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Pictureboard = "In Yourself"/"Be Yourself"

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LPLStaff

LPLStaff

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Today's discovery on Linkin Park's "Old Band Computer" website, in their marketing campaign for Hybrid Theory 20, is worthy of its own news post and thread. In fact, it's possibly the biggest discover for the band's fans... ever. Call them what you want - the kings of the plot twist, the master of trolling, whatever, but the move today by Linkin Park was iconic.

 

The long-rumored demo "Pictureboard", which the band teased in website updates as being on the tracklisting for a Hybrid Theory 20 CD, has received a major update and likely not the one you were expecting. In possibly the biggest plot twist in Linkin Park history, the band confirmed today that the song is actually the "In Yourself"/"Be Yourself" jam from mid-2001. What?

 

Indeed - in the August 11, 2020 website update, fans could access a folder on the desktop which was titled "In Yourself Jam" with a file inside - "Demo_Pic_Board.mp3."

 

As many of you already know, the jam was (most famously) played before "And One" at Linkin Park's Rock am Ring 2001 show. Have a listen.

 

 

Fans gave the "jam" the title "Be Yourself" (or, "In Yourself" as some heard it) because Chester sang "be yourself" at the end of it. It has gone by both names for almost two decades in the fan community. People have speculated high and wide as to what the jam COULD be. Nonetheless, it was assumed by most everyone that the band wouldn't remember this almost 20 years later.... and hope was seemingly lost.


 

So what exactly is "Pictureboard"?

 

In case all of that sounded foreign to you - "Pictureboard" was a song written when Linkin Park was still called Xero and had Mark Wakefield on vocals. Along with "Pictureboard", the band recorded demos of songs like "Esaul" (what became "A Place For My Head"), "Rhinestone" (what became "Forgotten"), and "Slip".

It was re-recorded with Chester Bennington after he joined the band, but the song has never been released in any form. 


 

How do we even know about "Pictureboard"?

The song was first mentioned by Mike during a private LP Underground chat in 2005 for an LPU winner and ten of their friends: "a place for my head used to be called esaul and there was a song called pictureboard which we actually played on stage one time probably 5 years ago with linkin park. we played it after we changed our name. i think that was the only time we played a xero song that wasn't on hybrid theory after we changed our name."

 

Mike's commentary about performing it live is supported by the fact that a 2~ second clip of the strings on the song are actually on Joe Hahn's "Tasty Gas Station Breaks From the Orient" vinyl that he used on stage live while touring for Hybrid Theory; Mike's quote checks out.

 

 

Why hasn't "Pictureboard"been released before now?


"Pictureboard" was once rumored to have been considered for the LP Underground 9 demos CD in fall 2009. However, we all know the track didn't end up on the album, so here we are over a decade later in 2020.

 

It even has an entry in the BMI database, where songs get registered for music publishing. The fact that Chester is on the BMI entry means that the version that was registered was recorded with Chester. All this did was fan the flames of the fan community in their desire to hear the track.

During an LPU chat on November 19, 2011, Mike revealed the reason: "Pictureboard has samples in it. Can’t give to LPU." However, we are not sure what sample that actually is.

 

 In the 2015 LP Association podcast, Mike reiterated that it can't be released due to samples in the song, and stated, "It's not worth it, man. You guys think it's like this imaginary holy grail of a song. It's really not that great."

 

When asked if the song was worked into something else, he said, "It did not. It got played back then and then there's a sample in it so we didn't play it anymore so we didn't want to deal with it anymore. So that's the story on that. I don't know if it was played as an intro to another song. Not a record, I'll tell you that much."

It has taken on legendary status in the Linkin Park community, even though fans know it's not the greatest song of all time for the band. It's just one of those super old songs that fans have known about for so long that hasn't ever been released.... and here we are.

 

Think of "Carnival of Light" by The Beatles. This is LP's version of that song.

 

Just because it has been talked about for so long and never released, it has built up a hype of its own. It has almost become a meme in some parts of the fan community, with posts on message boards stating in a nonsensical way to almost any news post or live show update, "I will the song Pictureboard!" over time as a joke.

 

 

So what happened today?

Simply put, today was a big deal. The jam mentioned above - "In Yourself"/"Be Yourself" - was performed at least three times in 2001, but likely four or more. It was just a very short jam the band did between songs. It honestly wasn't even much of anything, but it was enough to catch the ear of fans as Rock am Ring 2001 is one of the most popular shows the band has ever performed.

 

As staff member Astat said years ago,  "This little interlude is one of the most mysterious things in Linkin Park's live concert folklore. It was randomly played by Brad, Rob, and Phoenix at the June 2nd, 2001 Rock Im Park show in Germany, in what sounded sort of like an improv jam, but it also seemed like the three of them knew their parts a little TOO well, so it's long been suspected that this is part of an unreleased early Linkin Park demo, possibly the long-fabled "Pictureboard" track. The title "Be Yourself" was given to this piece by fans, due to Chester repeatedly singing that phrase over the ending of it (it's been erroneously called "In Yourself" for years). This interlude was subsequently played again at two more shows on June 3rd and June 8th, only to disappear as suddenly as it appeared! No further information about this piece has surfaced over the years."

 

On a May 2001 setlist, the band lists a "MELLOW Interlude", which we think is referring to the "Pictureboard" jam.

 

So today Linkin Park dropped perhaps the biggest plot twist in its fan community's history. This little jam played live 3-4+ times in 2001? It was "Pictureboard" all along. And they revealed it right in the middle of the #HybridTheory20 campaign, as they were busy confirming other demos, unreleased song titles, and more. This one, undoubtedly, was for the hardcore fans and took Twitter by absolute storm when the band updated its website around 9am PST.

 

Just a sampling of comments on Twitter included:

"One of my favorite shows to watch and was pictureboard I’m speechless", "Talk about being bamboozled whatttt. The helllll?!", "maior plot twist da história do @linkinpark: In Yourself é a Pictureboard... meudeus!", "This is the hugest deal in a fucking while", "I didn't know it, but one of my most watched live performances of LP was Pictureboard. Unbelievable.", "For years I've been wanting to listen to pictureboard! And now, I get to know that it has been out since 2001. Linkin Park sure knows how to amaze and surprise the fanbase.", "Don't f*** w/ me WHAAAAAAT", "Me: I'm really good at plot twists in my writing. /// Linkin Park: Ah ah ah! You wish!", "Holy shit. I'm floored.", "i literally screamed "WHAT"", "Wait wait wait. WHAT?! FOR REAL?!", "YOOOO this is wild. One of most famous LP mysteries finally solved. WILD", "I can't believe it. In absolutely shock.", "What a time to be alive!", "I stan them since day 1 and I didn't know this"

 

Can you believe it?

 

How did they even know that fans have been discussing this song for so long? Someone paid clearly paid a LOT of attention to fan discussion if they included this in the marketing for the album. Someone went above and beyond to find this out deep on a fansite, learn about it, and find a way to put it in the promo campaign. Hats off!

 


Will "Pictureboard" be released?

 

If the Linkin Park teasers on the band's website are any indication, it's likely to be on the demo CD for the album! Track 2 is titled "PB (Edit)" which certainly means it could be included! We will just have to wait and see. It all could be building up to a release of the song in October.

Stay tuned!

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vinifeijo

vinifeijo

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I'm getting to a point that i'm uncertain if we should hear it. 

Maybe it should stay as this mythical thing forever.  Or released as the last song, when the band finally retire.

I'm pretty sure hearing PB will be like seeing a magicians secret... all the thrill and hype from the magic is lost.

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Coizu

Coizu

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Some cynical part in me still thinks this is a huge troll/red herring and it is just a play on the theory that was out there since ages.

Anyway, that would be the most amazing plot twist if everything is actually true.

 

I love the whole hype promotion thing they are doing right now. Probably the best promotion they've ever done.

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Justin

Justin

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Amazing post. Thanks for that! Definitely agree that this needed its own post. I hope this isn't a red herring lol because this plot twist is just too perfect.

 

Also I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw the parallel to Carnival of Light! Their poor fanbase has been waiting for 52 years and counting lol

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YRQRM0

YRQRM0

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5 minutes ago, Coizu said:

Some cynical part in me still thinks this is a huge troll/red herring and it is just a play on the theory that was out there since ages.

Anyway, that would be the most amazing plot twist if everything is actually true.

 

I love the whole hype promotion thing they are doing right now. Probably the best promotion they've ever done.

 

I was hoping for the same. But also, I'm guessing that the song is a lot more than the short jam they played live, vocals and all. At least I'm hoping so. So it's not like we really already have the song. And that would make sense as to why the file in that folder is another "edit" of the song. 

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blackout

blackout

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6 years ago I created a studio version of In Yourself/Pictureboard. It is a demo version of my remake (I planned to extend it furhter up and change some sounds but decided not to do it eventually), but you still can check it out: https://www.mediafire.com/?bdkb8yvlht9zifo. It's not awesome by any means - I've grown as a producer since then but it's a good example how Pictureboard can actually sound.

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Diaux

Diaux

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46 minutes ago, JZLP-AmendsUltimateFan said:

Hopefully the band played only like an extended version of the intro and the song blows up HT style. 

 

I have faith.

I like to think is like Forgotten when the verse is really chill and the it explodes imo

 

8 minutes ago, Wilderness said:

Did we not get the sample from PB in one of those gear auction things? I may be remembering wrong though...

Yeah on Mike's MPC but it was just a couple of strings (the same on Joe's vinyl) and some drum loops

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KenJiLP

KenJiLP

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Guys, someone commented on your last IG post, claiming he has the original Xero demo of Pictureboard, and he also posted a Soundcloud link to the song. It sounds legit to me. Take a listen if you haven’t already - Mike’s vocals sound very similar to the other Xero songs. I mean, it could still be fan-made, but really believable. 

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joelinho

joelinho

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15 minutes ago, KenJiLP said:

Guys, someone commented on your last IG post, claiming he has the original Xero demo of Pictureboard, and he also posted a Soundcloud link to the song. It sounds legit to me. Take a listen if you haven’t already - Mike’s vocals sound very similar to the other Xero songs. I mean, it could still be fan-made, but really believable. 


I do not see the soundcloud link

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