Mike Shinoda's debut album doesn't really need any introduction. Unless you have been sitting under a rock for the last year you will know exactly what happened and exactly what he has been through in the last year. I have listened to many albums by artists after they have gone through some seriously difficult times and they have been to mixed results. But I think the overall thing to remember here is that the quality of the album is not really what these type of albums are about and whether it is good is just a bonus for everyone else. These are deeply personal albums where at the end of the day it is Mike Shinoda going through the grieving process and getting through it by doing something he loves. Making and sharing his music.
When I first listened to the Post Traumatic EP last year I gave it a listen and wasn't impressed with it as to be honest as I'm not a big rap/hiphop fan. This EP contained three tracks that are on this album and turns out it was a taster of what was to come. The thing is I come from a rock background and that is how I got into Linkin Park. The fusion between rap and rock is what made Linkin park so special and really stand out. Especially as they were just so good at what they did. Over the past few months though I began to watch the videos of Mike's stuff online and it started to grow on me, especially "Crossing the line". He released an incredible 7 tracks from the album before it came out which seems somewhat over the top but as I say this really is down to Mike and wanting to share his music so I respect that. But the thing is its a 16 track album so at least over half the tracks were still sitting round the tree on album launch day.
Onto the album. This is, as you can imagine. An incredibly personal album and Mike really doesn't hold back on his feelings or emotions. His lyrics are straight to the point. The likes of "Over Again" as he sings about what it was like to go up on the stage again without his friend and bandmate and the very memorable memoiral concert on Chester's memoiral concert. "About you" talking about even when he writes songs which are about Chester they become songs about Chester. But I think the biggest one is "Holding it together" which is what he is been trying to do throughout this whole process. This must have been very difficult for him to do being in the limelight and it is expressed through this song.
One of my favourite tracks on the album is actually the only instrumental on this album called "Brooding". This is just one of the examples of the talent of Shinoda and sets him apart from others in the hip hop genre because of his versatilility. I did say I'm not a big fan of hip hop but the reason I like this album is because for the most part the tunes have a nice melody and he often sings the choruses. The parts where he does rap are understandable and clean. There is one track which goes against this and is slightly messy which is I.O.U. Ghosts is probably my favourite track with singing/rapping on it with "Crossing the line being a close second. I like the way he has brought other artists in to do some rapping/singing on too with K.Flay, blackbear, grandson and Chino Moreno.
Overall I think think this is a really good debut album by Mike Shinoda. Everyone wondered what was going to happen to Linken Park now but I think most fans will be delighted that Mike is still making music. I wonder if this album will make more rock sided Linkin park fans visit the land of hip hop more as it certainly has made me journey over at least for the weekend.
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