The Chronological Order Of The HT Demos

[Ryanz]

All the known HT demos in a timeline.

Help me doing it,from your infos i'll make the timeline.

Edited March 7, 2016 by Ryanz

[lpliveusername]

Xero

 

01. Rhinestone

02. Reading My Eyes

03. Fuse

04. Stick N Move

 

Both versions date from 1997. The shopping cart version came first, but the tracks are exactly the same.

Mike and Mark are the only ones credited for tracks 2, 3 and 4. These were probably among the very first songs they wrote, before the other members joined.

Various members of the band have hinted the existence of an even earlier Xero tape recorded solely by Mike and Mark. Mike has said Reading My Eyes was on the band's very first demo. It's interesting to note that the LPU 6.0 live version has different lyrics and is credited to Chester, Mike, Brad, Joe, Rob and Mark (no Phoenix, just like other Hybrid Theory songs).

A "stream of consciousness" piece of music titled "Pods" was created by Mike Shinoda while in college and was released in the LPU 15 CD. According to the tracklist, the track dates from 1998, but Mike said it pre-dates 75% of the other Xero music fans have heard. It's likely the song is from 1996 or early 1997, before the Xero demo was released.

A 1997 instrumental titled Coal was released in the LPU X CD and shares some of the same samples with Pods.

 

Rapology 12

 

16. Closing

 

Joe Hahn worked for Urban Network in 1998, the same year Lee Cadena, Rap Editor at the magazine, founded LCM, an artist management and development company which worked with Xero.

Lee was also the creator of the Rapology series, so Xero contributed with an original track to this volume. Mike also created artwork for the album.

 

Rapology 13 (Disc 2)

 

10. Drop

 

Another issue of the Rapology series dated from 1998.

Mike Shinoda (aka Kenji) and Joe Hahn (aka Artofficial) contributed with an original track to this volume. Mike also created artwork for the album.

 

Rapology 14 (Disc 1)

 

14. Fiends

 

Yet another Urban Network compilation from 1998 with artwork by Mike Shinoda.

Xero contributed with an original song featuring vocals by Chris Barnnet (aka 007). It samples a Styles Of Beyond song from 2000 Fold, an album released on August 18, 1998.

It's interesting to note the compilation features a Styles Of Beyond track called "Drop" on which Mike can be heard laughing.

 

New Music Sampler 1999

 

14. Rhinestone

 

Sampler issued by Zomba Music Services in 1998.

With the money from their development deal with Zomba the band was able to buy new instruments and equipment in order to make decent recordings. This is the first known professional recording of Rhinestone. The lyrics were changed from the original Xero demo.

This re-recorded version (still with Mark on vocals) was used in the 1998 series The Crow: Stairway To Heaven, but the song isn't on the soundtrack CD. The episode with the song aired in May 1999.

Rhinestone was also one of the songs on the audition tape sent to Chester. It's possible the version on the tape was this same version.

Other released Xero-era demo from 1998 is Stick And Move (LPU 9.0 CD). Two other versions of this instrumental demo were leaked online in 2019.

A song called "Pictureboard" was originally performed by Xero and was recorded with Chester once he joined the band. The version with Chester was intended for inclusion in the LPU 9.0 CD, but had to be removed due to copyright issues around a sample used in the song.

The title "Spark Marker" was once mentioned by Brad, but it could have been a joke.

 

Hybrid Theory EP

 

01. Carousel

02. Technique (Short)

03. Step Up

04. And One

05. High Voltage

06. Part Of Me

 

The rumored release date for the EP is May 1999, however this was never confirmed.

Chester wasn't credited for 3 of the tracks on the EP (4 if you count the hidden track). Coincidentally (or not), Chester was only credited for the songs co-produced by Mudrock.

Mike said Hurry (a song which shares some common elements with So Far Away) was written around the same time as Carousel and Part Of Me. This last one was originally called Chair, a demo that, according to Mike, was created in 1999 before they met Chester (which means they were still called Xero since Chester was the one who came up with the name Hybrid Theory).

I'd say Dedicated was also written around the same time and was probably an outtake from this EP.

The band has said several times that And One was the very first song written with Chester and we know he joined them around March 1999.

Mike has also said this EP was the first project they worked on with Chester and the first time they were in the studio with him.

Blue and Slip were also on the first batch of songs they worked on together, according to the LPU 11 booklet. Slip was originally written with Mark Wakefield. I'd say So Far Away from the LPU 12 CD came from the same sessions as those two songs as they all have a similar quality. By the way Mike described Hurry, seems like the guitars heard on the song were originally recorded for Hurry and reused later on So Far Away. A more worked-on version of Slip can be heard on Marc Ostrick's Lockout which was filmed on February 24, 2000.

Two versions of Hurry and Siamo (High Voltage demo) created by Mike on his Akai MPC 1000 were leaked online in 2019 along with the original long version of Technique (titled Rendezvo).

High Voltage was remixed by Mike in 2000 and released on the One Step Closer single in 2001. Many people noticed Cure For The Itch transits perfectly into this new version of High Voltage.

Step Up was also included in the In The End single in 2001.

A remastered version of the EP was released to LPU members on November 19, 2001. This version had different artwork and was credited to Linkin Park.

 

2-Track Demo

 

01. A Place For My Head (Esaul)

02. By Myself

 

The year on the CD is 1999.

I'd say this was recorded after the Hybrid Theory EP.

Hybrid Theory's website is printed on the CD. The domain was registered on August 3, 1999.

The record label on the CD is Associated Production Music, meaning it could be a pre-Warner release. The band signed their first deal with Warner in November 1999.

There are some pictures out there of an old show (most likely at the Mill Avenue Sport Rock Cafe on May 27, 2000) where they had copies of this CD on the stage.

Esaul was among the first demos the band wrote, back when they were called Xero, and was on the audition tape sent to Chester. According to Mike, the version on the LPU 11 CD was the very first recording of the song that they did in a professional studio and those were the original lyrics. I'd say it was recorded around the same time as Slip, Blue and even So Far Away. The band can be seen playing the same version on the Frat Party At The Pankake Festival DVD. During the performance, a Staind poster can be seen. It's a promotional poster for their second studio album, Dysfunction, which came out in April 1999.

The version of Esaul here differs a lot from the LPU 11 version. The band can be seen playing a version similar to this one (with "go away" during the bridge) during Marc Ostrick's Lockout, which was recorded on February 24, 2000 (which is strange considering the "stay away" version came after this one).

By Myself came from a demo called Sad, which, according to the LPU 9.0 CD, also dates from 1999.

 

9-Track Demo (Demos)

 

01. Untitled

02. Points & Authority

03. Super Zero

04. Crawling

05. Carousel

06. Part Of Me

07. And One

08. Rhinestone

09. Esaùl

 

The CD dates from January 7, 2000.

Credited to Hybrid Theory.

I'd say the version of Untitled here was recorded after the version on the LPU 11 CD as this version was used on all other demo CDs. Mike has said his original beat for the song was scrapped and they had Rob record a new one right before they went into the studio.

Points And Authority came from a demo called Oh No, which was released in the LPU X CD but has no date. The version on this CD is the same as the versions on the 8-track and 7-track CDs. The demo version of Points Of Authority on the LPU 12 CD is similar to this one but still different. I'd say the LPU version came first because all the other demos released to the LPU seem to be earlier versions of demos we already had.

SuperXero is different from By Myself from the 2-track CD, but it's the same as the 8-track and 7-track CDs. I think this version was recorded after the 2-track demo version, but at some point the band decided to go back to the 2-track demo version.

Part of Blue was reworked into the chorus of Crawling. The beat was taken from a demo titled Sky which was leaked in 2019.

And One had the audio channels switched.

Here we have new versions of Esaul (with "stay away" during the bridge), Carousel, and Part Of Me.

We also have the first known version of Rhinestone with Chester, which is the same as the LPU 12 version.

 

8-Track Demo

 

01. Untitled

02. SuperXero

03. Points And Authority

04. Crawling

05. She Couldn't

06. Carousel

07. Part Of Me

08. And One

 

The CD was sold as being from 1998, however, Mike said She Couldn't was recorded in 1999. It also samples a song which came out on August 24, 1999 on the album Home Field Advantage by The High & Mighty. This song is B-Boy Document '99, which is featured in the Rapology 16 compilation for which Mike created artwork. It's possible this compilation is where he first heard the song. She Couldn't evolved from a beat called Emo which Mike made on his Akai MPC 1000. The project for Emo was leaked in 2019 and features samples of Chester's vocals, meaning the instrumental was created after he joined the band in March 1999.

Jeff Blue's number is on the CD, contrary to the Studio Finals CD where we have Rob McDermott's number. Rob only became the band's manager in February 2000.

Here we also have new versions of Crawling (without the "I hate you so much right now" intro), Carousel and Part Of Me (with a longer intro, among other differences).

 

HybridTheory.com Demos

 

01. By Myself

02. Esaul

 

The WebArchive snapshot dates from April 8, 2000, but they could have been released before this date.

Both songs still credited to Hybrid Theory.

By Myself is similar to the 2-track demo version (but still different; "always afraid" bridge).

Esaul is also different from the 9-track demo version (without the "and the second it starts" lyrics in the second verse).

 

6-Track Demo

 

01. Plaster

02. Papercut

03. Crawling

04. Points Of Authority

05. Dust Brothers

06. Untitled

 

The CD dates from April 25, 2000.

"Hybrid Theory" is printed on the CD, but it has a sticker with "Linkin Park" covering it.

Now we have the first known versions of One Step Closer (Plaster), Papercut and With You (Dust Brothers).

We also have the first version of Crawling without the rap bridge and the first version of Points Of Authority without the rap chorus.

The band's biography from the old Hybrid Theory website said "Hybrid Theory will soon release a five song EP and will be touring the US West Coast this May." The biography was written in 2000 after the band signed to Warner Bros. Records. As you can tell, the EP was never released and its potential content is unknown.

 

7-Track Demo (Linkin Park - Demos From 02-2000)

 

01. Untitled

02. Super Xero

03. Points And Authority

04. Crawling

05. Carousel

06. Part Of Me

07. And One

 

The CD is just a copy (without She Couldn't) of the 8-track demo. All versions are the same.

Although it has been commonly accepted that this CD dates from February 2000, this isn't necessarily true. The text actually says the demos date from February, not the CD. The "Linkin Park" name on it could be an indication of the actual date of the CD, but it's currently unknown when the name change occurred.

The band signed their record deal with Warner as "Hybrid Theory" in April 2000.

The linkinpark.com domain was registered on May 24, 2000.

They played their first show as Linkin Park in June.

 

Studio Finals 5/7/00

 

01. Paper Cut

02. Now I See

03. Points Of Authority

04. Plaster

05. Crawling

06. Runaway

07. The Untitled

08. By Myself

09. The Cure

10. The Cure For Mr.Hahn's Itch

11. A Place For My Head

12. Forgotten

 

The CD dates from May 7, 2000 and is an unmastered version of Hybrid Theory.

Here we have the first known versions of Pushing Me Away (The Cure For Mr.Hahn's Itch), Cure For The Itch (The Cure), and Runaway (which came from part of Stick N Move).

According to Mike, the LPU 15 demo Grr (labeled as a 1999 demo) was abandoned in favor of Cure For The Itch.

All songs are different from previous versions.

There's an internal mixed/mastered CD of Hybrid Theory which dates from July 18, 2000.

 

Raw Power

 

02. By Myself

 

The year on the CD is 2000.

Credited to Hybrid Theory.

The lyrics are the same as the lyrics on the 2-track demo version, but this version has a different vocal take.

Reading the text on the back of the CD, I'd say it came out before May 30, 2000 (Le Cock Sportif release date).

 

Plaster (David Kahne Mix 1 Of 4)

 

01. Plaster (David Kahne Mix 1 Of 4)

 

The CD dates from June 2, 2000.

Credited to Linkin Park.

"Shut up" intro.

The "David Kahne Mix 1 Of 4" on the CD indicates David Kahne might have mixed 3 other songs.

 

HybridTheory.com Demos

 

01. With You

02. Points Of Authority

 

The WebArchive snapshot dates from June 8, 2000, but they could have been released before this date.

The songs are now credited to Linkin Park.

Points Of Authority is the same as the 6-track demo version.

Now we have a new version of With You, which sounds more like the album version.

It's interesting to note that there is a cassette tape credited to Hybrid Theory containing the final versions of these two songs. Another tape with the same tracklist but credited to Linkin Park was also made.

 

The Wicked World Of Warner Bros./Reprise: Ozzfest Sampler 2000

 

09. Now I See

 

The year on the CD is 2000.

Same version as Now I See from the Studio Finals CD and With You from the Hybrid Theory website.

Credited to Hybrid Theory.

Reading the text on the back of the CD, I'd say it came out between June 20, 2000 (White Pony release date) and July 11, 2000 (Sonic Jihad release date).

 

ECW Extreme Music Volume 2: Anarchy Rocks

 

06. One Step Closer

 

The CD came out on March 20, 2001.

This version was used as Nova's theme between August and November 2000 and is the same as the Studio Finals version. It includes an introduction to the next track on the CD.

[Ryanz]

Thanks,i didn't know that Part Of Me had more versions,now i listened to all of them and the best one is the 9-Track one.

I already knew that The Crow thing,if you've noticed it the instrumental is the same of the Rhinestone version with Chester,this makes me think that Xero probably recorded some decent quality songs that we don't know.

Demos like She Couldn't,Slip,Blue and So Far Away came out of nowhere,but i think we'll never listen to Pictureboard because of those damn samples.

Somebody needs to ask Mike about other Xero songs in the next LPU chats.

[thedamian58c]

Xero

 

01. Rhinestone

02. Reading My Eyes

03. Fuse

04. Stick N Move

 

Both versions date from 1997. The shopping cart version came first, but the tracks are exactly the same.

Mike and Mark are the only ones credited for tracks 2, 3 and 4. These were probably among the very first songs they wrote, before the other members joined.

A re-recorded version of Rhinestone (still with Mark on vocals) was used in the 1998 series The Crow: Stairway To Heaven. The episode with the song aired in May 1999.

Other released Xero-era demos are Pods (1998; from the LPU 15 CD), Coal (1997; from the LPU X CD), and Stick And Move (1998; from the LPU 9.0 CD).

 

Hybrid Theory EP

 

01. Carousel

02. Technique (Short)

03. Step Up

04. And One

05. High Voltage

06. Part Of Me

 

The rumored release date for the EP is May 1999, however this was never confirmed.

The band's biography from the old Hybrid Theory website said "Hybrid Theory will soon release a five song EP and will be touring the US West Coast this May."

Chester wasn't credited for 3 of the tracks on the EP (4 if you count the hidden track). They were probably written before he joined the band.

I'd say Dedicated and So Far Away were also written around the same time and Dedicated was an outtake from this EP.

The band has said several times that And One was the very first song written with Chester and we know he joined them around March 1999.

Mike has also said this EP was the first project they worked on with Chester.

Blue and Slip were also on the first batch of songs they worked on together, according to the LPU 11 booklet. Slip was originally written with Mark Wakefield.

High Voltage was remixed by Mike in 2000 and released on the One Step Closer single in 2001. Many people noticed Cure For The Itch transits perfectly into this new version of High Voltage.

Step Up was also included in the In The End single in 2001.

A remastered version of the EP was released to LPU members on November 19, 2001. This version had different artwork and was credited to Linkin Park.

Even though Chester isn't credited on HV and SU, his vocal is included on these tracks, the same concerns Dedicated.

And you shouldn't trust LPU when it comes to the year a song before 2000 was written, everything LPU says was written 1998, probably was actually written in 1999.

[lpliveusername]

Even though Chester isn't credited on HV and SU, his vocal is included on these tracks, the same concerns Dedicated.

And you shouldn't trust LPU when it comes to the year a song before 2000 was written, everything LPU says was written 1998, probably was actually written in 1999.

I never said the released versions didn't have Chester's vocals. I said they were written without Chester, probably before he joined the band.

The years on the LPU tracks are the years the songs were recorded, not written. So yeah, 1998 for Slip, Blue and So Far Away is wrong because we know Chester joined them in 1999.

Edited March 9, 2016 by lpliveusername

[Astat]

FYI, when it comes to anything pre-WB record deal, don't take songwriting credits as gospel regarding who was actually in the band when a song was written. Prior to having a record deal, there wasn't a ton of financial incentive to splitting songwriting royalties evenly, so they tended to credit who the primary composers of a song were, rather than just crediting everyone in the band as a co-writer. This is why 3 of the 4 Xero demo tracks are just credited to Shinoda/Wakefield, even though at minimum, Brad is definitely playing guitar on all of them. Same goes for Rob not being credited on the Hybrid Theory EP songs that don't have live drums on them. I don't really think there was much of a gap between Mark's departure and Chester joining the band, and what time there was in between was probably primarily spent looking for a singer rather than writing music. I'm pretty confident that Chester was in the band when Dedicated, High Voltage, and Step Up were written, but he barely does anything on any of those songs so they probably felt like his contribution didn't warrant a songwriting credit.

The flip side of this in the post-record deal world would be something like how The Messenger was entirely written by Chester and only half the band plays on it, but it's still credited to everybody.

Edited March 14, 2016 by Astat

[lpliveusername]

Here's an update:

 

We recently discovered a version of the 9-track demo dating from January 7, 2000 (the previous version we had dated from February 11, 2000). This means the demos contained in it must have been recorded in 1999. We know the band had been in Warner since November.

 

The 8-track demo was sold on eBay as a "1998 demo CD" and was released by LPLive as a "1999 demo", but the 7-track demo later released by LPAssociation says the demos contained in it date from February 2000 (note it says "Demos From", so it isn't necessarily the date of the CD). This means the 9-track demo is actually older than the 8-track demo.

 

Last year, LPCatalog discovered a version of the 6-track demo dating from April 25, 2000 (the previous version dated from May 8, 2000).

 

The 7-track demo has "Linkin Park" actually printed on the CD, contrary to other CDs where "Hybrid Theory" was covered and "Linkin Park" was written by hand. This means the band had already decided on a new name by the time the CD was produced. We know the band officially changed their name sometime in May (they still played shows under the name "Hybrid Theory" that month, but I think that's because they were already booked before the name change) because that's when the linkinpark.com domain was registered.

 

A certain member of our team has a theory that the band took care of the problems regarding their name only after the recording of Hybrid Theory (their debut album) was already done, so it's possible the Studio Finals CD dates from May 7, 2000 instead of July 5, 2000 (no reason why an American label wouldn't use the American date format anyway). This theory would also explain the existence of a demo tape under the name "Hybrid Theory" containing final versions of With You and Points Of Authority.

[Astat]

Xero demo - 1997
HTEP - May 1999 (likely)
2-track demo - Fall 1999
9-track demo - January 7th, 2000
7-track/8-track demo - February 2000
Web demos 1 - March 2000
6-track demo - April 25th, 2000
By Myself (Raw Power) - April/May 2000
Studio Finals (Inc. Now I See) - May 7th, 2000
Web demos 2 - May/June, 2000
Plaster - June 2nd, 2000
Final album mix - July 18th, 2000

Is what I'm getting from this.

Throwing LPU demos into the mix, here's my best guess:

Coal, Pods - Likely made entirely by Mike in 1997-1998 while in Xero.
Stick and Move, Sad, Oh No, Grr, Chair - "Transitional period" demos, given their minimal instrumentation definitely took place in the post-Mark era and possibly even prior to Chester joining. Late 1998-Early 1999? Lumping these all together but may have come from a fairly varied period.
Esaul, Blue, Slip, So Far Away - Likely March-May 1999, probably prior to HTEP
Hurry - Has to be later than So Far Away due to the nature of its composition, likely an attempt to re-write the song by Mike. Mid-1999?
ITE demo - Very similar to 9-track version. Late 1999/Early 2000.
POA demo - Very similar to 9-track version. Late 1999/Early 2000.
Forgotten demo - Identical to 9-track version (January 7th, 2000).

[LPsMart]

There are contradictions with Part of Me/Chair, because in Frat Party at the Pancake Festival (I believe it was on there, correct me I'm wrong) Mike says that the original demo came from the car alert that Brad recorded (heard in the beginning of (PoM), and then there is the Beat that Shinoda made, so I believe that 'young Mike' was right and that it started off with the alert, but then there must've been two demos because it was not yet on Chair^^

Edited May 11, 2019 by LPsMart
did a stupid mistake

[Geki]

...

 

This is epic to have a timeline of.

[xxHybridXeroxx]

 

This is epic to have a timeline of.

Took us forever and a day

[Garret]

On 2/21/2017 at 4:12 AM, Astat said:

Xero demo - 1997
HTEP - May 1999 (likely)
2-track demo - Fall 1999
9-track demo - January 7th, 2000
7-track/8-track demo - February 2000
Web demos 1 - March 2000
6-track demo - April 25th, 2000
By Myself (Raw Power) - April/May 2000
Studio Finals (Inc. Now I See) - May 7th, 2000
Web demos 2 - May/June, 2000
Plaster - June 2nd, 2000
Final album mix - July 18th, 2000

Is what I'm getting from this.

Throwing LPU demos into the mix, here's my best guess:

Coal, Pods - Likely made entirely by Mike in 1997-1998 while in Xero.
Stick and Move, Sad, Oh No, Grr, Chair - "Transitional period" demos, given their minimal instrumentation definitely took place in the post-Mark era and possibly even prior to Chester joining. Late 1998-Early 1999? Lumping these all together but may have come from a fairly varied period.
Esaul, Blue, Slip, So Far Away - Likely March-May 1999, probably prior to HTEP
Hurry - Has to be later than So Far Away due to the nature of its composition, likely an attempt to re-write the song by Mike. Mid-1999?
ITE demo - Very similar to 9-track version. Late 1999/Early 2000.
POA demo - Very similar to 9-track version. Late 1999/Early 2000.
Forgotten demo - Identical to 9-track version (January 7th, 2000).

 

It's interesting that a lot of those demo tapes are from 2000. In 2009, Mike said She Couldn't was a demo from 1999. I suppose maybe the version we have is a more polished one then. The HT timeline is crazy. It goes from a span of like 1997 to 2001 (the album wasn't even released in Europe and Asia, etc. until 2001) and yet the album came out in October of 2000 in the states.

Edited April 27, 2019 by GarretLP

[Garret]

On 2/21/2017 at 6:33 AM, LPsMart said:

There are contradictions with Part of Me/Chair, because in Frat Party at the Pancake Festival (I believe it was on there, correct me I'm wrong) Mike says that the original demo came from the car alert that Brad recorded (heard in the beginning of (PoM), and then there is the Beat that Shinoda made, so I believe that 'young Mike' was right and that it started off with the alert, but then there must've been to demos because it was not yet on Chair^^

 

This wasn't in Frat Party, he said it during a chat with fans at some point in like 2001 or so. I know this because I have watched Frat Party way too many times growing up and I know it basically by heart.

[Garret]

Where does Tasty Gas Station Breaks From The Orient and  the HT demos from Hybrid Party of a Thousand Things go in this timeline? Pre-Chester or after he joined in March of 1999? I'm talking about the actual music not the date which they were released or known.

[Garret]

On 2/21/2017 at 4:12 AM, Astat said:

Stick and Move, Sad, Oh No, Grr, Chair - "Transitional period" demos, given their minimal instrumentation definitely took place in the post-Mark era and possibly even prior to Chester joining. Late 1998-Early 1999? Lumping these all together but may have come from a fairly varied period.

 

How do you know they are from before Chester joined though?