Band history
The original name they chose was SuperXero but it was revised to Xero. They made just one demo tape, which included the songs “Fuse”, “Reading My Eyes”, “Stick N’ Move” and “Rhinestone”. The project floundered and they never achieved much success. After Mark Wakefield left to become the manager for Taproot the band hired new vocalist Chester Bennington, formerly of the band Grey Daze, and made the Hybrid Theory EP under the band name Hybrid Theory. The band again changed names from Hybrid Theory to Linkin Park at the release of their debut album, which is titled ‘Hybrid Theory’. The emcee Mike Shinoda sounds a lot younger, and more similar to an Eminem-esque style of rapping.
In The Hybrid Theory album the song “Forgotten” is an evolution of “Rhinestone”. Also from the Hybrid Theory album, the song “Runaway” is an evolution of “Stick n’ Move”. During the 2006 Summer Sonic festival, Linkin Park played “Reading My Eyes” with Chester Bennington. This is notable because it is the first time the band has ever played any Xero Demo song with Chester, and it is also the first time in ten years that the band played a Xero song at all. This track is available on Linkin Park Underground 6.0.
Demo track listing
Side A:
Rhinestone - 3:38
Reading My Eyes - 2:56
Side B:
Fuse - 3:16
Stick N Move - 2:44
Concert
Rhinestone (Forgotten)
The Team
Reading My Eyes
The Untitled (In the End)
Explode
Stick N Move
Now I See (With You)
Esaul (A Place for My Head)
Fuse
