Hybrid Theory - HT (2000)

As mentioned in the Xero post, three high school friends from California - Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson - teamed up with Joe Hahn, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, and Mark Wakefield to perform in their band, then called Xero. A four-track demo tape was recorded, which you can hear from their own post, but tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal, so Wakefield and Farrell left, and after spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Arizona vocalist Chester Bennington, who was recommended by Jeff Blue, the vice president of Zomba Music in March 1999. The band then agreed to change their name from Xero to Hybrid Theory, and with the newborn vocal chemistry between Shinoda and Bennington helping to revive the band, the started work on new material. In 1999, the band released a self-titled EP, which they circulated across internet chat-rooms and forums with the help of an online 'street team', but still they struggled to sign a record deal, and so they recorded a number of demo tapes to be hawked around the record companies,and some of the songs from these demos did appear on records, with the extremely rare 'Raw Power Sampler' containing 'By Myself', and 'Now I See' being included on the 'Ozzfest 2000 Sampler' CD. The demo tapes have been circulating for a while, with at least four different tapes doing the rounds, with different versions of some of the songs, and including from six to nine tracks, and so for this post I'm finally including all thirteen known songs plus the two sampler appearances in one place, including demos of songs that later appeared on Linkin Park's debut album, and others that have yet to appear officially.  

Track listing

01 Crawling (demo 2000)
02 She Couldn't (demo 2000)
03 Carousel (demo 2000)
04 Untitled ('In The End' demo' 2000)
05 Points & Authority (demo 2000)
06 SuperXero ('By Myself' demo)
07 Part Of Me (demo 2000)

08 Dust Brothers ('With You' demo 2000)
09 And One (demo 2000)
10 Papercut (demo 2000)

11 Rhinestone ('Forgotten' demo 2000)
12 Esaul ('A Place In My Head' demo 2000)
13 Plaster ('One Step Closer' demo 2000)

14 By Myself ('Raw Power' version 1988)

15 Now I See ('With You' demo from the 'Ozzfest Sampler' 2000)

Xero - Xero (1996)

Xero formed in 1996, and consisted of three Californian high school friends, Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon. After graduating from high school, they began to take their musical interests more seriously, recruiting Joe Hahn, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, and Mark Wakefield to perform in the band. Though limited in resources, they began recording and producing songs in Shinoda’s makeshift bedroom studio in 1996, resulting in a four-track demo tape, entitled 'Xero'. However, tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal, and this prompted Wakefield, at that time the band's vocalist, to leave in search of other projects, followed by Farrell shortly afterwards. After spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Arizona vocalist Chester Bennington, formerly of post-grunge outfit Grey Daze, and the band then agreed to change their name from Xero to Hybrid Theory. The band still struggled to sign a record deal, and they were eventually helped by Jeff Blue, who had recommended Bennington to the group, and he managed to get them a deal with Warner Brothers as developing artists in 1999. As part of the deal, the label advised them to change their name to avoid confusion with the band Hybrid, and so after considering calling themselves Plear and Platinum Lotus Foundation, they finally settled on Linkin Park. The demo tape surfaced some years ago, with two different covers, one being the baby, and the other a shopping cart, but the shopping cart cover was scrapped after Shinoda and Hahn collaborated on the final artwork.

 

Track Listing

01 Rhinestone

02 Reading My Eyes

03 Fuse

04 Stick 'n' Move

Suggested by 'The Greatest Albums You'll Never Hear' by Bruno MacDonald