rasb

I mean those versions of the songs aren't included on the actual box.

Two things mentioned in the old Meteora booklet that the box omits that I am curious if anyone knows the answer to. - Faint was originally attempted at half the speed and then sped up and the riffs slightly changed to accommodate this. I can tell from the Faint demo that the riffs are slightly different from the final, but was the original slow version released as a different song? - Figure 09 was tried with sung verses in between the rapped demo we have and the final album version. I am curious to know whether this version is actually in their vaults or if it was simply an idea that never got recorded.

Misread the Wiki page. Have removed that bit now.

This ought to be an interesting book. It's always good to see an outside perspective. I've read a few of UK manager Simon Napier Bell's books (he managed various bands, most notably Wham) and you get to understand more about the business side of things (even if he sometimes criticises the members in the process). The only book on Linkin Park I have is The Operator's Manual by Neil Daniels, which seems to be entirely fansite sourced and has no first hand information, so anything would be better.

Great to hear Pictureboard at last (well, at least the Mark version). I wouldn't expect perfect singing on such an early demo. It's definitely derivative of Deftones, although they had that influence on "Esaul" too (most notably the "Aztec Moon" version). I think Mike's rap rhythm is all over the place on it too. I expect the Chester version is a bit rewritten but don't know for sure.

They definitely had what all amateur bands have, a handful of tracks that work, and a handful of ones that were pretty underwritten. I get it, as I am a musician myself and look back on some tracks on my oldest albums with "really? why did I do that?". There's no doubt that they benefitted from modern technology and promotion. I think maybe they should have adopted the formula laid down by the Michael Jackson Estate on the posthumous album Xscape - have the originals as extras (particularly as by what they say, several of the vocals were from the major label version of "No Sun Today" that never got released, and thus interesting for collectors). I was happy to find the Grey Daze album in the charts of HMV over here. I thought that they would consider it too obscure, but it was where anyone who might have been curious would see it. So I hope GD follow it up with more releases.

I'm not out to attack the band for remixing, as I said, I've always liked Reanimation. Just that I've been listening to the original albums for many years, so they'll always be the true ones for me.

I got Amends the other day. It has good moments, but is distinctly underwhelming. I always liked the original Grey Daze, and they have clearly taken a cue from how Reanimation drastically reworked tracks, changing the original grunge style to an electronic/industrial hybrid, and featuring guest musicians (who are barely perceptible on most tracks). The songs don't exactly represent the best of Grey Daze in my opinion, they seem to have generally gone for the darker songs to fit with the new style of music. It's not uncommon for a remix album to put a focus on the lesser known songs; however, for many it will be the first time they hear Grey Daze, so it presents a misleading idea of what they were like. They didn't have an electronic element in their original incarnation, for one thing. The style they went for is well produced, and it puts a new spin on some of the tracks I never really liked, particularly "Sickness" and even an interesting twist on some I did like, "B12". On other tracks I always liked the originals of like "Morei Sky" and "Shouting Out", they change the atmosphere a bit too much. The big issue is that the dark mood removes the light and shade that was key to a lot of Grey Daze's work and just makes it a bit of a downer to listen to. I obviously can't condone the way that Sean and the others connected to this project have acted, but it's an interesting listen and I'm still happy to see this band get wider recognition.

He said the same thing in the Kerrang! interview. The first time I heard of Grey Daze, it was via a widely circulated bootleg called Splitting The DNA, which I'm fairly sure was prior to Meteora coming out, so it can't have worked for long. Also, didn't Sean privately reissue the two albums for a while? Does Chester mention Grey Daze in any early Linkin Park interviews? Personally I think Grey Daze are very underrated as grunge/alt-rock bands go, and have a few songs I've always really liked, so I am looking forward to however many new releases they put out.

This is definitely my fave version of the song. It sounds better than the demo tape version, but still has those raw vocals from Mark and I prefer the original lyrics too.