Damn, I was so moved by this masterpiece that I had to write this:
The Condition Of Man: Kyle and the Gang's Insight Into Our Evil Deeds
On "shoutout to linkin park," the first track of Kyle and the Gang's 2015 release Grand Theft Auto V, we hear Linkin Park's frontman Chester Bennington and singer/rapper Mike Shinoda proclaim "it starts with one thing, I don't know why." These lyrics characterize the album's ethos as each of the following tracks skittishly jump from one muddled idea to the next. We are immediately faced with the dark side of human nature as the eponymous Kyle, hailing from San Jose, quickly displays his greed by fervently urging the listener to "buy this album." However, in so doing Kyle also highlights the listener's own greed, assuming that they have acquired the album by dishonest means (ie downloading it illegally). We are further reminded of Kyle's avarice when the track cuts short, taking the listening experience briefly afforded to the listener away.
The following two tracks provide an interesting contrast to track 00's vice laden introduction. "next episode" and "I Love You" are full of childlike whimsy. The vocals present on the latter track remind one of a baby's jumbled noises and conjure up feelings of purity and undisturbed joy. The innocence afforded by these two tracks bleeds into "i get around (beach boys cover)" but is swiftly dissipated as the track shifts into industrial influenced noise with the robot voiced narrator announcing "you are in the danger zone, there is no turning back," once again reminding us of man's follies. However, Kyle and the Gang are quick to remind us that despite our vices there is still virtue amidst us, by re-establishing the sped up version of the Beach Boys' hit "I Get Around." The listener is hence reminded that he is simultaneously evil and good. There is no dichotomy but rather a conflict.
Track 07, "youre a guitar im a drum" further exemplifies this conflict between good and evil. In this instance Kyle and the Gang discuss the it via psychoanalytic theory, the 'guitar' representing man's superego, the drum his id. These are mediated by the ego, embodied here by the synth sounds present on the track. Kyle continually alternates between obeying his superego "you're a guitar" and succumbing to his id "I'm a drum." As the synth sound gets louder throughout the track Kyle finally croaks "I'm a druuuuum," thus ending the conflict with immorality and hedonism as the victor.
What proceeds is an exhibition of the id in full force, from the frivolity of "ode to video games" where all the song's protagonist wants to do is play video games, to the hedonism present on dance track "don't worry" which seamlessly creates the atmosphere of a dank, seedy nightclub, the proprietors endlessly muttering to the listener "don't worry." Kyle and the Gang quickly remind us that we should worry as, on the next track, we are confronted with violence as a bevy of gunshots sound out. Then silence.
"noise just noise," which sounds like a flatlining heart-rate monitor, conveys that the immoral protagonist, for all his hedonism, for fully succumbing to his id and the dark side of man, is no longer of this world. However, the next track is reminiscent of the whimsy and innocence present on "next episode." Thus, if one is virtuous and good, if we quell the evil within us, we can make it to the end unscathed.
The title of the final track says it all. Save me from the evil devils indeed.