by Abel Horwitz
Daily Lobo
In the five years since rap/rock hybrid Linkin Park released its multiplatinum, Grammy-winning album Hybrid Theory, the band has toured virtually nonstop, released three more successful albums and made a dozen solid music videos.
It seems only natural that when the band finally takes a break, one of its members would release a solo album.
Under the name Fort Minor, the band's keyboardist and rapper Mike Shinoda has worked tirelessly with executive producer Jay-Z and friends like Black Thought of the Roots, Common and John Legend to create a rap album of solid beats and head-nodding rhymes.
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The album, The Rising Tied, is remarkably easy for Linkin Park fans to like. Since Shinoda is heavily influential in the band's sound, The Rising Tied can be passed off as another Linkin Park CD. The true question is whether this CD can attract non-Linkin Park fans.
This album moves away from the well-tread path carved by Linkin Park by allowing Shinoda full flexibility with his lyrics and sound. The album credits him as writing, producing and playing nearly all the instruments, which makes for some interesting music.
On the song "Right Now," a classical piano riff competes with a heavy drum beat while the song "Feel Like Home" takes a page right out of Dr. Dre's musical catalog.
While the music is definitely strong, it is in the lyrics where Shinoda shines. The lyrics throughout the album are personal. On the song "Where'd You Go," Shinoda raps about his wife missing him while he's on the road, and on "Get Me Gone," he talks about the difficulty of getting Linkin Park signed to a record label.
The standout song of the album, "Kenji," speaks of Shinoda's grandparents' experiences in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. Not only is it one of the most unorthodox rap songs, but it also tackles a terrible piece of American history that is widely considered taboo.
The few negative moments on the album come from the ad nauseam themes brought up throughout. Shinoda repeats several times that no one understands him or his music and that he and most of the people he knows are lonely.
While there's nothing wrong with an artist talking about these themes, these in particular seem to be prevalent in everything Linkin Park touches, be it in videos or in songs. It shows a band that needs to continue to explore and grow with its music.
