Linkin Park to release special rarities album “LPU9: Demos”

Two-time Grammy winning rock band LINKIN PARK has announced a December 3rd release date for LPU9: DEMOS, a special rarities album available with a membership to the band’s fan club, the Linkin Park Underground. The album and membership package can be purchased together at www.lpunderground.com and at select Best Buy locations and includes a t-shirt, patch, and other exclusive merchandise items.

LPU9: DEMOS features nine unreleased demo versions of some of the band’s biggest hits, including “Faint,” “Breaking The Habit,” and “Leave Out All The Rest.” Also included is “Across The Line,” a previously unreleased song recorded during the Minutes To Midnight studio sessions. Fans also get “Morning After (acoustic),” from frontman Chester Bennington’s side project, Dead By Sunrise (as an exclusive download).

“Songs change constantly over the course of the creative process, so we thought it’d be cool to share early versions of familiar tracks,” says Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda. “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.”

Since its formation in 2001, the LPU’s reach has extended worldwide to form a tight global community. The band has maintained a strong direct bond throughout, and every year they design special merchandise and release music exclusively to LPU members.

Fans first heard the new song, “Across The Line,” during online video episodes (“LPTV”). Originally entitled “Japan,” fans sought out the song for years, but the band had never released it. In response to fan feedback, the band decided to finish the song and make it available as a highlight of LPU9.

“The LPU is a movement,” says guitarist Brad Delson. “Their support of the band is inspiring. So we try to give back to them whenever we can. When we heard that they had been talking about ‘Across The Line,’ we knew we had to make it available for them.”

The LPU has enabled fans worldwide to interact with members of the band, meeting them at exclusive LP Underground meet & greet signings (held at almost every Linkin Park show), or chatting with them online at exclusive chats through the fan club members-only website, www.lpunderground.com. In past years, the band has offered free concert tickets to fan club members, cast them as extras in a music video (“Faint”), and flown them out for rehearsal sessions. The site also provides fans with exclusive news, presales, contests, photos, video, and more. The fan club consistently strives to offer more to its members through website innovations, creative content, and engaging contests and giveaways. For more information, please go to www.lpunderground.com.

The full track listing for LPU9: DEMOS is as follows:

1 – “A-Six” (Original Long Version 2002)
2 – “Faint” (Demo 2002)
3 – “Sad” (“By Myself” Demo 1999)
4 – “Fear” (“Leave Out All the Rest” Demo 2006)
5 – “Figure.09” (Demo 2002)
6 – “Stick And Move” (“Runaway” Demo 1998)
7 – “Across The Line” (Unreleased Demo 2007)
8 – “Drawing” (“Breaking The Habit” Demo 2002)
9 – “Drum Song” (“Little Things Give You Away” Demo 2006)

Linkin Park is currently in the studio preparing a new album for release in 2010.