Hybrid Theory 8-Track Demo

*Hybrid Theory*
Hybrid Theory
Demo by Hybrid Theory
Length:	30:34
Label:	Warner Bros. Records
Linkin Park demos chronology
Linkin Park demos chronology

8 Song EP is a canceled EP by Hybrid Theory created in February 2000 under the catalog number HT 9 25499-2. Artwork can be found in the Hybrid Theory (20th Anniversary Edition) book. An internal copy of the full EP made its way online in 2009.

Background

This 8-track demo CD was discovered in June 2009^[1]^[2] when it was auctioned on eBay. According to the seller, the CD dates from 1998 and was the first demo with Chester Bennington in the band, which was given by the band's manager to an high executive of Warner Bros. Records. This information is wrong for many reasons: Chester joined the band in 1999, Linkin Park signed their first contract with Warner in November 1999,^[3] and "She Couldn't" samples the song "B-Boy Document '99" by The High & Mighty which was released in the summer of 1999. That puts this demo CD in the timeframe between the release of the Hybrid Theory EP and the 6-track demo CD, which still makes it some of the earliest demo material from the band. Jeff Blue can be seen listening to the EP on Lockout.^[4]

The band's biography from hybridtheory.com, written in 2000, reveals the band had plans to release a five song EP and tour in the US West Coast in May.^[5] Rob McDermott, the band's manager at the time, explained, "I said we needed EP so we could have music out when we toured. OSC was so well received that in Aug00 we moved album to Oct."^[6] Because of this, plans for the EP were dropped and a definitive tracklist never materialized. The 8-track demo was composed of a proposed tracklist for the project. They did, however, release a promotional 3-Song E.P. in August 2000 in support of the single.^[7]

Writing and Recording

"Crawling" was re-recorded with new instrumental and vocal takes. Lyrically, it's almost the same as the 9-track demo version, but without "Ah! I hate you so much right now!" being yelled at the beginning.

"She Couldn't" goes against a lot of stereotypes regarding early Hybrid Theory/Linkin Park material. The song clocks in at over 5 minutes in length, and features an extended instrumental breakdown. It's also one of the softest songs the band has produced, particularly from this era. This is also an extremely rare case of a Linkin Park song sampling music from another artist (which may be part of the reason it was scrapped so early on the process).

"Carousel" and "Part Of Me" are both different from the 9-track demo versions, featuring different vocal parts, including some different lyrics. The intro on "Part Of Me" is also slightly longer than its previous versions.

"Untitled", "Points And Authority", "SuperXero", and "And One" are all identical to their counterparts on the 9-track demo.