Hybrid Theory is the debut album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000 through Warner Bros. Records. The album was a huge commercial success, selling over 10 million units in the United States alone and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 while also reaching high positions on other charts worldwide, despite receiving mixed reviews from publications. It has also sold 29 million copies worldwide as of 2009, including over 10 million in the U.S. which makes it the band's best-selling album, and one of the best selling albums of the decade.[11]

Recorded at NRG Recordings in North Hollywood, California, and produced by Don Gilmore, the album's lyrical themes deal with problems lead vocalist Chester Bennington experienced during his adolescence, including drug abuse and the constant fighting and divorce of his parents. Hybrid Theory takes its title from the previous name of the band.

Four singles were released from the album: "One Step Closer", "Papercut", "In the End", and the Grammy Award-winning "Crawling", which along with "In the End" was responsible for launching Linkin Park into mainstream popularity. At the 2002 Grammy Awards, Hybrid Theory was nominated for Best Rock Album.

Shinoda, who had worked as a graphic designer before becoming a professional musician, has stated that the band had looked through books for inspiration on how to present themselves for the first time. The result was a winged-soldier which he illustrated himself. According to Chester Bennington, the idea of the soldier with dragonfly wings was to describe the blending of hard and soft musical elements by the use of the jaded looks of the soldier and frail touches of the wings.[17] Throughout the cover features scrambled lyrics of the album's songs, though the lyrics to "One Step Closer" are the most prominent. A different version of the soldier can be seen on some of the album's singles. Also the cover to "Reanimation", a remix album to "Hybrid Theory", features a robotic version of the soldier similar to the ones featured on Mobile Suit Gundam. Bennington also has a tattoo of the soldier on his left calf

Track listing
Hybrid Theory
# Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Papercut" Linkin Park 3:05
2. "One Step Closer" Linkin Park, Koziol 2:36
3. "With You" Linkin Park, M. Simpson, J. King 3:27
4. "Points of Authority" Linkin Park 3:20
5. "Crawling" Linkin Park 3:29
6. "Runaway" Linkin Park, Wakefield 3:04
7. "By Myself" Linkin Park 3:10
8. "In the End" Linkin Park 3:36
9. "A Place for My Head" Linkin Park, Wakefield, Farrell 3:09
10. "Forgotten" Linkin Park, Wakefield, Farrell 3:14
11. "Cure for the Itch" Linkin Park 2:34
12. "Pushing Me Away"