Altwire has just dropped a mega review and impressions article on the upcoming Meteora | 20 "Lost Demos" CD! In it, Derek gives fans an exclusive glimpse into what to expect come April 7th. A snippet: "“Massive” begins with a glitchy, fast-paced breakbeat reminiscent of “Session” and some of the band’s late 90s demos. Soon, the track transitions to an alternative metal sound that would fit well among the hard rock sound of the early 2000s. In the verses, Mike Shinoda sings solo, delivering poignant lyrics such as “I guess it’s true, you can’t really change the person you’ll be. The least I can do is set myself free.” The song then progresses into an anthemic sung chorus in the style of TRUSTcompany. Shinoda sings, “I heard the screaming in my dreaming every night. I awake, and I’m still mistaking you for right.” Altwire's article also spills the beans on other lost demos like "A.06", "Shifter," "Husky," and more, providing heavy spoilers for the songs yet to be heard by the general public. Check out the article here.
Of the ones we heard, I can’t wait to hear a higher quality version of More The Victim. Shifter and Resolution also sound interesting too!
More The Victim is one of my favorites of the "new-old Chester songs" and sounded way better when there was no random chatter over it. Shifter is fun but a weird one.
Meteora could've had been released as double album since the day 1. Meteora - Original Album Meteora - Part 2
I don’t have time to listen to the whole thing but the important tracks to me I listened to: Lost- 8/10. Solid but feels like a demo for sure Fighting Myself- 10/10. How did a song this amazing not make the album? More The Victim- 8/10. Solid track, love the Mike raps especially. Massive- 6/10. Can tell why it didn’t make the album. Healing Foot- 10/10. Definitely a bit different than the rest of Meteora but an absolute banger that would have been sick on the OG tracklist. Resolution- 8/10, Mike verses are Fire and instrumental is great
All of these "Lost Demos" are such bangers, with a variety of sounds, guitar tones, and more lyrical grit. This is what Meteora *could* have been, if not so restricted by the record label at the time. Even so, I have always enjoyed the final release, and we now have enough "new" material to make a Meteora, Part II, something that a good chunk of the fanbase had been craving for years.
Does anyone else feel sad listening to resolution? Now that we know it shares instruments with the wizard song it feels kind of empty hearing it without Chester's vocals.
Lost, More the Victim, and Massive are my highlights for sure. The new mix of Lost feels nostalgic but fresh at the same time - almost as if LP had decided to create a Meteora throwback in 2023. More the Victim's Chester chorus is very melodically pleasing to me, and it's great to hear a full Cumulus. I love the mellowness of Massive too, and the chorus is truly a treat. All three are going to be my most-listened from this set I'm sure. The other lost demos are also really solid too. Personally not that enthused about the new A6 demo - I'm not the biggest fan of the vocals on it, but I will take what I can get. I do really like hearing some of the more buried atmospheric/sampled parts from the final Meteora songs being more front and center on the demos we have here (synths in the lead line for Easier to Run, the looped sample from the Faint chorus, etc). I've always loved being able to pick apart the band's layered sound during the Meteora era especially, because their instrumentals were so dense and layered, even more than Hybrid Theory I would argue. Also really glad to have a quality Hit the Floor live recording. But also pretty easy to see why they dumped it live - it must have been brutal for Chester. All in all really solid. I just want my set to arrive already
The demos/unreleased songs are a huge treat. Lost is a fantastic single and a pop rock banger. I’m really happy this evolved from the “Thoughts That Take Away My Pride” demo that never really sounded appealing to me personally. Overall, a great addition to LP’s catalog and a nice Chester-led song. 4/5 More the Victim is different enough to stand out but still fits within the overall Meteora sound and song structure. I have no doubt this would be a standout if it made it to the actual album. The Cumulus instrumental is beautiful and the pop punk-esque chorus is great. Mike’s rhyme schemes on this are really well structured here and Chester’s melodic pre-chorus parts are highlights. 5/5 Massive is a major highlight too and maybe the best new song/demo. Hearing Mike sound this good in 2002-2003 is a big surprise and the chorus is such an earworm. Maybe a lil too rough and “experimental” to ever make it to the album (and I wish the vocals were louder), but this one was a major surprise for me. 5/5 Healing Foot having vocals was a shock to me. While the chorus is a bit rough, the bridge is really great and Mike delivers some really great lyrics in this one. 4/5 The rest of the demos are cool to have (A6 with vocals, Shifter, Resolution) but the first 5 are the ones I’m really grateful for
The demos on the "Lost Demos" disc, songs like "More The Victim", "Massive", "Healing Foot", etc., feel like totally different worlds to the songs on "Meteora". They're not just really different to what eventually made the album but they're super-different from each other. I feel like that's been true with a lot of "Meteora" demos that have been released to us over the years. If Linkin Park had taken those songs to the finish line, no matter what other songs would fill in the blanks, their second album would have been incredibly different to "Hybrid Theory" and you don't know whether or not they would've had another commercial home run on their hands like "Meteora" turned out to be. I've always posited (specifically over the last 10 years) that the band needed to make "Meteora" to prove that "Hybrid Theory" wasn't a fluke, creatively speaking, and to see where else their signature sound at the time could be taken. Still, it's always crazy to see that they were experimenting with such a range of ideas just for their second album
My Deluxe Boxset of Meteora 20 arrived on Friday and I managed to listen to the Lost Demos on Sunday. I have listened to the main surprises since then and have the following opinion on the tracks: Lost - still an awesome, emotive song for me. I have recently listened to the 2002 Mix also and have to say, I like both. I appreciate the 2023 updated version of this song and how it sounds like a modernised version of nu-metal but I also like the nostalgic feel of the louder guitar-driven 2002 mix. Still, I'm a huge fan of this song. I found it powerful when it was first released and still feel the same way today. I enjoy the synths/electronics, the amazing vocal delivery of Chester and the epic bridge towards the end and the layers of Chester's emotional vocals. Great song. 9/10. Fighting Myself - like @Blake and others, I believe this song should have been on Meteora. It's an absolute banger! The flow of Mike Shinoda feels old school, the verse when the guitar kicks in is catchy, love the riffs, the backwards vocal sample is sublime and Chester's gritty and raspy vocal delivery in the chorus and the bridge is brilliant. I also like the background screams of Chester, which are layered in with the raspy sing-scream vocals and the other harmonies that are in there. The final part of the song is a lot of fun and is a great way to conclude such a catchy song. This would have been a real fun live song. 10/10. More The Victim - this one has grown on me the more and more I listen to it. I like the beginning, the intro sounds very late 90's/early 2000's to me and the way it suddenly kicks in with another awesome rap from Mike. I enjoy the way Chester joins in, leading into the chorus. Also like the effect on Mike's vocals leading into his 2nd verse. This song definitely feels different in comparison to the Meteora sound. I can see why this was left off as this feels a bit more experimental for the band, especially when it goes into a more punk rock breakdown at the end. Like the guitars, the scratching from Joe (at the end) and the drum work on this one and the vocals from Chester towards the end are a real highlight. This track is a grower for sure. 8/10. Massive - Wow, the guitars are HUGE on this one! The breakdown at the end is awesome and you can tell it needed an extra vocal there or would have had a scream vocal there. Still, what we have for this demo is intriguing. Mike sings well on this, especially in the verses and he proves what a capable singer he was back then and how much he improved (due to the live shows). His vocals are buried in the chorus but still, I'm a fan of the guitar work on this one. Good track. 7/10. Healing Foot - Unbelievable song! I always remember the video of Rob playing the drums for this in the studio, with the synths layered over it. It sounded awesome then and full of pure Linkin Park goodness and it's surreal we have a song with full vocals on it. Mike is great again on this with his rapping and flow. Chester's voice is absolutely powerful on this - such an emotional delivery and the way his voice soars towards the end is incredible. The way his voice goes from soft vocals, to rapsy to some screamed notes/words towards the latter parts of the bridge is so, so good! It sounds like old school pop-metal Linkin Park but with a twist. Again, I feel this should have been included on Meteora somewhere but can understand why it wasn't, what with Numb already being on there and Lost almost being included on the original release. Still, an amazing song from start to finish. 10/10. Resolution - Nice to have it confirmed this was The Wizard Song and would eventually lead to Lost. The rapping from Mike again is great and I really like the whole vibe of the song. It has such a unique sound in the verses and part of the chorus and then suddenly the guitars kick in with force! It's a shame there's no Chester vocals on this one as you can tell this would have benefitted more from having it. Great instrumental. 8/10. I've watched the entire documentary, which was such a real nostalgic trip. Had myself crying with laughter at some points, especially with Chester, Joe and Brad. I'm going to listen to the Meteora CD with the Lost 2002 Mix and then fit in one of the concerts today. Going to try and watch all of the concerts in the next week or so - can't wait! I'm so appreciative that we got such an amazing anniversary release for this with all of the extra tracks and goodies included. Awesome boxset.
My Meteora 20 box-set came in today, my 5 favorites from Lost Demos (not counting Lost because it’s obviously the best and most complete) are: 1. More the Vicim 2. Healing Foot 3. Resolution 4. Wesside I feel like they should’ve really tried to finish Resolution, because the piano riff on that gave it a cool vibe. The verses with Mike were really good. Could’ve been great if they pursued it. Hearing an infant version of Easier to Run was pretty cool. It’s neat to hear a work-in-progress version, because they know they have something good, but it’s just not quite there yet. almost like a peek into the creative process.
I've seen almost no one mention Fighting Myself which is surprising because it sounds like the most complete song to me. Also my Meteora boxset just arrived and I really think the Hybrid Box Set was way better. I like that it has a lid instead of the slide off cover and I like that the CDs and DVDs are actually in cases instead of just left unprotected in the Meteorao one. Excited to watch the DVDs this weekend though when I have time. Thank goodness for gaming consoles or else i'd have no way to watch them with all this modern technology removing disc drives.
Personally, I find Fighting Myself decent but not amazing. Seems a little weak and generic compared to Lost and More the Victim. I still like it. I completely agree on the box set - Gibs and I were just talking about this. There was so much more packaging and artwork for HT20. This one feels kinda budget in comparison. It's just kind of a blown up art book version of the original packaging and booklet, with all the media stuffed in loose. And I realize I should be grateful that they've done this in the first place and given us new music with Chester, but it's hard not to compare.
Fighting Myself is generic. It feels like a hater’s idea of a formulaic Linkin Park song. The one thing I’ll say about the Meteora 20 set is that it’s at least easier to access everything than HT20. It is pretty cheap and economically friendly in comparison. I am especially not a fan of how the vinyl records are packaged in printed inner sleeves rather than an actual record sleeve and/or gatefold for the live records.
Shinoda is coming for your head, RIP Gibs. Rob the silent enforcer is on his way for a covert elimination. I will say I do really enjoy the drumming on Fighting Myself and the ending. But to me it sounds like a Three Days Grace parody or something, written a year before TDG actually debuted of course
It’s kind of funny to me they released Cumulus ages ago, yet had a close to finished version in More the Victim. Makes you wonder what else they could be sitting on for a potential Minutes to Midnight set.
I said something like this about "Lost". My first impression of those lyrics were that they read like a "Meteora" parody