When Linkin Park released their debut, Hybrid Theory, in early 2001, it shot straight to the top of the charts worldwide. Linkin Park were the shooting stars of 2001, but 2002 was a rather quiet year for them with only the release of the remix album, Reanimation. This year, they are back with their new album, Meteora. The recording process started during Ozzfest 2001, where vocalist Chester Bennington, bassist Phoenix, drummer Rob Bourdon, guitarist Brad Delson, DJ Joseph Hahn and rapper Mike Shinoda had a portable studio and collected song ideas. Out of the material for roughly 90 songs, they kept and worked on 18 tracks, and from those, 13—including the very short intro—made it to the album. It certainly is not a remake of Hybrid Theory, and they are showing some of the moody aspects of the band, but as Chester points out, they never even thought about leaving guitars out, as lots of rumors claimed.
     "A lot of fans really thought that after Reanimation, we'd leave the guitars out of our next album, but that's complete nonsense," he says. "Meteora is in the vein of Hybrid Theory and has heavy guitars and strong, hard vocals."
     Meteora certainly does sound a bit darker than Hybrid Theory, but it doesn't really destroy the concept of Linkin Park and what we liked about their music. It simply shows them from another side. "We like a rather dark atmosphere and heavy, dark songs," he says. "Because we always wanted to have our own sound, we were always experimenting with different sounds, hip-hop and electronic sounds next to rock. It's like a journey, and we just were journeying further on Meteora."
     The album is also a sign that Linkin Park have grown up musically. It's far more complex than their debut; Brad Delson's guitar cuts in harder, heavier and more precise while Chester and Mike's vocals seem to be far more in harmony, creating songs that are incredibly tight—something that comes from growing together as musicians.
     "Because we played live pretty often, Mike and I really managed to get in tune with each other; we were in sync and it was a great feeling," says Chester. "I think that a lot of the live experiences we gained are reflected on Meteora. On top of that, we worked more together on the writing process. I helped him with his raps and he helped me with some of the melodies. We really benefited from the teamwork. We moved closer together, formed a tighter unit. We're not like two different frontmen; we're the singing/rapping unit."
     The fact that the six guys are also close friends plays a major part in the story of the band and how they approach their work. "We're always trying to help each other," says Chester. "After all, it's the band that really counts and not our egos. Egos probably destroyed more bands than anything else did, and that's something we want to avoid at all costs. We want to give the audience something real, something spectacular, and if it would be about egos, it would hardly be worth their time."
     After an enormously successful debut album, there is a lot of strain on the band to keep up the sales, something that can easily stifle creativity and normal workflow. Several bands have cracked under the pressure, but according to Chester, Linkin Park has dealt with it and compensates by focusing on the recording process.
     "We tried not to think about it," he says. "Of course, that is easier said than done, but we decided that we have to focus on the recording and not think about success, sales and all that. Success is nice, but it shouldn't be the only reason why you're a musician. What really counts is that you record the best album you're able to record. That's something you owe to yourself and to your fans.
     "Everyone in the band has their own ideas about how something should sound, and that can be a lot of pressure in itself. Everybody has an opinion, everybody is criticizing, and that can be a lot harder than the expectations of thousands of potential fans. But to be honest, I think the pressure with Hybrid Theory was a lot worse, at least for me. I just felt the pressure far more. Makes sense—after all, it was our debut album and it was our reference; it was the album we had to get a record contract. Without Hybrid Theory there wouldn't have been a world tour, a record contract, interviews or a second album. It was basically our step into the music industry, and of course we were nervous."
     Linkin Park get a lot of support from their fans, and as Chester readily admits, that support helped a lot when they were secluded in the studio and often had 18-hour days over a period of 10 months. "It was great to have online chats with our fans or get e-mails from them, because they showed us that they believe in us and that we should go on doing what we do," he says. "It's really great if somebody tells you that you made them happy with your lyrics. That's something that really motivates me, and that helps me to go on even if I feel really drained. It gives me the energy to try even harder."
     While they enjoy what they do, they realize that keeping up with the success of their debut album would be a bit unrealistic, and that nobody really has any influence on whether an album sells or not. "All you can do is give it your best and hope that the people out there will feel the same way," he says, "but once the album is out there and on the shelves, there is nothing you can do about it anymore anyway. We don't really think that it will be a shooting star like Hybrid Theory was, but we know that we've got a pretty solid fan base out there, maybe 2 or 3 million people who love our music and who'll help us to survive. They inspired us to record %Meteora%, because I seriously believe we recorded an album they'll like. Of course, I don't mock anybody who buys an album just because they like one song, but our true fans are naturally closer to us than a quick success."
     What is truly amazing about Linkin Park is that their fans span almost every age and background. "It's really cool that a lot of different people like our music—kids, parents, metal fans, bikers, you name it," Chester says. "For us it's a great advantage because we can tour with almost any band without having a problem getting accepted. It's a great feeling to be something like a bridge that gets as many people as possible together. That makes us really proud. Usually it's a bit weird if you're in the middle of something and don't really belong, but I believe that for Linkin Park, being in the middle is the right place. We can draw from different sources and genres and still have a sound of our own. How many bands out there can claim that?"