20 Years Of Meterora: A Timeless NU Metal Classic That Transformed Linkin Park Into Rockstars
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As a rock band Linkin Park has probably achieved everything they set out to do. Not only are they still one of the biggest rock bands in the world today but have also played a massive role in bringing Nu Metal into the mainstream. While their debut Hybrid Theory was a breakthrough, their sophomore album would take things to the next level and change Linkin Park forever.
It all began in 2001 when the band was still touring. Linkin Park had written eighty different demos while they were still on their Hybrid Theory World tour and LP underground tour within just eight months. Before releasing their second album, the band decided to put out a remix album “Reanimation” (2002).
After the remix, the band decided it would be best if they co-produced the album with Don Gilmore, as they thought working with the Hybrid theory producer would help them experiment with some of the ideas that were explored in the previous album.
Rough song ideas would soon find their way into the album, most notably an acoustic guitar riff that Chester Bennington recorded which he eventually thought was too folk-rock sounding for the band.
Mike and Joe Han (turntables, samples, backing vocals) however reworked, added effects, and played it backward to turn it into something the band would be happy with. In Mike's own words "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."
The riff was a part of “Somewhere I Belong”, the iconic first single from the album which was a massive success and led to many other singles from the album like “Faint”, “Breaking The Habit” “From The Inside” and “Numb”, which have all gone on to become timeless classics. Eventually, Meteora sold 16 million copies worldwide, making it the 8th best-selling album of the 21st century, turning Linkin Park into Bonafide rockstars that would headline major festivals everywhere.
One only needs to look towards the heartwarming and emotional reactions towards “Lost” (an unreleased song from the album) to see that Meteora still has the same impact today as it did almost 20 years ago.
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