“A lot of nu metal was made for a drunken frat party, slutty dudes feeding off their own testosterone. There wasn’t a lot of room for emotion”: How Linkin Park defied the haters to make Hybrid Theory, the album that changed metal

Linkin Park posing for a photograph in 2001.

Linkin Park’s debut album, 2000’s Hybrid Theory, catapulted the LA band to superstardom and helped shape 21st century metal. In 2001, Metal Hammer sat down with vocalist Chester Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda to talk about their stellar rise.