Meteora

1	Foreword 0:14
2	Don't Stay 3:08
3	Somewhere I Belong 3:34
4	Lying from You 2:55
5	Hit the Floor 2:44
6	Easier to Run 3:24
7	Faint 2:42
8	Figure.09 3:18
9	Breaking the Habit 3:16
10	From the Inside 2:55
11	Nobody's Listening 2:59
12	Session 2:25
13	Numb 3:09

Barnes & Noble

Considering that several million people were won over by the hard-rock-meets-hip-hop sound of Linkin Park's multi-platinum debut, Hybrid Theory -- one of the most successful rock debuts of the last decade -- it's no surprise that the Los Angeles group stick pretty close to the same recipe on their follow-up, Meteora. "Hit the Floor," replete with whiplash time changes and Chester Bennington's signature howls, is probably the disc's heaviest moment, while the speed-crazed "Breaking the Habit" concentrates on hitting that perfect beat. The fellas in Linkin Park do, however, take a few liberties with the recipe this time around, stretching out on the dusky instrumental "Sessions" and stripping away just about all the rock trappings for a straight-ahead hip-hop workout, "Nobody's Listening," which borrows the Beasties' tried-and-true flute-loop backdrop to good effect. Much like their last outing, Meteora is a breathless blast of sound: The songs are spliced together with samples and all manner of sonic effluvia, which sustains the momentum and keeps noise levels at a fever pitch. Drawing on their tested sonic formula, Linkin Park once again shoot high -- and hit the mark. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Perhaps if the cut-'n'-paste remix record Reanimation hadn't appeared as a stopgap measure in the summer of 2002, Linkin Park's second record, Meteora, would merely have been seen as a continuation of their 2000 debut, Hybrid Theory, instead of a retreat to familiar ground. Then again, Reanimation wasn't much more than a way to buy time (along with maybe a little credibility), so it's unfair to say that its dabbling in electronica and hip-hop truly pointed toward a new direction for the group, but it did provide a more interesting listening experience than Meteora, which is nothing more and nothing less than a Hybrid Theory part two. Which isn't to say that Linkin Park didn't put any effort into the record, since it does demonstrate that the group does stand apart from the pack by having the foresight to smash all nu-metal trademarks -- buzzing guitars, lumbering rhythms, angsty screaming, buried scratching, rapped verses -- into one accessible sound which suggests hooks instead of offering them. More importantly, the group has discipline and editing skills, keeping this record at a tight 36 minutes and 41 seconds, a move that makes it considerably more listenable than its peers and, by extension, more powerful, since they know where to focus their energy, something that many nu-metal bands simply do not. (It must be said that there will surely be consumers out there that will question paying a $19.99 retail for a 36-minute-and-41-second record, though some may prefer getting a tight, listenable record at that price instead of a meandering 70-minute mess.) So, it must be said that Meteora does deliver on the most basic level -- it gives the fans what they want, and it does so with energy and without fuss. It's also without surprises, either, which again gives the album a static feeling -- suggesting not a holding pattern for the band, but rather the limits of their chosen genre, which remains so stylistically rigid and formulaic that even with a band who follows the blueprint well, like Linkin Park, it winds up sounding a little samey and insular. Since this is only their second go-round, this is hardly a fatal flaw, but the similarity of Meteora to Hybrid Theory does not only raise the question of where do they go from here, but whether there is a place for them to go at all. Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rolling Stone

The combination of [drummer Rob Bourdon's] intricate thrashing and the band's improved songwriting makes Meteora more than yet another remix of its predecessors. Barry Walters

Entertainment Weekly

[Meteora offers] music that's by turns pretty, bludgeoning, and rhythmic. (B+) Tom Sinclair