Machine Gun Kelly - tickets to my downfall ALBUM REVIEW

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Not a lot of people know this about me, but I’m a sucker for some good pop-punk. blink-182’s Enema of the State is one of those albums that will always stay iconic for me, while I guess if you wanna call My Chemical Romance ‘punk,’ Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and The Black Parade are some of my favorite punk albums ever. After seeing what Machine Gun Kelly has been doing with his career, I would’ve never expected him to make a full-on pop-punk album, mainly produced by blink-182’s Travis Barker, no less. Either way, this is tickets to my downfall, MGK’s latest album and sort of an artistic risk for him. Let’s see if the risk pays off.

tickets to my downfall is a rock album with pop, punk, and hip-hop influences. Now, I have to admit, I was a little worried heading into this. When I heard that this was a rock album, I immediately thought of Kid Cudi’s Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven, his A-for-effort rock venture that fell flat on its face. Somehow, MGK’s turn at punk is… kinda good? Yeah, I vibe with this. It sounds like your typical early 2000s punk-pop with a more modern hip-hop edge, and it honestly could’ve been a whole lot worse. I honestly don’t have a bunch to say about it other than that. It has a very nostalgic feel to it, and while the writing throughout the track is fine, it’s typical of any type of punk album. The production is very overblown and loud, which are the usual things for a punk record. What I’m trying to say here is that this is a punk record done by a rapper, and it works well!

tickets to my downfall really surprised me. I hadn’t heard any singles from this, so I was going into this completely blind. MGK’s dedication to stray away from the genre that made him famous is pretty admirable, but the music itself is typical for a punk album. I commend him and everyone that worked on tickets to my downfall (writers, producers, even ghostwriters because everybody’s got some) to help MGK get out of his comfort zone, and that’s pretty much it. A part of me is hoping that he continues with the pop-punk sound, but maybe with more of a hip-hop edge. That could make for an interesting sound that really hasn’t been done right yet. A+ for effort.


6/10


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