Some time after the EP was released, Kyle Christener was kicked out of the band. They independently released the Hybrid Theory EP under the name Hybrid Theory in 1999.
Chester Bennington joined the band in 1999, after auditioning via recommendation of his lawyers to Jeff Blue of the A&R Recordings branch of Zomba Music Group. Phoenix left the band around the same time to fulfill his commitment with Tasty Snax and was replaced by Kyle Christner. Vocalist Mark Wakefield left the band to pursue a different career as things weren't working out with Xero. The band formed under the name " Xero" in 1996, the original lineup consisting of Mike Shinoda, Mark Wakefield, Brad Delson, Rob Bourdon, Joe Hahn, and Dave "Phoenix" Farrell. Track Listing No.Mike Shinoda with Xero and Hybrid Theory EP artwork. The last 3 tracks in particular are hindered by a lot of static. The quality of the songs in general isn't good. This CD offers some insight into where Hybrid Theory was as a band at this point, still a year or so away from the release of their debut album. " Untitled", " Points And Authority", " SuperXero", and " And One" are all identical to their counterparts on the 9-track demo. The intro on "Part Of Me" is also slightly longer than its previous versions. " Carousel" and " Part Of Me" are both different from the 9-track demo versions, featuring different vocal parts, including some different lyrics. 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). It's also one of the softest songs the band has produced, particularly from this era. The song clocks in at over 5 minutes in length, and features an extended instrumental breakdown. " She Couldn't" goes against a lot of stereotypes regarding early Hybrid Theory/Linkin Park material. 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. " Crawling" was re-recorded with new instrumental and vocal takes. They did, however, release a promotional 3-Song E.P. The 8-track demo was composed of a proposed tracklist for the project. OSC was so well received that in Aug00 we moved album to Oct." Because of this, plans for the EP were dropped and a definitive tracklist never materialized. Rob McDermott, the band's manager at the time, explained, "I said we needed EP so we could have music out when we toured.
The band's biography from, written in 2000, reveals the band had plans to release a five song EP and tour in the US West Coast in May. Jeff Blue can be seen listening to the EP on Lockout. 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. This information is wrong for many reasons: Chester joined the band in 1999, Linkin Park signed their first contract with Warner in November 1999, and "She Couldn't" samples the song "B-Boy Document '99" by The High & Mighty which was released in the summer of 1999. 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. This 8-track demo CD was discovered in June 2009 when it was auctioned on eBay.