[Plaster:] 

Its existence has long been rumored - the most legendary demo associated with the band.  Plaster is the working or demo title of the breakthrough hit One Step Closer.  Many have claimed to have the track, which has popped up on fan sites and P2P networks since the band made their way onto the internet.

Over the years, countless contenders vying for the title of the REAL Plaster have circulated. Among them:  what seems to be a tape of One Step Closer being played through a cassette player then recorded through a PC microphone; the 'Rock Mix' of One Step Closer, which was distributed to radio stations on a promotional CD along with the album version; the 'ECW Mix' of One Step Closer, which appeared on a various artists compilation CD.  How many fans have downloaded those files or others, hoping that it wasn't fake or some other track that someone just put an incorrect name onto?

Recently, a CD was obtained containing just one track and bearing the following information on it:

Linkin Park
"Plaster" (David Kahne Mix 1 of 4) * 02:36
NOT FINAL MIX, NOT MASTERED
From CD Source * June 2, 2000

For those unfamiliar with him, David Kahne is a Grammy award winning record producer who has worked with Tony Bennett, Fishbone, Sir Paul McCartney, Sugar Ray, Stevie Nicks, Sublime, k.d. Lang and the Bangles.  He is also a self-taught musician and has worked for Columbia Records and Warner Bros. as a producer and in A&R.

When asked about the track's authenticity, David Kahne vouched for the track's legitimacy and said the following quote in response to our inquiries:

"I think the vocals were different.   but I don't know about the tracks, etc.   It seems like I remember Chester singing more on the song.    But don't quote me..." (Our apologies for quoting!)

Unfortunately, this information leads to many more interesting questions:  Where are the other 3 mixes?  Are there more than that produced/mixed by others?  Is this the version of the track that was heard before and lost over time?  What did it sound like before David Kahne mixed it?  We don't know those answers, so those questions will have to be saved for another day.  What we do know is this ? After many years, finally we have Plaster.  

And now, through a epic partnership made possible by The Linkin Park Association (www.lpassociation.com), LP Fuse (www.lpfuse.co.uk), Linkin Park Live (www.lplive.net) and LP Projekt (www.lpprojekt.com) we are giving this track to you, the fans.

[The Differences:]

Length:  2:36 - this is includes several seconds of silence at the beginning and end of the track.
Intro:  Features samples of Chester's lyrics for the bridge ('Shut up when I'm talking to you!')
Samples:  Brief samples of a camera shutter can be heard in the intro and throughout.
Mix:  This is an unmastered, pre-final mix of the track - Many subtle differences can be heard throughout.

A certain degree of hype has been built up over the years about this track.  If you're feeling under-whelmed because you were expecting a greater number of differences or even a completely different sound, you must first remember the timing of this demo.  This would have been written and recorded after many of the other Hybrid Theory era demos we've heard.  It's not as raw as Rhinestone or Untitled or Esaul because the band had been refining their sound.  No one can really expect any different than what's presented here.


[Release & Technical Notes:]

Source: WB internal acetate/CD-R
Transfer info (flac version):  CD-R > EAC > wav > FLAC Frontend (Level 8) > flac > foobar2000 (tags)
Transfer info (mp3 version): FLAC > dbpoweramp Music Converter (on slowest speed) > 320 kbps mp3

The above is listed for those who archive and collect media.  If you don't quite understand what the above means, it boils down to this - This track is being offered in two formats at the highest possible quality.

Please do not transcode these files any further to lower mp3 or wma bitrates!  While it may save some bandwidth for those who will offer these files elsewhere for download, transcoding unnecessarily degrades the audio quality and results in a poorer listening experience for the end user.  Investments of both time and money have been put into the release of these files and following this simple request is the only thing asked in return for providing them.

Anyone lacking experience with flac format have a few options which will allow access to the highest quality version of the track. FLAC audio, or Free Lossless Audio Codec, can be played with a plug-in installed in Winamp and may also be played in several other free media players, most notably VLC and foobar2000.  It can also be played in a number of portable media players.  A quick Google search will yield answers to questions you may have about the format and downloads for the programs, plug-ins, utilities, etc.

[Final Notes:]

The finder of this file has requested that there be no credit given to any single person, group or website in the names or in the tags of these files.  Credit is truly only given to the band for their music and to David Kahne as the person who mixed this.  With that said, many thanks go out to a number of individuals for their support in obtaining and analyzing the track.  They know who they are.

And for all of you who are doubters, we actually went through the time to contact David Kahne himself to confirm the existence of Plaster. He did prove to be informative, stating to us that he "did something for the band before they got the big deal; to help out". David said he does remember doing the mix, and said that he had been with the band for a while. He knew the manager pretty well (possibly Rob McDermott?) and actually hints toward knowing the band when they were Xero due to his "They had a kind of surfer dude singing when I saw them" comment (Mark Wakefield anybody?). When referencing to some of the earliest demos of One Step Closer, he remarks "I think the vocals were different, but I don't know about the tracks, etc. It seems like I remember Chester singing more on the song. But don't quote me...". Lastly, David goes on to say that when they replaced the Xero singer with Chester, "the whole thing changed. The old singer didn't have the weight to support the band, and Shinoda couldn't carry it by himself." We'd like to thank David profusely for these comments and for confirming the tracks authenticity.

Now, without any further ado...here is the song you have all been waiting for since Friday!