Dec 16, 2017

Alright, here goes. Songs marked out of five.

Walk On Water **
Underwhelming. As with most features, Beyonce does fine but is completely incidental on this cheesy hook. Uninspired, stripped down ballad that doesn't build thanks to Em's erratic delivery. His brief outburst at the very end is particularly embarrassing and undermines the rest of the song. Certainly some interesting content in there, just not presented well.


Believe ***
No song starting with an awful snow-man pun can score above 3/5. That said, I quite like this. Em uses his voice well on here, and creates an interestingly dark tone. The defiant energy bounces well off of WoW, and he makes a pretty compelling case to 'believe' in him one more time. Optimistic about this for the first time.


Chloraseptic ***
Phresher is one of the more interesting features on the album, for simply having enough presence on the mic that Em can't completely suffocate him. It's hard to do that, so hats off to whoever this is. Song sounds like an actual risk as well, and Em does okay. Can't deny it, I struggled to make it through regardless.


Untouchable ***
Front half is alright, second half is stronger. A sensitive topic that is a potential risk for someone like Em to tackle, but he handles it the way he does everything: Raps it into the f---ing ground. Some good lines. Acceptable filler song. Moving on.


River **
Love The Way You Lie Pt. 3. Happy for Ed Sheeran for scoring a dream collaboration. He does his thing I suppose, it's just a song I never needed to hear.


Remind Me (Intro)
Yeah sure okay.


Remind Me ***
Why is this here? This style was played out before MMLP2 ended. I've given it a passable score because it's short, catchy and the obviously terrible lines at least sit right in a song as knowingly playful as this. I have a soft spot for Em/Rubin. I liked all 4 tracks on MMLP2. I don't know why it wasn't left there though.


Revival (Interlude)
What? How does this lead in exactly? Pretty in isolation I suppose.


Like Home *
Jesus f---ing christ. I used to joke that Slaughterhouse's awful “Welcome To Our House” was made up of leftover Recovery beats. Well this sounds like a leftover WTOH beat. Is Eminem deaf? For f---s sake he has access to literally anyone in the industry. Who cares what this guy thinks of Trump anyway? Trump is such a pathetic joke that you only embarrass yourself by wasting time addressing him. Another generic, plug in chorus.


Bad Husband **
Another terrible hook and beat selection, this one edges an extra point compared to the previous because it's less agonising, and the subject matter is more interesting. Do we need another Kim song? Probably not, but we're talking about a rapper with nothing left to talk about, and I'd rather this over another disposable love song.


Tragic Endings **
Oh another disposable love song. How did a Recovery era left-over end up on the tracklist? Nothing about it stands out as particularly indispensable, so I have no idea. There's not a lot to say about the song, it is another Eminem/Skylar Grey collaboration. Her hook is quite good, but this pair are suffering from diminishing returns. Maybe if they sat down and made a full album, they'd be forced to explore more options, but this rotation of guest verses is wearing thin.


Framed ****
And now Relapse? Unlike the previous, I'm sure this isn't from the era itself, but is an obvious throwback regardless. I miss Relapse era Eminem, so naturally I really like it. My favourite beat on the album, the chorus is annoying as f--- in a way that makes me really happy. Verses are okay. All these years later and Em is clearly comfortable in this area. On any other album this would probably be a dud, but where it sits, Framed is a diamond.


Nowhere Fast **
Another s-----y mainstream attempt. This is the biggest rapper in the world, and he settles for garbage beats. Pop star #321 does her thankless job well.


Heat *
Again? Really? At this point I'm convinced Eminem is personally trying to make me hate him, because as mentioned previously, I actually liked all the previous Rubin throwback tracks. This song is a god d--- chore to sit through. A mixture of corny lines, unpleasant flows and boring hook sink this dud. Can't argue with anyone who felt the same about “Remind Me” either tbh.


Offended *
Utter mess. The verses are just exhausting, good bits, bad bits, all jammed together and what is that hook? This song is over 5 minutes long. That is unforgivable.


Need Me *
It might be a good Pink song, I couldn't tell you. It's an awful Eminem song though. I've only managed to finish this once.


In Your Head **
I want to like this more. Guess I'm a sucker for this kind of beat, but I enjoy it. For the most part, Em has some great lines here


Castle *****
As if by magic, Eminem pulls out a gem. Three great verses, tied together with a simple hook and a solid story. The concept it nice, and Em delivers so well that I question exactly when this was written. This could easily be something he's kicked around for several years, because he sounds more like himself than he does anywhere else on the record. It's bittersweet to get a song like this when it is everything we have wanted since he returned. Better late than never.


Arose ****
Not quite as good as the previous, due to a sample that I can't disassociate from Napoleon Dynamite and Eminem's jittery flow. Still a very strong track, deeply emotional and revealing, in the way we took for granted during his prime. Should it be a last song on a last album, he did a good job.


Averages out to:

4.8/10



Eminem's worst album by a long stretch. Genuinely struggle to finish most tracks. From a boring title, to ripping off Relapse's marketing campaign, to borrowing musically from several previous albums, this whole release feels lazy. I would not be surprised to hear this album was stitched together mostly from left-over material. To be fair, he still displays impressive technical ability and there is some value to it on those grounds. The only problem is that he can rap his a--- off but he can't make a song that is pleasant on the ears. Em's recent albums have always gotten worse with age for me, can wait to see how this rots. Give up Em, you're embarrassing yourself.

 

Dec 16, 2017

when is the movie release date?

 

Dec 16, 2017

 

Dec 16, 2017

It’s probably not. No studio wants to pick it up.

 

Dec 16, 2017

really?
RIP dre songs

 

Dec 16, 2017

i would like to believe revival is about his return to form and thats why castle and arose are both at the end. He raps in the last verse that he's about to outdo relapse, recovery and mmlp2. Didn't promote revival himself at all. Something happened at the label that caused the album to end up like this. Honestly, only thing that makes sense to me. Probably wrong though, I'm always wrong, so.

Also, could be why slaughterhouse never dropped their album. Joe budden doesn't want to be forced into making poppy music like their first album. Clearly some issues at that label.

 

Dec 16, 2017

there will be max 3 new tracks from em and not guaranteed that it will be his solo tracks

 

Dec 16, 2017

He needs more songs like a castle arose and framed I’m pretty sure he knows these are the better songs so why some of these other songs made the album I don’t know

 

Dec 16, 2017

2 dre tracks and one em produced would be more than enough for me

 

Dec 16, 2017

remind me coulda been so good if he didnt go full r-----

 

Dec 16, 2017

Framed sounds like Nut Up

 

Dec 16, 2017

The best part of that interview to me was that Paul's favorite tracks from the album were Framed and Offended ... so maybe Def Jam under Paul will give him more freedom to do Solo songs.

 

Dec 16, 2017

 

Dec 16, 2017

tbh Remind Me is even growing on me. Doesn't make my ears bleed anymore.

 

Dec 16, 2017

Revival is trash. Look at my avi and read the first sentence again. 4 years. For four years he collected (not recorded, but collected) this bunch of poppy a--- fillerpointless tracks? Album has no theme or strict concept. It feels like Em is done this album for himself on one part and for good sales and commercial acclaim. Songs like tragical endings and in your head (i like the way sound of the song combined with the concept though) sounds like a f---ing leftover. Half of the album - relationship songs/jams about banging chicks. Great to hear after recovery and after 4 year hiatus with NO INFO. You can hate me whatever u want. I can't read some peoples comments saying it's not only in their top 5 em albums, but that revival is better than lp2. Jesus, r u people like deaf, or have the most ugly taste in music? Lp2 with the fact that album itself is made for that original mmlp-esque vibe but it does sound A LIL BIT all over the place >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Revival.
Guys, stop with this s---. Srsly. Something is really wrong will yall. I even will say Relapse >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Revival. And by saying this I'm not hesitating

 

Dec 16, 2017

This is where I feel the label gets involved. Im not sure, but if i had to guess I would say relapse sold the least. They look at success of recovery with love the way you lie, mmlp2 with monster and force him to make a bunch of these s-----y pop songs. They would never allow Eminem to release a full album of castles and aroses. Or even let him do another relapse. 3 albums in a row full of pop. This is either who he is now, or relapse was so poorly received he lost all creative freedom.

 

Dec 16, 2017

Have you heard the lyrics on Relapse and the accent? Have you heard a------ on MMLP2 or even his flow throughout the album? I want a normal flow and good production. That's it.

 

Dec 16, 2017

So the highlight of this album is the 3rd verse on believe.

 

Dec 16, 2017

sooo