Linkin Park is back with a vengeance
By Steve Morse, Globe Staff, 3/22/2003
CD REVIEW

The nu-metal movement, often aligned with ''rap-metal,'' took a massive hit during the past year, as pundits wondered whether it had any pulse left. But here comes Linkin Park, blazing back with an album called ''Meteora'' that could single-handedly revive the genre. There is no question that it is the most anticipated album of the new year, based on the blockbuster sales that accompanied Linkin Park's debut release.

''Meteora,'' due out Tuesday, is Linkin Park's first set of new songs since ''Hybrid Theory,'' the most popular album of 2001 with 14 million copies sold worldwide. Linkin Park took nu-metal's accent on anger and frustration and slammed it into the nation's psyche. The group scored three huge radio hits: ''One Step Closer'' (a paranoiac's anthem), ''In the End,'' and ''Crawling.'' The messages were dark, but the sales were light years ahead of the competition, proving that anger sells when the melody is right.

Expect monster sales again with ''Meteora.'' The music is not a radical departure from ''Hybrid Theory''' (many songs echo tracks from that disc), but the energy is again off the charts and there's even a touch more optimism this time. The members of Linkin Park, who formed the group as college students in Southern California, have grown up during the past two years and, as the new single ''Somewhere I Belong'' attests, are no longer just wallowing in vindictive screeds.

Of course, that's not easy, and Linkin Park spends the better part of the new album (which is a short but crisp 37 minutes long) trying to break out of its cage. In new song ''Hit the Floor,'' singer Chester Bennington, who again teams charismatically with rapper/MC Mike Shinoda, bellows, ''All I want is to feel like I'm not stepped on.'' And in ''Faint'' comes these lacerating, voice-shredding words: ''Don't turn your back on me, I won't be ignored!''

Fat chance of that.

It's impossible to ignore Linkin Park's signature blend of hard-rock singing and street-tough rapping, along with thick, fuzztoned guitar chords and beat-heavy techno. Many bands have emulated it, but Linkin Park still does it best. And, let's face it, bands such as Kiss and AC/DC were able to make a career out of their respective sounds. No doubt Linkin Park could do the same, though it is encouraging to hear the experimentation that takes place in the later stages of ''Meteora.''

One such example is ''Nobody's Listening,'' which adds a Japanese flute called a shakuhachi. Its sweetness stands in stark juxtaposition to Shinoda's rant that ''I hate all of my rhymes but I hate everyone else's more'' (hey, nobody said these guys were turning into total optimists). Another example of experimentation is the hot instrumental, ''Session,'' a showcase for Linkin's Park turntablist/sampler, Joseph Hahn. The track has computer-manipulated samples of what appear to be pinball arcade noises, counterpointed by turntable scratches delivered at lightning speed.

The band also gets innovative with some strings on ''Breaking the Habit,'' while ''Easier to Run'' takes a fun side trip as Bennington seems to pay homage to Geddy Lee of Rush in his vocal tone.

Otherwise, however, the CD often sounds like ''Hybrid Theory 2.'' Which isn't a serious knock, because it does summon that record's greatness.

Let's just hope Linkin Park doesn't do another remix album, as it did with the often botched ''Reanimation,'' which remixed tracks from ''Hybrid Theory.'' Then we could really accuse them of cloning their work.