How could I leave out Linkin Park? Admittedly, this album takes me straight back to some of the bro-iest moments of my life, mostly on a baseball field or in a weight room. Working out as a team, getting hyped up before a game - these are the kinds of memories this album brings back for me. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to it in a normal setting, only on pre-game or workout playlists. It’s kind of funny to sit here listening to it while I do my remote desk job in 2025, but I can’t say it’s not getting me hyped for my next Powerpoint.

I am normally a nonconfrontational and positive person, and this album (and the many others it spawned) were kind of my introduction into that feeling of competitiveness, bordering on angry energy, that is so highly valued in the world of team sports. I know this experience will differ, but when I listen to music like this, metal or angry music of any sort, I don’t get angry, I get the same kind of endorphins you get from running out onto a field for a game. It doesn’t make me angry - it makes me want to go run ten miles (as if). That’s obviously not Linkin Park’s intent, which is obvious if you listen to ten seconds of their lyrics, but it’s the unique relationship I’ve formed with this music, purely a result of the timing and circumstances under which I first heard it.

Stepping back today, this album is the result of some impressive musical talent and the advent of the rap-rock-metal movement, and love or hate the genre, there’s some serious musicianship going on here.

From the roundup Some Excellent Albums from 2000.