Jun 18, 2020 solid mid-tier em album. not his worse, but def some embarrassing and glaring weaknesses. as others have said, its soo commercial and pop-driven, not that thats necessarily bad. it was an album he had to make - and while im sure a lot of the production and lyrics dont hold up - still holds a special place in my heart as someone who graduated hs, college, then entered young adulthood waiting for the world to be into him again. better than revival and the version of encore that got officially released imo. probably better than mmlp2, which was just as poppy but more bloated
Jun 18, 2020 If you had of asked me back in 2007-08 that Eminem would become what he has I would said no way Just his whole aura & presence changed when off drugs I dont think he would have made it back in 99 without drugs. He had a huge dependency on them so he could function with confidence.
Jun 18, 2020 The album came out in my peak stan days, so probably for nostalgia reasons it’s his 4th best to me. This and the first three records are the only ones I care to go back to
Jun 18, 2020 When people say going back to an album I always wonder... the full album or just some songs? I'm just picturing people listening to Stronger Than I Was, Not Afraid, Wont Back Down, a--- Like That, Puke etc because they wanna experience the full album lol
Jun 18, 2020 I don't really listen to any songs on them period so when I revisit them it's to see how they've held up and I try to listen to the whole thing. I'm seeing how I feel about the album as a whole and if my opinion on any of the songs have changed one way or another.
Jun 18, 2020 I never understoood the "too commercial" and "too many punchlines" Its the same old eminem on the lyrics, the only commercial thing are the beats. And theres only around 3 - 4 songs where he's doing the punchline thing. Great album.
Jun 18, 2020 "same old Eminem on the lyrics"?? not even remotely. Do you actually believe this lol Was MMLP-era Eminem (or h--- even Relapse-era Eminem) saying s--- like "f--- a steak, slut, I'll cut my toes off and step on the receipt 'fore I foot the bill!!!" ? The answer is no, of course not The problem with anything post-Encore is that you can hear the calculations being made in real time. Nothing is organic. And Recovery, which sounds like it was focus-grouped within an inch of its life, might be the worst offender of this. On Relapse he was trying to do "crazy Slim Shady s---" because he thought it's what people wanted (maybe it was, for some, but he did it all wrong). With Recovery, he had internalized the failures of Relapse, which was a good first step, but as a result he's constantly straining for approval. Better subject matter was a bonus, definitely, as is the expanded list of producers, but many of his other decisions were misguided. The features are all chart-topping artists, the beats were mostly soulless, pandering pop, and the lyrics were try-hard punchlines like the one I quoted above, which had become more and more popular because artists like Lil Wayne could actually pull them off. Em didn't want to be himself; he wanted to play the version of himself he thought we would like best. So is the album good? Well, no. Its puppy dog eagerness to please is extremely grating, it buckles (like many Em albums) under the weight of a bloated runtime.........and most importantly, aside from a few exceptions, the songs just don't hold up.
Jun 18, 2020 That song is one of those 3 - 4 where he did a lot of punchlines, but its not fair to say the whole album is that. Theres a lot of great songs on recovery.
Jun 18, 2020 Anyone who genuinely hasn’t heard Recovery in a while will 100% enjoy it. With the exception of Wont Back Down/LTWYL/You’re Never Over Every other song has definitely got something to offer to any Eminem fan.
