Jan 12, 2021 TES has a lot of flaws as an album, but I'd actually argue that his skill at the time carries the album enough to give it the stature it has.
Jan 12, 2021 It's definitely not a bad album and I understand why people prefer it (and I mean, stuff like Say Goodbye Hollywood is in his top 5 best songs) but imo it's not better than SSLP or MMLP in any universe. It was def necessary for him to take a step forward in maturity considering he was about to enter his 30s but a lot of the songs come across as melodramatic to me the older I get. And songs like business and soldier just do nothing for me personally—and honestly, even Sing For The Moment doesn't do much for me either, which I know isn't a popular opinion but I'm not as into his stadium rock anthem stuff. I certainly wouldn't hold it against anyone for liking it, just not my thing.
Jan 12, 2021 I think if he'd made a full album of his 8 mile stuff that would have been better than Eminem Show—even some of the leaked encore songs I prefer over some TES stuff.
Jan 12, 2021 There was something about MMLP that's hard to put in words. I have only felt that in 2001, Devil's Night, again. If DN had been a solo album, it would have been his top 1 or 2 album... So 2000-2001 for me, no doubt.
Jan 12, 2021 It's definitely not better than MMLP - sslp is debatable. The whole album is literally just Eminem trying to emulate a Pac album. from the themes/motif (his life being a reality show vs Pacs 'All Eyez on Me' being a reality show), the more serious tone mimicking Pac's, the doubling the vocals, the more traditional gangster images he tried to double down on in like, Soldier instead of the crazy toughguy he played before, the criminal record - the rock samples. It's like a fan fiction in a lot of ways. It also has aged really poorly as an album. All the songs on the pistol incident are good individually, but as an album's core element it's uninteresting. It was old news at the time, now it's ancient. The fact that he's a completely different person in his life now than he was then makes it seem so ingenuine. At the same time, he's at the peak of his skills here. his flows are his most effortless here, his wordplay is witty without being contrived or forced, his rhyme schemes are the most sonically pleasing. The album is crafted with tremendous transitions, the skits fit well, and it mostly sticks to a singular theme. It's quality is consistent for the most part. That's what keeps the album interesting for me.
Jan 12, 2021 To double down on what I said above, it's incredible how skilled Eminem is on a song like Superman. Like it's so effortless, he doesn't have to use a million words to be witty or say what he means. He could never pull off lines like this now: "They call me Superman, leap tall hoes in a single bound I'm single now, got no ring on this finger now" it's so smooth it seems simple but there's actually stuff to unpack there - much more impressive than whatever punchlines he puts in his raps nowadays. He doesn't sacrifice the flow for storytelling on this song. He knows when to keep things simple and when to expand. There's a reason Drake of all people sampled the pre-hook; it's genuinely some of Eminem's best writing ever. But on another hand, is Superman like - good on the album? meh. It fits the story but it's not placed great and is somewhat contradictory. As a singular song it's a1 though. and he could have never put a song like that on any of his other albums.
Jan 12, 2021 One thing I really hate about ems current relationship songs is the fact they're all you hurt me and we shouldn't stay together but we will, you're obsessed with me, or I'm obsessed with you and following you 2 cars behind type s--- instead of some smooth f--- you type song like Superman
Jan 12, 2021 It’s obvious his earlier days in his career are no match for his recent work or after it
Jan 12, 2021 lol idk man the drums are stuck somewhere underwater and the instruments sound like a trained zebra playing fl stock loops. since everyone has been comfortable armchair-psyching the guy for decades: i actually think the terrible beats he makes make his mostly bad ear for other people’s production make sense. he internalized ideas about how albums should be shaped, how their singles should sound, and just doesn’t care to really stray from that, because all he cares about is a tight 16
Jan 12, 2021 it's a better record than devil's night or tes. both of those have some great songs/verses but relapse is a wholly original style; eminem at his best is very very funny and unpredictable and that's lost on not all, but most of tes. 8 mile soundtrack is obviously great but i don't ever need to listen to something like "rabbit run," which to me presages the plodding, robotic, pilled-out mid-2000s version of him
Jan 12, 2021 fair; Relapse is inventive while still retaining his original wit/flair even if it has some missteps. and yeah, the broody atmosphere of 8 mile definitely foreshadows pillinem.
Jan 12, 2021 even if this is true, "stay wide awake" is like the eighth or ninth best song on relapse you can see em slipping a bit on the 8 mile ost: he gets washed by 50 on "love me." and my GOD the "places to go" beat
