Album Review: The Rising Tied by Fort Minor

I had a hard time deciding the first album I would give an official review.  So many albums to choose from.  Ultimately, I decided to go with one of my favorite albums of all time which also includes one of my top 10 favorite hip hop songs or all time.  The Rising Tied by Fort Minor was such a refresher in hip hop back in 2005 that it deserved to be my first official review.

The Rising Tied delivered some of the strongest performances of lyrical wordsmithery that front runner Mike Shinoda has ever displayed.  Each bar hit with perfect precision with lines that capture you with or without the beat.  Shinoda was able to capture the essence of a hip hop fan trying to show that he had something to prove.  What Shinoda was able to prove was that not only was he more than capable to make music but that he also deserves a place in hip hop.  With a multitude of features from other lyrical titans such as Black Thought from The Roots and Common, there is never a shortage of high caliber talent displaying purest lyricism.  Starting with “Remember the Name” down to “Slip Out The Back”, the lyrics feel as if each word said belongs there.  Not an ounce of filler when it comes to lyrics on this album.  The draw for me was quite literally that strong delivery that Shinoda presented.

What truthfully drew me into the entire project were the instrumentals used.  Mike Shinoda did not hold back on the beats he produced for The Rising Tied.  You could tell that Mike created each beat with a purpose and did not pull any punches.  For those that knew him only through Linkin Park, Mike still shows his rock band production skills but molds them with his hip hop roots.  The drum patterns used are so unique to Mike’s style of production that there isn’t another beat maker that can sound like him except for possibly Timbaland. Tracks such as “Remember the Name” and “Red to Black” bring so much energy in the instrumental that it is easy to see why those songs were used for major sporting events.  Mike is able to also show that he can switch from energetic to melodic and somber tracks such as “Right Now” and “Kenji” that compliment the impact of the lyrics that are laid over them.  The beat that I feel was the highlight of the entire album was “In Stereo”.  Mike laid out an instrumental that was very synth heavy accompanied with the hardest hitting drums in his arsenal.  In fact, the drum break at the end of the track was very reminiscent of drum n bass genres which only showcases more of Shinoda’s incredible versatility.

Content wise, The Rising Tied taps into various story elements.  My personal favorite track on the record “Right Now” describes the concept of perspective in the world in such an imaginative way.  Mike comes in with a verse that continues on and on that makes you reflect on how truly small the world is.  “Someone right now is looking pretty tired, staring at a laptop trying to get inspired” perfectly captures the moment right now as I try to get inspired about a multitude of things.  But this also described and continues to describe others in a similar situation.  Couple “Right Now” with a legendary feature from Black Thought, and you have a track that touches on a variety of different perspectives.  Black Thought possible delivers the hardest line of the album if not just as a feature - “Right now it’s somebody who ain’t eat all week, that would kill for the shit that you throw in the street.”  The album carries on to weave other stories such as “Get Me Gone” that gives more insights to the frustrations and feelings that Mike and Linkin Park had in its early days of fame after Hybrid Theory first dropped.  Mike gets straight to the point to say that he has always driven to be himself and will do anything to stay true to how he makes music regardless of what record executives would claim works best.  You then get a story about the struggles of being on the road and how your loved ones feel about the absence in the Holly Brook (aka Skylar Grey) assisted “Where’d You Go”.  Towards the end of the album we also get a perfect detailing of Japanese life during WWII and a reflection of the injustices served to Japanese Americans in the track “Kenji” which you learn is about Mike Shinoda’s own family.  Even in a behind the scenes video of the album being made, Mike stated that “Kenji” was a track that he would not allow to be taken off the Final Cut.

The cohesiveness of The Rising Tied is practically perfect.  Not a single track seems out of place in the order they are presented which shows the care that Mike took to craft an album that made sense.  Each track goers into the next without a jarring tonality change that many albums today seem to have.  This album was made not as a collection of songs akin to a mixtape but as a body of work that tells incredible stories that were not presented in this medium before.

Overall, The Rising Tied is a practically perfect album that has something everyone would appreciate.  Mike Shinoda showcases the abundance of talent that he possesses and displays that he is more than just a keyboardist/rapper from a famous rock group.  Mike is a powerhouse producer and song writer.  He is also more than capable of holding his own with some of the greatest in hip hop.  Even Jay-Z co-signed Mike from the start.  If you have been a fan of The Rising Tied, I implore you to give this album a spin today to take in the stories again as if they were new.  If you have never listened to the album, do yourself a favor and listen to what a true hip hop record in the modern age sounds like.  The Rising Tied is a timeless classic and that is not an exaggeration.  To this day, there has not been another album created that even reaches the same caliber and uniqueness as this one.

Lyrics - 10/10

Beats - 10/10

Content - 10/10

Cohesiveness - 10/10

Overall - Perfect