Was cleaning up old files and apparently back in February I for whatever reason decided to see how QWERTY sounded when transposed up one semitone and saved the result. When listening today, I found it quite uncanny how much that opening scream from Chester sounds like Emily when pitched up! Maybe that speaks to her technique fitting well with the band, maybe it's just happy coincidence. Either way I thought it was interesting so I uploaded it to share before deleting the clutter. https://vocaroo.com/18o2So0AOcS5 That's all thanks
Excellent, yeah it does sound similar to Emily on that tone! I hope the band starts playing QWERTY again in their sets.
War is a pretty cool track. Linkin Park paying tribute to good old dirty Hardcore Punk. Almost plays like a cover of a non-existing Misfits or Black Flag song. (...although it still sounds more polished than either of those bands )
I've been listening to HT and Meteora a lot lately, and I don't understand how Meteora is such a step down in every way (except for Breaking The Habit). There are so many interesting things going on every song from Hybrid Theory, lyrics are more meaningful, rhymes are more complex, drumming sounds more advanced, every single bridge has a unique idea, songs are more playful, better atmospheric sounds, everything... HT sounds like a third album at least, and Meteora is like a debut compared to it. How?
I think some aspects of Meteora are under-appreciated, like for example the sampling work (LFY, Faint, Nobody's Listening), which could be seen as an improvement from HT. That said, I agree HT overall is a more intricate record. I think a lot of it comes down to how many years those songs got to mature. Meteora in comparison was made in a relatively short time.
I think Hybrid Theory coming out of the Xero and Hybrid Theory material and all the evolution entailed plays a role in what you're talking about. I've personally come to like Meteora more, song-for-song. "From the Inside" is the only song from the first two albums in my top 10
I also prefer Meteora. I forget where but someone recently called it a very "urban" album compared to Hybrid Theory's industrialism. While many songs sound like Hybrid Theory sequels, I think the Meteora tracks are stronger. Mike's rapping is too monotone and the lyrics take a nosedive across the board, but the trade off is Chester just sounds infinitely better, especially his screams. That, and Hybrid Theory doesn't have Faint. Or Breaking the Habit for that matter.
I think there is a point to be made Chester performance on Meteora is nothing sort of phenomenal. He's absolutely soaring on chorus like LFY, Faint, F09 or FTI not to mention bridges like Numb. However, I still think the production of the vocals is more robust on HT. Chester vocals on Meteora do feel overprocessed at times, in comparison to HT.
I find the soundscapes of Meteora to be more interesting. The samples, like the “From Russia With Love” track for Faint, are just so much more memorable to me. The hip-hop elements just feel more forefront to me and while I appreciate the 90s underground rap aesthetic of Hybrid Theory, I do like how Shinoda carved his own lane with Meteora. It’s the signature “Linkin Park rap verse” for better or worse. And an anomaly style for nu metal rapping. Personally, I dig the monotone voice from this era. He became a far more dynamic rapper from MTM onward, but I always felt like he had too much of a typical “average 1998 underground rapper” delivery on HT. I kinda like he tried a more laid back “lazier” approach. It’s more appreciative because he pretty much hasn’t sounded like this since 2003 anyway. I’d still say there’s some good verses for the Meteora era. Figure .09 and Healing Foot carry 3 syllable end rhymes consistently, there’s some wordplay on Nobody’s Listening like “basement rap tracks that have you backing us up like rewind that” and the Jay-Z homage, and I think More The Victim has some great internal rhymes.
I agree that there are different hip-hop influences on Meteora too, even just reflected in the production - like, the low end is a little more pronounced in the mixes. You can hear how Hybrid Theory is still kind of coming out of the 90s to an extent in that way and it's fully-focused on more of a rock band sound
I feel compelled to put in my two cents and as always I cannot be very succinct. I think both albums have different emphases based on their timing. Hybrid Theory pulls from material written as far back as 1996, much of it constructed around programmed beats before they ever had access to studio resources. I find it ironically the "less" hybrid album because the songs were intentionally designed to showcase the band's stylistic touchpoints. Think of the opening beat of "Papercut" into scratching into nu metal-style guitars, etc. Due to the technology and samples used it has a very 90s hip-hop backbone. Meanwhile, Meteora comes amidst the continuing hip-hop shift toward more pop and commercial integration. Yet I still feel Meteora feels more rock/metal-forward. You can hear the difference as soon as the filter comes off the guitars at the start of "Don't Stay". It's thicker than Hybrid Theory. To an extent it existed on their debut, but it's very intentionally dialed up on Meteora to dominate the stereo field. Meteora is more integrated, if you will. Not bad or good in my book, just a change. One example I like is that of "Cure for the Itch" versus "Session". The former is unabashedly indebted to old-school turntablism, battle-style scratches, and sample collages. It plays out like a DJ showcase. But even by 2003, that style was already fading due to digital production advances, and when Mike decides to do another instrumental with "Session", there's no hint of DJ bombast left. Instead we get an atmospheric instrumental leaning into IDM-adjacent ambience. I think that distinction mirrors their shift from 90s sampling to digital layering. TL;DR: I think it's misleading to call one better. Hybrid Theory reads to me as an homage to their 90s influences, while Meteora is a sonic experiment on their then-established formula with contemporary polish. I prefer Hybrid Theory because I have an affection for 90s sampling, and I feel like Meteora has more individually weak songs.
This is a great point, how the songs that would lead up to Hybrid Theory started out with less live drums
I can overlook lyrics when everything else is firing on all cylinders. Faint was on another level in terms of tempo and aggression for the band. Feels almost post hardcore to me. In recent years, I've discovered that Hybrid Theory sounds like a hip-hop album with rock elements, while Meteora sounds like a rock album with hip-hop (and more pop) elements.
these are very adorable indeed! thank you for drawing attention to them, I haven't used instagram lately and I would have def missed them XD