – ‘Hybrid Theory’ was the perfect, angst-riddled introduction to everything, all at once. Released October 24 2000, it crashed into a mainstream that was just starting to shrug off the idea of genre boundaries and proved that music could be vulnerable, furious and play by its own rules. More than just the jewel in nu-metal’s checkered crown, the record, which turns 20 this month, kicked down walls between genres and opened up a realm of possibility for teenagers around the world. Everyone from Billie Eilish and Brockhampton to Twenty One Pilots, Bring Me The Horizon and Yungblud owes a debt to Linkin Park’s revolutionary debut album. It’s also one of the most influential albums of all time, in any genre. A furious blend of hip-hop swagger, rock catharsis, pop ambition and electronic escapism, ‘Hybrid Theory’ is the most important rock album of the past two decades.
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