Despite this, the band would soon start facing many problems within the label.
The entire Warner staff was suddenly talking about the new band they just signed. The band didn't realize how risky it was at the time, but luckily, label employees were enamored by their stunt, and decided to roll with them. They sat them down, exchanged pleasantries, and gave them some paperwork that outlined who the band were, what they intended to do, and how they thought their music, marketing, and fan club should be treated. They set a date, and took over their conference room. Records and immediately put out a message to the entire staff saying they wanted to meet them.
The band decided that they wanted to make an impression with their new 'teammates' at Warner Bros. McDermott recalls the moment they first met, 'It was October 1999 when some scrawny rock kid with glasses and Jeff Blue met with me at a cafe on Sunset Blvd to discuss managing a new band Jeff was bringing with him to Warner Bros named Hybrid Theory.' They also signed with the booking agency Artist Group International in September 2000. Handling all its own management duties until that point, the band hired Rob McDermott at Andy Gould Management in February 2000 after previously being offered good deals with bad managers and bad deals with good managers. Had passed on the band three times before that. However, before we started the album, McEwen moved on from Warner Bros., leaving the fate of the band uncertain.' He made Hybrid Theory his first signing in April 2000. The one label executive who was truly interested in Hybrid Theory was Warner Bros.' Despite being the smallest offer, I knew the label provided the perfect environment for the band to thrive. I insisted that I bring Hybrid Theory under my new contract as my first signing. 'Several labels pursued me to do A&R after I secured a deal for Macy Gray, whom I developed at Zomba. Records as a developing artist in November 1999 after a buzz started building up in the label industry and Jeff Blue took a position as vice president of their A&R (Artist and Repertory) department. We wrote the record we wanted to write,' said Brad.Īfter nine months playing forty two label showcases - including a showcase performance arranged by promoter and impresario Mike Galaxy at The Gig-Hollywood on Melrose Avenue - with no results, the band finally went to Warner Bros. That was exactly what we didn't want to do, and we stuck to our guns. 'For the first few years, the first couple of years trying to get a record deal, people were telling us pretty much that we weren't great and that we should change our approach and be more like some of the groups that were already popular. The rise of other rap/rock fusion groups like Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock and Korn only made things worse for them. Some time after the EP was released, Kyle Christener was kicked out of the band.įor three years, the band had been using their connections at Zomba to get the demos out to people who would listen to them and were rejected by every major label and by a lot of independents as well, including by Clive Davis. They independently released the under the name Hybrid Theory in 1999. Phoenix left the band around the same time to fulfill his commitment with and was replaced by Kyle Christner.Ĭhester Bennington joined the band in 1999, after auditioning via recommendation of his lawyers to Jeff Blue of the A&R Recordings branch of Zomba Music Group. Vocalist Mark Wakefield left the band to pursue a different career as things weren't working out with Xero. Background The band formed under the name ' in 1996, the original lineup consisting of Mike Shinoda, Mark Wakefield, Brad Delson, Rob Bourdon, Joe Hahn, and Dave 'Phoenix' Farrell. The album only peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200, but it would go on to become the best selling debut album of the 21st century. Four successful singles were spawned from Hybrid Theory: ', ', ', ', but tracks such as ', ', and ' were also sent to radio stations for airplay despite not being officially released as singles. Producer Don Gilmore, Jeff Blue (exec.) studio album chronology Hybrid Theory (2000) (2003) Hybrid Theory is Linkin Park's debut album, released on Octothrough Warner Bros. Hybrid Theory Studio album by Linkin Park Released Octo(US) Janu(Japan) Febru(Germany) Recorded 1999 - 2000 Length 37:51 Label Warner Bros.
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