Latest Release
- APR 12, 2024
- 20 Songs
- Hybrid Theory (Deluxe Edition) · 2000
- Meteora (Deluxe Edition) · 2003
- Collision Course - EP · 2004
- Meteora (Deluxe Edition) · 2003
- Meteora (Deluxe Edition) · 2003
- Minutes to Midnight (Deluxe Edition) · 2007
- Hybrid Theory (Deluxe Edition) · 2000
- Minutes to Midnight (Deluxe Edition) · 2007
- One More Light · 2017
- Hybrid Theory (Deluxe Edition) · 2000
Essential Albums
- LINKIN PARK’s debut doubles as a mission statement for the California-born band, whose tense, ferocious brand of rock borrows from hip-hop and emo, dance-punk and alt-rock. Over skittering beats and massive guitars, caterwauler Chester Bennington and defiant MC Mike Shinoda examine heavy emotions up close. The cavernous “In the End” and the paranoid “Crawling” combine their bad vibes with deep grooves and huge hooks, while album opener “Papercut” amps up the agitation with crushing, metal-inspired riffing that anchors Shinoda’s frantic raps.
- 2024
- 2023
- 2023
Artist Playlists
- Their mix of alt-rock, hip-hop, and electronics helped write the nu-metal playbook.
- Alt-metal, hip-hop, and industrial have shaped their nu-metal.
- Hip-hop and alt-rock collide to change the sound of pop.
- Their acolytes mash up alt-rock, hip-hop, and electronic music.
- Grab the mic and sing along with some of their biggest hits.
Live Albums
Compilations
- 2024
- 2023
Appears On
- Busta Rhymes
More To Hear
- The story behind the band's once “Lost” track.
- Conversation around the 20th anniversary of 'Meteora.'
- mike shinoda. cheeky nando's. reunions.
- Brad Delson joins Jenn to celebrate 20 years of 'Hybrid Theory.'
- Chester's wife Talinda speaks, plus a Mike Shinoda playlist.
- Elton interviews the rising Sydney band.
More To See
About LINKIN PARK
When Mike Shinoda and the late Chester Bennington were writing lyrics for Linkin Park’s 2000 breakthrough, Hybrid Theory, they made a pact: No cussing. It wasn’t just about keeping their audience, a portion of which might’ve had trouble slipping Parental Advisory stickers past their parents. It was more that in avoiding blunt, four-letter expressions of frustration, Shinoda and Bennington could challenge themselves to lean into—and lay bare—their pain in ways that cussing only covered up. On a deeper level, the choice set a kind of metaphorical course for catharsis: Linkin Park were angry, but their anger burned clean. Hybrid Theory was a once-in-a-generation album, arguably the commercial and creative pinnacle of rap-rock. But part of the reason the band survived was that they were always more versatile than their moment. Heavy as it could be, the music was almost never macho, trading in hard-rock pomp for the arty vulnerability of emo and synth-pop. When they wanted to take the guitars down a little, they moved toward a brooding, post-hardcore vision of electronic music that let Bennington flex his inner Depeche Mode fan while retaining a sense of anguish that, it turns out, didn't need aggression to find expression. And by the time they went “pop” (2017’s One More Light), they’d been redefining the terms of commercial rock music for nearly two decades. Formed on the outskirts of Los Angeles in 1996, the group spent their first few years struggling—at one point, an executive suggested they fire Shinoda, their MC, and take a more conventional rock-band route. Hybrid Theory was a kind of Rubicon in hard rock, making the influence of hip-hop and electronic music impossible to ignore. Meteora came out in 2003, followed by a run of albums (2007’s Minutes to Midnight, 2010’s A Thousand Suns, 2012’s Living Things, and others) that shifted more heavily toward electronic music.
- ORIGIN
- Agoura Hills, CA, United States
- FORMED
- 2000
- GENRE
- Hard Rock