Mike Shinoda's 'Dropped Frames' Isn't What I Expected - in a Good Way

This might just be the last thing I expected to get out of a new Mike Shinoda record, for better or for worse. Mike is an artist that I always get so excited to hear from again, especially in recent years after the loss of his best friend and a huge inspiration to me musically, Chester Bennington. Since Mike’s involvement with Linkin Park, he has put out an LP called Post-Traumatic that I found to be super enjoyable. It was an honest, straightforward and welcoming record that served as a canvas for all the ideas floating around in Mike’s head, and it goes without saying that he had quite a lot of scattered thoughts at the time (as anyone would). I’ll admit there were moments on that record that were a little bit cheesy, as well as a couple of songs being just a bit forgettable, but overall my sentiments towards that album are very high. It’s such a heartwarming listen, even now, to go back and hear Mike venting over the loss of somebody that meant a lot to me, and as I can imagine a million times more to him. While I’ll always miss the Linkin Park days, I remain optimistic to see everything else that Mike will go on to do throughout his music career. There’s no denying that he’s an extremely talented dude, even if you aren’t a fan, and it’s been awesome to see what he’s capable of as a solo artist so far. That brings us to this week in 2020, three years after the loss of Chester, where Mike has released his second solo studio album - Dropped Frames Vol. 1.

I intentionally didn’t listen to the singles for this, so upon first listen I was extremely surprised that I never got to hear Mike’s voice at any point after the first track. That first song Open Door is a pretty standard Mike Shinoda affair, and it’s about what I was expecting this album to sound like based off his previous LP and the cover art of this new one. It’s a breezy and very bright-eyed Pop Rap song that fits the persona of encouragement and lifting others up that Mike has built for himself and his music. However, this is the only Rap song on the album. In fact, it’s the only song that even has any vocal parts whatsoever. I guess it’s my fault for being surprised given that two singles were dropped and Mike made the entire album through Twitch livestreams, but this is an instrumental, electronic Drum and Bass record. It’s a wildly diverse and at times nocturnal sounding record that gives off very obvious video game music vibes. Since I went into this blind I honestly wasn’t sure if it was intended as some sort of video game OST, or maybe even something for a Kids See Ghosts-esque cartoon to accompany the music. However, it’s not any of that at all. It’s just a genuine new direction for Mike, and while I was confused for a bit I’ve definitely come around to realize that’s a pretty awesome thing.

Context aside, the music on this thing really is capable of speaking for itself. It’s extremely difficult to properly categorize this one and shove it into any straightforward boxes, but it’s essentially an entirely instrumental Hip-Hop record. I could see Mike rapping over most, if not all of these tracks, but the beats are interesting and progressive enough to act as entire songs on their own. I could totally see Mike rapping fast and destroying the beats of Osiris and Super Galaxtica, but instead I’m just left imagining what that would sound like as all we have are the instrumentals. It still works really great here though, as despite ditching the core, unifying element behind essentially all of Mike’s prior music it still feels like a Mike Shinoda record if that makes any sense. If you were to tell me, before hearing this, that Mike was making an instrumental Hip-Hop record I would imagine it sounding like this. It’s so colorful, varied and vibrant with new sounds and welcoming ideas embracing you around every turn. There are moments here and there where the music picks up in intensity, but overall this is an album that’s friendly and fun. Tracks like Duckbot may have some relatively aggressive Drum and Bass elements to them, but they still always maintain a certain sense of airiness and keep things balanced and light.

While all these beats and instrumentals are really cool and exciting on their own, I think the real thing that impressed me about this record comes into play when you account for just how well all of this flows together. With just a couple of significant breaks in between, so many of these songs all fit together in a way that makes the entire album feel like one continuous song. This is admittedly tarnished just a little bit by the way Mike incorporates rapping on the opener and includes the puzzlingly stupid Booty Down, but overall this thing has some of the best flow I’ve heard in an album. Smooth transitions and keeping a record immersive as one cohesive listening experience is something that’s incredibly important to me, and it’s also something that I think many artists are tossing to the wayside nowadays. It may not affect the meat and potatoes of the songs directly, but I genuinely think that the transitions and changes alone on this are the reason why it feels like such an inviting listen. It’s so comforting to hear how this thing shifts and evolves as it goes. Moments like the way Session McSessionface (interesting name, I know) gradually morphs into Neon Crickets and the way the atmospherics of Osiris blend perfectly into the start of Babble Bobble are shining examples of how to do this. If there’s anything this album really nails right on the head, it’s how to make an album feel like one coherent and unified listening experience.

The one thing holding me back from looking at this as an awesome reinvention of everything Mike Shinoda is as an artist honestly boils down to replay value. I’m not usually one to judge an album based on whether or not it has standout singles that I’ll spin on repeat or whatever, as there have been plenty of challenging albums that I never revisit that I still love. Things like Panopticon’s The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness and the most recent Daughters’ album come to mind as albums I love, but will likely never return to due to them being best consumed in one shot upon first listen. While the flow of this album makes it super enjoyable to hear in one go, especially while working out or going for a long drive, I don’t think it’s an album that will leave a huge impression on me in the long run. I’ll probably end up just remembering this as the time Mike Shinoda did something different. It’s really fun and enticing while it’s on, and I can definitely see myself throwing it on as background music while doing other activities, but there isn’t a single song on here I can see myself replaying individually.

While that is a bit of an issue for me, I don’t want to sound like I’m discrediting this album for what it is. This is an extremely fun and enjoyable listen that absolutely deserves the time of anybody who is interested in what Mike Shinoda is doing these days. I guess all I’m saying is that there is a noticeable lack of highlights, which I suppose can also be attributed to the consistency present throughout the album. Everything here sounds awesome, has been treated to top notch production and overall was just made with a lot of thought and care, something that’s to be expected from this guy. I guess my gripe just has to do with there being a noticeable lack of reasons to come back to this album unless I’m going to listen to the entire 34 minute experience in one sitting. It also loses a couple of points for the inclusion of the ridiculous Booty Down. This was an album I took pretty seriously and found myself very immersed in, but while Neon Crickets would have made an awesome closer, the actual final song on the album kills that momentum. It was probably just supposed to be funny, but it left me confused and entirely brought out of the immersion the rest of the album created. You’ll have to listen for yourself to know exactly how annoying it really is. Anyway, Dropped Frames Vol. 1 was a super ambitious and valiant effort from Mike that left me quite impressed at the end of the day, even though it’s a massive departure from what I could have ever expected. I do wish there was a bit more distinction present on a track to track basis, but consuming this album all in one sitting is a pretty rewarding and relaxing experience. I can definitely say that this one will keep any listener immersed from start to finish, well not quite to the finish if you aren’t smart enough to skip Booty Down. - 7.5/10 (Best Songs - Super Galaxtica, Osiris, Session McSessionface)