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Mike has released his new "Sleep For Students" compilation, of thirty separate tracks. Created on August 28th, 2020, Mike took a fan suggestion on Twitch to create a long and relaxing "sleepy time" track. Reminiscent of "Ghosts" by Nine Inch Nails, or even Mike's "Minutes to Midnight" website clips, the tracks are fully instrumental and weave in and out of different ambient sounds Mike has created. Mike said on September 9th, "Yeah we're working on it, I don't have definitive news yet. But Sleepy Jam is on the horizon, I want to get it out as quickly as possible so you guys can start using it for your sleepy time music. Remember if I told you if I put it on streaming services that it'd make royalties when you listen to it? My concept is actually, I have a scholarship at ArtCenter College of Design that I funded forever ago, and I realized, 'Ah I'd really love to do something with the income from the Sleepy Time Jam that's really cool.' I want to try to send those royalties there, I want it to help fund the scholarship. When you are doing something like that, if I donate it from my royalty income, it gets taxed on the way to me and then I can donate my portion to the school. So I'm like, 'Is there a way I can do it where just donate the album itself to the school?' So if it makes $1,000, then the thousand dollars is taxed and then a portion of a thousand dollars goes to the scholarship. So I'd rather the whole thing go, if it's possible. My scholarship at ArtCenter, it's big enough for a graphics or illustration student based on financial need and merit. So they have to be really good and they have to need the money, and they need help going to school. So we'll figure it out, that's why it's taking an extra second. We aren't going to just put it up on SoundCloud or let you download the thing, I want to do something like that with it. It's complicated enough... the government doesn't want you to use charitable donation as like a tax loophole basically. So you've gotta do it the proper, legal way and I'm not super educated on how that works so we’re figuring it out. So that'll be that with the Sleepy Time Jam." Later in September about the album cover, he said, "I started it black and white, and then I added a little textures on the edges, and then I started just lightning and coloring it, so I wanted it to be more sleepy and chill. Yeah, I like it, it came out pretty good." The album can be purchased at AcousticSounds.com.

Mike was recently interviewed by Strombo on Apple Music, and here's the recap. - Strombo said on Summer Sanitarium 2003, he was interviewing Mike and Chester in Toronto. When it came time to end the interview, they discovered Fred from Limp Bizkit wasn't going to come off of his bus to do an interview so Mike and Chester gladly stayed an extra 40 minutes to fill the time with a very long interview, just before Linkin Park had to go to Boston for the next show of the tour. - Mike was not a big fan of the idea of releasing a Hybrid Theory 20 package. LP management pitched him the idea but he was like, "I wasn't into it in the beginning." He said, "Really? 20 years? I don't know. Why now?" He said once old photos, flyers, etc came up, he then liked the idea. - Mike tells a story from when he and Brad talked in 1998 about having good musical ideas and it'd be a waste if no one heard them. He said they decided from the ground up, the way the band records and sounds they use, they wanted to find ways to push the boundaries with sounds and make people a little uncomfortable when listening to it. Rap/rock was starting at the time but a lot of it was "macho." - The band would mail out street team materials with cassette tapes, etc before they toured and on their first tour ever they would show up and see 20-30 LP fans in line outside the shows. - About Chester passing away and how Linkin Park is dealing with it: "It's more like losing a brother or best friend. Not only did we spend an insane amount of time together, but also we built something." / "We built that together - it's an identity. Like, who are you? We are Linkin Park. And we did that together. Linkin Park is a part of all of our DNA, so when that got fractured and taken apart in a sense, I don't think anybody could really understand because you can't really relate that to anything else, it's not just family, it's not just friends, it's not just brotherhood, it's not just business... it's all of those things wrapped together. For better or worse, that could be something that is not very healthy but you also can't do it any other way. In order to be a band, and be this successful, and exist for this many years as like a highly functional unit of guys, it had to be that way. With that said, I think that there are parts of our relationships and our well being that we are doing so well... I'm super proud of everybody and how everybody's done and coped with things and adapted. And also parts where it's like, "Yeah, we could probably do better." Whether it's just like having bad days or... I don't know. It's a very personal subject. I don't think any of us are at liberty or would even be able to explain this to anybody. You could spend years on it and still not crack the surface of what all of that emotion is."

Sometimes reading text makes it seem like the mood is more intense than it really is. He was in a fun/joking mood as usual.

On October 26th, grandson tweeted: "GRANDSON X LINKIN PARK" , uploading a picture with is name written with the Hybrid Theory logo generator both on Facebook and Instagram which sent social media into a frenzy, getting thousands of interactions quickly. Days ago he also tweeted "SHUT UP WHEN IM TALKING TO YOU", so fans are now speculating about a possible cover or remix of One Step Closer. Mike was asked about the tweet today on Twitch and had this to say: "I do not have a comment on the grandson tweet. Leave me alone. You guys are relentless. I just wanted to get that out of the way so that we can actually get down to business today and make something without you guys spending the entire morning doing that. So just... I'm putting it out there. I'm not answering." He then added, "grandson tweeted an image. I'll tell you what it's not - some of the fans were like, "It's a brand new Linkin Park song featuring grandson!" and then some people threw in other names too. It's like, sure. You know it's not that. It's fun, it's going to be something fun and exciting. It is something, but it's not that. Yeah, grandson is a great kid. Jordan." Fever 333 also tweeted with the caption "333 X LP", grandson retweeted announcing: "TOMORROW". Jason Aalon from Fever 333 commented during a live stream saying that it's "Something very cool with a little bit of collaboration-ish, kinda like a tribute. Just thought it would be cool to honor it." What do you think we'll get tomorrow?

Hi troll. No one has your "fucking" song.

General thread for a potential 8th Linkin Park studio album, if the band does end up releasing one. Collecting everything here - post any relevant news topics, discussion, etc in this thread. - April 15, 2019 via Yonhap News: "And… Now the band has started talking about making new music together." ((("Will Linkin Park come back?"))) -> "Maybe in about 10 years? (Laughs) It might be sooner. I don't want to set a deadline. We just want to focus on the present and talk about music. We aren't discussing detailed plans. I just want to go back to those days when I made music in the garage." -Joe - April 19, 2020 via Instagram Live (LAFC): "Band wise, we are always kind of writing, we are always working on new music. Right now, with what's going on in the international situation, we're a little bit on pause with all that." -Phoenix - April 21, 2020 via Facebook Live (Dan Really Likes Wine): "So at this point, globally, we are all doing a version of the same thing. For us with the band, we have been writing before this all started. Casually at this point we are doing Zoom meetings to eat lunch together and say hi. But we are not able to get together and write or do that whole bit. We're working at home a little bit, working up ideas. I've been playing a lot of drums just to do something new. I've been doing that for the last year, year and a half, and I've been purposely making as much noise as possible to create my own space in the house." -Phoenix - October 23, 2020 via Spin: “When asked if Linkin Park are working on new songs for their eighth studio record, Delson smiled widely — knowingly. “I think everything is open,” he explained. “Certainly, a lot is undefined, but I think the possibility is wide open.”" -Brad

He has mentioned it twice this year, the most recent one was like 2 days ago. The Meteora list will be impossible for live shows. Astat's list is great but already misses MFR 2005. You have to do a PR 04 show. You almost have to skip Rock am Ring 2004 because of how much other content there is. Reading 2003 is an absolute must. Perhaps the two MUST HAVE live items though are a PR 04 show and Summer Sonic 2006. Work backwards from there.

Sounds like LP does not have a recording of that show judging by what Mike has said on Twitch.

No. Because for the HTEP they entered a professional studio with Mudrock. The demo CDs were recorded by the band using their own gear. They only worked with Don Gilmore for 6~ish weeks in mid 2000, they were recording everything themselves before that. That's why the HTEP sounds better. Those demos for Part of Me and Carousel were recorded after the HTEP for possible inclusion on HT (glad they didn't go with them; Don also vetoed Stick N Move) so that is why they don't sound as good. The demo CD stuff was just showcasing what they were working on before Warner sent them in the studio with a real producer for the debut album. I agree that the creative streak they hit with Chester was really impressive - Papercut, Dust Brothers, Plaster, Crawling, Points, Untitled... all of those were brand new songs that absolutely kicked ass. The fact LP created those so quickly is mindblowing. Remember the 8 track demo CD was almost released as a long EP before they recorded Hybrid Theory. Thank goodness they didn't do that because it would have ruined the surprise of the album. She Couldn't was also on that one. I wonder why Rhinestone and Esaul weren't on that and She Couldn't was. Maybe they were saving those two for the album, or they didn't think they were in the 8 strongest songs they had. We'd never know the answers to those questions unless we asked the band literally in February 2000 lol

Correct. Billboard 200 IMO doesn't matter as much, but some will argue it matters the most because it has streaming included. But that's where viral songs lead the charts. HT20 isn't going to have anything go viral like Fleetwood Mac had with TikTok. Album chart and being #2 is legit, because this is a box set. IMO that's what you should focus on. No way LP was going to top the Billboard 200 with this, there wasn't even a lead single.

Would love to hear "No Roads Left" and "In Between" with Chester on vocals. If the band said Mike sang both of them better, then his versions probably really are better. But it'd be cool to hear, because the MTM era was so good. Those seem like obvious inclusions on an MTM box set, if they ever did one.

Holy grail list probably is something like this: 1. "Thoughts That Take Away My Pride" from Meteora (probably not even the song's real name lol, could be called something like "Make Them Disappear" or a random title). The only known extra Meteora song with vocals. It's entirely possible they have other demos with vocals (A-Six?) we don't even know about. Like "Could Have Been" on HT20. 2. "Friendly Fire". Most certainly a a full OML song with Jon Green, which Mike said is actually an awesome song, is at the top of this list. All of Jon's songs with LP have been good. With "Pictureboard" being released, the list certainly went down a notch... it was the biggest item out there but we do have 2 left that are on that level. Seriously after those 2 there are probably not GREAT songs left that we *know about*. Can only imagine what the band has from MTM, ATS, THP, OML with vocals / semi or mostly completed that we've never even heard of. "Friendly Fire" is probably great since Mike was right about "Pictureboard" not being that good. "Deftest" was either vetoed by Mike or Mark, but was definitely revisited this year when going through the archives because why would Mike mention a 23+ year old demo so randomly like that? It must be quite bad. Would be cool to have for history's sake, for sure. But we only know of 2 more songs (listed above) that are probably awesome. No idea what is unknown that they have, but they probably do have some for each album that are badass.

Over the past few weeks in the Hybrid Theory 20 press, we’ve heard the band mention a “3 track sampler” for Xero before the 4 track. It’s the first we’ve ever heard of it. Mike on October 15 talked about the start of Xero on Twitch, revealing a new track previously unknown to fans called "Deftest." About "Dialate": ""Dialate" was one of my first demos that I did with my friend Mark. At that point, it was certainly just me and Mark. There was no band, it was just me and Mark making stuff. And we made "Dialate" and "Deftest" and at some point after that, "Stick N Move." I think there were a couple other tracks that we doodled around with and didn't release or that we hated or whatever. Stuff that we didn't finish. I think most or all of that stuff is out, it's all in the Hybrid Theory 20 or in the LPU or whatever. But "Dialate" was that early." He pulled up "Could Have Been" on YouTube and said: "So this is off of Hybrid Theory 20, this is when Chester first joined the band, essentially. So that's just live guitar mic'd up, MPC for all the rhythm tracks, and then bass through like a bass pod, an emulator. Like, one of the little laptop ones I think. We were just using like an SM58 mic. This is not live drums, this is MPC drums. Yeah this is an early Chester demo, we were playing around with the back-and-forth. So I think this one with the crazy bass stuff at the end, right? Yeah, so this is when we first tried out this guy Kyle as a bass player. Dave had left. So this is Kyle at the end. Like, he loved Primus and slap bass stuff, so he was gnarly. He loved all of that super fast slap bass stuff. So I thought like, "Let's give him a bass solo spot." And yeah, that solo was Kyle. That was interesting. I actually thought we weren't going to be able to put this track on Hybrid Theory 20 box set because we haven't talked to Kyle in that long. I was like, "Yeah I don't know how you're going to track that guy down... like, good luck. And I don't know if he'll approve it - he might be like, "Give me all the publishing, I want 100% of the publishing or else you can't have the song.""" And apparently I have to imagine he was cool, because it all worked out. I actually didn't talk to him. But yeah, that was that era, it was very much in transition and Chester was pretty new in the band." On the stream on October 20th, Mike said, "LPLive is now trying to get locked on to Deftest as the new Pictureboard. Pictureboard is a pay off. Other demos, not so much. If you were to hear that, you would not be... I strongly suggest you don't start putting your attention on Deftest. That is not a thing to do. Pictureboard, you hear it, "Wow that's cool, I'm so glad we were so focused on that song." No I never said Pictureboard was a bad song. It has Chester on it. Deftest, Mark and I did like a four track cassette version of it and it sounds like shit. You guys don't want that, trust me. It's D-E-F-T-E-S-T by the way, not D-E-A-F, because Mark was a big fan of the Deftones. And we were just testing out ideas. So you can tell just right away, from the name itself, that it is not a grail. This is not an incredible fucking thing. Trust me on this." But back to the Xero sampler... do we have a potential for a sampler existing with "Dialate", "Deftest" and "Stick N Move"? What do you think? Or is the band referring to the three song sampler as the band audition tape?

This is an absolute disaster with WhoSampled. Wow.

It's a case of LP just not typing it correctly on the broadcast. The entire thing is a mix of both shows. Probably because one of the shows had chaos with the crowd, etc (Check the show pages).