After "Hybrid Theory" and "Reanimation" became very successful, Linkin Park spent a lot of time performing concerts around the United States. The band started working on new music, even with a very busy schedule. They used a short part of their free time in the studio in their tour bus. The band announced that they were making their new album in April 2002, it was initially planned to release between October and December (Q4) of that year but got delayed. They also said that the title was inspired by Meteora, a rocky place in Greece. Meteora has many places of worship have been built on top of the rocks. "Meteora" shows the band mixing their nu metal and punk rap styles with new special effects. Some of them include a shakuhachi (a Japanese flute made of bamboo) and many other instruments. On March 25, 2003, they released "Meteora" and instantly became popular around the world. It reached their first #1 in the US and UK and #2 in Australia.