Meteora Appreciation Thread

It had to be done. It would be nice if this didn't turn into a Meteora bashing thread. I think it would be interesting to see what positive things users on this website have to say about it. I really related to Somewhere I Belong, Figure 09, Faint, and Breaking The Habbit when my life was in a dark place. Granted, I was also listening to some Minutes To Midnight and A Thousand Suns hadn't come out yet. Btw A Thousand Suns is my favorite album.

 

Dude, Meteora was the album that got me into LP. Heard From the Inside and One Step Closer on the internet, asked my sister if she had ever heard of them and she tossed me a Meteora CD. Still love it, even though I do understand why everyone hates it. If you listen to it, it is mixed and mastered SO FUCKING WELL. It's hard to describe. It has that powerful, layered, sonic sound that I love about LP. I think it's the best sounding album by the band. Not the best, but best sounding, if that makes sense.

 

I've mixed a lot of music myself so yes I do know what you mean and I also love it.

 

Dèja Vu? Somehow I feel this thread has been made before.

Well, Meteora brings a lot of positive memories and nostalgia to me. The story about it I already explained it on the Meteora Moment thread.

And as the album for itself, I think musically is really awesome and probably 'in your face'. It's a very straight forward album and it really stood out among contemporary albums, because it was so differerent (and probably more musically elaborated) I think that was what attracted so many people and cemented Linkin Park's success.

Session is IMO one little masterpiece in the whole of Linkin Park's repertoire. And although I don't listen to it a lot (well I haven't done it recently except for the Meteora Birthday listening I did today), it's a really damn good instrumental that kicks Cure For The Itch's ass all the way to mars (< this probably exaggerated).

I am still unable to make an un-biased review on the lyrics, since I'm both emotionally attached to the album given the place it has in my life and the fact that I am not able to fully understand possible metaphores/implicit statements that may be in them. Actually I still struggle to understand some phrases and expressions written in newer albums (including LIVING THINGS), so I'm not going to dig into them and say that by the time the album came out, I felt related to some of the songs.

Let's see what others have to say, and it'd be nice to see how the discussion turns out if we keep on focusing on the positives. Of course some people will disagree and some others just don't like the album at all (or outgrew it), but it'd be a nice excercise to try and find something -if anything- you like of it even if it's not your favorite.

^ Loved this, (especially the bold part). I really enjoy when the music (from any artist) is perfectly layered, with the correct combination of sounds. It can either be epic, or a total trainwreck, but LP knows how to do it perfectly (The Catalyst being a different example)

 

Did you not like how The Catalyst was mastered? And what are some lyrics you don't understand?

 

...


The samples are cool.

 

From the Inside is an epic song. It nails the emotion and the buildup and the texture and the layering.

 

I said LP does the layering perfectly. And The Catalyst was a different example (to cite other than a Meteora song)

I agree, the artwork is amazing and what makes it unique even apart from ATS's artwork is that nearly every piece or art was done for real, I mean that gigantic wall where all of the guys just poured their creativity (and lots of spray paint cans ). The way they approached the artwork was simply different from the rest.

And yes, probably the Meteora-era videos are the best (as a whole) so far. You got some great videos here and there but the impact is not as consistent on the whole album cycle.


With that said, it seems like Meteora was an album where the guys busted their asses at every level (in general). Production, artwork, videos, packaging. All of the things that LP delivered during that album cycle were very high quality products. Not trying to say that the guys don't work hard anymore, just that they approach some things differently now.

 

I thought that was the second best video from the album.

 

Finally a thread about the positive sides of Meteora!

Well, here we are:

- the mix is pretty great. The power of the record owns a lot to how it is mixed in my opinion. Dynamically, Meteora is a good punch in the face

- Chester vocal performances. Nah, not the lyrics, but the way its voice sounds. It's so damn powerfull and agressive. As Mike said when the record was released, I would be curious to see how many rock singers would be able to cover Lying From You (or Figure.09)...I was always surprised to see how the haters completely deny this aspect of Meteora.

- its melodies are the definition of catchiness, and the whole sound is such anthemnic and powerful; consequence of both things = Meteora songs deliver pretty well live

- the samples were interesting, and made a nice combination with the wall of heavy guitars

- I'll concede that the guitar work on Meteora was unoriginal at times, but nevertheless, some of the riffs there match my definition of awesome. I don't get how some people don't get pumped up when Don't Stay riff start, but hey, that's my opinion

- session is such a beautiful and atmospheric instrumnetal piece with a pretty solid vibe....and, even from a technical standpoint, it has its merits: not formulaïc, with a different instrumentation and influences (alternative, ambient, glitch, hip hop)

- the lyrics were...relatable, at least to some people. That might or might not be a good things, but still, it was the reason why a lof of people became fan of the record. They were also good at speaking about shitty situations without cursing in every songs

- the art of the album was pretty cool

- and eventually, Meteora era gave us some legendary LP shows (RIR 2004 being a good example)

 

Nicely said I agree with everything.

 

I'm still a teenager, so in this place and time, I do enjoy and can relate to the lyrics still. Especially Somewhere I Belong (you can hate on me for that later)
From a drummer's perspective, I think Meteora has the catchiest drums and some of the best drums parts from their albums.
And it's just my favorite album from the fact that it's just so in your face. I love MTM and ATS for their lyrics, but Meteora just has something about it that I can always just go back and listen to, and just fall in love all over again with it. Just my opinion

 

Everyone else captured my feelings into words much better than I could have.

Meteora has such a powerful punch; the epic sound within every drum beat, guitar riff, scream and rap makes Meteora such a beautiful album, and sets it far apart from Hybrid Theory. While Hybrid Theory is somewhat more contained and progressive, Meteora bashes it's energy out immediately in quick delivery while making every track more unique and interesting than the other, and that is what sets the two albums apart for me.

The lyrics are decent for what they're trying to convey. They aren't immature as most people say, however they may be less mature than the band's newer material.

Unfortunely, I don't have any stories to tell about the album. I got into Linkin Park through MTM, and borrowed Meteora from a friend. I liked it, but I am certainly more impressed with the album today.

 

Oh and a hell yeah to Chester's vocal delivery on this record. His best, honestly. Powerful and clear.

 

Flawless. Also I think this is the record where Joe has kind of more "presence". Well he's pretty much there in HT but I really like the job he did on Meteora.

I decided tomorrow I'm gonna sing the shit out of Meteora, it's stucking in my head again and it feels really good.

 

I'll never understand the bashing people like to give Meteora these days. It was the first LP album I heard, and I still remember that afternoon when I borrowed it from a kid in my class and listened to it in my living room 10 years ago. It was something special and different. Even now I consider Numb to be one of the best songs of modern era, and admire the fact that everyone knows it. Girls that don't know about Linkin Park recognize "that song from Transformers" and Numb. Burn It Down or What I've Done may be commercially successful, but nothing from their opus can be measured with Numb.

Best thing about this album is its energy. It's just so incredibly well-sounding. Since English is not my native language (that's not to say I don't understand something, I understand the words perfectly), I probably perceive the lyrics or singing in English in general - differently; almost as a part of sonic landscape. Meaning, I usually don't concentrate on the words and simply consider them as sounds. Granted, that's after the initial 100 listens, and after I analyze every bit like I did with A Thousand Suns and Living Things. "I wanna heel, I wanna feel"? Sure, why not.

Second best thing is that it's a bridge. Hybrid Theory was the ice-breaker, and has a very serious and aggressive attitude. Meteora feels like a heeling process from that album, still including the sounds from HT, but changing the mood into something more up-tempo and melodic. Not to be compared with A Thousand Suns followed by Living Things, which is not a good example on how to do that transition. LT is a good album, but most definitely not very good, and by LP's standard, borderline bad.

Also, Breaking the Habit. Cmon. I'm breaking the habit tonight. Who doesn't love that.