By the end of 2002, Linkin Park had established themselves as one of the most popular bands on the planet.
With 2003’s Meteora, Linkin Park not only avoided the second album downturn, but also declared that they were here to stay.
Hybrid Theory, their debut album from 2000, had ushered forth a new era for heavy music. It was important in making nu metal an unstoppable force, and in 2001, it would be the best-selling album in the world, combining jagged metal, hip-hop, cutting-edge electronica, and seductive pop choruses. What a way to raise the bar… In 2017, Hybrid Theory producer Don Gilmore told Billboard, “They were rock stars at that moment.” “How will they follow up on that?”
Meteora came out at an odd time for metal: nu metal was on the verge of collapsing under its own weight at the time it was released. The fresh, original sound Linkin Park had debuted two years previously now felt tediously familiar in a crowded scene of copyists. Limp Bizkit, the world’s largest band just three years before, had pretty nearly crumbled with their fourth album, Results May Vary, by the end of 2003, while veterans Korn had reached a commercial and artistic plateau with their sixth album, Take A Look In The Mirror. Nu metal was on the verge of extinction.
Today hits the 19 years of release of the meteora. It has been certified as 7x platinum by the Recording INdustry Association of America in 2017 and has sold over 27 million copies worldwide as of 2013.
