I definitely think the features are the weakest part of this. I don't vibe with MGK, K. Flay, or Blackbear at all. Chino and Grandson are fine, but I don't think they really made their respective tracks much better. The album as a whole is really good. Only tracks I'm not huge on are About You and Lift Off.
Post Traumatic seems like it'll end up the most well reviewed album Mike's ever made, both inside and outside of LP. I know I shouldn't really care about reviews, but it's nice to see Mike receive some praise for once and more people will check out the album because of that. Hopefully this album is a big success for him, he really deserves it.
Honestly this is me, sorta. I like the songs that were released before the album dropped more than the unreleased stuff. And listening to it as a whole right now is a little underwhelming, and there's a lot more I can say but I was already hesitant on adding my thoughts here since I did not want to come off as disrespectful, given the situation (obviously). And regardless I highly admire and respect Mike's courage and decision to put out his own music about how he feels/has felt. That being said, I am enjoying IOU and Lift Off. Probably another unpopular opinion I have here is that I was coming into Lift Off ready to not like MGK's verse at all, but I was surprised by it and actually really dig it tbh and think it fits in super nicely.
It is impossible for me to hear Promises I Can’t Keep and not hear Chester singing that chorus. That song completely captures the Linkin Park vibe. Beautiful song.
Exactly, lift off would have been such a great track had there been no MGK. I still like it though. This album makes me feel as if some long time hunger of mine got satisfied. Fresh, diverse, meaningful shinoda
I've listened to it 3 times consecutively now. I have no way with words but I'll give this a go as quickly as possible. Really, really difficult to pick any song out over any other here. I think the whole album is consistent from start to finish, SOMEHOW. With all the different sounds and flows and singing and rapping and this and that it somehow all works. It does feel like like two albums with the split at around Crossing A Line. But that's clearly intentional so it all still works. Hadn't heard K Flay before. She works great singing on Promises I Can't Keep. Hold It Together really took me by surprise out of the new tracks. That one is beyond great. I.O.U was fucking dirty. I love it. I could see Mike on some 90s underground battle rap thing with Onyx and Mobb Deep after this. Actually, given the beat a Pusha T feature here wouldn't have sounded weird at all. World On Fire so nearly got me... Man. Love the twist on the I Can't Hear You Now title. I can't hear you now, haters. Yeah it's excellent. Not a single duff song. It's raw, it's instinctive, it's the product of a moment and a headspace that'll never occur again. A lot of bad things had to happen for this to exist but some forces of positively aligned and it's great that this artistry was the outcome.
I'm kinda waiting for the hype to die down a bit, yeah. If people are usually defensive of things they like, I can't imagine how they'll be now. With that said, I still do like the album and give it a positive score. I'm just not nearly as high on it. There are definitely weak links in the tracklist.
I think a few of the songs are a little stale in comparison to others, but overall I don't dislike any of them. In fact, the songs only seem to grow on me. I think it is hard not to get a strong emotional connection to these song because of the biographical subject matter, but at the same the time Mike just continues to surprise me with his versatility as a vocalist and producer. Love the album.
Speaking of future albums, I'm actually conflicted about that. Before this album, I would have been completely in agreemement with you. I've always gotten the impression with LP that Mike brought the 'weird' to the table, but through their voting system and through editing until all 6 members were pleased with the result, a lot of that 'weird' got faded into the background. I think that's the nature of having 6 people working in an album, "too many cooks" as you put it. Post Traumatic obviously doesn't have that. Mike was free to do whatever he wanted, with no creative restrictions in the slightest. But outside of me preferring the band's electronic side to their rock side, I don't actually know yet if I think these songs are stronger than LP's (obviously my opinions haven't settled yet though ). I'm definitely very glad to have an album where Mike's ideas are less restricted, but looking towards future albums, maybe having the rest of the band to bounce ideas off of (with Mike still taking the creative and lyrical reigns) wouldn't be such a bad thing. Now that we've seen the benefits and drawbacks of a solo Mike album, I'm very curious to see what a five-piece Linkin Park can do with 12-18 months in the studio.
Promises I can't keep is definitely a LP sounding song. Chester's voice would've sounded so good on this. Mike did a fantastic job tho. His melody making skills are fucking fantastic as always. There is no denying that LP songs sounded as catchy as they always did because of Mike.
Now that I've listened to the album in its entirety more than three times since last night/this morning, allow me to bless the thread with my track-by-track assessment. A Place to Start -- A tiny yet overwhelming somber glimpse into Mike's head mere days after losing Chester. 8/10 Over Again -- Hard-hitting, honest, and emotional. 10/10 Watching As I Fall -- Mike conveys what it's like to feel still, alone, and helpless while the world turns. 8/10 Nothing Makes Sense Anymore -- Resonated with me wholly ever since the Santa Fe tragedy. I was working at the school when it happened. 10/10 About You -- Call 911 because the delivery and the lyrics are on fire! And the breakdown after blackbear croons. 10/10 Brooding -- Hauntingly beautiful. 10/10 Promises I Can't Keep -- Potentially a carpal tunnel track. What I mean by that is I'll keep hitting the replay button after it's over. 9/10 Crossing a Line -- Not big on the song though the chorus is really nice. 5/10 Hold It Together -- Pretty amusing how "darling" is a part of Mike's verbal arsenal. 7/10 Ghosts -- Here it is: my least-favorite track. Don't judge me. 4/10 Make It Up As I Go -- So-so. Could it grow on me? Time will tell. 5/10 Lift Off -- Originally thought it was going to be Mike's attempt at a response to Public Enemy and Anthrax's "Bring the Noise." Space rap, anyone? 7/10 I.O.U. -- Can't help but bob my head to this one. Mike kicks ass and isn't taking any names. 10/10 Running from My Shadow -- Not bad, but not good enough to put on repeat. 7/10 World's On Fire -- As a big fan of percussion, I really dig the use of it here. 10/10 Can't Here You Now -- Talk about Mike throwing a curve ball. I thought it was going to be a dark ballad given the title and the circumstances from which the album arose. 5/10 Overall, I commend Mike for taking the emotions he wrestled with since last July and addressing them the best way he knows how. We may never know if Linkin Park will stay together. Until then, Post Traumatic is there to fill the void.
Lift Off and IOU are amazing. Make It Up As I Go is great too. Only ones I weren't feeling were Hold It Together and Worlds on Fire. Everything else is fantastic.8/10 for me.
Wished Mike or another feature sung the hook of Make It Up As I Go tbh, I didn't liked K. Flay's voice at all.
Am I the only one that feels that Make It Up As I Go could be a perfect single for the mainstream radio? Jeez...
As much as I love the Space Challenger line, I do feel some of its spotlight was taken as Mike used a similar line during the Wake Up Show freestyle he did back in 2002. However this line was much better used on Lift Off.