Background
The 9-track demo was the first source for many working titles and its tracks became the most well-known and widest circulated Hybrid Theory demos. After the demos on this CD had been availble in varying quality around the internet for many years, community member Energy obtained a copy of the CD and made a high quality rip available on LPFuse for free download as a Christmas present in 2004.[1][2] It's unknown whether the spelling of "Super Zero" on the tracklist can be attributed to the band themselves or to miscommunication with the label.
The fact that the CD has a "Promo Use Only" warning indicates that it was used by Warner Bros. Records as a sampler to promote the band before the release of their debut album, taking the best demos of each song and combining them.[3] Because of this, the date on the CD doesn't necessarily relate to when the demos were recorded.
Writing and Recording
"Crawling" was re-recorded with new instrumental and vocal takes. Lyrically, it's almost the same as the 8-track demo version, but with the addition of "Ah! I hate you so much right now!" being yelled at the beginning.
"Carousel" and "Part Of Me" both features different vocal takes, with "Part Of Me" having a shortened intro (similar to the Hybrid Theory EP version).
The CD features the earliest available recording of "Rhinestone" with Chester Bennington on vocals. The song was completely reworked with new instrumental and new lyrics in comparison to the Xero version.
"Esaùl" is different from the 2-track demo version, having some different lyrics.
"Untitled", "Points & Authority", "Super Zero", and "And One" are all identical to their counterparts on the 8-track demo.
Composition
This CD offers some insight into where Hybrid Theory was as a band at this point, still working on their debut album.
Songs from the Hybrid Theory EP were still in consideration for the album, and the band were starting to consider some Xero songs for it too.
Track Listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Untitled | 3:52 | |
| 2 | Points & Authority | 2:48 | |
| 3 | Super Zero | 3:16 | |
| 4 | Crawling | 3:50 | |
| 5 | Carousel | 3:01 | |
| 6 | Part Of Me | 3:38 | |
| 7 | And One | 4:32 | |
| 8 | Rhinestone | 3:41 | |
| 9 | Esaùl | 3:08 |