Unreleased Songs List

Summary

With any band that has been around for as long as Linkin Park has (fifteen+ years), there is bound to be an extensive list of unreleased songs. Ranging from tossed studio ideas to full demos that haven't seen the light of day to collaborations with other artists, we covered the most noteworthy songs in this list to fill in Linkin Park fans on what exactly is still "unreleased" that we know of.

Studio Tracks

Xero - Pictureboard (1997~) / Hybrid Theory - Pictureboard (1999/2000)

Pictureboard to this day has become the most hyped up unreleased song by Linkin Park. It's an old Xero song that Linkin Park performed live one time, and that's all that's known about it. Rumors from management sources that have heard the song say that the song is "not amazing", but fans still continue to ask for it to this day.

The first-ever mention of Pictureboard came in an LPU chat in 2005, where a referral contest winner had their own private chat with Mike and ten friends. Mike said, "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."

In an LPU chat from September 4, 2009, Mike answered a question about the song, saying, "Pictureboard is a song. I've never seen it online I'm pretty sure it's not out there. We have a bunch of songs that aren't out there, though." In an LPU chat over two years later, from November 19, 2011, Mike said, "Pictureboard has samples in it. Can't give to LPU."

Later, information was leaked that the song was in the running to be on the LPU 9 CD, but was replaced at the last minute by Across The Line, a demo from the Minutes To Midnight recording sessions. The song even has an entry in the BMI database from years ago, hinting that it possibly was to be released earlier than 2009 as well. Mark Wakefield is credited, which takes this song back to the Xero era for the band as Mike mentioned. The fact that Chester is on the BMI entry means that the version that was registered with BMI is a Hybrid Theory version that was recorded with Chester.

Besides this guess, no one really knows anything about the song. The date in which Mike refers they played Pictureboard live was sometime in summer 2000, since we have narrowed down the name change from Hybrid Theory to Linkin Park from June 29, 2000 to May 6, 2000.

An LPU 12 video exclusive entitled "Perth Jam 1, Xero Reborn" from the Perth, Australia Soundwave show in 2013 featured Phoenix playing a guitar part backstage that Mike and Chester referred to as being an old Xero demo. Chester said that he sang on it and it was a demo they worked on and Mike said that it didn't make it past being a demo and it was "terrible". We're not saying that this is Pictureboard, but we are saying it's possible that this is Pictureboard and it's possible that this is another Xero-era song that they worked on.

Linkin Park - Be Yourself (2001?)

Being after Pictureboard in the list is perfect for "Be Yourself". The only (logical) assumption the community has had about Pictureboard is the "Be Yourself" interlude from Linkin Park's 2001 shows.

From our 2001 touring summary article, Astat said, "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."

Linkin Park - Thoughts That Take Away My Pride (2002/2003)

When the Making Of Meteora DVD was released with the album, fans immediately noticed a demo that wasn't on the album. In this case, a five second clip of Chester singing "thoughts that take away my pride" over an instrumental has almost become legendary in the Linkin Park community and has appeared on fans' LPU CD wishlists for years.

In 2007 during the release of the second LPTV series, the episode from Summer Sanitarium 2003 features a clip of the studio version of the song.

The words were also scribbled on the Meteora art wall at one point (we're not sure if they're still there). With only around fifteen songs recorded for Meteora and a growing list of Meteora-era demos appearing on the LPU CDs, it's a surprise that this song hasn't been released in some form.

Even though it has nothing to do with this demo, it's worth mentioning that another "demo" from the Making Of Meteora DVD with Chester singing "just drag it out, remember" was confirmed by Brad in an LPU chat in 2003 (after Meteora had been released) to have been a part of the song "A6". A.06 appeared in a short version on the LPU 2.0 CD and the full instrumental appeared on the LPU 9.0 CD, but no version with vocals has ever been released.

Linkin Park - Machine Shop Song (2005/2006)

From Phoenix in the Linkin Park Underground 4.0 Newsletter:

"Recently, we decided that we wanted to write and record a new song for one of the upcoming Machine Shop Mixtapes Machine Shop is going to put out. It had been over two years since we had been in the studio recording Meteora, so we decided it was time to let everyone hear something new. So, we blocked out three days in the studio to sit down to write, and record the new track. For those of you who are somewhat familiar with our normal song writing process, this decision was departure from what has become our standard writing process. Normally, a song will be worked on individually, or in pairs, over months of time. For this new track we wanted to challenge ourselves and finish a song in three days, with all six of us working through all the parts together. At the end of this experimental writing process, we didn't actually complete the song in our three days in the studio, but we were able to lay a great framework for the song. The vocals for the song were then worked on in home studios.

So, buckle your seatbelts and prepare yourselves for a Linkin Park song like you have never heard in the coming months. This new track will be available exclusively on a future Machine Shop Mixtape, so stay tuned for more info."

After a long break with no news on it (likely due to Linkin Park's record label dispute with Warner Bros), the Machine Shop Mixtape ended up being released sometime in late 2005 or early 2006, but without a Linkin Park track. In fact, it was only available as an extra bonus of buying something from Bandmerch.com, then the band's online supplier for merch. A February 2010 post on LPLive offers that mixtape for download.

In an LPU chat in March 2006, Rob commented about the song, "We attempted to go into the studio for a day and the song turned out a disaster. Right now we're focusing on our new album, but later on we'll focus on re-writing that.""

In 2009, Mike was asked about the song and gave a response. While we can't find his exact quote (it was likely on Twitter, Astat sums it up as, "Went to studio, tried to record song, whole thing fell apart, idea abandoned."

As you can see, there are conflicting reports about the song by Phoenix and Rob/Mike, meaning they might be talking about different songs. It's likely the song Phoenix references still exists in some form. Perhaps it's even Divided from the LPUX CD since that's a 2005 demo, but we don't know for sure.

Collaborations

Mike and Ryu - Whatever The Fuck (1996)

Mentioned in the LPLive interview with Ryu in 2009, Ryu mentioned a song he did with Mike all the way back in 1996. While we are sure there have been other unreleased collaborations between the two friends since then, it'd be nice to see a pre-Xero song that has Mike rapping. Ryu had this to say about the song, "I think the first song I ever recorded with Mike was a song called "Whatever The Fuck". We recorded it in his bedroom on a little 4 track recorder. Mike did the beat, and the concept was to say pretty much the 1st thing that popped into our heads when we wrote it. We did that like in 1996, back in our development stage of rapping."

LMNO (from The Visionaries) - ? (featuring Mike) (2000)

The Visionaries - ? (featuring Mike and Joe) (2001/2002)

In an October 2006 response to a MySpace message to a fan, they received:

"Date: Oct 10 2006 11:21 AM

Subject: Linkin Park

Body: Hey, LMNO did a song with Mike Shinoda back in the day, maybe 6 years ago.

Then the Visionaries recorded a song with Joe Hahn and Mike Shinoda, and I believe some of the rest of the group was supposed to add stuff to the song...anyhow, it was before the "ReAnimation" album, and we all decided not to put the song out....so, I guess it's just one of those, never heard, never put out things.

We've only heard a rough version of the song, and never heard anything after that.

Kool, give thanks.

KeyKool - Visionaries"

The names of these song is not known and it's likely that these will never see the light of day considering they are so old, but you never know. Previously, fans had thought that just Chester had worked with The Visionaries on a track, but the response from KeyKool indicates that it was Mike and Joe instead. Mike's song from 2000 (or prior) with LMNO is also worth mentioning.

11/1/2015 EDIT: The song with The Visionaries, featuring Mike and Joe, was released in April 2015 by The Visionaries. It is titled "Unreleased" and surfaced in the LP community in November 2015. The song was recorded in summer 2001. Mike's song with LMNO remains unreleased.

Dust Brothers - ? (featuring Linkin Park) (2000)

A January 30, 2001 article from MTV reads,

"Linkin Park are about to do a solid by the Dust Brothers. Mike Shinoda, MC with the Southern California rap/rock quintet, is reviewing tapes of an unfinished Linkin Park-Dust Brothers song started last year, when the duo produced "With You" for the band's Hybrid Theory LP.

Famed for producing the likes of Beck, the Beastie Boys and, yes, Hanson, the Dust Brothers began working on the as-yet-untitled track during the same session as "With You." Once revisited, the tune is expected to appear on the Dust Brothers' highly anticipated debut, Linkin Park's publicist said. Additional collaborators for the Brothers' LP could not be confirmed by their management.

Linkin Park will rework the track once their tour with Taproot wraps up February 24 in Providence, Rhode Island (see "Linkin Park Touring U.S. With Taproot")."

The song name was never unveiled and the album by the Dust Brothers never came out. An interesting note is that the producer duo also remixed the Styles Of Beyond song 'Winnetka Exit' for the Spies Like Us Promo CD.

Team Sleep - My December (Remix) (2002)

Team Sleep is a one of the many side projects by Chino Moreno, the lead singer of the Deftones. When articles were first being released by press about the Reanimation project, Team Sleep was mentioned as being a guest on the projet. LPFuse, an old Linkin Park fansite, reported in 2005 via its "Did You Know?" facts area of the site (which inspired the current section by the same name on LPLive) that Team Sleep remixed a version of My December for Reanimation. It didn't make the cut because it was "too dark".

A post by Astat on LPAssociation in 2006 says, "It's supposed to be a really dark and moody techno/ambience remix of My December done by Team Sleep and featuring scratches by the legendary DJ Shadow, but that's about all anyone knows about it. I don't think being too "dark" for the album is the sole reason though, if Mike saw it as not album-worthy and then never released it but did put out 2 other Reanimation b-sides, chances are it may not have been a very good remix in the first place."

LPLive reported in September 2013 that the track likely will never be released after the following interaction took place on Twitter:

Fabio: "Hi! I was wondering if there's any chance to hear the old 2002 My December remix by Team Sleep"

DJ CrookOne: "Hello! @nmlssit, probably never..sorry!"

This has been one of the most requested songs for the band to release after Pictureboard.

Along with Team Sleep, there are unreleased Reanimation remixes by Tricky, Prince Paul and DJ Z-Trip. What songs they remixed is unknown. Ryu from Styles Of Beyond said he did verses for remix versions of Pushing Me Away and With You. He said that Crystal Method remixed Pushing Me Away and he rapped a verse on it as well as another (unknown) remix of With You.

Dan The Automator - ? (featuring Rob) (2004)

A June 17, 2004 article by XFM with Rob about Projekt Revolution 2004 and Linkin Park has the following quote from Rob:

"As for collaborations, I'd love to do some stuff with a number of people. I've recently been working with [Gorillaz and Deltron 3030 member] Dan The Automator, and [Automator side project] Handsome Boy Modelling School have offered us the chance to do some stuff with them. I can't say exactly what I've contributed - you'll have to wait and see."

The HBMS song ended up featuring just Mike and Chester and was released (Rock And Roll Pt. 2), but the track Rob did with Dan The Automator was never on any release.

Chali 2na - ? (featuring Mike) (2004)

In a December 2004 interview about Collision Course, Mike said, "I also just did a track for Chali 2na's solo album."

As you know, Chali 2na was featured on Frgt/10 on Reanimation. His solo album, Fish Outta Water, was finally released in 2009, but without the appearance from Mike. The track title is unknown.

Korn - Head Like A Hole (Nine Inch Nails cover) (featuring Chester) (2004)

Announced in early 2005, Korn Kovers is an album that features Korn covering other artists' songs. Chester was announced to be doing the Head Like A Hole cover. An April 2005 deadline for the project was not met and it wasn't released. All the way until 2008, Jonathan Davis (Korn singer) said that the band still intended to release the project. A December 2009 LPLive thread discusses its future release by Korn (still planned at that time) while in July 2010, another thread discusses how Jonathan Davis said the band will not be releasing the long-awaited project.

DJ Whoo Kid - ? (featuring Mike) (2005)

When the Fort Minor message boards went online in 2005, it featured a consistent amount of activity from Mike and other guests on the project from Styles of Beyond to Apathy to Holly Brook and more.

In one of the posts made by Mike, he said, "there are probably some things floating around, but i don't know what they would be called. i never put song names on stuff like that. just this week, did a freestyle that might end up on the next whoo kid mixtape--it features rappers from the west coast"

LPAssociation has a news thread about it from June 2005, which you can view here. The Wikipedia page for Whoo Kid indicates that he was involved in quite a few mixtape releases in 2005, but none of which featured Mike. The track name is unknown to this day.

Kings Of Leon - ? (remixed by Linkin Park) (2009)

Paste Magazine did an article in August 2009 about an upcoming Kings Of Leon remix album, featuring a lot of name dropping in the article about Reanimation. It said KoL was about to release a remix album of their songs and that Linkin Park had remixed a track, but to this day the song name remains unknown and the entire project was shelved.

Michael Bublé - ? (with Mike Shinoda) (2010)

An August 2010 news piece by LPAssociation quotes a French magazine asking Bublè, "An album of covers, heavy metal or hip-hop collaborations?"

He responds by saying, "Hip-hop collaborations. I recently made a song with Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park. I can easily imagine that I have written pieces that can be sampled in hip-hop stuff in the future."

We don't know if Mike featured vocally on the song or just produced it. An interesting note is that Bublè worked with Styles Of Beyond on their Reseda Beach album (produced by Mike) for the song called Damn, but this was two to three years after that song was recorded.

Linkin Park - ? (with Tech N9ne) (2012)

An LPAssociation news post from July 2012 reveals that Tech N9ne did a verse for a remix off of Living Things, likely for the Recharged album. The verse didn't make it to the final version of Recharged and it is unknown what remix he contributed the verse to.

Side Projects

Mike's VMA Score - Hive/Track 3 (2005)

In summer 2005, Mike and Lil Jon were asked to score the MTV Video Music Awards. We did a full writeup on the score here. When Mike went back and uploaded the "full" ten song score to SoundCloud in 2010, he accidentally skipped a song, track number 3 entitled Hive. To this day it remains unreleased. This one seems like a simple upload could solve it, but we noticed that the song is not registered in the BMI database like the other nine songs. Perhaps it's more complicated than we think?

Fort Minor - Watch Their Mouth (feat. Tak) (2005)

In the Fort Minor "making of" DVD for The Rising Tied, you can hear a few unreleased songs when Mike is playing the album at his home studio. A thread on LPLive in July 2013 discusses the piece of paper in Mike's hand as songs are being played. One of the titles is 'Watch Their Mouth' with Tak, following 'Be Somebody', 'Cover & Duck', and 'In Stereo' on the list. Mike discusses twenty songs he made for the album (after the We Major mixtape was released) and this is likely one of the unreleased tracks. Below it, he wrote "Jay - it feels familiar", meaning Jay-Z made a comment on the track.

An interesting note about this session in Mike's living room is that he plays a version of 'In Stereo' with the "it's like that, y'all, yeah" intro. While this intro doesn't appear on The Rising Tied, it was on every live version of 'In Stereo' when Fort Minor performed live. A demo of 'High Road' with an earlier beat is also played.

Mike Shinoda - Tampa Finals (2009)

In December 2010, Astat noticed that Mike has a credit in the BMI database as well as in the credits for a film by Rob Dyrdek entitled Sweet Dreams. The song name seems to be Tampa Finals. A January 2013 search by Skipees for the song in the movie turned up a few possible results that could be the song in the movie. It likely is an instrumental so it's hard to determine exactly what it is from just watching the movie. Not much else is known about the track.

Dead By Sunrise - 20 Eyes (Misfits cover), Instrumental, Introutro, ? (2009)

In an LPTV episode called

Still, we know that an instrumental song, the cover song and an intro/outro song are unreleased by the band. 20 Eyes was allegedly set to be released at one point but it didn't ever happen.

Joe Hahn - 'The Seed' Compositions (2006)

The iTunes page for Joe's 2006 short film entitled The Seed says, "Musically, THE SEED features two untitled original compositions by Hahn as well as a track ("There They Go") from Fort Minor, the side project fronted by Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda."

While the unreleased songs can be heard in the film, we do not know their names and the full versions have yet to be released. These would be interesting considering we hardly have any original music by Joe.

Other

Grey Daze - Soul Song, Saturation, and The Down Syndrome (Acoustic) (Remastered) (2003)

Before Linkin Park, Chester was in Grey Daze, yada yada yada. We all know the story. In September 2002, Grey Daze was going to perform a reunion/benefit show for Bobby Benish, their band member who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately, Warner Brothers forced Chester to cancel the show on August 28, 2002 to return to the studio to record Meteora.

In 2003, Grey Daze remastered the No Sun Today album to release in order to raise money for Bobby. Warner prevented the release and the songs sat around for over four years until Derek of LPAssociation was able to get ten of the thirteen songs from Sean Dowdell in June 2007. The tracks were up for a while before eventually more legal issues arose and they came down due to a request from Sean. The last three songs were never uploaded.

LPA currently says, "There are no indications that the remaster will ever surface, and for now all that remains of the project are m4a files that were obtained exclusively by LPAssociation from Sean Dowdell; but later removed due to issues surrounding the physical release of the remaster, which today shows no signs of ever being released to the public."

Soul Song, Saturation, and The Down Syndrome (Acoustic) are the three remastered songs that were never released. It is unknown whether they will ever surface or not.