The band spent eighteen months total writing their follow-up to 'Hybrid Theory' and finally released it as 'Meteora' in March 2003. Producer Don Gilmore was back behind the switchboards, trying to duplicate the success of 'Hybrid Theory'. That's exactly what happened. 'Meteora' opened up its first week of release with an astonishing 830,000 copies sold in the US. The album debuted at number one in sixteen countries worldwide, including the US, giving the band that elusive top album once and for all.

Guided by the extreme popularity of the debut single 'Somewhere I Belong'