“Meteora”, LINKIN PARK‘s groundbreaking second album, was released in March 2003 and included the global hit singles “Somewhere I Belong”, “Faint”, “Numb”, “Breaking The Habit” and “From The Inside”. It has sold over eight million copies in the U.S. and has been certified multi-platinum, platinum, or gold in 15 countries.
To mark the 20th anniversary of this landmark release, it is being reissued on April 7 in multiple formats: Limited Edition Super Deluxe Box Set, 4 LP Deluxe Vinyl Box Set, 3-disc Deluxe CD and digital: all containing a wealth of previously unreleased or rare tracks. Among the unreleased tracks are several gems previously unknown to LINKIN PARK fans, including “Fighting Myself”, which is composed of vocal stems from the band’s late vocalist Chester Bennington and rap verses from Mike Shinoda. Listen to the song below.
“Fighting Myself” marks the second “Meteora” outtake to be released following the arrival of “Lost” in February.
LINKIN PARK has been on hiatus since the death of Bennington in 2017.
Last April, Shinoda said that there are no plans for new music, albums or live shows from the band.
The 45-year-old musician, who was appointed Community Innovation Advisor of Warner Recorded Music (WRM),addressed LINKIN PARK‘s future during a Twitch livestream.
“The only LINKIN PARK news I have for you is that… Yeah, we talk every few weeks — I talk to the guys, or some of the guys,” he said. “And there’s no tours, there’s no music, there’s no albums in the pipeline. Okay, so let me just tell you that. So just keep in your minds that that is not happening.
“I’m just gonna say that much for now,” he continued. “I say that because anytime the band says anything or does anything, everyone tries to start up the hype train, and we’re, like, ‘No, no, no, no. Don’t start up the hype train.’ You’re gonna disappoint yourself. Don’t do that.”
LINKIN PARK has not performed together in public since October 2017, when the surviving members staged a tribute concert in Los Angeles to Bennington. The band has not officially announced whether it intends to carry on following the death of Bennington, who committed suicide in July 2017 at the age of 41.
Four years ago, Shinoda shot down reports that LINKIN PARK was actively searching for a replacement for Bennington. In February 2019, Shinoda took to his Twitter account to write: “Lemme clarify a rumor: we are not looking for a new singer, and if it were to happen organically, I’d be open. Seems pretty clear, yet I guess some folks have a hard time understanding.
“I’m not into predicting the future. The future will happen.”
Shinoda made his comments in an apparent response to how the media covered an interview he gave to Rock Antenne. When asked about the possibility of finding a new singer, Shinoda said: “That’s not my goal right now. I think it has to happen naturally. And if we find somebody that’s a great person that we think is a good personality fit and a good stylistic fit, then I could see trying to do some stuff with somebody… I wouldn’t wanna ever feel like we were replacing Chester.”
Shinoda added: “I know the other guys, they love to get onstage, they love to be in the studio, and so to not do that would be — I don’t know — almost unhealthy. If doing that means that we need to have some other people in the mix in order to do it and do it well, then we would do that… But, like I said before, it has to happen naturally. I’m not running out and putting up ‘vocalist wanted’ posters.”
