Dude I know, holy shit. While I still tentatively rank World's On Fire and Brooding above HIT, it's all a mess of "these are all good WTF am I supposed to do with all these good songs" Knee-jerk reaction maybe, but I'd rank PT over a good portion of LP's albums.
For my taste, one of the most original pieces of art I've ever heared. Especially coming from one artist alone (I know there are features, but you know what I mean). How many different styles can Mike put on his flow? Like, seriously. Instrumentals. Love at first listen. Brilliant sound mix. What a ride.
Man, this turned out to be such a great album. I've been stuck at work pretty much since this hit, so I haven't had the chance to sit down for a full listen, but that's happening here in a bit. Promises I Can't Keep has a very Linkin Park vibe for me--definitely could hear Chester on that one, which maybe makes it kind of a sad one, but Mike does a really great job with the vocals. It's too early to be picking favorites, but Brooding, Promises I Can't Keep, and World's On Fire have been kind of the standout unreleased tracks for me so far. Really feeling Lift Off, too. Before now, I think I was most into Nothing Makes Sense Anymore, Running From My Shadow, and Place to Start (if only it had been a bit longer). Ghosts has also been really pleasantly growing on me. Overall, it's just such a really solid piece of work.
Man, I envy Mike's songwriting ability, especially his melody writing. Just incredible. Whole album is just wow, but of the tracks we hadn't heard yet I'm really digging Hold It Together. The features on Lift Off are great too. The whole damn thing is great!
Here are my favs not in any particular order. Place to start Nothing makes sense anymore About you Brooding Promises i cant keep Making it up as i go Lift off IOU Hold it together Worlds on fire I'd have to say my all time fav is a tie between Brooding and Lift off. Brooding is just an instrumental but man i can just feel it!
Currently on my second listen but i'll paste my knee-jerk reaction here: First listen hot take: This album is pure fucking flames! I was skeptical of the guest features but they really brought something special to the album. Never listened to K. Flay before this and was pleasantly surprised with how well her Vocals complimented Mike's production. IOU is an ignant banger. Worlds on Fire sounds heavily NIN inspired. Overall, my expectations were met and exceeded!
Mike is a goddamn wizard. How he was able to write sixteen songs and make them so incredibly unique and different speaks volumes. Grief commonly has five stages - I think Mike just revealed sixteen. Hold It Together is fucking amazing and reminds me of a poppier When They Come For Me. Best breakdown on the album. His vocals on Promises I Can't Keep and World's On Fire are stunning. I'm not the biggest fan of Make It Up As I Go - I definitely preferred Kiiara on Heavy, but I can see the song becoming very popular on the radio. I'm also probably one of the few not in love with Can't Hear You Now - I think he could have picked a stronger closer. Lift Off was fantastic but I would have rathered another Mike verse instead of MGK. I fully expected I.O.U. to be a heartfelt ballad about Mike thanking Chester for everything so I was caught off guard by his colossal rap. This album epitomizes why Linkin Park can continue as a five-man band. I can't wait to really dive into it some more. Chester would be so proud. Favourites: Over Again, Nothing Makes Sense Anymore, Ghosts, Running From My Shadow, Promises I Can't Keep, Hold It Together, World's On Fire (holy shit that's almost half the album)
Don't forget he wrote, recorded, and produced those sixteen songs in like, 8 months at MOST. He's not just a wizard, he's Gandalf the fuckin' White.
I love MGK's verse. Mike's verse in Lift Off is also great. I like all the songs but almost all the ones we didn't get before the release seem to me a little bit weaker than the ones we heard. Overall my favourites from the album remain About You, Watching As I Fall and as of now Make It Up As I Go and Lift Off.
A good friend of mine just listened to PT in full. He's a huge MGK fan so he thought the track was perfect. Different strokes for different folks.
Sitting here waiting for the clock to strike midnight so Spotify can make the album available for streaming.
If anyone needed further proof that Mike was the glue of Linkin Park..............Post Traumatic is it Edit: "Promises I can't keep" is my track favorite. The whole album is great. "I.O.U." will take a few more listens....
New songs are dope live. KFlay sounded great live. I congratulated Mike on an incredible aIbum and thanked him for playing Kenji (I’m also half Japanese) at IdentityLA and he said he was thinking of playing it on the upcoming tour.
First reaction hot take: First half of the album is stronger than the second half. Instrumentals are consistently great, and the production is perfect - not too glossy, but not too raw. No song is bad, but I'm not entirely sold on Lift Off and IOU (might be a very hot take). Early favorite songs (including released songs I didn't listen to): Promises I Can't Keep, Ghosts, World's On Fire
While I'm glad the album's finally out, I'll need to listen to it a few more times to determine whether this will be the one and only album I'll listen to for the rest of the year.
So far, I think I like the songs released before the album drop more than the unreleased ones. But that doesn't take away from the fact that the album flows well and every piece adds up to a greater whole. Of unreleased songs I.O.U. stands out. It is one of the most savage song Mike has ever created.