Jul 14, 2024 The Death of Slim Shady Review Favorite songs – Renaissance, Brand New Dance, Antichrist, Fuel, GC2 Least favorite songs – Bad One, Temporary, Tobey, Somebody Save Me The album had its moments, especially with ''Renaissance'' kicking things off well with the cadence, surprising everyone with Brand New Dance and some excellent execution of the voice switches on songs like Antichrist and GC2. However, it didn't take long for Em to shift focus on Renaissance to addressing criticism by deflecting blame onto ''haters'' rather than acknowledging that most of his material is far from resembling a Picasso. On ''Habits'' he reverts back to his modern flow, which I personally can’t stand and unfortunately dominates most of the album. Overall, I don't see myself revisiting this album in the future. Other than a few standout tracks. Em’s delivery on a lot of the songs take away replayability. ‘’Evil" is a good example of his flow going off the rails. The album introduces an interesting new concept, but unfortunately many of the references and jokes feel outdated. Towards the end, the emotional songs felt forced and recycled. Regardless of any overarching concept, they simply don’t enhance the listening experience. Also worth noting that having an overarching story doesn't justify revisiting tired themes and topics. I've just grown tired of Em's reliance on making fun of celebrities and trying to be edgy or finding alternative ways to revisit old topics in less compelling ways. Coupled with a robotic and annoying delivery. What I wish for is an album that explores new life experiences or reflects the maturity of someone his age but i'm afraid i'm gonna be blue in the face before it happens. 6/10 Spoiler: Album Ranking Album ranking 1. TES 2. MMLP 3. SSLP 4. Recovery 5. Encore 6. Relapse 7. MTBMB 8. MMLP2 9. TDOSS 10. Kamikaze 11. Revival @AOTWClub
Jul 14, 2024 Kamikaze is basically him complaining like he did at the end of Renaissance but for a whole album lol
Jul 14, 2024 I'll admit, I haven't given Kamikaze a fair chance. it's actually my least listened to Eminem album. I find the delivery and complaining very off putting. I've already heard TDOSS more times than I have Kamikaze. But I do plan on revisiting Kamikaze soon. Maybe even later today, though I doubt it will change my overall ranking.
Jul 15, 2024 The Death of Slim Shady WARNING - LOTS OF RAMBLING AND s--- so forgive me if this post seems all over the place (I may add more to this or not, won't lie, I'm willing to answer s--- if you feel like discussing some of this schizophrenic verbal diary of diarrhea) After a couple of listens, I love this s--- to death at some points though it's got its flaws of course but nowhere near as many as I expect from a modern Eminem album I now believe that the main reason I was so confused by it is because I couldn't believe what I was hearing (in a good way) I never thought I'd get a concept album from Em (you probably saw me throw a fit when Tobey came out and I thought it f----- up my hopes of that happening on the main Em thread) In order to get my thoughts in order let me separate what I liked and what I didn't: WHAT I LIKED: This seems like a big step in the right direction, flows, autistic lyricism a la MMLP2 without sacrificing the idk "musicality" of the songs? ("sonically pleasing" anyone?) The production and hooks are such a big step up from what's been happening since Recovery/MMLP2 (granted, s---'s been steadily improving since Kami with some pitfalls here and there) It's a concept album from Em, one of my dreams come true and it didn't become a nightmare I've seen a large portion of people claiming this has no replayability, I'm on the complete oppossite side of that, I keep finding new s--- every time I listen to one of the songs "Guilty Conscience 2" is one of the most self aware Eminem tracks we've gotten in a long time (far f---ing cry away from some of the s--- on Revival for example, where he makes it seem like he's being introspective but he was just making excuses for s--- or the s--- that came AFTER revival which was often pointing the finger at other people) WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I've said this before and feel like I'm on an island with it but I felt like the Slim Shady character was oversimplified in a way, he's always referred to as the guy that throws slurs around and says outrageous s--- for the sake of it (WHICH HE DEFINITELY IS, don't get me wrong) but that's PART of his character, he was also the guy that used this "IDGAF" act to hold up a mirror at society sometimes ("You want me to fix up lyrics while the president gets his d-ck s----d?") I hope I'm making myself clear here cause I don't want this to be seen as me pretending I know more about Shady than Em himself but imagine if someone asked you what "Walter White" was about and you responded with "Oh, it's a guy who sells drugs", sure it's true, but there's a lot more to the character than that no? (I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on this cause I'm totally open to the idea that this is me glorifying the character (nostalgia, idealization, whatever) rather than Em oversimplifying it) I feel like as much as I LOVE GC2 (probably one of my favorite Em tracks post hiatus, not just from this album) that Slim went a little easy on Em tbh (never once mentioning he used him to get out of the possibly carreer ending move that was revival, right after releasing that pile of dogshit, he quickly turned around and said "YOU WANTED SHADY? YOU GOT IT") and I understand that Shady's portrayed as Em's demons and flaws too but Slim also never mentioned that whatever Em did, he did to himself? (drug addiction, divorce, being absent as a father) Disregard all of this if what he meant by doing this is showing us how he uses Shady to deflect all criticism regarding his flaws, if this is the case tho, I feel like it could've been fleshed out a bit more and better executed Some of the bait Shady uses is way too obvious and doesn't land the hit (somebody needs to explain to him what Gen Z is and the pronouns bit feels like it's idk almost a decade late, not because it's offensive cause that was the f---ing point anyway, but because it feels out of touch a bit) this point ain't a dealbreaker for me and it doesn't really take away MUCH from the album cause I can see what he was trying to do at the end of the day I can't really do anything with the last quarter of the album, some of the songs grew on me no doubt (I GOT A BAD ONE) but it feels so out of place and if it was meant to show us what Em can do without Slim then it's some worrying s--- (in the short run at least) cause it ain't horrible at all (mostly) but it's some mid s--- that can't even compare to the first dozen or so tracks Final Score as of today (monday after the album came out): 8/10 (Lyricism is top notch even if some of his bad habits are still shown here, and the concept is successful for the most part, production is such a f---ing step up from what we usually get with those bland a--- trap beats and it's one of his better projects in a while overall) If it ages well I can see this one staying at a 7 or 8 and becoming part of my top 5 from his discography If it ages badly It could sit at a comfortable 5 or 6/10 and would still be on the upper half of his discography for me (him trying something new is so important to me that even if I end up not liking it as much in the future, I'd still appreciate the fact that he tried a concept and did it in such a way) @AOTWClub
Jul 15, 2024 @Omar Little the ironic thing to me is. Everyone hates on Road Rage but that is exactly what you described: shady holding up a mirror... instead of telling people to loose weight they cuddle and hold pie eating contests. There's truth in there imo. So I think thats exactly what he did there. Maybe in a weirdo way, but yeah.
Jul 15, 2024 I can understand the message but I just think the song sounds bad and overstays its welcome which is a shame cause if done right it could've been what you described
Jul 15, 2024 I think the subject is too random and he rambles on about it too long. But if he just did a few lines it would be a typical shady thing imo
Jul 15, 2024 people at the train station loved this s--- so not sure what you're on about, they even dropped coins and bills at my feet as I was saying all this, h--- they even called the police to let them hear me talk
Jul 15, 2024 Thanks, I guess I was inspired (by all of my friends,To stage a robbery, the third Saturday I clocked in) hopefully it was easy to read cause I just wrote and wrote y'know
Jul 16, 2024 Eminem - The Death Of Slim Shady Spoiler: TBT Renaissance What an opening, love the thunder and then prime Eminem coming in killing it. If we're being honest, there is nothing really new about this content wise. It's basically an alternate version of Premonition. But it was such a surprise hearing him rap like the old days. I do wish it as a litter longer though, it ends really quickly unfortunately. Would give it a 10 if it was longer. 9/10 Habits Funny opening, but when Eminem starts rapping man I love it. Its modern em voice mostly and I really like his flow. I don't know how people can hate on this. The bridge is one of my favorite moments on the album (stuck in my head for days), especially followed by that South Park skit. 3rd verse is insane, Eminem and Shady going back and forth is dope. He couldn't resist to do a little fast rapping but honestly this didn't bother me. Then old eminem does a little fast rapping too, and Cartman has a cameo goddamnit. Great song. 9/10 Trouble Nice skit, not gonna listen to this other than when I play the album but its fun and the beat is really cool. Would love a full song of this. 8/10 Brand New Dance Bring different characters/flows back is one thing, but actually grab a song from 2004 and release it 20 years later really is something else lol. It's a b-----r, it's catchy and a very nice throwback to Encore. A Christopher Reeve song is a little dated but for nostalgia it works. The horse sounds made me laugh tbh. 8/10 Evil This makes me happy and kinda frustrated at the same time. The opening is so cool, the beat and hook are both TES level. But then my favorite part of the song starts when he rides the beat so smoothly with a slow flow. I was so d--- impressed it reminded me of Stimulate and Sing For The Moment. Until he says 'bring it back'..... the part after that is not bad, but I don't get why he couldn't keep up that godly flow. The second verse, it is kinda impressive how he switches voices and flows but this works so much better on Antichrist. On this calm beat it sounds like a mess to me and I just kept thinking how great this could have been if he didn't use the choppy flows on the 2nd verse. Still 7.7/10 Lucifer Godly Dre beat, amazing flows for the whole song. The 2nd verse is one of my favorites on the album, dude really kills it. Can't really say much more about this it's perfection to me. 10/10 Antichrist Also perfection. Dude used a huge part of his different flows and styles and somehow made it work. From sslp to Mmlp2 So Much Better, ending it with the last album (mtbmb) godzilla flow. And just when things couldn't get any better, Bizarre comes in with a fun verse. Is it the early 2000's again??? 10/10 Fuel So far we had throwbacks to Encore, SSLP, MMLP, MMLP2/Recovery, MTBMB... next up is Kamikaze, Not Alike flow. This song sounds like Eminem and no shady, so this is what we can hear in the future. And thats a great sign! I don't think this is his best verse on the album, but it sure as h--- is great. And JID does a very good job too. This could have been after GC2 imo to show even if Shady is gone we still have Marshall killing it. Very dope collab, really want more of this! 9/10 Road Rage The most hated song on here. It's definitely one of the weaker songs, but I don't think it is that bad. I think he's not wrong about society cuddling/celebrating people that instead need help changing their ways. But to spend a whole verse and bridge on it is a little too much lmao. The last verse is a more fitting topic in 2024 and yeah it will probably get him some hate. It's definitely not a highlight but I like the beat, the flows (Good Guy comes to mind), hook is kinda meh. 7/10 Houdini I dunno how long its been, but I STILL love this. It's literally the perfect single for this album, it captures exactly what this album is about and its catchy as h---. Almost everyone I know loves it even people that don't like modern em or don't like him at all. His flow/voice are flawless and the sample he used is great too. This may be my favorite of the album in the long run. 10/10 Guilty Conscience part 2 (and breaking news) I see the skit as an interlude so I see it as one piece tbh. What else can we say about this? A great sequel to the first one but in this case its not Dre and Shady arguing but Marshall and Shady. This truly feels like a story within the album, a closure to something this album has been leading up to. Parts of this feel like the 3rd verse of Bad Guy, which I love too. Still amazing how he does both voices. Just for nostalgia sake I wish Dre did have a little cameo, maybe have him pick up the phone and say "f--- you" instead of Paul. Aside from the lyrics and flows its also a dope song musically. 10/10 Head Honcho With GC2 still echoing in my head, we are moving on from Shady and Eminem is on his own. Let's hear it! ..... what we get is f---ing EZ Mil rapping in a foreign language. I actually feel sorry for the guy because he does fine, but this is a bummer after such a huge moment on the album. This works way better as an indivual song than on this album imo. However, when we do get to Eminem he absolutely murders it. If this is him post Shady I'm all for it. Riding the beat, calm flow no fast s---, good lyrics its great. I completely got over the let down once he starts his verse. I think JID is better than EZ Mil but other than that its close to Fuel imo. 8.5/10 Temporary No matter what people say, this is something that could have been on Revival. It's basically another version of Castle/Arose, with Skylar Grey even. The theory that he wanted this on a good album might be true. Just like Castle and Arose though the flow isn't that important to me. The message and emotion are real and I appreciate that. It's a beautiful song even if it's not that good imo. Skylar also kills it. 8.2/10 Bad One This one also suffers from bad placement. We just got another emotional moment about his family and now we get a random song. I think the first verse is kinda boring, but the second and 3rd are a lot better and actually enjoyable even the Kelly diss. Beat is fine, hook doesn't do much for me. Its filler to the album, but a good song. 7/10 Tobey I have to say this fits more on the album than Bad One. When it dropped as a single I thought it was fine, but the more dark beat and theme I think it works. Baby tron and especially Sean have good verses and Eminem kills it too. Its not his most memorable verse but I love the energy he put in it. 7.5/10 Guess who's back Yeah I don't think Ken Kaniff is funny anymore but it kinda fits when he wants us to give throwbacks I guess. Somebody Save Me I really like this song but feels so redundant after we already got the Skylar song. I do like this a bit more overall I think, though this also has major Revival vibes. But in a good way this time. 8.2/10 I've seen people say this album is just cheap nostalgia bait for his fans. Well, no f---ing s--- Sherlocks. This is based on nostalgia. But just look at all the reboots of classic movies, tv shows... nostalgia works. People love to hear and see the things they know they like because it's safer than to hear something you might not enjoy. No matter what he would have said on Renaissance, people would have gone crazy because of his flow and voice. But this album is way more than that. It's like an autobiography and love letter of the history between Shady and Marshall Matters. From the Encore vibes, to his Mmlp and TES voices and even the throwbacks to his lesser praised albums like Mmlp2 and Revival. He gave us all. People have been asking Eminem to do this for how long now? And he finally did it, in a great way imo. Is it flawless? Of course it isn't, enough corny lines to be found if you look for it but does that really matter here? I don't think so. But what he also did is to put the shady character to bed, telling us its over. He's moved on, but he noticed fans didn't so he gave us one last album as a celebration and memorial in one, so fans can also move on. Unfortunately, he couldn't just end the album there, after GC2. It would have been a perfect album and hommage. Then his next album he could return as Eminem and drop Fuel, Head Honcho and Bad one. Good songs for a new, eminem only era. But he didn't and the album really loses its momentum after that song. Like you can see in the TBT review I like the songs after GC2 and even love some, so I'm glad we got those songs. I will definitely listen a lot to them as individual tracks. But don't think they should really be on here. As collection of songs this is easily an 8 for me, but as an album I give it a 7.5 right now which is still great. The album is we could ask as fans imo and I'll be playing most of this a lot in the future. @AOTWClub
Jul 17, 2024 @AOTWClub don't forget to review The Death of Slim Shady I'll post the new schedule tomorrow at some point and the score for The Offspring "Americana" @Ordinary Joel you're up next week! So on the 21st you can let us know your album pick
Jul 17, 2024 I've been absent from participating in this club so apologies for that! I'll choose an album soon, just wanna ask tho - is it okay if I listen to the previous albums and retroactively apply my score?
Jul 18, 2024 @AOTWClub (look, I remembered to tag this time!) Eminem - The Death of Slim Shady Score 8/10 I'm maybe 30 full spins in. Weirldy, I've just checked Last FM and only my playthought this morning has registered but it still remembers things like the Offspring last week. Anyway, I love this album. Like, really really enjoy it. Up until Guilty Conscience 2 anyway. After that it just feels random and without purpose. I'm sure there's a deeper meqaning that I havent found yet but if it isn't clicking after c.30 spins then I'm sure it won't in the future. The flow of tracks all the way up to GC2 is phenominal! And I don't think I could pick a favourite song apart from GC2. What I liked: - The flow of tracks - The shock value (Trouble is f---ing epic!) which leads into having to pause and literally say "what the f---??" - Most of the features (Bizarre!!) - The beats for the first 2/3rds - The concept in general What I didn't like: - Skylar f---ing Grey. f--- you. She ruined that song. Either no hook or for real value - get Hailie to do the hook. - No 50 or Dre feature. 50 seemed a given in the run up to it and calling that song Guilty Conscience 2 without a Dre feat seems off - The bonus tracks - The continual reliance on "pop" hooks. Two White Gold features? Really? They were alright and the song didn't suffer because of it (except for Skylar Grey) but I miss the Em hooks. What could've been done better: - Swapped Tobey and Doomsday Pt2. Tobey doesn't seem to fit on the album, it shuld've been on the Lyrical Lemonade album and Doomsday 2 should've been turned into a full song with that beat. It would've fir the narative wayyy more Overall, if the album felt more meshed together post GC2 then I'd probably give it a 9. It genuinely is everything I would hope for from an Em album nowadays. Individual ranking: Renaissance - 8/10 Habits - 9.5/10 Trouble - 10/10 Brand New Dance - 8/10 Evil - 10/10 Lucifer - 10/10 Antichrist 10/10 Fuel - 10/10 Road Rage - 7/10 Houdini - 10/10 Guilty Conscience 2 - 10/10 Head Honcho - 6/10 (could've been a 9 if it was a solo song) Temporary - 5/10 Bad One - 9/10 Tobey 6/10 Somebody Save Me - 6/10
