REVIEW: MIKE SHINODA - THE CRIMSON CHAPTER EP

4/5

Crimson Peak. 

Through death, depression and despair, even without the dearly departed, late, great Chester Bennington, Linkin Park remain one of the greatest acts of our generation. Their 'Hybrid Theory' of mixing rock and rap for the MTV generation even went on a 'Collision Course' with hip-hop GOAT, Jay-Z. With their seventh seal in 2017, Linkin Park gave us 'One More Light' with their last LP, shining creatively and differently in its own one. Since then LP co-founder and Fort Minor bandsman, Mike Shinoda has continued his stirring solo work that has worked with everyone from Lupe Fiasco, to Styles Of Beyond. In 2018, he became 'Post Traumatic' and since then has been working on volume after volume of his work, like the 'Dropped Frames' trilogy. It's been a minute like midnight since the pandemic, when his last record dropped, but now the needle hits a new song that's 'Already Over' and a new extended play for Mike Kenji Shinoda titled 'The Crimson Chapter'.

Crimson and clover, over and over, there are many mixes of the lead, strong single here, including a major Fort Minor one. The crimson tide of this king sings as Mike Shinoda on 'Already Over' tells us, "Bruises, broken in pieces/Spread out 'til they didn't exist/Losing sight of what's decent/And too righteous to know what you did/Maybe it's just survival/Optimistic, but blind/Maybe it's just denial/Out of sight, out of mind." Many still wonder on the fate of his band and whether Linkin Park is now already over after losing a man we all miss and simply can't replace like Michael Hutchence of INXS ( although the great Terence Trent Darby did more than a decent job live on stage for one night only). But remember this park's garden was sown by five famous members and one co-headliner as Shinoda sings, "Floating in between places/Somewhere that the signal won't work/Hoping you could be nameless/Washed off of the edge of the earth/Maybe you're just entitled/Unaware of your crime/Maybe it's just denial/Out of sight, out of mind," for maybe the most personal and profound songwriting of his cohesive and collective career.

Reorganizing this to a second part, Mike also drops a Finer mix of 'Fine' that's exactly that. On this track he spits, "Fingers stretching out from nowhere/Reaching for my throat, they're/Hungry for my skin/Teeth wide smiling that they found me/Circling around me/Slowly closing in while you sing", bringing new order to his 'Post Traumatic' hit. Then, 'In My Head' he delves even deeper. The 'Scream VI' soundtrack stab featuring Kailee Morgue cutting with lines like, "Coming around/Thoughts are intruding, I'm pushing them down/Stopping it now/Blocking out, in fact I'm blocking it out/Holding too tight/Kidding myself, turn a wrong into right/Thief in the night/I've been the one putting gas in the lights." This ghostface is a killer, and like Wu-Tang nothing to f### with on an EP whose crimson artwork takes you back to the days when Jared Leto's fellow nu-metal band Thirty Seconds To Mars was just a beautiful lie. The artist, whose canvas work can be found in the Japanese American National Museum, paints a perfect picture. This Los Angeles star like Shohei, referencing Ichiro as an angel watches over him, knocks it out the park. The verses in this chapter keep the blood running in this hereafter. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Already Over', 'fine (Finer Mix)', 'In My Head (Feat. Kailee Morgue)'.