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
