Xero (Linkin Park) Demo Tape (1997)

Xero - Demo Tape (1997)

Here's a curveball. Linkin Park's demo when they were known as Xero.
I remember being pretty young, before teenager years at least, when I first heard Linkin Park. Back then Kerrang! was on the TV a lot, and at the time it was all about 'nu metal' and 'pop punk'. As such, a lot of that music is nostalgic for me. Basically, what i'm trying to say is that I like a lot of that music. So fuck you, guy.

Xero put out this demo in 1997, with two tracks being the basis for a later Linkin Park tunes 'Forgotten' and 'Runaway'. For me, Mike Shinoda was, is, and possibly will always be the best part of LP. His raps are intelligent, well paced, and are delivered with a great tone. With that said, what makes LP what it is, is the distinctive singing of Chester Bennington. Here, Mark Wakefield is handling the main singing parts. And he is pretty good, setting the template for the style Chester would later run with. This demo has four tracks, two of which went through major transformations in the space of three years, when in 2000 Linkin Park dropped their full-length debut Hybrid Theory.

'Rhinestone' is after-mentioned tune that would eventually become 'Forgotten'. Apart from some structure differences the tune is virtually unchanged to the Hybrid Theory version. 'Reading Me Eyes', along with 'Fuse', are exclusive to this demo as they were never re-worked. Which is a shame,
because 'Fuse' is a great tune. Both tracks are a good mix of rock and rap. Keyword here being 'good'.
LP would eventually become much better, almost seamlessly converging the two genre worlds together. 'Stick N Move' would eventually be re-worked as 'Runaway', and, unsurprisingly, is a highlight of this demo.

So to conclude, the sound quality of this demo is pretty good. The distorted guitar has a very fuzzy sound, but the clean sections are well recorded. The band is tight and confident. And, for 1997, this is pretty innovative. A good demo tape for sure, and a nice look into the past of one of the biggest bands today.

1997 Demo

Linky, Link:
https://mega.co.nz/#!kQw0RDjS!QQ6Gw4ViLO8h6TD4lylOsXfJN48o2q6GbXcn74PUUxQ