To Linkin Park, LPU staff, and the people who help shape the Linkin Park Underground,

We are asking you to remember what made the Linkin Park Underground (LPU) so special.

For many of us, the LPU was never simply a fan club.

From 2000 through 2016, LPU members received exclusive CDs containing demos, live recordings, alternate versions, and previously unreleased music. These CDs were something genuinely special. They gave fans a glimpse behind the curtain and allowed us to hear Linkin Park in ways that the general public couldn't.

That is what set the LPU apart from a generic fan club.

It felt exclusive, personal and exciting — like an inner circle that anyone who loved Linkin Park could become part of.

Receiving a new LPU CD was an event. We didn't know exactly what we'd hear, and that was part of the magic. We could discover an early version of a song we knew, hear a demo that showed how an idea evolved, or experience a live performance that captured a moment in the band's history.

The LPU didn't just give us merchandise.

It gave us Linkin Park.

A missed opportunity:

This year, Linkin Park are releasing their movie Unshatter worldwide.

From what we have heard, the movie provides a deep and honest insight into the beginning of the band's reformation and comeback. Its beautiful score appears to contain reprises of older Linkin Park material, alongside snippets of early renditions from the From Zero era.

For longtime LPU members, this is exactly the kind of material that makes us excited. But it also represents what feels like a huge missed opportunity.

Imagine hearing these demos and early recordings within the movie, followed by a simple message:

“You heard the demos in Unshatter. Visit LPUnderground.com to hear them in full.”

The LPU and the band's new chapter could complement each other perfectly.

Instead, material that could have become another legendary chapter in LPU history has largely remained something fans can only speculate about and piece together from snippets.

We aren't asking you to open old wounds

We want to be absolutely clear about something.

We are not asking — nor expecting — Linkin Park to open old wounds.

We understand that there are songs and recordings in the vault that can only be revisited with heartbreak. We understand that some things belong to the past, and that the band are looking forward rather than backwards as they begin this new chapter. We respect that.

We also understand that the band have created something new. Looking forward doesn't mean the LPU has to lose the spirit that made it special.

There are reportedly unreleased and unfinished recordings from 2022 onwards. There are demos and early versions of songs from the From Zero era that fans have already heard snippets of through LPTV, Unshatter, and other official material.

We aren't demanding everything. We aren't asking for every vault to be emptied. We simply want something meaningful.

A demo.

An early version.

A studio outtake.

A song that didn't make the final album.

A recording from the journey that brought Linkin Park back.

These things are incredibly valuable to fans.

We stood by you

During the silent years, Linkin Park fans didn't disappear.

Aside from anniversary releases, projects such as Papercuts, and other official releases, fans continued to keep the Linkin Park community alive.

We remained active on social media. We maintained fan sites. Communities such as LPLive continued documenting and celebrating the band's history.

People continued listening. People continued talking. People continued discovering Linkin Park for the first time. And when the band finally returned, millions of fans were there. We were still here.

The LPU was one of the things that connected many of us to Linkin Park during those years. It represented a community that survived even when the band themselves were understandably quiet. That's why the current direction of the LPU is so disappointing to many longtime members.

We deserve more than merchandise

The current LPU membership package costs $75 and includes items such as:

• LPU Upcycled Travel Pouch made from historic Linkin Park stage backdrops
• LPU Contoured Eye Mask
• LPU Collectable Pen
• LPU 26–27 Membership Laminate + Lanyard
• LPU Passport Photo Holder

We appreciate that these items take time and money to produce. But for longtime members, this isn't what made the LPU special.

A pen isn't the same as hearing a previously unheard Linkin Park demo. An eye mask isn't the same as discovering a live performance you've never heard. A travel pouch isn't the same as being given a piece of the band's creative history. The merchandise can be nice, but merchandise should be an addition to the LPU experience — not the experience itself.

At $75, many longtime members feel that the current offering doesn't reflect the value, history or legacy of what the LPU once represented. And for some of us, it feels deeply disconnected from what we spent years supporting.

We love Linkin Park

This petition isn't written out of hatred.

It isn't written because we want to attack the band.

Quite the opposite.

We are writing this because we love Linkin Park.

We love the music. We love the memories. We love the community. We love the history. We love the new chapter. And we love what the LPU used to represent.

We are grateful that Linkin Park are here again. We are grateful for the new music, the new shows, the new memories and the opportunity to experience this band in a new era. We want to celebrate that, but we also want the LPU to once again feel like something created for the fans who love Linkin Park beyond the music itself.

Bring back the LPU CD

We aren't demanding a particular format. We aren't demanding a particular number of tracks. We aren't demanding recordings that the band aren't comfortable releasing. We're asking for the spirit of the LPU CD to return.

Give us something exclusive. Give us something meaningful. Give us something that makes an LPU member say: “I couldn't have heard this anywhere else.”

It could be a CD, a digital collection, demos from From Zero, studio outtakes, early versions of songs, something connected to Unshatter.

It could even be something completely unexpected.

Just give us something that makes being part of the LPU feel special again, because the LPU was never about owning a piece of merchandise. It was about being let inside.

We want that feeling back. Not because we feel entitled to Linkin Park's archives or because we want to force the band to revisit things they aren't ready to revisit, but because we remember what the LPU meant.

And we believe it can mean that much again.

We love you. We appreciate everything you've given us. We are grateful you're back.

Now, please give the LPU something worthy of the name.

Bring back the spirit of the Linkin Park Underground.

Give us more than merchandise.

Give us a reason to feel like we're inside the circle again.

Give us Linkin Park.