Okay, okay, I know I'm a little late to this but you know what? I want to talk about it. I've never been a fan of Machine Gun Kelly's work, I'll start with that. I've liked him when he's been featured in other things, but his original work has never been my vibe really. He's obviously always leaned more toward rap, and that's never been my scene. Can't say it never will be, but it has yet to be for the most part.
However, as I'm sure most of you already know, on September 25 of this year, MGK released his first pop punk album, Tickets to My Downfall. That's so up my ally, so I got curious and looked it up after hearing so many people raving about this change for him. The first song I heard was "forget me too", featuring Halsey, and I absolutely loved that one. I cannot get it out of my head, and I really like the almost Paramore vibes Halsey brought into the mix. Plus I kind of love the angsty, post-break up, you're still attached but trying to fight it vibes. While we're on the topic of Paramore, I really like his cover of "Misery Business." There's something about his voice on that cover that's just perfect. That is a bonus track on the album, for those wondering. There's actually six bonus tracks, but we're not going to get into all of them. We have a lot of ground to cover with this album anyway. I do want to quick mention, "Bodybag" which features Yungblood and Bert McCracken from The Used. I straight up didn't know the song existed until I was discussing this album with a friend while working on this review and discovered its on a bonus edition that I did not purchase. And excuse me....MGK, WHY did this track not make it on the main album? Its super catchy, their voices flow incredibly well and its actually got a handful of depth to it. That is one slight issue I found with this album. While its all very catchy, and hits most of the typical pop punk points, I found it was lacking a bit of depth. Throughout the album, it very much so felt like MGK was stuck in quarantine, listening to a lot of pop punk and just went, "Huh, you know what? I could totally do this." And made a pop punk narrative. Which is by no means a bad thing in any way. Fiction is its own artform, and its not something that's always discussed when it comes to music. We always think of personal experiences, not just getting inspired and writing about something you've simply just created. That's an artform in and of itself, but one of the things I love about pop punk and emo music is the emotion. It could just be the place I'm in mentally right now, but I didn't really connect with most of these songs. I found them catchy and fun, and I see the effort and talent, but it feels very much like, "Look at me, I'm emo and edgy now." Several songs gave me that vibe or the "I got my heart broken and I'm going to get drunk and cry about it" energy. Which is most definitely a common theme in pop punk, its crying about your emotions, trying to drown it in various things, or bitching about your home town. Don't pretend you didn't just smirk at that, because I know I did and we all know its true. It definitely sounded like he had a lot of fun making this album, and I love that. Music should be fun to create, and I love that he's branched out. The fact the MGK is able to genre jump and go from rap, to featuring in rock and metal, to making a full pop punk album really show cases his talent a lot. This is definitely one of those albums you throw on in the car while you're out with friends, or as background noise while you clean the house. Its not something you sit down and relate to really, but it doesn't have to be. My favorites honestly are "forget me too", and "concerts for aliens." I already explained "forget me too", but "concert for aliens" not only just felt like he had fun writing it, but has one of those lines you sit there and relate to. "I know that I'm immature but at least I'm not a god damn failure." Its a bit of a simple song, but it fits that millennial vibe of trying your damnest, yet still feeling like you're never quite hitting the mark. You're going through the motions and doing pretty much the opposite of what people want you to do. Plus it had some Blink-182 vibes to it, which is a must for pop punk. Over all, I really approve of this album. I honestly would have never imagined there'd be a day where I'd enjoy an MGK album, but here we are. The day has come. So tell me, what are your thoughts on the album? Or just genre jumping in general? Do you love it when artists try and branch out, or do you think they should stick to their lane? While you're at it, let us know your favorite songs on the album. You can check out Tickets to My Downfall wherever you get your music.
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InformationAll reviews have the date they were written, the album title, and the band's name, with the exception of Life Starts Now by Three Days Grace and Dear Agony by Breaking Benjamin. Those dates were guessed at, as they were written well before the website began. Archives
February 2022
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