Attention all audiophiles and fans of pre-warner Linkin Park!

Tonight we are proud to present to you, a series of brand new high quality rips of Linkin Park's very first demo tape (provided courtesy of nkramar), from back when they were originally known as Xero. These rips are some of the best to surface on the internet to date as they came from a mint condition Xero tape, played only a limited number of times, before landing into the hands of its current and rightful owner, who was courteous enough to provide new rips for all of you to hear.

These rips will be uploaded in lossless format to DIME within the next few days, and are equalized to avoid hiss while still presenting the best sound quality possible to the listener. While one or two tracks may have slight issues (due to levels/the age of the tape) for the most part these rips are excellent and should not be missed by anyone.

Also since the lossless archive is over 70MB, for those who want better quality but don't have room for the heavy file size, we here at LPA are hosting 320KBPS mp3s ripped directly from the original lossless files for your listening pleasure. All you need to do is click the link below and you will be directed to the FTP to download them all! The actual lossless files will be on the internet within the next few days. Enjoy!

A polish rock magazine by the name of TERAZ ROCK has posted the first review of Minutes To Midnight, sharing some very important and rather interesting details concerning the sound and style of the new album.

- Only two tracks sound reminiscent of the old Linkin Park style
- "No More Sorrow" is described as a heavy metal song
- "Shadow of the Day" sounds like classic, old U2.
- "Given Up" is a heavy punk song
- "In Pieces" also has a solo

While we are still trying to get a full translation, here is a scan(http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/7913/terazrockvf7.jpg) for you to read!

First tattoo studios, now a clothing line. Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington is becoming quite keen on entrepreneurial pursuits.

Bennington is set to release a clothing line this August called "Ve'cel" (vee-sell). The line is basically what rock stars like Chester himself like to wear.

Chester described rock star fashion as: "It's a reflection of who you are. Typically, whatever style of music you're primarily into is kind of reflected in how you dress and how you live your life. It's interesting how they work together. It's always been that way."

Click this website to read more about the line.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/money...cle_1644334.php

It appears Snow White Tan may have been renamed Dead By Sunshine, according to a recent interview Chester did with OCRegister (see previous news post).

While Chester does not actually mention Dead By Sunshine and Snow White Tan are the same band, the circumstances surrounding the release of either band's debut album is exactly the same. Chester has mentioned before that Snow White Tan's album would not be released until well after the release of the new Linkin Park album, something he reiterated for Dead By Sunshine in the interview.

We'll update you as more information becomes available.

Source: http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/money...cle_1644334.php

Chester Bennington was on hand earlier this week to premiere Linkin Park's long-awaited third disc, Minutes to Midnight, for "selected media" from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and several other Asian countries. The disc was screened at Le Meridian Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, along with the video for 'What I've Done,' which has recently hit radio and TV stations around the world.

One publication, the Malay Mail, issued an article concerning the event, and noted on several of Linkin Park's new songs: 'Wake,' the introductory track that starts the album is described as a "haunting instrumental piece," while 'Given Up,' the first song on the disc is said to be a "a groovy, riffheavy rocker." 'Bleed it Out' finds Shinoda back in front of the microphone, while 'Shadow of the Day' delivers Bennington's "most emotive and soulful vocal delivery to date."

"The first thing I'm going to do when I get back to America is to lay out the locations and the dates for our world tour" says Bennington, who is currently in the midst of planning dates with the band. " Hopefully we can strike a balance - South-East Asia, Europe, as well as South Africa and South America." Their last concert in Kuala Lampur, 2004, was sold out.

"Politics, operatic bridges, profanity, leather jackets ... what's happened to Linkin Park? Going by appearances, it seems they're all grown up."

TodayOnline, having recently listened to Minutes to Midnight in Kuala Lumpur, posted an interesting read on their site. The following excerpts are key details from their publication:

- The new Linkin Park sound is one that is decidedly mature, mixing everything from opera and dance beats with a "pop" feel. "It was a conscious decision," said Bennington of the change in direction. "We didn't want to make the trilogy. We didn't want it to sound like (previous albums) Hybrid Theory or Meteora."

- The concluding track, 'The Little Things Give You Away,' is the band's response to how the authorities in the United States dealt with the Hurricane Katrina crisis in New Orleans, a disaster that Bennington said "shouldn't have happened." Hands Held High, however, is an anti-war anthem in which co-lead vocalist Mike Shinoda raps about falling bombs, saying: "When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die."

- As for the aesthetic makeover - for the first time, all six band members are on the new album cover, looking snazzy in leather jackets - Bennington laughed and said they had enjoyed "dressing like guys".