"Meteora" Album Review

When Linkin Park's debut album "Hybrid Theory" came out in the year 2000, people were suprised at how well they mashed modern rock music and rap music together, and now they are on top of the modern rock world. And then came "Meteora". Spawning 4 hits, 3 of them mega-hits, "Meteora" is a prime example of how modern rock should sound, with hard guitar riffs and hooks, along with great lyrics, which fit effortlessly into the music. The first track on the CD isn't even a song, as its name says, it's a "Foreward", just a recording of smashing glass that sets up the first song on the CD, "Don't Stay" is a gutsy get-up-and-get-out-of-here song. It has some really great guitar playing, and sounds marvelous. Then comes the super-hit "Somewhere I Belong", its as near perfection as you can get. With excellent musical effects from the incredible sound wizard "Mr.Hahn", and great singing from lead singer Chester Bennington and emcee Mike Shinoda, it is one of the best rock songs in recent years. The 4th track on the CD is "Lying From You";the music video for this was shot at their "Live From Texas" show, and was the 2nd single off of the album. Then comes "Hit the Floor, a catchy tune that has short choppy guitar riffs and a thought-u-had-me-now-u-don't attitude. The next song, "Easier to Run", is a rock ballad in the purest sense of the word, with long guitar hooks and some really good singing. Next is a song brimming with attitude, "Faint". Chester Bennington screams some on this song, as he really puts all he can behind the words he's singing. It's a really good "don't turn your back on me I won't be ignored" rebel anthem. The 8th track on the CD is "Figure.09", a truely great song that should've been released as a single, but keeps itself a secret for those who go out and buy the CD. Even if you're satisfied just listening the singles on the radio, this song is a good reason to buy the album. Then comes perhaps the biggest hit on the album, "Breaking The Habit", which isn't hard at all, but has a great drum beat and good music effects from Mr.Hahn. The video for it was done in a Japanese Animae fashion, and it really turned out good. This song was in the works for 6 years, and believe me, when they finally made the final version, they nailed it. The tenth track, "From the Inside", is a good song, but doesn't live up the quality of the rest of the album. Then comes a rap song, "Nobody's Listening", and Mike Shinoda really shows off his rapping skills on this track. Hard rock fans probably won't like the rap twist, but its a quality song. Next is the instrumental "Session", in which Mr.Hahn shows off his stuff. This guy can really whip up some crazy sounds, its like you're listening to a musical experiment on this song. The last track of the song is the mega-hit "Numb". In the booklet that comes with the CD, the band said that this song was one of the first songs written for the album, and "came together quickly and almost effortlessly". Wow, if they can put together a song like that almost without even trying, I'd love to see what they could do if they tried really hard! It's gonna be hard to live up to expectations on their next album, considering how great "Meteora" is, but I think they can do it. I give "Meteora" a perfect 5 out of 5 stars.