E-Mail This Article to a Friend Breaking ‘Habit’ Are Linkin Park the new Def Leppard? BY SEAN RICHARDSON

When Linkin Park’s mega-platinum Meteora (Warner Bros.) appeared in April 2003, the cathartic electro-rock jam "Breaking the Habit" stuck out as a surefire hit. More than a year later, the track is just now working its way up the rock and pop charts, becoming the fifth single from the album to do so. The death of new metal hasn’t hindered Linkin Park: as active-rock radio has been phased out, they’ve simply crossed over to Top 40 and become bigger than ever. And that’s given them the freedom to do pretty much what they like: "Habit," a song as offbeat as it is catchy, has spawned one of the band’s most elaborate videos, in which members appear as anime figures.

Over the phone from LA, Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson chuckles when I compare the group’s rock-radio dominance with the 1980s reign of Def Leppard. "Dude, I love Hysteria. These days, it seems like groups will do one or two good songs, and [then] when you buy the record, it’s a disappointment. I’m inspired by albums like Pretty Hate Machine and The Joshua Tree. Those are records you listen to from beginning to end. It’s so cool that there have been five songs on alternative radio, because that’s what I grew up listening to. It’s a huge testament to our fans."

"Habit" is the final single from Meteora, but Linkin Park are hitting the road one last time before taking a break: their third annual Projekt Revolution Tour comes to the Tweeter Center in Mansfield next Thursday and to Hartford next Saturday, July 31. With a main-stage line-up that includes Korn, Snoop Dogg, the Used, and Less Than Jake in supporting roles, this year’s model is a step up from the previous two. The eclecticism carries over to the under-publicized "Revolution Stage," which has hip-hop (Ghostface, M.O.P.), alterna-metal (Funeral for a Friend, Downset), and hardcore (Mike V & the Rats, No Warning). You could think of the nine-hour event as a more rap-friendly fusion of Ozzfest and the Warped Tour. Or, better yet, a Lollapalooza without the graybeards.

"We listen to hip-hop, rock, electronic music, and everything in between," Delson acknowledges. "When we came up with the idea for Projekt Revolution a few years ago, there wasn’t a tour out there that appealed to all those interests." He describes the opportunity to tour with Korn as "a huge honor. We had a wish list of pioneers, and fortunately everybody wanted to do it. Korn are an amazing group, one that I listened to when I was starting out. We’ve been able to work with them in the past: we played Mexico City with them, and [frontman] Jonathan Davis was on [Linkin Park’s remix album] Reanimation. But none of that compares to the fact that we’re going to do a tour with them."

Given the wide scope of Projekt Revolution, it’s no wonder Delson sounds reluctant even to call Linkin Park a rock band. "I think people say we’re a rock band because the rock elements — the heavy guitar, the screaming — are overpowering. We’re trying to blend rock with other elements that we love. I don’t mean to infuse those elements into rock; I mean that rock is one element we use. In terms of the possibility of ideas, it’s wide open. That’s what makes it fun."

Linkin Park’s "Projekt Revolution Tour" hits the Tweeter Center in Mansfield next Thursday, July 29. The show begins at 2:30 p.m., and tickets are $38.50 to $53; call (617) 931-2000.