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Page 1
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"To be honest, we're pretty boring" ...
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Page 2
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Linkin Park become dangerously obsessive and feel screwed ...
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Page 3
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Missing the supermarket, and Scrabble as group therapy ...
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Will Korn, Papa Roach And Limp Bizkit Evolve Or Die?
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A look at the nü-metal meltdown.
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Browse Bands by Name
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Linkin Park started writing Meteora in the back of their tour bus in the summer of 2001 when they were on Ozzfest. By the time they got home, they had tons of ideas, which they finessed and molded into songs. When they were done writing, they had 30 complete tracks, which they shaved down to the 12 (plus one eerie intro). The entire disc is around 36 minutes long, just over half the length of many new rock albums.
Even though they're each only a few minutes long, the songs on Meteora are complete expressions. "We think of our songs like little movies," Shinoda said, scratching his scruffy goatee. "You want the type of story that builds to a climax. You have the twist or the fight scene, then a tiny realization at the end. And somehow, by the time we're done, it always comes out to be about the same size."
Considering that the band wrote 30 cuts, fans might wonder why there aren't more than 12 on the final LP — or they may just be thankful they don't have to wade through so-so material to get to the good stuff, a problem with more than a few current albums.
"We wanted a group of songs that would sit well together because we wanted to make a record that you could pop into your CD player and, from beginning to end, there would never be a spot where you start daydreaming," Bourdon explained.
With 8 million copies of Hybrid Theory sold, Linkin Park have been successful enough to earn what every band wants — complete artistic control. And when they use the words "complete control," they don't mean hiring other people to handle everything except the music. DJ Joseph Hahn has shot the majority of the band's videos, including "Somewhere I Belong," Shinoda has overseen most of the artwork, including the 40-page insert for Meteora, and the full group plays a major role in coordinating fan-club activity.
The only problem with being so consumed with all aspects of your work is it leaves little time for anything else. And when such an intense album schedule is coupled with a lengthy worldwide tour itinerary, tensions can start to boil. The wear and tear of being away from friends and family heavily informed Meteora and colored the claustrophobic vibe of the songs.
"When you haven't done anything normal like going shopping or going to the supermarket, things get really weird," Bourdon said. "Everything becomes a different life and every day is busier than the one before it. It's all really exciting and we try to stay in a good frame of mind, but sometimes it gets hectic and stressful and you feel like you can't breathe. Just being at home is like a vacation."
Unlike the many bands whose members become snippy under duress, Linkin Park survive strain by bonding together. When they discovered how hard it was to maintain a relationship on the road, and learned how many people they considered friends were actually opportunists, they turned inward, gaining strength from their own chemistry.
"We consider ourselves really fortunate to have a good relationship between the six of us," Phoenix said. "Before we even had a record deal, before we did Hybrid Theory, we were spending a good amount of our time together as friends. So what that really provides us with is a good safety net. We really look out for one another and I think everybody does a great job not only caring for one another, but also keeping everybody on track."
That doesn't mean Linkin Park don't occasionally bicker. All of the bandmembers are passionate about what they do, and since each has veto power over any new musical passage, the working environment can become tense.
"If we hear something and think that maybe it could be better, somebody would say, 'Hey, that's great. Could you try that again?' " Delson said. "That's a hard thing to hear after you've been locked inside a room for 12 hours and you've come out feeling somewhat triumphant about something. Going back to the drawing board like that really sucks."
"It does," agreed Phoenix. "But it's nothing a seriously competitive game of Scrabble can't fix."
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Photo: James Minchin/Warner Bros.
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