Sep 22, 2020 Just re-listening for the first time in a while. And glancing that tracklist... f--- it's tight. No real flaws, no major flaw songs or moments (besides the odd line or two, and sure we all have our favourite tracks vs. others, but nothing sounds out of place)... it's f---ing good. It's also very balanced like his first three classics. But in the right way, like those, doesn't feel as contrived - it's got a bit of everything, but it still all feels connected and themed, same tonality and vibe. I say it's classic no. 4.
Sep 22, 2020 No. And that’s not even a shot at the album, it was nice to hear Em rap without sounding like he has a gun to his head, but not every album that’s remotely good is a classic.
Sep 22, 2020 i guess it’s his best late career album so far, but nothing screams classic worthy to me
Sep 22, 2020 I agree. But it's really good. Depends how you define classic though. I don't define a classic, like some, as having to be really good + influence for example. Influence is irrelevant to me. Mos Def's Black on Both Sides is a classic to me for example, but it had barely any influence. By classic, I just mean - REALLY great to the point the album is the sum of its parts, and it's hard to pin point flaws, because it all just flows and works as one - and then you have insane high points and concepts (like 'Darkness' and 'Never Love Again').
Sep 22, 2020 Revival and MMLP2 are his only 2 classics that I can think of off the top of my head. BME, Southpaw, Shady XV are classics as well I think if you count those.
Sep 22, 2020 This s--- never gets old for me at least. I always laugh reading these. On a serious note I don't know what to say I mean for me yeah it is a classic like you said solid album, hardly any flaws or wack tracks but then I think about his classsic albums and it makes me wonder, can MTBMB be on the same list? I don't know but very, very good album I still enjoy it and play it frequently.
Sep 22, 2020 More of a cult classic. Didn’t really resonate with people outside his fan base. His recent guest appearances have gotten more buzz than that album.
Sep 22, 2020 Yeah I think you're right 100% but at this point in his career I think he's just making music cause he enjoys it and he has nothing left to prove and even if he puts an album as good or better than MMLP or TES, it still wouldn't have the same impact for people outside his fan base as them 2 albums did when they dropped and nobody will acknowledge that the album is better or at the same level even if it was.
Sep 22, 2020 Yeah I think you might be right on this one, but is it a classic cause it had more impact and it was also a good album or is it more of a classic cause it's a better album than MTMB? In my opinion MTBMB is way better than Kamikaze but yet again this can be a personal preference not a fact. That's why is hard to define a classic album, there are a lot of great great albums that are not considered classics I think just because it is a great record that doesn't make it a classic joint.
Sep 22, 2020 And you certainly can't have a classic that has Step Dad on it lol. And I never called Recovery a classic. It does have classic songs which I don't believe MTBMT does although I've really grown to appreciate some of that album. The fact of the matter is that if we took Eminem's entire post hiatus catalog and took the best from everything we might have a classic although it'd be really tough. I fo believe the guy has one more classic album in him though.
Sep 22, 2020 Nah but it’s a very enjoyable album though. His best since Relapse imo. If he continues delivering albums like this(although I want him to continue on an upward trend) then I and also many other fans will be pleased. Either way, Em ain’t capable of dropping “classic” albums anymore unless he makes a very different album with a deep storytelling concept or something. If he’s gonna continue with the same content he’s been always giving us(which I’m okay with) then we can only expect good albums with replay value.
Sep 22, 2020 I wouldn’t say it’s a top 10 rap track of all time, I could see the argument for it being top 10 Em though. I think it’s underrated, but that’s just my opinion.
Sep 22, 2020 It’s cohesive & well written for the most part, a great project, a couple of misses but mostly hits. It doesn’t surpass great though. I think it’s the first time in so long that there’s more genuinely good sounding music than bad on an Em project so that might be conflating your view on it being close or at classic level.