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Tom Mattson's "Hybrid Theory" CD Review


Oh my god. Give me a second to get up off the floor. I swear I have nearly fainted this cd kicks so much ass. I have been a huge fan of Linkin Park for a long time. And I knew that some day they were going to be huge. However until I heard this cd I didn't know exactly how huge and now there is no question in my mind. These guys are going to obsolutely dominate the music industry as long as they are producing albums. I will now walk you through the entire cd and how incredible it is.

The album opens with "Papercut". And extremely well done song as far as vocals go. The song closes with a minute long segment of some incredible rap-like vocals that are cloaking an UNBELIEVABLE background vocal that penetrates deep into your soul and makes you sing along whether you want to or not.

Once the song ends the cd provides you with no time to settle down and you are instantly overwhelmed with the familiar song "One Step Closer" which has an incredible knack of making you want to jump up and scream the words at the top of your lungs. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have waited for everyone to leave the house, then turned this song up as loud as it can go and screamed every word. Tremendous display of this bands incredible talent.

Now, while you are still panting from that last masterpiece, the album bring you to "With You". A song that all Linkin Park fans love and have adored on their demo tapes for the past few months. The song starts off with some turntable like action and then a soothing vocal set. And then cuts to the chorus that begs you to sing along. Tremendous work on the turntables in this song. The entire thing flows together into one great package that makes this one of my favorite songs on the cd.

Then comes "Points of Authority". This song sticks to the same feeling as the previous track. It is right on the border of hard and soft and you aren't sure whether to scream the words as loud as you can and jump around, or calmly sit and tap your feet.

Up next is "Crawling" which has an incredible intro displaying the great electronic skills of this group. Then it explodes into a loud hard chorus that gets you all excited. And then BOOM! The song cuts to a very calm and soothing set with incredible electronic background music. Linkin Park once again displays their mastery of when to pump up the volume and when to keep it nice and calm throughout this song. Going one second from a very quiet soft tune to a great screaming chorus. Not many bands can do this. And if they can, it isn't nearly as good as the things that Linkin Park have done.

Once you are finished with "Crawling" and are not sure whether to be disturbed or nice and calmed, you get a dose of "Runaway". This song has some of the best written lyrics I have ever heard. The song paints a picture in your head of scenario's better than most songs do. The chorus is very heart felt and gives off a feeling of dispair that this person is feeling and how fed up he is with what is going on.

Then comes the oldest song on the cd. By Myself. This song was around from way back in Linkin Park's history. Before the name changes and everything. Gone through several different lead vocalists, and several song names, this song has made it through. Which obviously means that its one hell of a song.

And this brings us to "The Untitled (In The End)". This has got to be the best song I have ever heard. The second I heard this song it penetrated into my soul and stirred up feelings that I cant even describe. I have had the words of this song in my head for weeks now, I cant get rid of them, nor do I want to. It displays everything that is great about this band. It starts off with an incredible piano intro that soothes you big time. And then it cuts to a fast vocal set that you can't help memorizing and saying over and over again. In the background is the piano accompanied by some incredible drum and electronic work. And then it jumps up into an INCREDIBLE chorus that really gets to you. This song displays the amazing raw singing powers of the lead vocalist. Then it lets you down back into the piano and semi-fast vocals that continue to stir with your emotions. Once again we are impressed with the singing talent in the chorus when suddenly we are listening to what has got to be some of the greatest lyrics along with singing voice ever recorded. For a moment this doesn't even seem like a rock band. The voice is so incredibly smooth and relaxing that you begin to sink into some state of depression/relaxedness/oblivion/unawareness and god knows what else. Great song.

WHEW! Now comes "A Place For My Head" formerly known as "Esaul". Well now you dont know what to expect after that when suddenly you hear one of the coolest guitar sound you have ever listened to. It makes you want to get up, grab a guitar and spend the next hour trying to figure out exactly how it goes. Then...cue the drum in the background and the song grows and grows until the vocals cut in and the guitar gets a bit louder. Then after a little bit the chorus explodes with an incredible guitar riff and lyrics that we all will love.

"Forgotten" is the next song. Great guitar and drum work on this piece here that everyone will like. The chorus is hard and powerful and gets you into the song in a great way.

Then there is a pause followed by the voice of Jim Carrey playing Andy Kaufman from the movie "Man on the Moon" in which he says,"Folks, we have a very special guest for you tonight. I'd like to introduce..". And then some loud demonic voice says, "Mr.Hahn!!!". Then the song "Mr.Hahn" takes off in a bunch of turntable action with unexpected weird vocals at random points. Right as you are looking at the stereo and thinking either to yourself or outloud "what the hell is going on?" the song cuts to one of the greatest rythyms and raw musical ability you have ever heard. A bowed guitar stands out like you cant imagine and is just plain awesome. Backing that up is some great drumming work. Then suddenly an oriental piano sound hits and then cue's what sounds like some stringed instrument. This is just plain incredible here. How many other bands can pull something this great off.

And then the last song of the cd comes into play. And lets just say it makes for one damn good finale. First comes some great electronic stuff follow by guitar then soothing into vocals that once again show the great singing ability of these guys. Then the song explodes and makes you jump around and scream the vocals. I just plain love this song and its one hell of a note to end the cd off on.

There is no way to sum up this cd. I tried best I could, but I can only speak and type so much. You have to get this cd. There is no question of that. These guys have matured into one of the best bands I have ever heard and they will one day be the biggest thing on the music scene. There are so many people who pick a particular type of music and stay loyal to it. Whether that be Rap, Rock, Pop or whatever. This cd fits into every single one of those categories. This cd has incredible music on it. And not just some. All of it is incredible. You just stick the cd in, hit play, and then you dont have to screw with it again until its all over. Then all you have to do is hit play again and start it at the beginning. There is no..."ahh that song sucks I'm skipping it." You just can't help loving it all. This cd will be one of the biggest sellers in the next few years and I can't imagine what it's leading up to as far as the next giant release is from these guys, but I can't imagine anything being any better.



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