Steffi

Each track is rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest score, 10 being the highest score.

HYBRID THEORY

1. PAPERCUT = 10.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - “Papercut” is arranged to a backdrop of disconnected guitar chords and disc scratching, which accentuate the theme of the song (see Lyrics).
   Vocal Deliverance - Mike spiritedly raps the verses and choruses.
   Lyrics - The lyrics are obsessive-compulsive paranoid: “Why does it feel like night today/ Something in here’s not right today/ Why am I so uptight today/ Paranoia’s all I got left…”
   
   
2. ONE STEP CLOSER = 10.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - The explosive guitar progressions emanate anger.
   Vocal Deliverance - Chester screams an unforgettable “Shut up!”
   Lyrics - “One Step Closer” is in-your-face rage: “Shut up when I’m talking to you…”
   
   
3. WITH YOU = 7.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - DJ Hahn’s sampled sequences are the substance of the song.
   Vocal Deliverance - Chester’s performance is jarringly melodic.
   Lyrics - Mike’s raps are meditative and reflective: “Forgot all about yesterday/ Remembering I’m pretending to be where I’m not anymore…”
   
   
4. POINTS OF AUTHORITY = 7.5
   
   Musical Arrangement - “Points Of Authority” is one of the most innovative musical arrangements on the album, with its mixture of atmospheric sounds and jagged disc scratching.
   Vocal Deliverance - Chester’s vocals are eerie and haunting.
   Lyrics - “Points Of Authority” is about a sadistic relationship: “The way I hurt myself again/ Just to get back at you…”
   
   
5. CRAWLING = 10.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - The musical arrangement emphasizes Chester’s deliverance; it is mellifluous in the verses, and builds to the chorus.
   Vocal Deliverance - Chester’s deliverance is diverse; he draws out smooth syllables in the verses, and climaxes to an outbreak in the chorus.
   Lyrics - The lyrics are derived from Chester’s experience of child abuse: “Discomfort, endlessly has pulled itself upon me/ Distracting, reacting/ Against my will I stand beside my own reflection…”
   
   
6. RUN AWAY = 5.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - The instrumentals are minimalist by Linkin Park standards, and are in the background.
   Vocal Deliverance - Again, Chester is the star; he is understated in the verses, building to a rage in the chorus.
   Lyrics - “Run Away” has dissonant figures of speech: “Graffiti decorations/ Underneath a sky of dust…”
   
   
7. BY MYSELF = 7.5
   
   Musical Arrangement - The grating guitars sound like they are screaming, especially in the introduction and chorus.
   Vocal Deliverance - Mike’s rapping is unpretentious, a standout among the in-your-face hip-hop standards.
   Lyrics - “By Myself” discusses social vs. self reliance: “Do I trust some and give into phoniness/ Or do I, trust none and live life in loneliness…”
   
   
8. IN THE END = 10.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - As captured in the opening piano suite, “In The End” has an understated magnificence about it.
   Vocal Deliverance - Mike and Chester are one voice in this song; in the verses, Mike and Chester’s voices are overlaid on top of each other, and they unify into one, passionate voice.
   Lyrics - The lyrics are universal, and have transcended genre boundaries: “I tried so hard and got so far/ But in the end it doesn’t even matter…”
   
   
9. A PLACE FOR MY HEAD = 6.5
   
   Musical Arrangement - Like “Run Away,” the instrumentals on this song are in the background. However, they build progressively into a cliffhanger climax.
   Vocal Deliverance - Mike and Chester are unimaginative and are “going through the motions.”
   Lyrics - Mike raps an interesting celestial metaphor: “Moon sits in the sky in the dark night/ Shining with the light from the sun/ The sun doesn't give life to the moon/ Assuming the moon's going to owe it one…”
   
   
10. FORGOTTEN = 8.0
    
    Musical Arrangement - Brad’s guitar rifts are hotheaded and volatile.
    Vocal Deliverance - Mike and Chester’s voices intermingle, almost as well as they did on “In The End.”
    Lyrics - The song is comprised of imagery vignettes: “The rain then sends dripping an acidic question/ Forcefully, the power of suggestion/ Then with the eyes tightly shut looking thought the rust and rot and dust…A little piece of paper with a picture drawn floats/ On down the street till the wind is gone/ The memory now is like the picture was then/ When the paper's crumpled up it can't be perfect again…”
    
    
11. CURE THE ITCH = 8.0
    
    Musical Arrangement - “Cure The Itch” is an instrumental, with a piano, orchestra and turntables interacting.
    
    
12. PUSHING ME AWAY = 8.5
    
    Musical Arrangement - “Pushing Me Away” has a tinge of Oriental influence.
    Vocal Deliverance - Once again, Mike and Chester’s voices are overlaid on top of each other for an almost harmonizing effect.
    Lyrics - The song is hauntingly remorseful: “Why I never walked away/ Why I played myself this way…”

METEORA

1. FOREWORD = N/A
   
   
2. DON’T STAY = 10.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - It has one of the most explosive guitar progressions on the album.
   Vocal Deliverance - Chester has a screaming solo venture.
   Lyrics - Chester will no longer tolerate a dead-end relationship: “Just give me myself back/ Don’t stay…”
   
   
3. SOMEWHERE I BELONG = 10.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - The introduction, one of the best DJ Hahn contributions, is a backwards, re-sequenced acoustic guitar sample.
   Vocal Deliverance - Chester’s deliverance is moving and melodic.
   Lyrics - The chorus was re-written 40+ times; one would think they could come up with something better than the repetitive: “I wanna heal/ I wanna feel/ What I thought was never real/ I wanna let go of the pain I’ve felt so long/ I wanna heal/ I wanna feel/ Like I’m close to something real/ I wanna find something I’ve wanted all along/ Somewhere I belong…”
   
   
4. LYING FROM YOU = 10.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - A signature Hahn sample is the backbone of the song.
   Vocal Deliverance - Mike is understated, which emphasizes the theme of the song (see Lyrics).
   Lyrics - Mike is insecure - “When I pretend/ Everything is what I want it be/ I looked exactly like what you always wanted to see/ When I pretend/ I can’t forget about the criminal I am/ Stealing second after second just cause I know I can…”
   
   
5. HIT THE FLOOR = 8.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - The impulsive guitars are the center-piece.
   Vocal Deliverance - Mike and Chester interlace on the chorus, one after the other.
   Lyrics - Mike is harboring some pessimistic thoughts about his relationship: “Well I got so many sad thoughts of you it's about as much as I can stand/ So I wait till the upper hand is mine…”
   
   
6. EASIER TO RUN = 10.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - The opening guitars have a resemblance to a Western showdown, which is ironic in a song called “Easier To Run.”
   Vocal Deliverance - Chester’s deliverance is emotional, almost a tearjerker.
   Lyrics - Chester alludes to his childhood abuse: “Something has been taken from deep inside of me/ The secret I’ve kept locked away noone could never see/ Wounds so deep/ They never show/ They never go away/ Like moving pictures in my head/ For years and years they play…”
   
   
7. FAINT = 9.5
   
   Musical Arrangement - Like “Lying From You,” “Faint” is developed on a Hahn sample.
   Vocal Deliverance - Chester convinces us not to ignore him when he bellows: “Now/ Hear me out now/ You're gonna listen to me, like it or not/ Right now.”
   Lyrics - Chester does not want to be ignored: “I can't feel the way I did before/ Don't turn your back on me/ I won't be ignored…”
   
   
8. FIGURE.09 = 8.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - Brad Delson re-captures our attention with his reeling rifts.
   Vocal Deliverance - Mike raps “never goes away” in a whisper before the chorus, like a lingering ghost.
   Lyrics - Chester is what he tried not to be: “You've become a part of me/ You'll always be right here/ You've become a part of me/ You'll always be my fear/ I can't separate/ Myself from what I've done/ Giving up a part of me/ I've let myself become you…”
   
   
9. BREAKING THE HABIT = 10.0
   
   Musical Arrangement - “Breaking The Habit” has live orchestra strings backing it.
   Vocal Deliverance - Ala Mike, Chester sings with an understated, melodic beauty.
   Lyrics - Some have interpreted this song as suicidal, me being one of them: “Memories consume/ Like opening the wound/ I'm picking me apart again/ You all assume/ I'm safe here in my room/ Unless I try to start again…”
   
   
10. FROM THE INSIDE = 7.5
    
    Musical Arrangement - “From The Inside” has a piano backing the verses.
    Vocal Deliverance - Mike and Chester share vocal duties on the verses.
    Lyrics - Again, who is Chester to trust: “I don’t know who to trust, your surprise/ Everything feel so far away from me/ Have your thoughts sent through dust, and the lies…”
    
    
11. NOBODY’S LISTENING = 2.5
    
    Musical Arrangement - A Japanese flute is entwined throughout the song. It provides an ethnic spice, but it sounds too forced.
    Vocal Deliverance - Mike is as in-your-face as he can be, not unlike his deliverance in “What’s Going Down” with the X-ecutioners.
    Lyrics - Mike is right, nobody’s listening to this song (at least, I am not…): “I tried to give you warning but everyone ignores me/ I told I everything loud and clear/ But Nobody’s Listening…”
    
    
12. SESSION = 7.5
    
    Musical Arrangement - It sounds existentialist, and belongs on The Matrix soundtrack.
    
    
13. NUMB = 10.0
    
    Musical Arrangement - Hahn’s atmospheric sounds structure the song.
    Vocal Deliverance - Chester is solo, melodic in the verses, and discordant in the choruses.
    Lyrics - Chester is trying to be someone else, and losing himself in the process: “I've become so numb I can't feel you there/ I've become so tired so much more aware/ I've becoming this all I want to do/ Is be more like me and be less like you…”

Steffi