Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory (2000)

Limp Bizkit's newest piece of info promises that the wait till June 27 is going to be worth it.They have said that " the new album has so many great riffs and grooves, peaks and valleys, attitude and flow...". Still turns out June 27 is still around a month and a half away, and as a continuation of the series started last week, today I'll be making your life richer for sure by writing about Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park's 2000 debut.

Now, as far as debuts go, this could be one of the best ever.Seriously.It had everything- attitude, powerful lyrics, revolutionary music & let us not forget the 'soul', without which everything sounds like crap.

Hybrid Theory peaked anywhere and everywhere possible! It is listed in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, The 100 Greatest Rock Albums of All-Time and peaked at #11 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Of The Decade.

Icing on the cake- It was nominated for Best Rock Album at the Grammies & one of it's singles even won the prize for Best Hard Rock Performance, apart from also being nominated for Best New Artist.

Nu-Metal was the flavour of the times and Linkin Park sure capitalised on that! They were criticised by executives in the music industry, telling them to scrap off Mike Shinoda's rapping as they already had Chester.But they went ahead and silenced everyone on the way.As it turned out Mike lent the X-factor to any LP song.

All songs on this record are hard-hitting with riffs that are impossible to forget.One may even say that LP had the Midas-touch when they made Hybrid Theory.

This record is close to me personally as this was the first Nu-Metal stuff I ever heard.Since then, it has been an indispensable part of me.It can also be credited for me delving deeper into this genre and sampling out other bands.

So getting down to business--

Just love the aggressive 'Don't mess with me' look here! Blond Chester and Red-head Mike were the real stuff!

HYBRID THEORY (2000) ----------------  **********   [10/10]

Starts off with Papercut.A very catchy track with an amazing finish.Mike struts his stuff and so does Chester.The way they complement each other leaves the listener in no doubt that this pair is going to rock the remainder of the album too.

Aaah, One Step Closer.One of Linkin Park's best work to date.The intro guitar riff by Brad Delson is memorable.And who can forget the "Shut Up When I'm Talking To You!" sequence by Chester?? It was a defining sequence in their entire career and the crowd goes crazy in each one of their Live shows screaming "SHUT UP!".This track is a must listen for any person on Earth.

Linkin Park - One Step Closer

With You, a more mature track, doesn't disappoint.Joe Hahn shows off his skills on the turntable on this one.With You keeps you on the edge, waiting for what's to come.

Points Of Authority totally explodes from the beginnning.One of the band's oddest piece of work, still pretty good and definitely listenable.Lyrical content is top-notch.

Crawling, the Grammy winner, comes next.Personally speaking, I didn't feel this track deserved a Grammy when tracks like One Step Closer and In The End were present on this record.Well, the jury have been making crazy decisions and will continue to do so.This doesn't in any way mean that Crawling isn't good.It just doesn't seem to be right where our expectations from LP are.

Runaway is the peppiest track on this album.The climax is redeeming to listen to.This one is also a crowd favourite.

By Myself, another one of quite a few aggressive tracks on this disc.Mike and Chester rap and scream to make this a great track.

The Super-star In The End is next.This is the track that made Linkin Park who they are and rightfully so.This track had everything LP ever stood for.Lyrics-good, Music-Good!, Chester-Mike combo-GOOD!!!! The piano riff intro is enought o get the crowd going.Linkin Park's most popular and successful song to date.

Place For My Head is an intriguing track filled with dark overtones.This song is equivalent to a mad genius.This one is regarded by a sizeable number of LP fans as their best song yet.This one ranks quite high in my list too.As was the case with One Step Closer, "You Try To Take The Best Of Me,GO AWAY!" sequence is a momentous part in this track.

Forgotten starts off at 0:00 with a bang.Chester & Mike totally fire on this one.

Cure For The Itch is a one-off instrumental track. Joe 'Mr.Hahn' Hahn shows us what he can do.

Pushing Me Away brings us to the end of this gem of an album.I feel this track is LP's most under-rated work.I find this track beautiful, with insightful lyrics and a soulful chorus.

Well, I really need to say something about the lyrical content on this disc.It is futile commenting on each track individually.It's basically about various facet's of Chester's past-Pain,Drug Abuse,Divorce of his parents,Isolation,Pain and Disappointment.Listen carefully and you'll get all this inter-woven in 12 tracks of pure inspiration.

Nothing less than 10/10 will do for this blockbuster album.I think I need to stress yet again that you just HAVE TO listen to this.This is one album that enriches your life in ways you can never imagine.It will mean different things to different people, and that is where I think LP will be happy.

Next Week: An introduction to Death-Pop & Synth-Rock with Candyass from Orgy!

Avenged Sevenfold's Sounding The Seventh Trumpet (2001)

We've got more than a month till Gold Cobra finally comes out on 28th June.I thought maybe we should explore the origins of all the bands I've reviewed in the past.Delve into why their debut albums catapulted them to super-stardom.

Along this journey I'll be showcasing the unforgettable Hybrid Theory from Linkin Park,the revolutionary Candyass from Orgy,the hard-hitting & shocking self-titled debut by KoRn,the path-breaking,innovative Signs Of Life by Poets Of The Fall.

We start off this ride with the album that earned Avenged Sevenfold [A7x] hardcore fans and a cult following, Sounding The Seventh Trumpet, a phrase taken from the Bible referring to the end of the world.

At this point in history A7x had M.Shadows[vocals], Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan[Drums], Zacky Vengeance[Lead and Rhythm guitar] & an ever-changing bassist. Yup, no Synyster Gates & no Johnny Christ, two vital cogs which run the A7x show now.

This is a very old picture of them.Johnny featured from the second album, while Synyster was included in the re-issue of this album in 2002.

It is said that either you do something so right on your debut, that you become famous overnight or you do something so horribly wrong that it destroys your career then and there.Well, A7x treated all this as nonsense and gave us an album which THEY wanted to make, and not something the people wanted to hear.Subsequently, they have changed their sound in each album, and not just by a little bit, but huge shifts in ideology.

They must have done something right, because you may hear people, fans even, criticising City Of Evil, and Avenged Sevenfold, their self-titled 2008 release, but no one will ever complain about their debut. The main reason for their criticism is that they changed their sound!

So, while the debut was totally about Metalcore and screaming, the sophomore Waking The Fallen was melodious vocals interspersed with Heavy Metal elements.City Of Evil was pure singing & Avenged Sevenfold was Hard Rock.One can't include Nightmare in this chronology because of obvious reasons.

After a pretty long Intro, let's just dive right into it.

SOUNDING THE SEVENTH TRUMPET (2001) ---------------------   ********oo     [8/10]

I'll start off with honourable mentions for Zacky & The Rev.

Zacky has done a magnificent job on both Rhythm and Lead guitar.Metalcore albums like these usually feature different personnel for both, but full marks to Zacky.

Zacky Vengeance

The Rev is a prodigy.How difficult is it to sustain the classy discontinuous beats that complement Zacky's one-man show? I believe only Mike Portnoy could replicate that and no one else in the whole wide world.

R.I.P.-The Rev

Yeah, so the album starts off with To End The Rapture, a kind of Intro the record, with lyrics that lend credibility to the title.The guitars give you a hint of what's to come!

Turn The Other Way starts off with an "In your face" Metalcore.The quality of recording is exceptionally clean and the screaming rocks your world.The melodious vocals in between are a great addition to the track, though I won't say that it was M.Shadows' forte at that point. For the later albums he hired a vocal coach, the results of which you can clearly see in the Shadows of today.

Now comes probably the purest Metalcore track on the album, Darkness Surrounding.Screaming again is top-notch, but the melodious verse leaves a lot to be desired. The Rev is untouchable on this one.The lyrics talking unreservedly of death will haunt you.

The most aggressive track on Sounding.... comes now with The Art Of Subconscious Illusion.The high point in this track is the screaming vocals provided by Shadows' wife Valary at 1:44.It takes you to another level, probably provides you with a subconscious illusion of being in the heaven of Metalcore!

We Come Out At Night is pretty dark.Growling comes into the picture here more prominently.This is one track where the melodious vocals are up to the mark.The piano at the end is particualrly redeeming.

Lips Of Deceit starts off pretty strongly, with what could have become a signature guitar riff.And then Shadows lets you down with some unimaginative singing.Towards the business end of the track,A7x make up for it.  with some stellar work on Drums and Guitar.

Warmness On The Soul, a wonderful track independently, but one that doesn't at all fit with the feel of Sounding.... .Shadows gets to showcase his vocals here.The high-pitched stuff is very good, but the low notes are really flat.

An Epic Of Time Wasted is a roller-coaster ride,the guitars by Zacky get your adrenaline pumping. One of my favourites along with Darkness Surrounding and The Art Of..... .The climax to this track is too good.Lyrics will make an instant connect with you.

An average track, Breaking Their Hold. Just some generic Metalcore stuff.

Forgotten Faces starts off positively and Shadows is exemplary at the end.

Thick And Thin is reminiscent of the Metal we have known over the years.The Rev and Zacky showcase their prowess over conventional Metal.

Streets is pretty unimpressive.Nothing worth mentioning.

Shattered By Broken Dreams brings us to the end of this album.It is a 7:07 long journey which starts off with some soulful guitar and lyrics.Around halfway begin the screaming vocals.Such songs remind me of the credits that roll down when a film ends.When an album like this ends,this track is an apt one to be its 'Credits' because it puts in front of you everything that A7x have done on this album.

So, all in all, noteworthy work by Zacky and The Rev.Hadn't I known better, I would have said that Shadows is a very ordinary singer.

Synyster Gates was probably the best thing that happened to A7x after this album.

SYN, with Zacky in the background.They have since formed  the best partership I can remember.

I would suggest this album to those with prior knowledge and experience of some kind of Metal.Soft Rock and Pop listeners, this is not for you, and you have no idea what you are missing!

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NEWS:

* Avenged Sevenfold have released a Single they made for Call Of Dead, one of the five maps in the popular game Call Of Duty:Black Ops.It's named Not Ready To Die, and it's pretty good.You can identify elements from each of their past albums on this one.

*Limp Bizkit have accepted rumors that their first Single from Gold Cobra will be out this month.Can't wait!

Next Week: Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park, the one that announced to the world that LP are here to stay!