"Points of Authority" is a song by American rock band

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...

. It is the fourth track on their first studio album, ''

Hybrid Theory ''Hybrid Theory'' is the debut studio album by American Rock music, rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000, by Warner Bros. Records. Recorded at NRG Recording Studios, NRG Recordings in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, North Hollywo ...

''. The song was released in 2001 as a promo release. A CD single for the song was set to be released in the UK in September 2001, but instead, " Papercut" was released as the third single from the album. It was later planned as the fifth official single from the album, planned for a January 2002 release but was cancelled for unknown reasons. In its place, the song's remix version was released.

Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda ( ; born February 11, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's co-lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, ...

's verses originally had different lyrics, and

Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various po ...

's parts became no different from the ''Hybrid Theory'' version. The song's remix "Pts.OF.Athrty" was released as the only single taken from remix album '' Reanimation'' (2002) while another remix, by

the Crystal Method The Crystal Method is an American electronic music act formed in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada, by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland in 1993. They were pioneers of the big beat genre and their music has appeared in numerous TV shows, films, v ...

, was released on ''LP Underground 2.0''. The song is one from the seven Linkin Park's songs that appeared in the mash-up EP '' Collision Course'' with American rapper

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

. If the Linkin Park package is downloaded on '' DJ Hero 2'', then players (as DJs) can play with a scratched version of "Pts.OF.Athrty". The song was used in the 2000

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

film '' Little Nicky''.

Music video

The music video was directed by Nathan "Karma" Cox, and it was released in promoting the DVD '' Frat Party at the Pankake Festival''. It shows live presentations by Linkin Park during their tour in 2001. An alternative video was also released as hidden content in the DVD ''Frat Party at the Pankake Festival''. It was similar to the live version release of " Crawling", recorded at the Dragon Festival in San Bernardino, California on February 3, 2001.

Track listing

In other media

* A demo of the song, entitled "Oh No", appears on ''LP Underground X: Demos''. * A demo of the song with slightly altered lyrics appears on ''LP Underground 12.0''. * A remix, entitled "Points of Authority/

99 Problems "99 Problems" is the third single released by American rapper Jay-Z from '' The Black Album''. It was released on April 27, 2004. The chorus of "I got 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one" is taken from the Ice-T song "99 Problems", from the album ...

/ One Step Closer" appears on ''Collision Course''.

Pts.OF.Athrty

"Pts.OF.Athrty" is a

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

of "Points of Authority" that was released as a single from their remix album, '' Reanimation''. The single features remixes of the ''

'' tracks "Points of Authority", "High Voltage" and "By Myself". There is also an alternate version of Jay Gordon's remix, which surfaced on a Jay Gordon remix page in 2008.

Track listing

Music video

This remix of "Points of Authority" is renowned for its video, a completely CGI battle between robots, ruled by the heads of Linkin Park members, and an alien race. The heads of all six Linkin Park members are kept in a digital lab equipped with computers and advanced equipment which can be seen extracting something from the heads as

and

sing. According to director Joe Hahn, the band members' heads are powering the world. At the very end of the video, the commander of the alien race tries to battle the blue tentacles that were released by the members' heads, but gets his gun ripped out of his hand, and is enveloped by them. As of March 2025, the music video for "Pts.OF.Athrty" has over 14 million views on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Hahn explained that the events of the video took place after the end of the human race and all that's left are the heads of the six Linkin Park members. The video is also said to have been inspired by the dream sequences in the 2001 film '' Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within''. The music video was aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...

block as a commercial break (around the year 2002). There is also a video for "Points of Authority" from ''

'' which contains footage of the band playing live. It is featured on the DVD '' Frat Party at the Pankake Festival''. Another video features the live performance of "Points of Authority" from Linkin Park's live album '' Live in Texas''. The ''Live in Texas'' version is available on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

, along with " Lying from You". The "Points of Authority" video was not officially uploaded on YouTube by Linkin Park or

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. It is available exclusively on Linkinpark.com. The "Pts.OF.Athrty" music video is available on both Linkin Park and Warner Records YouTube channels. from the Warner Records YouTube channel

iTunes

Out of the music videos for "Pts.OF.Athrty", "Frgt/10", "Enth E Nd" and "Kyur4 Th Ich", only "Pts.OF.Athrty" and "Frgt/10" are available on iTunes as videos ("Pts.OF.Athrty" available in the US and Canada, "Frgt/10" available in Canada only).

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Credits

Linkin Park

– lead vocals *

–

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

, keyboards, programming, samples * Brad Delson – guitar, bass * Joe Hahn –

turntables A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

, samples,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s *

Rob Bourdon Robert Gregory Bourdon (born January 20, 1979) is an American musician, best known as a co-founding member and the former drummer of the rock band Linkin Park. He remained in the band until their hiatus in 2017; when the band members began work ...

– drums

Production

* Don Gilmore – engineering * Steve Sisco – engineering * John Ewing Jr. – additional engineering, Pro Tools * Matt Griffin – engineering assistance * Andy Wallace – mixing *

Brian Gardner Brian Knapp Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, is an American mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk and dance-p ...

– audio mastering, digital editing * Jeff Blue – executive production

References

External links

"Pts.OF.Athrty" official lyrics

"By Myself" official lyrics
{{Authority control Linkin Park songs 2000 songs 2001 singles 2002 singles Industrial metal songs Music videos directed by Nathan Cox Songs written by Mike Shinoda Warner Records singles Remix singles