Follow-up to this thread https://www.lpassociation.com/forum/threads/lets-review-part-1-hybrid-theory.47086/ (if you haven't voted in the previous one, it's never too late ) This one could be interesting! ---------------- Mine Top 3 Qualities Accessibility : again, so many people got into music/rock/metal thanks to Meteora. A catchy memorable album Live Performances : songs like LFY, Faint, FTI, BTH or Numb... and even Don't Stay or Figure.09 just shine in a live setting. They're bangers the crowd always react to - I know the last 2 ones haven't been played in forever but still! Vocal Performance : so many legendary Chester moments on this, from the chorus of LFY or FTI to the bridges of Numb or Breaking The Habit. That said,I'm not a fan of how "overprocessed" some of the vocals sound, but that's not related to the performance. Which leads me to... Top Issue Production / Mixing : I'm sure many could target the lyrics as the weak point, but honestly, I think the main problem I have with Meteora nowadays is how the production has aged. To me, it contrasts a lot with Hybrid Theory, which was so full of cool intricacies, yet maintained a rougher/dirtier edge - think of the guitar tone in With You - and where each element in the mix could shine. In comparison, Meteora sounds much more polished and therefore looses its edge. The vocals have a fair hint of overproduction to them, the guitars overpower the other elements but without the cool tones from HT, the whole thing has a lot of that early-2000 compression. It's unfortunate, because with a more balanced mix (and better lyrics), I think Meteora 'd have aged better for a lot of people.
Let's get this one!! Top 3 qualities: Consistency (All killer / No Filler) Even Foreword is a thing you can't skip only to hear how it breaks into Don't Stay. SIB and LFY are so good back to back. HTF is awesomely heavy. ETR with Mike's pre-chorus is incredible. Faint is Faint, catchy af. Figure .09 hits so well every time transitioning smoothly to BTH with its grappling breakbeat. FTI is super emotional and raw. My fav here would be NL, that great Shakuhachi (the Japanese flute) loop and coooool lyrics of life living, not to be forgotten but still unforgiven. Session is Mr. Hahn's highlight here, and Numb is righteously an anthem. Instrumentation (Analog or Digital) The aforementioned Shakuhachi loop is, for me, the spot of the album. When I first listened to that part I thought: who the hell mixes jap flutes with rap and metal and screams? These guys are geniuses. The digital sampling is another part to take a look at: the accordion sound on SIB, Faint's intro, all of them take the record to another level. Songwriting (Melodies, Song Structures, Layering, ...) I can't find any flaw in the structures of the songs or in the record. Although HTF would sound weird at a first listen, it makes a lot of sense as a whole. After all these years, is a pleasant hearing time after time. Top Issue: Diversity, to name one. To me is like an extension to HT, I feel them,very similar in the tone. But hey. that's what we loved back then.
Oh boy. I have so many thoughts on this one. I have so much nostalgia for Meteora but I also feel it is among their weaker albums comparatively. It's also very hard for me to look at this album as its own standalone work, rather than compared to its older brother. It feels like you have to look at Meteora through the lens of Hybrid Theory, since it was made with the intention of sending a message about their debut album. The top things that make Meteora stick out to me are: Accessibility - It is no secret that this album was a concerted effort to prove the haters wrong about this band: to prove that there were no ghost writers, that the band was not manufactured, and that their first record was anything but a fluke. In this way, it channels the some of the same metal meets hip-hop meets pop production and songwriting of Hybrid Theory. Meteora is largely pretty safe, but they push in a couple of places, while still keeping it accessible to the masses. They do a couple of marginally more interesting musical things here and there (like the drumming on "Easier to Run"). This was my gateway album for hard rock and metal. They do a lot more aggression across the board on Meteora, with more guitar riffage and more prominent live drums (over very sample loops on Hybrid Theory) that really push it closer to metal territory. It's got several great bangers. Vocal Performance - This album again showcases a lot of Chester's vocal talent (I mean, do they have an album that doesn't?). There are a lot of good Chester moments, from the ridiculously relentless screams of "Hit the Floor" to the soaring vocals of "Lying from You," which he sings with distortion to boot, doubling the amount of technique he's channeling. And then we get very strong clean singing parts throughout as well, like on "Numb," "Easier to Run," or "Breaking the Habit." I think Mike also sounds in his element generally on this album such as on the memorable verses of "Faint," though I think there are a couple of his parts that are delivered a little awkwardly (I've never quite gelled with "Cause I can't justify the way everyone is looking at me," always thought it was weird). Live Performance - Due to its more rock production and strong vocal performances, Meteora translates exceptionally well to live settings. The tracks are crowd-friendly and high-energy, and it seems like the Meteora songs allow them to really dial in on delivering powerful performances that drive audience engagement. Unlike some of the more complicated arrangements in Hybrid Theory (often involving drum breaks and whatnot), Meteora's simplicity works to its advantage in live shows. It's all very streamlined, which for the actual recordings I'm quite ambivalent about, but in a live setting allows many of these songs to just be straight rockers. Adds a great dynamic to their sets when some of the banger Meteora songs are included. Things I don't like...it's a combo of things about the songwriting, creativity, production: Meteora's songwriting feels very repetitive to me, and the formulaic nature of the album extends beyond just song structure to include specific production choices. Many tracks follow similar conventions down to a surprisingly granular level (8th note repeating synth from chorus continues into second verse, the way the scratches are utilized, etc). Meteora also focuses more toward rock and metal overall. Not bad in of itself, but despite the push toward more metal, we don't get any instantly recognizable riffs like "One Step Closer" or "A Place for My Head." So it feels like a net negative making the hip-hop and electronic parts less prominent. In spite of some left turns like "Breaking the Habit" and "Nobody's Listening," the overall creativity feels stifled, and the production focuses on the thick, double (or more)-tracked polished guitars. Because of this, I feel it lacks the dynamic quality of its predecessor. And also, two of my least-favorite Linkin Park songs appear on this album, both of which I feel are emblematic of its weaknesses. "Somewhere I Belong," which to me feels like a bad parody of themselves and their worst lead single by a long shot; and "Figure.09," literally written as "One Step Closer" the second, sounding like an extremely generic nu metal tune.
Damn @Christøffer and @juancpin, thank you for the thoughts you put into this! Really cool to see some thorough analysis about the album, that's what I was hoping for when making those threads Hoping to see more of those!
I really wanted to put Accessibility, partly because I used this album to help get my sister who's usually into softer music into LP, but I couldn't leave out instrumentation, songwriting, or vocal performance. All three are just so good.
Now that I'm going through 20th Anniversay Edition's demos, there are so good tunes and riffs there: Pepper, Soundtrack, Program... A lot of good songs are waiting to be ended there, I think this wouldn't add up to Diversity, they're more or less similar, but they can add to Accessibility, for they're all catchy AF.
Part 3 (MTM) is coming tomorrow. Little bump for last minute feedbacks. Interesting to see every category got at least one votes, except ... lyrics. HT had the same situation, but with diversity. Even with limited data, we can see pattern appearing
Beside Breaking The Habit and maybe Faint, Meteora is just a lesser, watered down version of Hybrid Theory in every aspect.
I see where this is coming from, and to a lesser extent, I agree. I think @Christøffer post was very spot-on and complete regarding the issues Meteora is suffering from. Nevertheless, I think Meteora has much more to offer than just BTH and Faint. Lying From You has one of the meanest sample loop on Meteora, as well as one of Chester most jaw-breaking chorus to date. As far as shiny nu-metal goes, that track is an example of it at its best. Easier to Run is an underrated gem. The drum work, electronic elements, synth layers, and melodies all tangle together to create a beautiful alt rock power ballad From The Inside has a cinematic and atmospheric quality to it nowhere to be found on Hybrid Theory Session probably remains my favorite instrumental the band has done. It pushes the Aphex Twin-like glitches to an extent nowhere to be found on Hybrid Theory Numb is one of the most iconic song of the band, with one of its most memorable hook and melody. While the similarities with PMA are obvious, which one is the better song is arguable. Also counting Faint and BTH, we are at 7 tracks I consider very solid. Not perfect, but solid. Out of the others, I think HTF and Nobody's Listening bring interesting new elements to the table, but have less quality than the aforementioned songs. Don't Stay and Figure.09 get a personal pass for having been my old favorites and bangers live, but are weaker. And SIB, yeah, definitely weaker.
I'm not going to participate in the poll because there are no redeeming qualities of Meteora, but as of this comment there are 0 votes for lyrics and that makes me so happy.
Meteora's my favorite LP album, but I'll admit that the lyrics are their weakest on any album Also, Meteora has 12 redeeming qualities They are: 1. Foreword/Don't Stay 2. Somewhere I Belong 3. Lying From You 4. Hit the Floor 5. Easier to Run 6. Faint 7. Figure.09 8. Breaking the Habit 9. From the Inside 10. Nobody's Listening 11. Session And finally, 12. Numb
So I had this very focused listen of Meteora yesterday evening, and couple of things caught me by surprise Don't Stay scratches are HYPE, and the bridge is gnarly. I forgot that - the song gets bonus point on those SIB chorus hasn't aged well at all, damn it I knew that, but not to the extent it hit me yesterday.... Figure.09 chorus honestly still kind of slaps Overall, I was rather pleasantly surprised by the record. Probably will end up middle-of-the pack in my LP ranking.
I always come back to Mike's parts in Easier to run, From the inside and Nobody’s listening. His almost whispered raps are super duper.
Random thought since we brought up the song: one thing that disappointed me a little about the Meteora 20th release was not getting that "Don't Stay" reggae demo they've referenced! I would have loved to hear how it went from reggae to the riff and scratch-heavy version we got on the album. Different take: it's actually Mike's verses in "Somewhere I Belong" that most pointedly bother me about the song. Most people complain about the chorus, but I'm the guy who will defend "Runaway," so it's no suprise that I'm not bothered by the SIB chorus either lol. It's as much the lyrics themselves with the verses either, more his delivery. I also think the song sets up really nicely in the intro, but kind of loses its way as it goes because to me, it feels extremely formulaic and unoriginal following that. It's like they tried to remake "In the End" but as a heavier lead single.
I do agree that it feels like an inferior In the End, but it's easy to be worse than ItE and still be really good
Accessibility, creativity, and production. Meteora dials back the hip-hop and metal a bit, while upping the electronics and the more traditional rock stuff. Production still has the early Linkin Park digital gloss. And I think this album is the most accessible version of the nu-metal projects, there aren't a lot of "obvious" singles on Hybrid Theory but there are plenty here.