Meteora (album)

Meteora
File:MeteoraLP.jpg
Studio album by Linkin Park
Released	March 25, 2003
Recorded	April–December 2002
Studio	NRG Studios, North Hollywood, California
Genre	Nu metal rap metal rap rock alternative metal alternative rock
Length	36:43
Label	Warner Bros. Machine Shop
Producer	Don Gilmore Linkin Park
Linkin Park studio album chronology
Hybrid Theory (2000)Hybrid Theory2000 Meteora (2003) Minutes to Midnight (2007)Minutes to Midnight2007
Singles from Meteora
"Somewhere I Belong" Released: March 17, 2003 "Faint" Released: June 9, 2003 "Numb" Released: September 8, 2003 "From the Inside" Released: January 12, 2004 "Breaking the Habit" Released: June 14, 2004

Meteora is the second studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on March 25, 2003 through Warner Bros. Records, following Reanimation, a collaboration album which featured remixes of songs included on their debut studio album Hybrid Theory. The album was produced by the band alongside Don Gilmore. The title Meteora is taken from the Greek Orthodox monasteries sharing the same name.

The album has a similar sound to Hybrid Theory, as described by critics. Featuring lots of spray-painted artworks, the album took a year to be recorded. The main artwork was assembled by the band with help of "The Flem" and "Delta". The album was recorded during touring to support their debut effort and later recorded at NRG studios.

Linkin Park released singles from Meteora for over a year, including "Somewhere I Belong", "Faint", "Numb", "From the Inside" and "Breaking the Habit". The song "Lying from You" was released as a promotional single.

Meteora is the most successful album in the history of the Alternative Songs chart, a chart that specializes in radio play of alternative songs. As of 2013, the album has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, and is certified six times platinum by the RIAA. Meteora was also ranked number 36 on Billboards Top 200 Albums of the Decade. The song "Session" was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, losing to Jeff Beck's "Plan B". Some songs from the album were remixed with some of Jay-Z's songs for the EP Collision Course. It is the first Linkin Park studio album to feature Dave Farrell after he rejoined the band in 2000.

Background

In 2000, Linkin Park released their debut album, Hybrid Theory, produced by Don Gilmore. Later the release was followed by its remix album Reanimation, produced by band member Mike Shinoda. Resulting in a combined production of Gilmore and band for their second album. As marked by the critics, the album was similar to its predecessor.

Writing of the band's second studio album began in early 2001, during their touring schedule. Farrell had rejoined the band for the recording of the album. The band had written around eighty different demos during their Hybrid Theory World Tour and LP Underground Tour, within the span of just eight months.

Writing and recording

We really learned the meaning of pressure. But it wasn't pressure from outside people. It was artistic pressure from ourselves. You can't control the commercial success of a record, so there's no point in investing energy in that. But the quality of your record is entirely up to you, and you can't blame anyone else if you write crappy songs. Before we did Meteora, I listened to "Hybrid Theory" and "Reanimation", and I was like, "Dude, I'm really proud of these records. I don't remember how we did it, and I don't know how we're gonna do it again. We're kind of screwed. Then, fortunately, we were able to invest ourselves fully in the process for 18 months, and that helped us make a really great record."

— Brad Delson, speaking about the album's writing background with MTV

The writing of the album began in summer 2001, during touring for Ozzfest. Shinoda and Hahn, later joined by Farrell, worked on songs within the touring bus. The intro for "Somewhere I Belong" marks its recording during this time. The intro of the song is the first example in the creativity of the recording process. Bennington recorded tunes on his guitar, finding it too folky, Shinoda and Hahn added effects to it, and then played it backwards. As explained by Shinoda: "Since I reversed it, it was playing 4-3-2-1. The chord progression was reversed. Then I cut it into four pieces, and I played it 1-2-3-4. And that's why it has that sweeping sound."

In early 2002, after the tour, the writing continued in Mike's home studio, pre-production of the album began there. The band worked in pairs during the writing process, whereas Shinoda was always involved in all the songs. The recording of the songs mainly used "pro tools", whereas the band used the traditional method of writing, in main studio. In June, pre-production terminated and the band headed for main production. The band finalised Don Gilmore as their producer. When Reanimation was released, the band had started to write the main content. Rob Bourdon spent eight hours a day in the studio for the recording of the album. By August, the band entered NRG Studios as Bennington also began writing songs with the band.

We knew what we wanted, and we knew how to execute to a certain degree. However, we were also just going for it. We didn’t really care about what anybody else was doing. We also didn’t care whether or not the songs fit together stylistically as a whole or a collection of songs. It was more like, “This riff is sick!” Then, we’d just scream over it, and the next song would be a mid-tempo ballad and you’d sing the way that song needed to be sang. We were testing. We were students in college. We were in the lab, and we happened to stumble across something everybody liked and it worked. I think Meteora was an extension of that.

— Chester Bennington

File:Mike Shinoda World Expo 2008.jpg

Mike Shinoda (pictured) is said to be included in the writing of all the songs.

Linkin Park had finished versions of many songs before the actual recording process had begun, but they majorly wrote the finalised songs included in the tracklist in the studio. By October the drums were finalised and guitar parts were introduced by Brad in the control room of the studio. By the end of October, the bass parts were introduced. Don Gilmore himself being a bass player helped Farrell in his recording. The sampling part by Hahn was introduced just a month before the deadline, thereby Mike finished the recording of "Breaking the Habit" with strings arrangement by David Campbell, the song was worked on by Shinoda since five or six years. The vocal production started in November. The mixing process as well as the album itself was finished in New York City.

Composition

Meteora features a mixture of the band's previous nu metal and rap metal styles with newer innovative effects. "Nobody's Listening" features a sample from the band's track "High Voltage", which appears on the B-side for the single "One Step Closer" and the bonus disc of Hybrid Theory. The sample is a distorted version of Mike Shinoda's rapping line that is in the chorus of "High Voltage" where he states "Coming at you from every side". The track also includes the induction of a shakuhachi, a Japanese flute made of bamboo. "Breaking the Habit" features an electronica-influenced sound, live strings and guitar. This is an exception from their previous nu metal/rap rock performances, as no distorted guitar riffs, nor any rapping vocals from Mike Shinoda are included – a style they would further explore on the albums A Thousand Suns and Living Things. Linkin Park comprehensively rehearsed the album, recording more than forty choruses for the first single "Somewhere I Belong". Samples of Viola and sound effects of a car burning out was used on the promotional single "Lying From You".

Lyrically the album contains elements including depressing emotions, anger and recovery. Explaining to MTV, Bennington said: "We don't talk about situations, we talk about the emotions behind the situations. Mike and I are two different people, so we can't sing about the same things, but we both know about frustration and anger and loneliness and love and happiness, and we can relate on that level." In the same interview, Shinoda explained it as: "What we really wanted to do was just push ourselves and push each other to really find new ways to be creative." He continued: "We wanted each sample that was in each song to be something that might perk your ear — something that you might not have ever heard before."

In a promotional interview, Rob Bourdon stated: "We wanted a group of songs that would sit well together because we wanted to make a record that you could pop into your CD player and, from beginning to end, there would never be a spot where you start daydreaming."

Promotion

Linkin Park embarked with American rock bands Hoobastank, P.O.D. and Story of the Year (pictured) on the Meteora World Tour.

The promotion for the album began well ahead before its release, as pictures of the band recording were distributed to the media. To support the album, there were many photo shoots of the band on October 29 at the Ambassador Hotel, where the band took a break from recording the album for two days, for designing the cover art of the album. "The Flem" and "Delta" helped the band for the art works, for the album as well as for the singles spawned by it. A TV commercial for the album was premiered on January 1, 2003.

"Somewhere I Belong" was released as the first single, premiering on U.S. radio on March 18, 2003. Being released only nine days before the album release, it influenced the album sales performance worldwide. The second single off the album was "Faint", released before the band started its world tour. The third single "Numb" was released when Linkin Park performed it live in Madrid. "From the Inside" was released as the fourth single off the album before the North American leg of the world tour. "Breaking the Habit" was released while the band was in Indonesia. The album was released with various limited edition content for promotional purposes.

There is a special edition of Meteora, which includes the "Making of Meteora" DVD documentary. The special-edition package was packaged in a blue tinted case with the blue Meteora cover that can be found in some parts of Asia, United States, and more commonly in India. An alternate Indian version contains an alternate DVD and alternative cover that is packaged in a slimline case with the disc in original packaging. The "Tour Edition" of Meteora is packaged in a two disc set. The second disc, which is a Video CD, has the music videos for "Somewhere I Belong", "Faint", "Numb", and "Breaking the Habit". The tour edition is packaged in a standard Compact Disc case, rather than their trademark digipak case. The album was also released on a very limited quantity of vinyl records (spread across two LPs) under Warner Brothers. These are coveted by collectors and fetch high prices at auction. In 2014, Linkin Park released a demo version of Shinoda singing the song, on their 14th annual fan club CD, LPU XIV.

The band promoted the album with their Meteora World Tour and various other supporting tours. The world tour was supported by Hoobastank, P.O.D. and Story of the Year. The band played shows at Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre on the day before the album release and on the release date. The shows were called "'Meteora' Release Show". The European leg was cancelled because Chester was having severe back and abdominal pains. As a result, half of the music video of "Numb" was shot in Los Angeles and the Czech Republic. The album was also promoted by the Projekt Revolution festival. A live album was released in support of the album titled Live in Texas. Linkin Park played various special shows worldwide, including "Reading Ireland", as well as performing during the Kerrang! Awards, "Livid", "X-103's Not So Silent Night", "The End's Deck The Hall Ball" and "KROQ Almost Acoustic X-Mas", in promotion of the album.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	62/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	mixed
Blender
E! Online	A
Entertainment Weekly	B+
Melodic
NME	7/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Sputnikmusic

Meteora received generally positive reviews, although critics noted that the album's musical style was similar to its predecessor, Hybrid Theory (2000). The overall Metacritic score is 62. E! Online rated it A, and expected it to "shoot straight for the stars". Entertainment Weekly described it as "radio-friendly perfection".Dot Music described it as a "guaranteed source of ubiquitous radio hits". Rolling Stone said the band "squeezed the last remaining life out of this nearly extinct formula". Billboard Magazine described Meteora as "a ready-made crowdpleaser". The New Musical Express said it had "massive commercial appeal" but left the reviewer "underwhelmed".

AllMusic described it as "nothing more and nothing less than Hybrid Theory Part 2.", adding "More importantly, the group has discipline and editing skills, keeping this record at a tight 36 minutes and 41 seconds, a move that makes it considerably more listenable than its peers and, by extension, more powerful, since they know where to focus their energy, something that many nu-metal bands simply do not." Sputnikmusic writer Damrod criticized the album as being too similar to Hybrid Theory, but praised the album's production quality and catchiness, stating "the songs just invade your brain".

Blender described it as "harder, denser, uglier", while Q described it as "less an artistic endeavor than an exercise in target marketing." Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+, calling it a "thunderously hooky album that seamlessly blends the group's disparate sonic elements into radio-friendly perfection"

Commercial performance

In its first week, Meteora debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. The album sold at least 810,000 copies its first week of release. As of June 2014, the album has sold 6.1 million copies in the US, and over 20 million copies worldwide. The album was ranked number 36 on Billboard's Hot 200 Albums of the Decade.

Accolades

The song "Session" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 2004.

Whereas, the song "Numb/Encore", a mash-up of "Numb" by Linkin Park and "Encore" by "Jay-Z" won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the Grammy Awards of 2006. The show featured a performance of the song, during which Paul McCartney made a surprise appearance and came onto the stage to perform a duet with Chester Bennington of The Beatles' song "Yesterday". "Yesterday" replaced "Numb" after the first rap verse of the mash-up.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Linkin Park. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Foreword"	0:13
2.	"Don't Stay"	3:07
3.	"Somewhere I Belong"	3:33
4.	"Lying from You"	2:55
5.	"Hit the Floor"	2:44
6.	"Easier to Run"	3:24
7.	"Faint"	2:42
8.	"Figure.09"	3:17
9.	"Breaking the Habit"	3:16
10.	"From the Inside"	2:55
11.	"Nobody's Listening"	2:58
12.	"Session"	2:24
13.	"Numb"	3:07
Total length:		36:35

Digital deluxe, South Korean and Indonesian/Thai cassette tour edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Lying from You" (Live LP Underground Tour 2003)	3:04
15.	"From the Inside" (Live LP Underground Tour 2003)	2:55
16.	"Easier to Run" (Live LP Underground Tour 2003)	3:22
Total length:		45:53

2013 iTunes deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Step Up" (Live)	4:14
15.	"Somewhere I Belong" (Live at Milton Keynes)	3:41

Limited edition bonus DVD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Making of Meteora"	34:19

Asian tour edition bonus VCD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Somewhere I Belong"	3:44
2.	"Faint"	2:56
3.	"Numb"	3:06
4.	"Breaking the Habit"	3:18

Multimedia Part

• The Art of Meteora – 17:04
• "Somewhere I Belong" Video
• LPTV
• Website tool-kit
• Extra
• Merch
• LP Underground

Meteora – Live Around the World

Meteora – Live Around the World
File:Meteora Live Around.jpg
Live album by Linkin Park
Released	June 5, 2012
Recorded	2007–11
Genre	Nu metal rap metal alternative metal
Length	25:27
Label	Warner Bros. Machine Shop
Producer	Mike Shinoda
Linkin Park chronology
Hybrid Theory – Live Around the World (2012)Hybrid Theory – Live Around the World2012 Meteora – Live Around the World (2012) Minutes to Midnight – Live Around the World (2012)Minutes to Midnight – Live Around the World2012

Meteora – Live Around the World is a live album which features live versions of seven songs from the second studio album, Meteora. They were recorded in various cities around the world from 2007 to 2011. The album was released exclusively on iTunes, and it served as a sequel to "Hybrid Theory – Live Around the World".

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Linkin Park. 

Meteora – Live Around the World
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Don't Stay" (Live in Shanghai, 2007)	3:16
2.	"Somewhere I Belong" (Live in Koln, 2008)	4:09
3.	"Lying from You" (Live in New York, 2008)	2:57
4.	"Faint" (Live in Hamburg, 2011)	3:41
5.	"Breaking the Habit" (Live in Hamburg)	4:15
6.	"From the Inside" (Live in Sydney)	3:28
7.	"Numb" (Live in New York, 2008)	3:41

Personnel

Linkin Park

• Chester Bennington – lead vocals, unclean vocals
• Mike Shinoda – rapping vocals, backing vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboard, piano; strings arrangement on "Faint" and "Breaking the Habit"
• Brad Delson – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Dave "Phoenix" Farrell – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Mr. Hahn – turntables, samples, programming, backing vocals
• Rob Bourdon – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

• David Campbell – Strings arrangement on "Faint" and "Breaking the Habit"
• Joel Derouin, Charlie Bisharat, Alyssa Park, Sara Parkins, Michelle Richards, Mark Robertson – Violins
• Evan Wilson, Bob Becker – Violas
• Larry Corbett, Dan Smith – Celli
• David Zasloff – shakuhachi flute on "Nobody's Listening"

Production

• Produced by Don Gilmore and Linkin Park
• Recorded by Don Gilmore
• EnrJohn Ewing, Jr. – Engineer
• Fox Phelps – Assistant engineer
• Andy Wallace – Mixing at Soundtrack Studios, New York, NY
• Steve Sisco – Assisted mixing
• Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – Mastering, digital editing at Bernie Grundman Mastering

Management

• Tom Whalley & Jeff Blue – A&R
• Marny Cameron – A&R coordination
• Peter Standish & Kevin Sakoda – Marketing directors
• Worldwide representation: Rob McDermott for the Firm with Additional Servitude by Ryan Saullo, Ryan Demarti, and Noah Edelman
• Booking agent: Michael Arfin for Artist Group, International
• Danny Hayes – Legal for Davis, Shapiro, Lewit, Montone & Hayes
• Michael Oppenheim & Jonathan Schwartz – Business Managers for Gudvi, Sussman & Oppenheim
• Worldwide licensing and merchandising: Bandmerch

Artwork

• Mike Shinoda & The Flem – Creative direction
• The Flem – Art direction & design
• Delta, Mike Shinoda, Joseph Hahn & The Flem – Installation artists
• James R. Minchin III – Photography
• Nick Spanos – Spray paint can close-up photos

Charts and Certifications

Charts

Chart (2003)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	2
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)	1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	1
Canadian Albums (Billboard)	2
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)	3
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)	2
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)	2
French Albums (SNEP)	3
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	1
Greek Albums Chart	2
Hungarian Albums Chart	2
Irish Albums Chart	1
Italian Albums (FIMI)	1
Mexican Albums Chart	1
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	1
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)	1
Polish Albums Chart	3
Portuguese Albums Chart	1
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	1
UK Albums (OCC)	1
US Billboard 200	1
U.S. Billboard Catalog Albums	10

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Argentina (CAPIF)	Gold
Australia (ARIA)	4× Platinum	280,000
Austria (IFPI)	Platinum
Belgium (IFPI)	Gold
Brazil (ABPD)	Platinum
Canada (CRIA)	4× Platinum	400,000
Denmark (IFPI)	Gold
Finland (IFPI)	Gold	15,938
France (SNEP)	3x Platinum
Germany (BVMI)	3x Platinum	3,000,000+
Greece (IFPI Greece)	Gold
Italy (FIMI)	Gold
Japan (RIAJ)	Platinum
Mexico (AMPF)	Platinum	150,000
New Zealand (RIANZ)	2× Platinum
Poland (ZPAV)	Platinum	40,000+
Sweden (IFPI)	Gold
Switzerland (IFPI)	Platinum	30,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	2× Platinum	600,000
United States (RIAA)	6x Platinum	6,100,000
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)	3× Platinum	3,000,000
*sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Year-end charts

Chart (2003)	Position
Australian Albums Chart	14
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)	10
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)	07
Dutch Albums Chart	42
German Albums Chart	03
Hungarian Albums Chart	23
Swiss Albums Chart	08
UK Albums Chart	35

Singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions
		U.S.	U.S. Alt.	U.S. Main	AUS	NZ	UK	BEL	FRA	FRA	GER	ITA	IRE	NLD	NOR	SWE	SWI
2003	"Somewhere I Belong"	32	1	1	13	1	10	33	14	32	12	13	4	14	12	19	15
	"Faint"	48	1	2	25	—	15	44	—	—	40	29	26	20	—	49	32
	"Numb" (Platinum)	11	1	1	11	13	14	48	19	—	19	47	16	2	—	23	15
2004	"From the Inside"	—	—	—	37	50	—	—	—	35	35	—	—	—	—	54	38
	"Breaking the Habit"	20	1	1	23	27	39	—	—	27	25	—	46	41	—	—	56

Promotional singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions
		U.S.	U.S. Alt.	U.S. Main
2004	"Lying from You"	58	1	2

Album number-one chart successions

Order of precedence
Preceded by Get Rich or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent	Billboard 200 number-one album April 6, 2003 – April 19, 2003	Succeeded by Faceless by Godsmack
Preceded by Come Away with Me by Norah Jones	UK number one album April 5, 2003 – April 11, 2003	Succeeded by Elephant by White Stripes

External links

• Meteora official lyrics page at the Wayback Machine (archived January 14, 2010)