20 years ago this October, Linkin Park released their groundbreaking debut full-length, Hybrid Theory. An album where pretty much every song could’ve been a single, we already know the kind of impact the record has had on popular culture, so we’ll try not to rehash old news on that note. “In The End”, “Crawling”, and “One Step Closer” were massive radio hits so inescapable and popular, they’re still rock radio staples to this day. While it’s generally known that Hybrid Theory sold a ridiculous amount of albums, it now ranks as one of the highest-selling albums of all time, too.
Thanks to a recent Reddit post on the interesting subreddit Data Is Beautiful, ChartMasters have enabled us to get a nice visual as to where Hybrid Theory ranks in the pantheon of all-time record sales.
Should you really be all that surprised that Hybrid Theory has sold just over 20 million records worldwide? Probably not. What’s inspiring and interesting is the kind of company the album keeps in the top 50, With Eminem, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, and Metallica’s Black Album all in the top 50, there’s no doubt this is a record that will stand the test of time. Can you believe this band was rejected by almost every record label known to man? Wild.
