Released in late 2000, the album took the basics of rap-metal fusion, discarded the lug-headed posturing and cartoonish profanity, and expanded its scope to include atmospheric electronics, a pop-savvy attention to hooks, and confessional lyrics that balanced angst with vulnerability. Of those groups, Californian crew Linkin Park rose to the top of the pack with their boundary-busting approach to the genre, which they debuted on their first effort, Hybrid Theory.

As a result, Linkin Park too frequently come off like another Hybrid song, “Papercut”: They can slice and dice, but just not deep enough.At the turn of the 21st century, as nu-metal neared its peak in mainstream popularity, the next generation of bands began to emerge, influenced by that scene's unhinged anger, pummeling metallic riffs, and hip-hop flourish. Maybe too at home - Bennington and Shinoda often slip into corny, boilerplate-aggro lyrics: Thanks to “voices in the back of my head” (“Papercut”), they’re “one step closer to the edge” (“One Step Closer”), suffering “wounds will not heal” while the “walls are closing in” (“Crawling”). This Southern California five-piece knows its way around a hook: Crashing, loud-soft dynamics run through the album, and producer Don Gilmore (who has worked with Eve 6, Lit, Pearl Jam) gives the guitars and samples a raw-meat heft that will sound right at home on modern-rock radio. A rap-rock outfit with a jones for Depeche Mode? Is this a glitch in the matrix? Linkin Park’s debut album, Hybrid Theory, is a freaky-deaky fusion that works in spots - on “Crawling,” MC Mike Shinoda’s catchy rhymed refrains bounce off singer Chester Bennington’s New Wave croon, proving that synth-pop can get with the hip-hop.

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