Introduction: N/A (Solid intro) Remember the Name: 9/10 Everything is perfection in this song except at times the lyrics in the verses are meh. Right Now: 9/10 Everything is perfection in this song as well except the chorus is meh Petrified: 8.5/10 Great Beat, Mike sounds great. But again, the lyrics are just ok. Feel Like Home: 7/10 Haven't listened to it in a while. As I recall nothing too special but still solid. Where'd You Go: 10/10 Best song on the record In Stereo: 9.5/10 The beat is dope, the chores is dope, love the verses. Love this song Back Home: 7.5/10 Not too much of a fan of Com's voice. Cigarettes: 8/10 Makes ya feel like a badass when you play this song. Don't necessarily like the message though. Believe Me: 9/10 Second song with actual singing as the chorus. This is a very fun song. Get Me Gone: 8.5/10 Great message/story telling. But it's pretty short so I can't give it too high of a rating. High Road: 8.5/10 Love Legend's vibe in this song. Kenji: 9/10 I'm determined to use this song for a school project when the opportunity presents itself. Red To Black: 9/10 Love the chorus. Everything works well with this song. The Battle: 6/10 Mehhhhhhh Slip out the Back: 9/10 Love the lyrics in this song. It's hard for me to rate the album as a whole. I would give the beats/instruments 10 out of fucking 10. But the lyrics are very average at time. I'm also not the greatest fan of SOB (where most of the meh lyrics come from). So maybe 8.5/10 overall? Not sure.
01. Introduction - 9/10 02. Remember The Name - 9/10 03. Right Now - 9/10 04. Petrified - 9/10 05. Feel Like Home - 8/10 06. Where'd You Go - 9.5/10 07. In Stereo - 9/10 08. Back Home - 7.5/10 09. Cigarettes - 8.5/10 10. Believe Me - 9.5/10 11. Get Me Gone - 9/10 12. High Road - 8.5/10 13. Kenji - 9.5/10 14. Red to Black - 8/10 15. The Battle - 5/10 16. Slip Out The Back - 9.5/10 Score: 8.5 Recommend tracks: Where'd You Go, Kenji, Slip Out The Back.
01. Introduction: n/a 02. Remember the Name: 9/10 A great way to open the album. Nice beat and live strings. Verses are pretty good too. 03. Right Now: 9/10 Another solid track. Very dark and mysterious beat, and a great verse by Black Thought. 04. Petrified: 8/10 Nice atmospheric intro, the beat is heavy and punchy. Mike's first solo song on the record. 05. Feel Like Home: 8/10 Dark beat. Solid verses. Another spine chilling track.* 06. Where'd You Go: 9/10 A song written in the perspective of someone at home waiting for a close one to return home. Beautiful beat and singing by Holly Brook. 07. In Stereo: 7.5/10 Heavy beat, and heavy verses by Mike. The bridge is average, but it works. One of those low-rider songs. 08. Back Home: 8.25/10 Different beat from what we've heard so far. About the less publicized and polished versions of your hometown. 09. Cigarettes: 9/10 Crazy beat loaded with sound effects. Live choir stood out in this track and Mike had really good metaphoric verses. 10. Believe Me: 9/10 Opens with rain and thunder. Fun beat and great layered singing by Mike. Great drum solo by Eric Bobo. 11. Get Me Gone: 8/10 Decent interlude, Mike talks and raps about his experiences in Linkin Park. 12. High Road: 8/10 Decent track, upbeat piano melody and John Legend is featured alot in this song. 13. Kenji: 9.25/10 Nice song, with a great beat. Runs on a very loose structure. Talks about the war with Japan and uses interview clips throughout the song. 14. Red To Black: 9/10 The song steadily builds itself to an amazing climax. Good verses and a great chorus. 15. The Battle: n/a A portion of a rap battle from Celph Titled. The full version is better, but still meh. 16. Slip out the Back: 9.25/10 Very haunting beat and great verses by Mike. Best song on the album in my opinion. Great ending with Joe Hahn. This album is great. If you are a fan of underground hip-hop you should check this out. It was great to see songs like "Where'd You Go" have alot of radio play. It was refreshing to hear that kind of music be played rather than mainstream rap. It was a great album by Mike, and this proves he can pull a solo career off he ever left Linkin Park (which I don't want to ever happen).* 9.5/10
Best songs are Red To Black and Right Now. The rest of the songs are good, but not that good. Maybe great when you compare it to the rest of the hip hop crap out there.
Tech N9ne, Lil Wayne, Eminem, not so bad Though much of what is on the radio is trash. (yes wayne and eminem are on the radio I realize)
Eminem has been garbage since he released The Eminem Show. I heard his new stuff accidentally and the first line I heard was "that's why they call it window pane". Lil Wayne is a horrible artist, his lines are cheesy and forced, and his vocal performance is below average at best. And a 9.5 was given due to the fact that it was a breath of fresh air and that Mike did it mainly by himself. Those two add onto a 9/10