Points of Authority

"Points of Authority" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It is the fourth track on their first studio album, Hybrid Theory. 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's verses originally had different lyrics, and Chester Bennington'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, 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. 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 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.

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.

Pts.OF.Athrty
"Pts.OF.Athrty" is a remix of "Points of Authority" that was released as a single from their remix album, Reanimation. The single features remixes of the Hybrid Theory 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.

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 Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda 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 May 2023, the music video for "Pts.OF.Athrty" has over 12 million views on YouTube.

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's Toonami block as a commercial break (around the year 2002). There is also a video for "Points of Authority" from Hybrid Theory 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, along with "Lying from You". The "Points of Authority" video was not officially uploaded on YouTube by Linkin Park or Warner Records. It is available exclusively on Linkinpark.com. The "Pts.OF.Athrty" music video is available on both Linkin Park and Warner Records YouTube channels.

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).

Linkin Park

 * Chester Bennington – lead vocals
 * Mike Shinoda – rapping; keyboards, programming, samples
 * Brad Delson – guitar; bass guitar
 * Joe Hahn – turntables; samples, synthesizers
 * Rob Bourdon – drums

Production

 * Don Gilmore – engineering
 * Steve Sisco – engineering
 * John Ewing Jr. – additional engineering, Pro Tools
 * Matt Griffin – engineering assistance
 * Andy Wallace – mixing
 * Brian Gardner – audio mastering, digital editing
 * Jeff Blue – executive producer