In an interview with NME , Linkin Park reflected on the 20th anniversary of the album Meteora (2003) and the comparisons with their debut album, Hybrid Theory (2000).
According to Mike Shinoda , the recording process for the two albums was quite different. While the band was more confident making the second album, the experience of recording Hybrid Theory is described by Shinoda as "very chaotic and negative".
The reason, according to the rapper and guitarist, is due to a lack of confidence in the band on the part of the record label. Because it was Linkin Park's first album, Shinoda says the label was "doubting everything."
Mike Shinoda also mentions that Linkin Park didn't identify with the aggressive and "macho" wave of rock in the early 2000s, being more interested in being "honest, direct, and vulnerable."
“We didn’t fit in with that aggressive, macho that was going on at the time. When we toured with Hybrid Theory , we played at several festivals with bands that would hit themselves in the head with the microphone just to make them bleed,” Shinoda recalls.
“There was a lot of self-loathing and people trying to prove they were crazier than you. Experiencing that, we quickly realized it wasn’t for us,” he concludes.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Meteora , Linkin Park recently released a commemorative edition of the album unreleased tracks recorded with Chester Bennington
