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With the release of Jeff Blue's book today, we became aware of two new Xero songs. This comes only 2 months after Linkin Park released the previously unknown Xero song 'Dialate' and Mike Shinoda dropped the previously unknown name 'Deftest' on Twitch. The book includes a photo of 3 DAT tapes, two of them credited to Xero and other to Xero 818. See the picture here.

 

The first tape features the songs 'Fuse,' 'Reading My Eyes' and 'Stick N Move;' three songs that are credited solely to Mike Shinoda and Mark Wakefield. Joe Hahn has talked a couple of times about a 3-track demo the duo had recorded under the name Xero and sent to a record label whose A&R executive encourage them to put a band together. In a 2008 post on his blog, Mike explained 'Reading My Eyes' was both in the demo they would send to record companies and the demos they passed out to fans. It is quite possible this 3-track demo on the photo is the very demo that started it all for Linkin Park.

 

The second Xero tape features 3 songs as well, this time with two previously unknown titles. The tracklist reads: 'Rhinestone,' 'Dreamer' and 'Weight.' 'Rhinestone' was one of the tracks written after Mike and Mark put a full band together. The song is credited to "Delson/Hahn/Shinoda/Wakefield." This means this is a later demo and the other two tracks were likely written by these four members too since they were the main songwriters in that era as evidenced in the credits of other Xero songs on the 20th anniversary edition of Hybrid Theory. There's a chance either 'Dreamer' or 'Weight' is the infamous "Xero Reborn" song that was later recorded with Chester Bennington and worked on with producer Don Gilmore for Hybrid Theory.

 

 

Another possibility is the song 'Spark Marker' that was once mentioned by Brad Delson during a LPU chat. The title, however, is mostly regarded by fans as a joke and was never mentioned by any other band member.

 

In the book, Jeff Blue describes the very first cassette demo Brad played to him. The artwork was a Xerox photo of what appeared to be a mountain and the inside featured a faded photo of four band members and a close-up photo of Mike Shinoda. The tracklist featured 'Fuse,' an untitled track, 'Stick And Move' and 'Reading My Eyes.' The second track was his favorite, but Brad told him it was the band's least favorite track and it was eventually replaced by 'Rhinestone' on the second Xero demo he heard, the one with the baby cover. He described the untitled track:

 

"The second song, with no title, incorporated a lot of hip hop. I loved the beat, the rapping was old school, and it had a simplistic guitar line with tasty harmonics that was instantly memorable. The song transitioned into an Alice In Chains-style chorus followed by a Rage Against the Machine-style guitar breakdown, with a hard-edged bridge that really impressed me."

 

The third demo in the picture doesn't have a tracklist. It is credited to Xero 818, which Brad recently explained was a name they chose because there were already other bands called "Xero." The name was used on the flyer of their June 1998 show at The Roxy Theatre. It's likely this is the most recent tape from the 3 and it's possibly the source of the full band recordings of 'Rhinestone,' 'Esaul' and 'Pictureboard' from 1998. Obviously this is only speculation and shouldn't be taken as a fact. All 3 songs were on the tape they later sent to new singers auditioning for the band.

 

The discovery of two new Xero titles leaves us at a total of 15 (or 16) known Xero songs:

01. Dialate

02. Deftest

03. Reading My Eyes

04. Fuse

05. Stick N Move

06. Coal

07. Rhinestone

08. Dreamer

09. Weight

10. Esaul

11. Pictureboard

12. Slip

13. Closing

14. Drop

15. Fiends

16. Spark Marker(?)

 

Edit (December 9):

The book confirms Carousel and Step Up as Xero demos! It also reveals the titles of three unreleased songs recorded with Chester: Turn To Grey, Ashes and Harmonic Song. Full list here.

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I wonder what that "untitled" song was that Jeff Blue mentioned, whenever it was originally on the Xero demo tape, before they replaced it with Rhinestone?

 

We need to ask Mike about these songs called "Dreamer" and "Weight".

Edited by NJPLP
1 hour ago, xeroboi said:

Untitled sound like Dialate

I just relistened to Dialate reading Jeff's quote. The description pretty close to how Dialate sounds. Fits the era too. I can say there is a pretty big chance its actually Dialate the song he is referring too.

Remember people saying "I think with this anniversary box we should have like every recording there is from the 1996-2002 era"?
Well we were wrong. Sooo wrong. First came Mike "oh you guys like the stuff we've just released? well here is some info about a song you didn't know about, we won't release it either."
Then this - I don't know if this makes 2020 even better or just worse

Here's a full list of demos from the book up to page 189:

 

Xero - 1997 Mike Shinoda (from photo):

https://i.ibb.co/1qmLNnm/oscbook-dreamer-and-weigt.png

01. Fuse

02. Reading My Eyes

03. Stick N Move

 

First Xero demo he heard:

01. Fuse

02. [Untitled Track]

03. Stick And Move

04. Reading My Eyes

 

November 1997, baby cover:

01. Rhinestone

02. Reading My Eyes

03. Fuse

04. Stick N Move

 

Xero (from photo):

https://i.ibb.co/1qmLNnm/oscbook-dreamer-and-weigt.png

01. Rhinestone

02. Dreamer

03. Weight

 

August 25, 1998 demo produced by Darryl Swan at Paramount Recording Studios (Studio C)

[Fiends from Rapology 14 likely from this demo]

 

November 17, 1998 demo CD:

01. Rhinestone

02. Esaul

03. Pictureboard

04. Fiends

05. Stick N Move

06. Carousel

07. Slip

08. Step Up

09. Pointillism

 

Chester rehearsing the Xero audition tape with Size 5 on March 19, 1999:

https://i.ibb.co/yk6VGWN/photo5082852027268180657.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/cg0rQHQ/photo5082852027268180658.jpg

 

[March 24, 1999 they found out Rhinestone would be on The Crow: Stairway To Heaven]

 

First demo CD with Chester [early May 1999]:

01. Over To Me (Blue)

02. Could Have Been

03. Rhinestone

04. Esaul

05. Part Of Me

06. Turn To Grey

07. Pictureboard

08. Ashes (Unfinished)

 

Studio time with Mudrock in June 1999 for about a week [Hybrid Theory EP]

 

9-track demo CD, week of August 16, 1999:

xx. Untitled

xx. Points Of Authority

xx. Super Xero

xx. I Hate You/Crawling

 

Random mentions:

It Doesn't Matter [Untitled]

Flower [early She Couldn't]

 

Brad and Mike flew to New York to work with the Dust Brothers in September/October 1999 and did an early version of With You with only rap vocals. The demo was called Dust Brothers because it was meant for the Dust Brothers album.

 

Don Gilmore received the first demo from the band in November 1999:

xx. Untitled

xx. Crawling

xx. Dust Brothers

xx. Points Of Authority

 

Early March [first week] demo CD:

01. Plaster [no bridge]

02. Papercut [guitar/beat instrumental demo]

 

Recording at NRG started on March 7, 2000 and was scheduled for a month and a half. Rob's drum recording schedule for Hybrid Theory:

 

March 14, 2000:
Harmonic Song
Pictureboard
By Myself
Plaster
Papercut
Rhinestone (Forgotten)
And One

 

March 15, 2000:
Untitled
Esaul (A Place For My Head)
Dust Bros.
Stick N Move

 

March 16, 2000:
Stick N Move (continued from 3/15)
Slip
A Place For My Head

 

March 17, 2000:
Points Of Authority
Pushing Me Away
Now I See

10 minutes ago, lpliveusername said:

 

November 17, 1998 demo CD:

01. Rhinestone

02. Esaul

03. Pictureboard

04. Fiends

05. Stick N Move

06. Carousel

07. Slip

08. Step Up

 

Carousel and Step Up originate from the Xero era? That’s a very interesting tidbit of information... 

17 minutes ago, lpliveusername said:

First demo CD with Chester:

06. Turn To Grey

08. Ashes (Unfinished)

 

Recording at NRG started on March 7, 2000 and was scheduled for a month and a half. Rob's drum recording schedule for Hybrid Theory:

 

March 14, 2000:
Harmonic Song

What are these songs?

3 hours ago, Coizu said:

How reliable are those information? Can we assume that he had some written records of everything or is some of that based on his memory?

 

He has the DATs, lyric sheets, and written notes from Mike about each of the songs. And the photos of the Xero tapes are in there. This is legit stuff. He even puts descriptions of some of them, Ashes is the Xero Reborn song. He transcribes some of the words in it, even.

 

Ashes: Started with studio banter. Brad goes "Mike perfect tempo, give me any number and I can rap to it, ready? 100? Go!"

 

Jeff said "I love the Spanish guitar, and Mike your lyrics are really cool. You're telling a story, which is really nice. I like Chester's cinematic lyrics and how they interplay with the Spanish guitar."

 

 

Can't wait to see thousands of people sending message to Jeff to leak this stuff just to scared him away.

 

On a unrelated topic has LPLive ever had the changes to Interview Jeff? i feel like some good content would come out of that

Edited by Diaux

The last demo mentioned in the book is an unmastered copy of the album from May 9, 2000 under the name Plear (after "Hybrid Theory" and before "Linkin Park"):

01. Papercut

02. (Now I See) With You

03. Points Of Authority

04. Plaster

05. Crawling

06. Run Away

07. The Untitled

08. By Myself

09. The Cure For Mr. Hahn's Itch

10. Pushing Me Away

11. A Place For My Head

12. Forgotten

 

Also, Don Gilmore mixed 4 songs from the album before David Kahne gave it a shot. He took a week, starting on May 15. The David Kahne mix of Plaster was done at Quad Studios in New York over Memorial Day weekend. The band met with Andy Wallace in New York on June 18 to mix the record and finished on June 27.

15 hours ago, lpliveusername said:

Here's a full list of demos from the book up to page 189:

 

Xero - 1997 Mike Shinoda (from photo):

https://i.ibb.co/1qmLNnm/oscbook-dreamer-and-weigt.png

01. Fuse

02. Reading My Eyes

03. Stick N Move

 

First Xero demo he heard:

01. Fuse

02. [Untitled Track]

03. Stick And Move

04. Reading My Eyes

 

November 1997, baby cover:

01. Rhinestone

02. Reading My Eyes

03. Fuse

04. Stick N Move

 

Xero (from photo):

https://i.ibb.co/1qmLNnm/oscbook-dreamer-and-weigt.png

01. Rhinestone

02. Dreamer

03. Weight

 

August 25, 1998 demo produced by Darryl Swan at Paramount Recording Studios (Studio C)

[Fiends from Rapology 14 likely from this demo]

 

November 17, 1998 demo CD:

01. Rhinestone

02. Esaul

03. Pictureboard

04. Fiends

05. Stick N Move

06. Carousel

07. Slip

08. Step Up

 

Chester rehearsing the Xero audition tape with Size 5 on March 19, 1999:

https://i.ibb.co/yk6VGWN/photo5082852027268180657.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/cg0rQHQ/photo5082852027268180658.jpg

 

[March 24, 1999 they found out Rhinestone would be on The Crow: Stairway To Heaven]

 

First demo CD with Chester [early May 1999]:

01. Over To Me (Blue)

02. Could Have Been

03. Rhinestone

04. Esaul

05. Part Of Me

06. Turn To Grey

07. Pictureboard

08. Ashes (Unfinished)

 

Studio time with Mudrock in June 1999 for about a week [Hybrid Theory EP]

 

9-track demo CD, week of August 16, 1999:

xx. Untitled

xx. Points Of Authority

xx. Super Xero

xx. I Hate You/Crawling

 

Random mentions:

It Doesn't Matter [Untitled]

Flower [early She Couldn't]

 

Brad and Mike flew to New York to work with the Dust Brothers in September/October 1999 and did an early version of With You with only rap vocals. The demo was called Dust Brothers because it was meant for the Dust Brothers album.

 

Don Gilmore received the first demo from the band in November 1999:

xx. Untitled

xx. Crawling

xx. Dust Brothers

xx. Points Of Authority

 

Early March demo CD:

xx. Plaster

xx. Papercut [guitar/beat instrumental demo]

 

Recording at NRG started on March 7, 2000 and was scheduled for a month and a half. Rob's drum recording schedule for Hybrid Theory:

 

March 14, 2000:
Harmonic Song
Pictureboard
By Myself
Plaster
Papercut
Rhinestone (Forgotten)
And One

 

March 15, 2000:
Untitled
Esaul (A Place For My Head)
Dust Bros.
Stick N Move

 

March 16, 2000:
Stick N Move (continued from 3/15)
Slip
A Place For My Head

 

March 17, 2000:
Points Of Authority
Pushing Me Away
Now I See

Hybrid Theory 25th Anniversary... Here We Go!

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