Meteora

Performer: Linkin Park
Engineer: John Ewing, Jr.
Producer: Don Gilmore; Linkin Park
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Enhancements include behind-the-scenes video footage, a screensaver, and weblinks. Linkin Park: Mike Shinoda (vocals, emcee, samples); Chester Bennington (vocals); Brad Delson (guitar, background vocals); Phoenix (bass, background vocals); Rob Bourdon (drums, background vocals); Joseph Hahn (turntables, samples, background vocals). Additional personnel: Joel Derouin, Charlie Bisharat, Alyssa Park, Sara Parkins, Michelle Richards, Mark Robertson (violin); Evan Wilson, Bob Becker (viola); Larry Corbett, Dan Smith (cello); David Zasloff (Shakuhachi flute). Recorded at NRG Studios, North Hollywood, California. "Session" was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Personnel: Mike Shinoda (vocals, sampler); Chester Bennington (vocals); Brad Delson (guitar, background vocals); Joel Derouin, Mark Robertson , Sara Parkins, Michele Richards, Charlie Bisharat (violin); Evan Wilson, Bob Becker (viola); David Zasloff (shakuhachi); Rob Bourdon (drums, background vocals); Joseph Hahn (sampler, background vocals). Audio Mixer: Andy Wallace. Recording information: Mike's House; MRG Studios, North Hollywood, CA. In one of the most highly anticipated follow-ups of recent years, Linkin Park maintains its position at the top of the nu-metal heap with METEORA. The band labored carefully over their craft; for instance, the writing process of leadoff single "Somewhere I Belong" spawned 30 finished choruses before vocalists Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington arrived at the version found on the album. The combination of Shinoda's raps and Bennington's sing/scream vocals makes for an altogether complementary approach, best evidenced in "Faint" and "Easier To Run." The pressure felt by Linkin Park to meet a high standard with their sophomore release even finds it's way into the lyrics of "Nobody's Listening," where self-doubt and fear are almost all-consuming. Producer Don Gilmore (Apex Theory, Blind Tribe) mans the boards with a decisive lean towards acoustic drums. That is not to say by any means that Linkin Park's inventive use of samples and turntables is any less present or crucial to the group's now-signature sound.

Rolling Stone (12/25/03, p.108) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Best Albums of 2003" - "...This L.A. six-piece managed to breathe new life into loud and angsty radio rock with METEORA..." Entertainment Weekly (3/28/03, pp.65-66) - "...Music that's by turns pretty, bludgeoning, and rhythmic....A thunderously hooky album that seamlessly blends the group's disparate elements into radio-friendly perfection..." - Rating: B+

Californian sextet Linkin Park simultaneously took inspiration from and expanded upon the hybrid of heavy rock, hip-hop, and electronics that made such bands as Korn and Limp Bizkit so successful at the tail end of the 1990s. The band's 2000 debut HYBRID THEORY racked up both album sales and Grammy nominations, and won a widespread audience for Linkin Park's combination of hard rock guitar, turntablism, and rap, while neatly avoiding disparaging comparisons to the aforementioned rap-rock outfits. In 2004 they took their status as rap-rock kingpins to its logical summit and collaborated with Jay-Z for the album COLLISION COURSE, which debuted at number one. They have been scoring awards and soaring up the charts with consistency ever since, while still allowing room for growth and experimentation as a band.

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