Photo courtesy of Genius
Rapper, actor and punk rocker Colson Baker, professionally known as Machine Gun Kelly, released his highly anticipated pop-punk album “Tickets to My Downfall” on Friday, Sept. 25. The album, which was produced by blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and filled with a handful of collaborations, is one for the books.
Kelly straying from the rap genre was nothing new to fans. In his previous release, “Hotel Diablo,” MGK had sampled Linkin Park on the song “Hollywood Whore” and collaborated with Barker and English punk singer YUNGBLUD on the hit song “I Think I’m OKAY.”
The first single off the album, “bloody valentine,” entered charts and playlists with a bang, showing fans that Kelly was not playing around with this album. The second single, “concert for aliens,” transported listeners to a whole other planet in a “UFO crash landing.” The third and final single, “my ex’s best friend,” which featured blackbear, gave fans a new collaboration between the two artists for the first time since blackbear’s 2017 song “e.z.”
The three singles were great, but fans were hungry for more music. Come release day, fans got what they were patiently waiting for. “Tickets to My Downfall” is the perfect mix of punk rock, goofiness, seriousness and an acoustic track at the end.
The first song, “title track,” slowly starts to reel fans into MGK’s “downfall,” but is really his message to his so-called friends who were never really there for him. In a recent tweet, he confirmed that the lyric “I use a razor to take off the edge” is not a reference to self-harm or drug use. The next two tracks, “kiss kiss” and “drunk face,” are songs about being young and setting the serious matters aside for another day.
The song “forget me too” marks the first musical collaboration between MGK and Halsey, and is one of the album’s gems. The song is about knowing that your relationship with someone is unhealthy, but still feeling confused by your emotions.
Another gem from the album is “lonely.” Kelly is pouring his heart out over the loss of his father, who passed away earlier this year. Any listener who has dealt with losing a loved one will be able to relate to the song’s powerful lyrics.
The final track on the album’s initial release is “play me when i’m gone.” In an Instagram post from December 2019, MGK confirmed that he wrote this song for his daughter. In the song, he says, “I wrote you this song to keep when I’m gone, if you ever feel alone. You’re going to cry and baby, that’s alright.” He loves his daughter with all of his heart and wants all of his fans to know that.
Less than a week after the album’s initial release, Kelly announced that the deluxe version would be available for streaming and purchasing. Four new unreleased songs were added to album: “body bag” with YUNGBLUD and Bert McCracken from The Used, “hangover cure,” “split a pill” and “can’t look back.”
The album has been a critical and commercial success. In an Instagram post where he thanked fans and smashed a pink electric guitar-shaped cake on a windshield, MGK said, “WE DID IT. #1 album. 126,000 units first week. to the fans + EST you really made it happen the way we talked about 10 years ago. today is a celebration. sorry random car.”
If fans are looking for an album reminiscent of the early 2000s, this is the album they need to listen to. It has the emotional angst and punk vibes that defined a whole generation and showcases another side of Machine Gun Kelly.
The album is available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music. Fans can purchase the album on iTunes. If any fans prefer the old-school way of listening to albums, CDs are also available for purchase.
