Dec 14, 2017 I honestly expected to reveal this whole post was a joke in the last sentence or something. I respect you for that opinion and I almost fully agree. The only thing that really gets on my nerves is that almost every song got a female pop hook. It will probably keep me from listening to this album more frequently. I really wish some of the verses were longer.
Dec 14, 2017 Lmfao Shows how good I listened the first 2 times I now notice that the last part of arose isn't just replaying 3rd verse of castle but has new lyrics
Dec 14, 2017 Here are my thoughts. Sorry if it's all over the place. I wasn't crazy about either “Walk on Water” or “Untouchable” when they were released, but I didn't hate either. Deep down I had a feeling this had the possibility of being his worst album. Even though everything he’s released in the last 5 years has had that stop/go flow, I was hopeful there would be a few gems on this album like “Brainless” on MMLP2. I also think the whole release of this album left a bad taste in my mouth, and the fact that he looks like s--- and looks so tired prepared me that this could be a VERY bad. I absolutely hated the album on first listen. I had to take a break halfway through which I have never done with an Eminem album. I didn’t replay one song (I was at work when I listened, so admittedly I didn’t give it my full attention), but it felt like every song was skippable. When I first heard “Believe” I knew it was probably going to be one of the better tracks, but it didn’t do much for me. Even “Castle” wasn’t as impressive to me as everyone was saying. Only “Arose” struck me as a GREAT song. After work about 6 hours later I gave the album a second listen hoping to like it more. I didn’t. A few tracks were a little better, but I hated the middle of the album even more than the first time. I felt embarrassed for Eminem. From “Remind Me” through “Need Me” I honestly thought I might never listen to these tracks again. It was weird. I had never felt this way about an Eminem album on first listen. I knew MMLP2 wasn’t anything amazing on first listen, but I still liked it. It wasn’t until a month or so later that I realized MMLP2 was so lackluster. A HUGE issue with this album (one that I still have) is the mixing. Now I was an audio engineer for years, so bad mixing might piss me off more than others. The “River” mix sounds disjointed, the “Like Home” hook is mixed like s---….honestly, it doesn’t even sound like Alicia Keys, and it sounds like what is being used as the melody is mixed as if it’s a harmony. It’s crazy to me that it seems like Eminem was in the studio with these featured artists because of how cut and pasted they sound apart from the Kehlani hook. I honestly went to sleep last night disappointed. Now I’m 27 years old, so it’s kind of embarrassing to say that an album ruined my day. But it did. This morning I woke up, saw this thread and decided to give it another listen while I was at the gym. I think in the back of my mind I did realize the one good thing about this album is that each song had a purpose/story, so when I listened this morning I tried to focus more on the lyrics and stories that were being told, and I enjoyed it MUCH more. Don’t get me wrong. The album still isn’t anything great to me yet, but I’m hopeful with more listens I’ll get over the shock of the bad mixing, cookie cutter hooks and a few s--- tracks. I don’t like Phresher at all (2 Chainz would had sounded much better), “Remind Me” is still garbage, the hook on “Like Home” still pisses me off, “Tragic Endings” sounds like a Recovery throwaway, WHY did he put that hook on “Offended” that absolutely ruins a song with great flow, “Need Me” shouldn’t be anywhere near this album with two Pink verses, and even though I like “In Your Head” it sounds incomplete to me. Besides that everything sounds better and I’m hopeful I’ll like it more as time goes on. That is all.
Dec 14, 2017 i really want to redo "nowhere fast" with the last part to be the hook throughout the song.
Dec 14, 2017 The album is a decent one. It gets better and better with each listen. I agree that it would be better with less songs, namely without these: Need Me, Remind Me, River. Furthermore I would remove/replace the hooks of these songs as well: Offended, Bad Husband. Offended is not a serious song so I could give it a pass, but Bad Husband... the hook feels boring compared to the verses, it should be more energetic.
