Colson Baker, known under the stage name Machine Gun Kelly, released his fifth studio album Tickets to My Downfall in September. The album had been highly anticipated since he hinted at the pop punk LP in 2019 and grew even more as the name of the album was revealed this past January. With past collaborations with artists such as Travis Barker and Yungblud (or even further back, Sleeping With Sirens) hinting at what Colson could bring to the pop punk table it’s no surprise that the release of his latest album has taken off like an UFO!
“Title Track” has an acoustic beginning that works amazingly to start off the album before fading into that classic tempo change. Turning into fast paced gritty lyrics, drums, and guitar. The “Title Track” served as not only as a window into what the rest of the album will sound like, but also as what it itself is — the opening of the album theme, aka the tickets to his downfall.
“Kiss Kiss” continues that face paced rhythm that was introduced in “Title Track.” It’s also the song that introduced the partying aspect of the “downfall” — drinking, drugs, girls. It comes off as — if I can make this comparison — a pop punk ballad to whatever bottle of alcohol that can make the night turn into a blur.
“Drunk Face” is by far the fan favorite of the album. Between the release of the album and as I write this song has been spreading throughout the internet with a rapidness that’s insane. Probably because the topic of falling back into toxic habits with the promise of “last time” and “I’ll stop by” is something that everyone can relate to.
Musically, however, “Drunk Face” is one of the few songs off the album that sounds solely like Machine Gun Kelly. When listening it’s very difficult to compare it to any other pop punk – former or current – group and what they’ve released. Which is what I feel like also helped it become the breakout track that it is.
“Bloody Valentine” had the risk that all singles suffer when they are released way ahead of the album — being skippable. However, “Bloody Valentine” maintained the same freshness in the release of the album as it did when it was released earlier in the year. If anything the song works very well as a tone shifter for the topic of the next few following songs. Also, the song itself it’s just a solid pop punk “love” song in it’s own right.
“Forget Me Too” reminded me how much I miss pop punk conversational duets. The back and forth between MGK and Halsey was well crafted, the added effect in the beginning that made it sound as if MGK was singing through a telephone, and the harmonizing was all fantastic.
In regards to the theme, the placement of this song right after “Bloody Valentine” worked really well in showing the different mentality towards relationships.
“All I Know” admittedly is the most forgettable song on the album. Compared to the rest of the album, it doesn’t hold its own as well. In addition, the inclusion of Trippie Redd didn’t add anything to the song in way of music, depth, or lyrics. Which means he was most likely used as a name recognition for fans who may not naturally be fans of the pop punk genre.
Now the topic of the song goes well with the overarching theme of the album. The repeating of destructive habits, whether it’s because you don’t know any other way, dont care, or simply don’t know. It’s one of two songs that definitely has the darkest topics.
“Lonely” is a beautiful tribute to Colson’s (Machine Gun Kelly) Father and Aunt. The song definitely holds raw emotion and will for certain have listening sharing in some of that emotion.
“WWIII” is the shortest song on this album and definitely gives off “Pool” by Blink 182 vibes. It also has the closest punk vibes as well and I can definitely see mosh pits being a thing with this particular song if it were to be performed at a concert.
“Concert for Aliens” is the song that you play while driving ninety miles down a highway. It can be taken as a face value fun song or can be taken as that “I’m screaming out my frustrations to the world” song as it holds that versatility. Also the guitar solo is great for the song along with the rougher sounding vocals.
“My Ex’s Best Friend” is another song that is fun to listen to and sing along at the top of your lungs. And while it can be dubbed the “radio friendly” song – depending on the radio – that fact doesn’t take away from the integrity of the song itself. Again, the selection of Blackbear- like Halsey – as a feature was great for the song. As his style and vocals added more interesting aspects to the song, as well as some cross play when it comes to genre.
“Jawbreaker” has a good chorus and the added instrumentals makes the song one that is easy to sing along to. Also some of the word play like “She’s not landing // LA ex (like LAX) is in Miami” adds to the fun of the song.
“Nothing Inside” would be the theme song to the ideology that changing yourself for someone is rarely — if ever — good. The slight back and forth between MGK and Iann Dior was also really well done and gave off the impression of two different perspectives of the same issue. However, out of all of the haunting lyrics that were in the song (“She looked dead into my eyes and she saw nothing inside // I did this all for you, look what I turned into”) The one that left a lasting impression was definitely the last: “I’m running low on serotonin in these empty moments.”
“Banyan Tree”is the only interlude I kept in the review because its adds impact not only to the following song. But also because the combination of the conversation had between Colson [Baker] and Megan [Fox] and the lyrics (She loves a boy so much // She wants him to steal her breath) creates a somber tone somewhat.
“Play This When I’m Gone” is another deeply emotional song on the album. The transition between Colson’s self admitted struggles and the fatherly advice he delivers is not only heartbreaking but beautiful in the saddest of ways. The song services its purpose as the final act in his downfall.
My final thoughts on the album as a whole is that it’s amazing. It, like its predecessor Hotel Diablo, takes the listening inside the inner thoughts of Colson Baker (Machine Gun Kelly) as well as the journey of his outer downfall. However, it also shows the happier moments in his life, like in the conversations with Pete [Davidson] and Megan [Fox] respectively.
As far as his first solo step into the genre of pop punk, Machine Gun Kelly has definitely succeeded, and I look forward to what he brings to whichever genre he decided to try next.
You can stream the deluxe version of the record below.
