Background
LP Underground 9: Demos is the ninth CD released by Linkin Park to their fanclub, the LP Underground. It was released on November 23, 2009 in Best Buys, over a week before LPU 9 launched on December 3, 2009. LP Underground 9: Demos was the first LP Underground release to include demos of previously released tracks, and the only LP Undeground release to date to be released on vinyl. The vinyl copies had a limited run, and only 1,000 were made. The EP contained nine demos ranging from the Hybrid Theory sessions to the Minutes To Midnight sessions.[1]
An European Warner Bros. Records promo version of the CD exists with alternate versions of "Across The Line" and the demos of "Faint" and "By Myself". "Across The Line" had an extended intro, which was just an instrumental version of the bridge of the track, while "Faint" and "Sad" had entirely new/longer intros. These were the versions of the tracks before they were edited and shortened for their release on the CD by Mike Shinoda. The acetate CD was posted on LPLive on October 31, 2011 by BPERCY. Adam Ruehmer confirmed the legitimacy of the tracks on November 1, 2011: "I have some good news for you. The songs are legit. I finally found the file Mike sent me before we went to mastering. The extended intros are there. Congrats! I'm REALLY confused at how this stuff got put on a promo CD in Europe. Strangest thing ever!!"[2]
"Across The Line", released on this album, was later released on the deluxe Mastered For iTunes edition of Minutes To Midnight.[3]
Writing and Recording
The EP contains nine tracks that range from the early Hybrid Theory recording sessions to the end of the Minutes To Midnight sessions. Short, instrumental demos of "By Myself" and "Runaway" titled "Sad" and "Stick And Move", respectively. The latter demo stems from a song done by Linkin Park in their earliest days, when they were called Xero, similarly called "Stick N Move". Demo versions of the Meteora songs "Faint" and "Figure.09" were also included, in addition to an extended version of "A.06" from LP Underground 2.0 titled "A-Six". Early versions of the Minutes To Midnight tracks "Leave Out All The Rest" and "The Little Things Give You Away" were also found on the CD, where Mike Shinoda sang all the vocals in the two songs, and both include "scat vocals". The fully completed track "Across The Line" was also first released on LP Underground 9: Demos. The song was recorded during the Minutes To Midnight sessions under the working title "Japan"[4] and the band decided to release it following fan requests.
Mike Shinoda said, "Songs change constantly over the course of the creative process, so we thought it’d be cool to share early versions of familiar tracks. The versions in this collection represent important moments in the evolution of each song: different vocals, music variations, and missing parts. They’re snapshots of our works-in-progress."[5]
"Pictureboard" was on the track listing for this CD but was replaced with "Across The Line" sometime in the fall of 2009 before the release. This is the only known time the song was prepared for release in any form. According to Mike, "Pictureboard has samples in it. Can’t give to LPU."[6]
Composition
Each demo reveals aspects of the band's writing process for an album. Most interestingly, the demos from Minutes To Midnight, "Leave Out All The Rest" and "The Little Things Give You Away", show how Mike would record the initial vocal ideas for a song before getting Chester to sing them. "Across The Line" actually only just missed the cut from Minutes To Midnight, with Mike stating that it would have been track 13.[7] The track was fully mixed and mastered for inclusion on the album.
Track Listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A-Six (Original Long Version) | Linkin Park | 3:55 |
| 2 | Faint (Demo 2002) | Linkin Park | 3:11 |
| 3 | Sad ("By Myself" Demo 1999) | Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda | 1:08 |
| 4 | Fear ("Leave Out All The Rest" Demo 2006) | Linkin Park | 2:49 |
| 5 | Figure.09 (Demo 2002) | Linkin Park | 3:24 |
| 6 | Stick And Move ("Runaway" Demo 1998) | Bennington, Bourdon, Delson, Hahn, Shinoda, Wakefield Mark | 0:55 |
| 7 | Across The Line (Unreleased Demo 2007) | Linkin Park | 3:11 |
| 8 | Drawing ("Breaking The Habit" Demo 2002) | Linkin Park | 3:32 |
| 9 | Drum Song ("The Little Things Give You Away" Demo 2006) | Linkin Park | 4:50 |
Personnel
Linkin Park
- Chester Bennington
- Rob Bourdon
- Brad Delson
- Joseph Hahn
- Phoenix
- Mike Shinoda
Production
- Don Gilmore and Linkin Park: production on track 1
- Rick Rubin and Mike Shionda: production on track 7
- Neal Avron: mixing on track 7
- Brian "Big Bass" Gardner: mastering
Management
- Jessica Sklar, Ryan DeMarti: production coordination
- Jessica Sklar, Jessica Mazur, Adam Ruehmer: LP Underground coordination
- The Collective: worldwide representation
Artwork
- Frank Maddocks: art direction & design
- Ethan Mates: photos
Gallery
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Cover
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Limited Edition vinyl
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EU promo
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LP Underground 9.0 box
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Stock image used for the cover
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Trivia
- "Faint", "Sad" and "Across The Line" were originally longer but had part of their introductions removed for inclusion on the album. The original long versions are available in an European promo CD for LP Underground 9 and can be downloaded here.
External Links
References
- ↑ Three Updates. « Mike Shinoda's Blog, October 17, 2009
- ↑ Exclusive: LPU 9 Acetate Demos (3 Songs) - LPLive Exclusives and Specials - Linkin Park Live, November 01, 2011
- ↑ Linkin Park "Studio Collection" / Deluxe Editions - Newswire - Linkin Park Live, January 13, 2013
- ↑ LPU9 CD TRACK LISTING « Mike Shinoda's Blog, November 11, 2009
- ↑ LP Underground 9 Press Release « Mike Shinoda's Blog, December 01, 2009
- ↑ Mike LPU Chat 11/19/2011 Summary - Mike Shinoda Clan, November 19, 2011
- ↑ Mike Shinoda Clan, December 2009