This album of the week comes from some pretty sucky news of Chester Bennington, lead singer of Linkin Park, passing away. After the news dropped people from all over the place started to post about the nostalgia they had with Linkin Park and how the music helped shaped who they are, even today. I’m no different.

To celebrate the legacy of Chester and Linkin Park we decided to do their debut album, Hybrid Theory. This album came out in the year 2000 and was a straight up landmark album for anyone in middle school and high school. What made this album so great was it’s ability to further bridge the gap between rap and rock, of the time. It accomplished what the typical nu metal bands couldn’t do, mostly because Linkin Park wasn’t goofy and actually took themselves seriously.

linkin park

What furthered Linkin Park into the light was the lyrical ability of vocalist Mike Shinoda to incorporate angsty lyrical themes within his rhymes. His “emo” style is still copied today. Not saying that Linkin Park invented the RapRock scene because that genre had been established before but Linkin Park really brought it to the mass and made it really accessible to so many people.

The entire album is so heavy both in music and content. Songs like In The End show off their ability to soften the load but still come out swinging with heavy lyrics.

To say the nostalgia is strong with this one is a sort of an understatement. To say that Chester had an indirect impact on so many lives would also be an understatement. Lastly, to say that listening to this albums brings back nothing but happy memories would be an understatement. RIP Chester.