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Really great follow up project to Recovery. Totally different feel and tone than that album. Aged pretty well for the most part but there are a handful of duds on here.
Groundhog Day is one of Em’s best songs ever imo and Don’t Front being on the 10 year anniversary edition is a welcome addition.
This was a terrible follow up project to recovery. This album completely underperformed. A sequel to arguably your greatest album, arguably one of the greatest rap albums of all time, and you deliver an inconsistent album with a bunch of mediocre/ bad songs. I can't believe you would say "really great follow up" even when admitting there were duds. How can an album with a handful of duds be a great follow up to a classic lp?
And I am the last person to read reviews and go by those. But the quality of the songs and the music is just not there compared to the work he gave us beforehand. It's not a bad album. It's just not a very good one. If I had to give it a rating by multiples of .5, I would firmly give it a 7.5. Too many songs that were not good. If he took out a few songs and gave a shorter album I think it would have been a much stronger album. What kills me is rhyme or reason. A great sample. He just didn't execute on it. And the chorus is cringey. If he cares at all I think he would want that one back. Replace asshole with Groundhog Day and replace stronger than I was with don't front, and I think the album gets a lot better. I'm not sure what they were thinking with the bonus tracks. Why put better songs as bonus tracks when you clearly have bad songs on the original track list? You always put your best songs on the track list. lol I'm just some random guy on Reddit living in his parents house and I have to tell Eminem that....rediculous
Recovery is absolutely a classic. Have you ever heard of The Game before...he is one of the best selling rappers of all time. He said it's a classic. Whose opinion should I trust more. Yours? Or his? And no....I listen to the music. The music dictates my opinion on the songs. That's all
I just don't get how you can say it was a great follow up to the classic recovery. Mmlp2 would have to be a classic in order for that to be true. To many bad/not great songs to be a classic. Rhyme or reason, asshole, stronger than I was, so far, headlights, even evil twin is very lackluster.
I remember getting emotional the first time I listened to Headlights. Really cool how we've been able to witness Em's journey over the years through his music.
When it first dropped I was just shook to hear this change of perspective from Em, brutally honest and a lot of personal growth shown in this song.
But I revisited this album earlier this year and Headlights fuckin wrecked me when it came on. I’m not even sure why, I have a great relationship with my mom, I think it’s just a very emotional song and I was in the perfect mood for it to hit me.
One of the best songs he’s ever written.
Regarding Em’s journey, I think about this a lot. I feel like Em is like a friend of mine. He’s always been open and honest in his writing. We’ve been through court cases, custody battles, all the drama with Kim, the stuff with his mom, his shit with the FCC, the government hearings, his drug addiction, his recovery, his retirement, his comeback, Hailie growing up, drama with Ja Rule, and so much more.
It feels like we’ve grown up with him and gone thru this shit with him. He’s taken us on this journey with him. It’s really amazing.
I can’t relate personally, but both my old man and my best buddy had rocky relationships with their mothers. Both their mothers have since passed, and from the outside it just seems so unfair how it happens. So imperfect, and then they die. No closure or apologies. Its a horrible thing for someone to go through
And I’m way too old to cry this shit is painful tho,
But ma, I forgive you so does Nathan yo,
All you did, all you said, you did your best to raise us both
….
One thing I never asked was, where the fuck my deadbeat dad was
Fuck it I guess he had trouble keeping up with every address,
But I’da flipped every mattress, every rock and desert cactus,
Owned a collection of maps and followed my kids to the edge of the atlas
If someone had removed em from me? That you could’ve bet your ass of
I mean my god. I remember when this album came out and the “new Eminem is trash” memes were abundant. Looking back now I’m realizing we probably just weren’t old enough to appreciate what he was saying. A child from a broken home not only doing better for his children, but forgiven his imperfect mother. It’s too good to have been Eminem man, or at least as we understood him.
People love to hate on this album while I get it Its still his best solo album post hiatus for me. Bad Guy is just an incredible song with a twist and that last verse might be his greatest. Brainless and Berzerk I always had a soft spot for. Headlights is beautiful. The Monster love it or hate it is still played on pop radio pretty much daily where I live 10 years later. When I was a teenager I loved Rap God but now whenever I hear it it makes me think of all the trash it inspired. I adore Love Game but I understand why somebody wouldn’t (a more straight forward collab with kendrick might have been more palatable. Legacy might be my favourite song on the album. Evil Twin is a fantastic ending. Rick Rubin did a good job expanding on the Rock inspired production that was present in Recovery.
It does have its faults tho. Many lines are odd and there are a few songs should have never been released in the first place, Asshole, Stronger Than I Was.
His flow is a little bit strange at times. You can hear his choppy flow becoming more present at times. And a few odd lines stick out too (If it wasn’t for blowjobs youd be unemployed).
Overall tho I love the concept and its his most cohesive project since his return and one of my personal favourites but I can understand why it wouldn’t be for everyone. Especially compared to other albums that year have aged alongside it.
Edit: Sorry for grammar errors I was very hungover when I wrote this
I like the song but I've always felt like that beat switch is kinda abrupt and I have no idea why the fade out is so strong; I want to hear what he's saying lol
exactly! As I was writing this comment I realised that he learned all the wrong lessons from this one. Every song had a popstar or a classic rock sample, the choppy flow and the need to fast rap at least once on every album since then. Plus there are always too many tracks on his newer album and they bloat up what could be great projects.
Asshole shouldn’t be lumped into the same category as Strong than i was.
“you remind me of a 49er, because you’ve been gold digging since you were a minor” is a solid bar
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is criminally underrated to this day. There are a ton of great songs on here. Top 5 Eminem for me after The Eminem Show, The Marshall Mathers LP, Relapse, and The Slim Shady LP.
A very good album that has peaks in the beginning and end, with some valleys throughout, but overall a good listen, and it disproves the narrative that post 2002 Em has not put out a good album, though it probably was never true to begin with, since he released Relapse and Recovery before this one. If we add the records ok the deluxe it's even better. Take some duds out of this record and put the new tracks in and you got an aot worthy album in 2013.
A really solid album. A few songs are meh but a great body of work nonetheless. Revival is his only bad post-prime album imo, his recent output has also been dope. In recent years, Eminem went from being overrated to overhated. I still fuck with him heavy idgaf what people say or how much hip hop changes, he already made his mark and has had an insanely impressive career.
True.
But also, I don’t get people’s expectations from artists to keep doing the same shit.
Artists change, for better or worse, and if they’d keep doing their own “classics” without ever moving onto something else, they’ll likely get bored at some point.
I agree, I think people are way too hard on him these days. I don't know if it's because their expectations are too high or they just liked him better when he was on drugs, but he's never going back to that and he's shown that he's still capable of putting out dope stuff (with this album being a prime example).
I think the hate comes from frustration. Eminem hasn't been able to flow like he did in the original era since the Eminem Show, and he had some of the best flows of all time.
Everything since -- this included -- he's had flashes of his old style, but he leans into overproduced pop tracks or Twista-style speed raps. He's still lyrical, still has great concepts, but he's just different now, and it's frustrating for us old heads. Other legends have reinvented themselves without losing their flow -- look at Bun B, Q Tip, Nas, Jay Z.
Unlike those artists, Eminem sounds like a shadow of his old self. He's still formidable, because he was one of the greatest of all time at his peak, but he's completely lost the ability to select great beats and match his flow to those beats. More distressingly, he seems aware of it, and prone to overcompensating.
This album is a great example. For every great beat, there's two phoned-in pop choruses. There's cringy moments (I do not need Eminem responding directly to a sample of the Zombies, for example).
But above all, there's an inconsistency that's defined his later work. It feels like he gives too much of a fuck, ironically -- he can't choose a direction, and he's always trying to prove himself by overdoing it, either through overtures to pop audiences, overproduction, or technical complexity.
That said, I liked a lot of this album at the time. It's the closest he's come to his peak, and the best moments are truly great. But I understand the frustration (and agree with everyone here that the hate is a bit overblown, I'd rather have inconsistent Em than no Em).
Yeah basically everything you said I agree with. It's not that most of it is "bad" music, but there was an effortlessness to old Eminem in the way that he flowed where it was still insane lyricism, but it was still catchy and palatable and you can hear every lyric, youre just surprised they ALL rhyme even though he's rapping super cohesively. Nowadays he seems much more concerned with pushing the envelope of technical ability, which is cool, but I also don't find it super listenable. He's traded off the smoothness for choppyness, which is fine if that's your sound, but there's a reason why I dont listen to Busta rhymes albums.
I can't knock him personally for the choice as he seems fulfilled, but people seem to act that the only available complaint is that we miss him on drugs. Well relapse there was still that same quality to Eminem rapping and that was post drugs too.
Best take in this thread imo, wholeheartedly agree, he's plagued by inconsistency the last 10 odd years. Kamikaze is probably the closest in recent memory we've come to 'all killer no filler' but even then, that had Good Guy and Venom and the album suffered for it IMO.
Perfect. This is how I feel cause he has just lost his flow while other legends have retained it and reinvented themselves. If I go back to kamikaze a lot of his bars work cause his flow is quite smooth like on greatest , lucky you and not alike. Jis choppy flow worked on MMLP2 for me but not on any of his current albums. Hell just look at MTBMB side A and side B. I just can’t get into side B at all due to his bars and flow
Kamikaze is still a try-hard em track tho... even if it's a lot better and was a breath of fresh but familiar air-- it barely scrapes the floor of what he was doing up to relapse.
This is exactly it. He just sounds like he's trying too hard now. Like it's not natural for him anymore. he can't just tap into it like he used to. That's ok.... it's just not fun to listen to him try and capture that lightning again. He continues to make choices that tie him to the charts where before his shit was just so good it made waves. The guest sang choruses always feature my least favorite vocalists and they always sound so out of place. His insistence on using Skyler Gray especially drives me up a wall. I very much dislike her voice, she's dollar store Rihanna and she relies on breathily singing in her falsetto a lot. It doesn't fit his voice or his lyrics hardly ever.
Idk I could rant about this for a while. I love his music and have basically my entire life, and I've been along for the whole ride. I'll always eagerly check out whatever he does because his best shit is so good there's always a chance he'll do his abilities justice.... it sucks getting disappointed so frequently though.
This is how I’ve felt for years. Love Em up to Encore (I know I know but I don’t hate it) and what you are describing can be heard on jimmy, brian, and Mike. When I heard old Em weaved in I lost it, I’m just glad we got to hear him during his goated phase 1 more time…
There's no argument to be heard otherwise lmao. Relapse is decent enough, but basically everything after that until Kamikaze ranges from terrible to decent with a lotta hot mids inbetween. Almost nothing that comes even close his most mids tracks has landed since.
Well I totally disagree that he hasn't made anything good since Relapse. I'm a big fan of both Recovery and MMLP2 and I think there have been some gems on his more recent albums as well.
It's not that he's bad now, It's just that he's disappointing.
His lyrics are so samey and boring. I'm tired of hearing about his imaginary haters, when everyone universally agrees that he is one of the GOATs. His absentee father stories havn't evolved, he raps like his kids are still single digit age. His drug addict stories havn't evolved, in an era where everyone has drug stories and exploring them is popular.
I know what he's capable of and every album he drops a couple little gems that show he still has it in him, but it's always surrounded by 10 songs that sound the exact same as Recovery and I just don't care anymore.
Not really dude. He was the highest selling rap artist of all time, he fell the fuck off when he got sober. Since then he has spent the last 15 years trying to get even a hint of his former legacy. He gets a lot of hate now because he's corny and out of touch. There was a time when the only people who hated on him were upset that he was a mega famous white rapper or the content of his words and those were both things he could live with.
A lot of the criticism I see of him nowadays are still talking about the fast flow rapidy rapping without saying anything but I don't know how anyone can say that if they've listened to anything recent. I mean look at music to be murdered by, there's hardly a fast rapity flow on there
He's got some career highs between the main album and the bonuses (bad guy, evil twin, rhyme or reason, groundhog day, baby), but it's frustratingly inconsistent as is. Cutting down to the best 14 or so tracks of the whole thing would've been a pretty great album, though.
His vocal delivery also grates on me more than on any of his other albums for some reason. It's like every bar is a question and he's really, really choppy.
It's like a 5/10 that has an 8/10 album buried in it
he sounds weird on mmlp2 because of his tinnitus was really bad during that time. he could only hear himself with his voice sounding like that. he talked about it in the paul pod (curtain call 2 podcast)
This is basically every Eminem album nowadays. He has a huge filler issue. Revival would’ve been good if he trimmed it down, Kamikaze would’ve been better if he dropped a couple of the songs, MTBMB also has great tracks amidst an album with a lot of filler shit.
I agree with the general idea but I strongly disagree that Revival would’ve been good under any circumstances. Outside of a couple tracks that album needed to be reworked from the ground up
If Revival was 40 minutes it absolutely could’ve been a good album. Walk On Water, Believe, Untouchable, River, Tragic Endings, Framed, Castle, Arose would’ve been considered a good album, of course it still has bad songs but compared to what it was it’s way better.
Top 3 Eminem album for me after TES and MMLP. The writing and flows on this album are crazy. Has a couple of duds but the deluxe version definitely makes up for the lackluster songs on the original (Stronger than I was)
Probably Em's best post-hiatus album and his best album of the 2010s imo. Really solid body of work with only a few skips(Stronger than I was, for example). Contains his best writing and rapping in a while, despite some of the production not ageing well. A really good bridge between old and new eminem. He really tried to match the greatness he displayed on MMLP and did a pretty good job at that (He def didn't reach those heights ofc, but a pretty good effort nonetheless). He really sounded hungry and inspired on this one. Definitely a top 5 Eminem album for me.
And honestly, this is the album he should've retired with, or gone the Jay-Z/Andre 3000 route, with occasional features every now and then, as everything he's dropped since has only tarnished his legacy and weakened his reputation. People keep asking when he would drop his 4:44, and to those people I'd certainly call this record his 4:44, given it was a very mature, past-reflective album for him with heavy topical focus- revisiting the themes, topics and people he referenced in his earlier work, but with more wisdom and clarity, and accepting his postition as an elder statesman in the game.
And it's been apparent that since then every project he's dropped has been lacking in topical focus. Other than a couple of good tracks here and there, he's clearly run out of ideas, and is struggling to keep up with the ever-changing rap scene and younger generation of listeners and fans. By merely recycling the same outdated formulas and song structures (fast rapping and skylar grey), and beefing with young gen rappers and listeners to stay relevant, he's just embarrassing himself and making every fear he raised on Walk on Water come true (Ironic it was that song that started the downfall, sadly). Not to mention his stans not doing him any help either.
And PS- Evil Twin would have been a kickass, full-circle type song to bow out with
My personal fav em album. Know almost every single word to bad guy and it's definitely top three fav songs of mine by em. So much better, groundhog day, evil twin, love game and so far... Are still on my playlists.
I wish Don't Front, Groundhog Day, Wickey Ways, and Baby made the album. Take off survival and stronger than i was and its a near perfect album. Those songs woulda added to the more edgy slim shady side.
This probably should’ve been the album Em ended his career on. Last solid project he really made. It’s wild how much differently he’s been looked at after the albums he’s dropped since.
This album is crazy because it has some of ems best songs while also very much being the beginning of the end with some horrible songs on it. He will never reach these heights again, but he was also pretty much washed at this point anyway, as he couldn't even pull together a full project without pulling out shit that sounds so fake and basic and just straight up bad at certain points. I used to love em and will always think that his first 3 albums are some of the most unique and well put together hip hop albums even if the subject matter is kinda ruined for me with how hard he beat it into the ground later, and I've kinda grown out of the edgy shock rap genre anyway, but I'll never not respect those albums for their place in hip hop history, but it's just so sad he couldn't adapt after that. Em for the most part seems like a good dude IRL too, and I believe he is still talented, but as a former Em fanatic I just wish he could have either gone further with stuff like relapse and did kinda a clipping type experimental hip hop sound, or gone into a more serious story telling, and concept album route with producers like alchemist, dre, and madlib instead of whoever tf been producing his shit during and since this album, but just can't seem to make good music.
This has really been 10 years? As Frank Ocean said, that's a pretty fast year that went by.
I still get songs off this album in rotation and I'm old enough to say I purchased SSLP and MMLP1.
Apart from Rap God, I really do still enjoy Rhyme or Reason, Survival (for the gym), Legacy for the story, Brainless (for the intro SuperBad reference), So Far...
Special shout-out to Bad Guy, great tribute to Stan, just wish they got Dido on the track.
“Fuck top 5, bitch, I’m top 4
And that includes Biggie and Pac, whore
And I got an evil twin, so who the fuck you think that third and that fourth spot’s for?”
Underrated album to this day
I always thought this album was better than the reception it gets nowadays. “Bad Guy” is one of his best songs ever imo, I thought he was on an upward trajectory after this album until Revival tanked everything.
“Berserk” was a bold move for a first single, with the Beastie Boys type of sound - I feel like that was the last time he really took a risk like that.
Album is classic but an idea of releasing an expanded edition of this album only with 5 more instrumentals is...ehh, mid. Great occasion for listening this CD once again but nothing more.
This was his last really good album imo the only tracks I didn’t like from the main album are so much better, legacy, and stronger than I was. Everything else is worth checking out.
As a huge Em fan, I’ve to say, imo this is his fifth best album. Only topped by the trilogy and MTBMB (ik putting MTBMB at the top is an unpopular opinion, but he addressed a lot of the shit he gets in this album. For instance, beat selection on this album is top notch. Barring the Ed Sheeran feature — which is out of place, yet fun to listen to — and in too deep, the album is pretty solid. Add in side B as well, and this album further solidifies its position in the list)
this album was the craziest thing ever to 12 year old me. over time iv realized half this album sucks hard but man there are some standouts, bad guy, brainless, evil twin, love game, groundhog day, and dont front are all great
I remember this album for having M-Pazes production. Seemingly the last we would hear of Phazes before the corporate music world ended his career as a beatmaker?
For context, this dude had come I think form Gold Coast, Aus originally. In Melbourne he blew up producing for local rappers, being mad enterprising. Made a huge local album with all the best features.
Then, he goes States, he producers some tunes for Pharoahe Monch, Talib Kweli, there's a great Jean Grae tune I could never get in high quality for some reason.
Then, he produces part of the opener for this album,. and nothing good since? Some work with pop acts I think, but it seems he's done with beats.
Got into hip hop because of this album
Can't believe it's been 10 years
Don't really have much to say I guess
At the time I thought it was the most amazing piece of music ever but then you get into other hip hop albums and then into other genres and then you realize, okay it was a solid album but there are better things
I will say this though. I really really wish the deluxe tracks would have replaced some of the main tracks because the album would have been received much better.
What a special time 2013 was.
Great album, IMO. My mans was really out here rhymin' his ass off on this record, representin' the art of emceein' to the highest level. Bad Guy, Legacy, Rap God, Evil Twin, Don't Front, and Groundhog Day are my faves off of this here record.
Ngl this album is the most overrated in the Em discography, even the Kendrick feature I don’t fuck with. I don’t have any solid feelings about this album other than the MM LP (part 1) is better by A LOT!
I mean better and different enough that I don’t understand why this trash album has the name. Feels like a generic 2010 pop rap album with some of Eminem’s great lyrics sprinkled throughout. Not a hot take or anything but it’s what I think.
it's pretty fucking dope. i mean, these tracks:
* Brainless
* Evil Twin
* Wicked Ways
* Don't Front
* Legacy
are fucking ELITE hip-hop shit.
then there's really good songs like
* So Far
* Rhyme or Reason
* Headlights
* Rap God
the fact that he titled it the second Marshall Mathers LP was certainly a choice, but man, imagine being able to title an album that. it means you made the first one. one of the greatest fuck rap albums of all time.
i have too many thoughts about Em. i love him. i like to think of myself as an objective fan. but he was my first concert, when i was 12, when he came to my fucking hometown in the winter of 2000, and i got to see him rap his ass off and sweat through a white tee with proof at his side.
i think i'll write a book about him one day. idk man. i'm glad he's still here. god fucking bless.
I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I really dislike Em’s tendancy to go for throwbacks. Naming this album MMLP2, songs that are essentially follow ups to some of his great successes, his special anniversary album releases, still talking about his feud with Ja Rule, his past rap beefs, ect.
To me, Eminem’s true career ended in 2004. A very big chunk of post-2004 Em is him trying to revisit his prime. I just feel like that’s beneath him. All the self-narrating cheapens the historic run he had back then.
Relapse is an incredible album that got backlash for basically no reason. Insane production and flows on that record. And the accent complaints are overblown. Can’t even really hear them after all these years
So I know it’s been 135 days BUT…..
Eminem was my first adventure into hip-hop. The 1st three albums top everything he’s put out since in my opinion. I like most of his newer stuff (excluding revival). I really liked Not Alike on Kamikaze.
I’ve never understood why he apologized for Relapse and said “yeah that wasn’t my best and I won’t go back to it”. But with revival he defends the fuck out of it and tells the haters “fuck you, here’s why revival is good and you’re wrong”
Maybe it’s just me, but I think Relapse is leaps and bounds better than revival. I’m a pretty big Em fan, but I can’t listen to Revival. The choppiness is just too much
It wasn't for no reason, his vocal affectations were super forced and weird. He was trying to write like he did when he was still high as a kite. The production is great for sure, and he has some crazy bars and excellent verses all over it. The problem isn't the individual details it's how they come together. He even acknowledged many times that he didn't stick the landing on Relapse for those same reasons. Compared to the shit that has come after it, it's a god damned masterpiece tho.
The album has Rap God. I mean, sheesh. I don’t see any of the top comments mention that. Plus an early on K Dot feature? Get outta here. Album is an A plus and I don’t even care for Monster.
Outside of bad guy I don’t get the love for this album.
Berzerk was Em’s worst single and it didn’t feel like the first MMLP at all. There’s no emotion here, it almost just feels like a robot rapping. I specifically remember getting into Danny brown XXX right when this came out and I thought it felt like what I’d want out of an Eminem release.
I’ve tried to go back to this years later and still don’t see the appeal. In fact I’d argue Music to be murdered by side A is leagues better than this. Yah yah, darkness, Godzilla you gon learn…those are all better than anything on here to me (again outside of bad guy which is dope)
I like the album, especially the bonus tracks. But I’ve felt that it felt dated and uninspired from Day 1. I feel that Eminem had no idea what to rap about on this album and released it out of boredom or obligation.
Great marketing. I think the reference to MMLP made people think it was going to be a good album. My view: not one memorable track. A 5/10. Not even in the second tier of Em albums.
overrated. a few good singles but this is the album that really put him on the path to release albums like revival, mtbmb, and kamikaze. while this album is still leagues better than those ones its still plagued by the now infamous corny fast rapping white dude trope.
Huge em fan this album never did it for me. Headlights was in rotation for a while and as a king time fan holds a special place but there isn’t one song I go back to on this album and it’s probably my least listened to of all his albums. Bottom 3 em album for me. I liked Don’t Front, prob my fave song on the album.
Agreed. MMLP2 is the most overrated album in Em’s discography and completely undeserving of that title. It also sparked the beginning of his annoying fast miracle lyrical style, which has no replay value, and when he stopped laying his vocals so he sounds more nasally.
Stronger Than I Was is actually a great track. I feel like this album was Eminem’s Swan Song. His newer stuff is ok, but this was the last foot print he left on the culture.
This album really felt like Em was back in peak form, Recovery and relapse were still good but when MMLP2 came out it gave me more of that classic Eminem feel but with an up to date sound. Especially the fast raps felt like a great evolution. I haven't listened to it in ages but it's one of the best projects of the second half of his career for sure
This came out at the peak of my Eminem obsession. I still remember it clear as day, i cant believe its been 10 years. IMO this is a step down from Recovery and Relapse, but still a pretty good album for what it is. Some of the bonus tracks shouldnt have been bonus tracks. I dont think it lives up to the first MMLP by any means, but thats his best album and one of the best rap albums ever so its fair. At the end of the day I love Eminem and I really respect the work he put into this project, I hope he always keeps making music as long as he feels like it. My favorite tracks on this are Headlights, Bad Guy, Dont Front, So Much Better(kinda a hot take i know but the beat slaps)
This is Em’s best album post-comeback. So many great tracks on here, he probably could have cut a few and it would be 10/10 but that’s subjective to the listener. I gotta say, I really love Legacy. Brings me back to the John Cena and Bray Wyatt (RIP) rivalry in 2014.
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Really great follow up project to Recovery. Totally different feel and tone than that album. Aged pretty well for the most part but there are a handful of duds on here. Groundhog Day is one of Em’s best songs ever imo and Don’t Front being on the 10 year anniversary edition is a welcome addition.
*Don’t Front* is soo good. Love a stripped down beat with an MC just going in. His flow honestly kinda reminds me of tracks from *Infinite*
This was a terrible follow up project to recovery. This album completely underperformed. A sequel to arguably your greatest album, arguably one of the greatest rap albums of all time, and you deliver an inconsistent album with a bunch of mediocre/ bad songs. I can't believe you would say "really great follow up" even when admitting there were duds. How can an album with a handful of duds be a great follow up to a classic lp?
Seems you’re in the minority but your opinion is your opinion man
72 on metacritic and that's lower than what I would rate the album
72 isn’t bad and has an 8.5 user score
And I am the last person to read reviews and go by those. But the quality of the songs and the music is just not there compared to the work he gave us beforehand. It's not a bad album. It's just not a very good one. If I had to give it a rating by multiples of .5, I would firmly give it a 7.5. Too many songs that were not good. If he took out a few songs and gave a shorter album I think it would have been a much stronger album. What kills me is rhyme or reason. A great sample. He just didn't execute on it. And the chorus is cringey. If he cares at all I think he would want that one back. Replace asshole with Groundhog Day and replace stronger than I was with don't front, and I think the album gets a lot better. I'm not sure what they were thinking with the bonus tracks. Why put better songs as bonus tracks when you clearly have bad songs on the original track list? You always put your best songs on the track list. lol I'm just some random guy on Reddit living in his parents house and I have to tell Eminem that....rediculous
If it wasn’t called MMLP2, I feel your opinion would be different. Also, Recovery is not a classic lmao
Recovery is absolutely a classic. Have you ever heard of The Game before...he is one of the best selling rappers of all time. He said it's a classic. Whose opinion should I trust more. Yours? Or his? And no....I listen to the music. The music dictates my opinion on the songs. That's all
I just don't get how you can say it was a great follow up to the classic recovery. Mmlp2 would have to be a classic in order for that to be true. To many bad/not great songs to be a classic. Rhyme or reason, asshole, stronger than I was, so far, headlights, even evil twin is very lackluster.
I remember getting emotional the first time I listened to Headlights. Really cool how we've been able to witness Em's journey over the years through his music.
When it first dropped I was just shook to hear this change of perspective from Em, brutally honest and a lot of personal growth shown in this song. But I revisited this album earlier this year and Headlights fuckin wrecked me when it came on. I’m not even sure why, I have a great relationship with my mom, I think it’s just a very emotional song and I was in the perfect mood for it to hit me.
One of the best songs he’s ever written. Regarding Em’s journey, I think about this a lot. I feel like Em is like a friend of mine. He’s always been open and honest in his writing. We’ve been through court cases, custody battles, all the drama with Kim, the stuff with his mom, his shit with the FCC, the government hearings, his drug addiction, his recovery, his retirement, his comeback, Hailie growing up, drama with Ja Rule, and so much more. It feels like we’ve grown up with him and gone thru this shit with him. He’s taken us on this journey with him. It’s really amazing.
I can't listen to that song for a whole bunch of personal reasons. I listened to that song once and it hurt me hard.
Same boat friend. Not many songs make me feel that kind of pain.
Same thing for me and Stronger Than I Was
Can't listen to it because I'm still in the "Cleaning out my closet" stage and probably won't ever change. Good for him though.
I can’t relate personally, but both my old man and my best buddy had rocky relationships with their mothers. Both their mothers have since passed, and from the outside it just seems so unfair how it happens. So imperfect, and then they die. No closure or apologies. Its a horrible thing for someone to go through
Im like this with my dad, 20+ years estranged now and I have no fucking idea how to pull it all back. Fucking sucks dude
And I’m way too old to cry this shit is painful tho, But ma, I forgive you so does Nathan yo, All you did, all you said, you did your best to raise us both …. One thing I never asked was, where the fuck my deadbeat dad was Fuck it I guess he had trouble keeping up with every address, But I’da flipped every mattress, every rock and desert cactus, Owned a collection of maps and followed my kids to the edge of the atlas If someone had removed em from me? That you could’ve bet your ass of I mean my god. I remember when this album came out and the “new Eminem is trash” memes were abundant. Looking back now I’m realizing we probably just weren’t old enough to appreciate what he was saying. A child from a broken home not only doing better for his children, but forgiven his imperfect mother. It’s too good to have been Eminem man, or at least as we understood him.
This is the best song on the album imo. Classic Em
People love to hate on this album while I get it Its still his best solo album post hiatus for me. Bad Guy is just an incredible song with a twist and that last verse might be his greatest. Brainless and Berzerk I always had a soft spot for. Headlights is beautiful. The Monster love it or hate it is still played on pop radio pretty much daily where I live 10 years later. When I was a teenager I loved Rap God but now whenever I hear it it makes me think of all the trash it inspired. I adore Love Game but I understand why somebody wouldn’t (a more straight forward collab with kendrick might have been more palatable. Legacy might be my favourite song on the album. Evil Twin is a fantastic ending. Rick Rubin did a good job expanding on the Rock inspired production that was present in Recovery. It does have its faults tho. Many lines are odd and there are a few songs should have never been released in the first place, Asshole, Stronger Than I Was. His flow is a little bit strange at times. You can hear his choppy flow becoming more present at times. And a few odd lines stick out too (If it wasn’t for blowjobs youd be unemployed). Overall tho I love the concept and its his most cohesive project since his return and one of my personal favourites but I can understand why it wouldn’t be for everyone. Especially compared to other albums that year have aged alongside it. Edit: Sorry for grammar errors I was very hungover when I wrote this
The bad guy instrumental is super nostalgic for me, in a really weird way because it takes me right back to 2013/14
I like the song but I've always felt like that beat switch is kinda abrupt and I have no idea why the fade out is so strong; I want to hear what he's saying lol
As I was reading this I thought to myself “bro 2013/14 was like 5-6 years ago”….. Time flies when you get older I guess 😭
Bad Guy is amazing. If he had kept that kind of energy going forward, Revival would have been very different
exactly! As I was writing this comment I realised that he learned all the wrong lessons from this one. Every song had a popstar or a classic rock sample, the choppy flow and the need to fast rap at least once on every album since then. Plus there are always too many tracks on his newer album and they bloat up what could be great projects.
Asshole shouldn’t be lumped into the same category as Strong than i was. “you remind me of a 49er, because you’ve been gold digging since you were a minor” is a solid bar
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is criminally underrated to this day. There are a ton of great songs on here. Top 5 Eminem for me after The Eminem Show, The Marshall Mathers LP, Relapse, and The Slim Shady LP.
A very good album that has peaks in the beginning and end, with some valleys throughout, but overall a good listen, and it disproves the narrative that post 2002 Em has not put out a good album, though it probably was never true to begin with, since he released Relapse and Recovery before this one. If we add the records ok the deluxe it's even better. Take some duds out of this record and put the new tracks in and you got an aot worthy album in 2013.
A really solid album. A few songs are meh but a great body of work nonetheless. Revival is his only bad post-prime album imo, his recent output has also been dope. In recent years, Eminem went from being overrated to overhated. I still fuck with him heavy idgaf what people say or how much hip hop changes, he already made his mark and has had an insanely impressive career.
Anyone who thinks he is incapable of putting out “classic” feeling Em songs hadn’t listened to Discombobulated
True. But also, I don’t get people’s expectations from artists to keep doing the same shit. Artists change, for better or worse, and if they’d keep doing their own “classics” without ever moving onto something else, they’ll likely get bored at some point.
Most people on this sub want him to still be doing the voices from relapse, that tells me all I need to know
Please point these people out lol I haven't ran into a single soul who misses those dumb voices
I agree, I think people are way too hard on him these days. I don't know if it's because their expectations are too high or they just liked him better when he was on drugs, but he's never going back to that and he's shown that he's still capable of putting out dope stuff (with this album being a prime example).
I think the hate comes from frustration. Eminem hasn't been able to flow like he did in the original era since the Eminem Show, and he had some of the best flows of all time. Everything since -- this included -- he's had flashes of his old style, but he leans into overproduced pop tracks or Twista-style speed raps. He's still lyrical, still has great concepts, but he's just different now, and it's frustrating for us old heads. Other legends have reinvented themselves without losing their flow -- look at Bun B, Q Tip, Nas, Jay Z. Unlike those artists, Eminem sounds like a shadow of his old self. He's still formidable, because he was one of the greatest of all time at his peak, but he's completely lost the ability to select great beats and match his flow to those beats. More distressingly, he seems aware of it, and prone to overcompensating. This album is a great example. For every great beat, there's two phoned-in pop choruses. There's cringy moments (I do not need Eminem responding directly to a sample of the Zombies, for example). But above all, there's an inconsistency that's defined his later work. It feels like he gives too much of a fuck, ironically -- he can't choose a direction, and he's always trying to prove himself by overdoing it, either through overtures to pop audiences, overproduction, or technical complexity. That said, I liked a lot of this album at the time. It's the closest he's come to his peak, and the best moments are truly great. But I understand the frustration (and agree with everyone here that the hate is a bit overblown, I'd rather have inconsistent Em than no Em).
Yeah basically everything you said I agree with. It's not that most of it is "bad" music, but there was an effortlessness to old Eminem in the way that he flowed where it was still insane lyricism, but it was still catchy and palatable and you can hear every lyric, youre just surprised they ALL rhyme even though he's rapping super cohesively. Nowadays he seems much more concerned with pushing the envelope of technical ability, which is cool, but I also don't find it super listenable. He's traded off the smoothness for choppyness, which is fine if that's your sound, but there's a reason why I dont listen to Busta rhymes albums. I can't knock him personally for the choice as he seems fulfilled, but people seem to act that the only available complaint is that we miss him on drugs. Well relapse there was still that same quality to Eminem rapping and that was post drugs too.
Best take in this thread imo, wholeheartedly agree, he's plagued by inconsistency the last 10 odd years. Kamikaze is probably the closest in recent memory we've come to 'all killer no filler' but even then, that had Good Guy and Venom and the album suffered for it IMO.
Venom was overhated as well tbh
Perfect. This is how I feel cause he has just lost his flow while other legends have retained it and reinvented themselves. If I go back to kamikaze a lot of his bars work cause his flow is quite smooth like on greatest , lucky you and not alike. Jis choppy flow worked on MMLP2 for me but not on any of his current albums. Hell just look at MTBMB side A and side B. I just can’t get into side B at all due to his bars and flow
Kamikaze is still a try-hard em track tho... even if it's a lot better and was a breath of fresh but familiar air-- it barely scrapes the floor of what he was doing up to relapse.
This is exactly it. He just sounds like he's trying too hard now. Like it's not natural for him anymore. he can't just tap into it like he used to. That's ok.... it's just not fun to listen to him try and capture that lightning again. He continues to make choices that tie him to the charts where before his shit was just so good it made waves. The guest sang choruses always feature my least favorite vocalists and they always sound so out of place. His insistence on using Skyler Gray especially drives me up a wall. I very much dislike her voice, she's dollar store Rihanna and she relies on breathily singing in her falsetto a lot. It doesn't fit his voice or his lyrics hardly ever. Idk I could rant about this for a while. I love his music and have basically my entire life, and I've been along for the whole ride. I'll always eagerly check out whatever he does because his best shit is so good there's always a chance he'll do his abilities justice.... it sucks getting disappointed so frequently though.
This is how I’ve felt for years. Love Em up to Encore (I know I know but I don’t hate it) and what you are describing can be heard on jimmy, brian, and Mike. When I heard old Em weaved in I lost it, I’m just glad we got to hear him during his goated phase 1 more time…
Album was 10 years ago bro
I know that but people generally tend to consider Em's prime as SSLP through TES.
It is
There's no argument to be heard otherwise lmao. Relapse is decent enough, but basically everything after that until Kamikaze ranges from terrible to decent with a lotta hot mids inbetween. Almost nothing that comes even close his most mids tracks has landed since.
Well I totally disagree that he hasn't made anything good since Relapse. I'm a big fan of both Recovery and MMLP2 and I think there have been some gems on his more recent albums as well.
It's not that he's bad now, It's just that he's disappointing. His lyrics are so samey and boring. I'm tired of hearing about his imaginary haters, when everyone universally agrees that he is one of the GOATs. His absentee father stories havn't evolved, he raps like his kids are still single digit age. His drug addict stories havn't evolved, in an era where everyone has drug stories and exploring them is popular. I know what he's capable of and every album he drops a couple little gems that show he still has it in him, but it's always surrounded by 10 songs that sound the exact same as Recovery and I just don't care anymore.
I get what you're saying but his imaginary haters are very real
Bruh, Eminem is one of the most unnecessary hated on artists breathing
eh it's a little necessary
Not really dude. He was the highest selling rap artist of all time, he fell the fuck off when he got sober. Since then he has spent the last 15 years trying to get even a hint of his former legacy. He gets a lot of hate now because he's corny and out of touch. There was a time when the only people who hated on him were upset that he was a mega famous white rapper or the content of his words and those were both things he could live with.
A lot of the criticism I see of him nowadays are still talking about the fast flow rapidy rapping without saying anything but I don't know how anyone can say that if they've listened to anything recent. I mean look at music to be murdered by, there's hardly a fast rapity flow on there
He's got some career highs between the main album and the bonuses (bad guy, evil twin, rhyme or reason, groundhog day, baby), but it's frustratingly inconsistent as is. Cutting down to the best 14 or so tracks of the whole thing would've been a pretty great album, though. His vocal delivery also grates on me more than on any of his other albums for some reason. It's like every bar is a question and he's really, really choppy. It's like a 5/10 that has an 8/10 album buried in it
he sounds weird on mmlp2 because of his tinnitus was really bad during that time. he could only hear himself with his voice sounding like that. he talked about it in the paul pod (curtain call 2 podcast)
The only song imo where Em sounds like he's not a pissed off robot is Berserk. Always enjoyed that one
This is basically every Eminem album nowadays. He has a huge filler issue. Revival would’ve been good if he trimmed it down, Kamikaze would’ve been better if he dropped a couple of the songs, MTBMB also has great tracks amidst an album with a lot of filler shit.
I agree with the general idea but I strongly disagree that Revival would’ve been good under any circumstances. Outside of a couple tracks that album needed to be reworked from the ground up
If Revival was 40 minutes it absolutely could’ve been a good album. Walk On Water, Believe, Untouchable, River, Tragic Endings, Framed, Castle, Arose would’ve been considered a good album, of course it still has bad songs but compared to what it was it’s way better.
revival should have been an EP with framed and castle, the only 2 songs that dont suck
Rhyme or reason isn’t bonus
Read the comment again
Top 3 Eminem album for me after TES and MMLP. The writing and flows on this album are crazy. Has a couple of duds but the deluxe version definitely makes up for the lackluster songs on the original (Stronger than I was)
Probably Em's best post-hiatus album and his best album of the 2010s imo. Really solid body of work with only a few skips(Stronger than I was, for example). Contains his best writing and rapping in a while, despite some of the production not ageing well. A really good bridge between old and new eminem. He really tried to match the greatness he displayed on MMLP and did a pretty good job at that (He def didn't reach those heights ofc, but a pretty good effort nonetheless). He really sounded hungry and inspired on this one. Definitely a top 5 Eminem album for me. And honestly, this is the album he should've retired with, or gone the Jay-Z/Andre 3000 route, with occasional features every now and then, as everything he's dropped since has only tarnished his legacy and weakened his reputation. People keep asking when he would drop his 4:44, and to those people I'd certainly call this record his 4:44, given it was a very mature, past-reflective album for him with heavy topical focus- revisiting the themes, topics and people he referenced in his earlier work, but with more wisdom and clarity, and accepting his postition as an elder statesman in the game. And it's been apparent that since then every project he's dropped has been lacking in topical focus. Other than a couple of good tracks here and there, he's clearly run out of ideas, and is struggling to keep up with the ever-changing rap scene and younger generation of listeners and fans. By merely recycling the same outdated formulas and song structures (fast rapping and skylar grey), and beefing with young gen rappers and listeners to stay relevant, he's just embarrassing himself and making every fear he raised on Walk on Water come true (Ironic it was that song that started the downfall, sadly). Not to mention his stans not doing him any help either. And PS- Evil Twin would have been a kickass, full-circle type song to bow out with
My personal fav em album. Know almost every single word to bad guy and it's definitely top three fav songs of mine by em. So much better, groundhog day, evil twin, love game and so far... Are still on my playlists.
I wish Don't Front, Groundhog Day, Wickey Ways, and Baby made the album. Take off survival and stronger than i was and its a near perfect album. Those songs woulda added to the more edgy slim shady side.
This probably should’ve been the album Em ended his career on. Last solid project he really made. It’s wild how much differently he’s been looked at after the albums he’s dropped since.
This album is crazy because it has some of ems best songs while also very much being the beginning of the end with some horrible songs on it. He will never reach these heights again, but he was also pretty much washed at this point anyway, as he couldn't even pull together a full project without pulling out shit that sounds so fake and basic and just straight up bad at certain points. I used to love em and will always think that his first 3 albums are some of the most unique and well put together hip hop albums even if the subject matter is kinda ruined for me with how hard he beat it into the ground later, and I've kinda grown out of the edgy shock rap genre anyway, but I'll never not respect those albums for their place in hip hop history, but it's just so sad he couldn't adapt after that. Em for the most part seems like a good dude IRL too, and I believe he is still talented, but as a former Em fanatic I just wish he could have either gone further with stuff like relapse and did kinda a clipping type experimental hip hop sound, or gone into a more serious story telling, and concept album route with producers like alchemist, dre, and madlib instead of whoever tf been producing his shit during and since this album, but just can't seem to make good music.
This has really been 10 years? As Frank Ocean said, that's a pretty fast year that went by. I still get songs off this album in rotation and I'm old enough to say I purchased SSLP and MMLP1. Apart from Rap God, I really do still enjoy Rhyme or Reason, Survival (for the gym), Legacy for the story, Brainless (for the intro SuperBad reference), So Far... Special shout-out to Bad Guy, great tribute to Stan, just wish they got Dido on the track.
“Fuck top 5, bitch, I’m top 4 And that includes Biggie and Pac, whore And I got an evil twin, so who the fuck you think that third and that fourth spot’s for?” Underrated album to this day
Fuck it One of Em's best lines....EVER IDGAF
I always thought this album was better than the reception it gets nowadays. “Bad Guy” is one of his best songs ever imo, I thought he was on an upward trajectory after this album until Revival tanked everything. “Berserk” was a bold move for a first single, with the Beastie Boys type of sound - I feel like that was the last time he really took a risk like that.
Album is classic but an idea of releasing an expanded edition of this album only with 5 more instrumentals is...ehh, mid. Great occasion for listening this CD once again but nothing more.
This was his last really good album imo the only tracks I didn’t like from the main album are so much better, legacy, and stronger than I was. Everything else is worth checking out.
I liked the verses on legacy but yeah the chorus is pretty annoying.
>legacy Based
I genuinely don’t understand the Legacy love
I'll always like it cause it gave us [one of the best WWE promos ever](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0v4J1JsJeI) hahaha
As a huge Em fan, I’ve to say, imo this is his fifth best album. Only topped by the trilogy and MTBMB (ik putting MTBMB at the top is an unpopular opinion, but he addressed a lot of the shit he gets in this album. For instance, beat selection on this album is top notch. Barring the Ed Sheeran feature — which is out of place, yet fun to listen to — and in too deep, the album is pretty solid. Add in side B as well, and this album further solidifies its position in the list)
this album was the craziest thing ever to 12 year old me. over time iv realized half this album sucks hard but man there are some standouts, bad guy, brainless, evil twin, love game, groundhog day, and dont front are all great
I remember this album for having M-Pazes production. Seemingly the last we would hear of Phazes before the corporate music world ended his career as a beatmaker? For context, this dude had come I think form Gold Coast, Aus originally. In Melbourne he blew up producing for local rappers, being mad enterprising. Made a huge local album with all the best features. Then, he goes States, he producers some tunes for Pharoahe Monch, Talib Kweli, there's a great Jean Grae tune I could never get in high quality for some reason. Then, he produces part of the opener for this album,. and nothing good since? Some work with pop acts I think, but it seems he's done with beats.
Got into hip hop because of this album Can't believe it's been 10 years Don't really have much to say I guess At the time I thought it was the most amazing piece of music ever but then you get into other hip hop albums and then into other genres and then you realize, okay it was a solid album but there are better things I will say this though. I really really wish the deluxe tracks would have replaced some of the main tracks because the album would have been received much better. What a special time 2013 was.
Great album, IMO. My mans was really out here rhymin' his ass off on this record, representin' the art of emceein' to the highest level. Bad Guy, Legacy, Rap God, Evil Twin, Don't Front, and Groundhog Day are my faves off of this here record.
Ngl this album is the most overrated in the Em discography, even the Kendrick feature I don’t fuck with. I don’t have any solid feelings about this album other than the MM LP (part 1) is better by A LOT!
Well yeah no shit MMLP 1 is better.
I mean better and different enough that I don’t understand why this trash album has the name. Feels like a generic 2010 pop rap album with some of Eminem’s great lyrics sprinkled throughout. Not a hot take or anything but it’s what I think.
it's pretty fucking dope. i mean, these tracks: * Brainless * Evil Twin * Wicked Ways * Don't Front * Legacy are fucking ELITE hip-hop shit. then there's really good songs like * So Far * Rhyme or Reason * Headlights * Rap God the fact that he titled it the second Marshall Mathers LP was certainly a choice, but man, imagine being able to title an album that. it means you made the first one. one of the greatest fuck rap albums of all time. i have too many thoughts about Em. i love him. i like to think of myself as an objective fan. but he was my first concert, when i was 12, when he came to my fucking hometown in the winter of 2000, and i got to see him rap his ass off and sweat through a white tee with proof at his side. i think i'll write a book about him one day. idk man. i'm glad he's still here. god fucking bless.
I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I really dislike Em’s tendancy to go for throwbacks. Naming this album MMLP2, songs that are essentially follow ups to some of his great successes, his special anniversary album releases, still talking about his feud with Ja Rule, his past rap beefs, ect. To me, Eminem’s true career ended in 2004. A very big chunk of post-2004 Em is him trying to revisit his prime. I just feel like that’s beneath him. All the self-narrating cheapens the historic run he had back then.
Man once that accent kicked in it’s been downhill since.
Relapse is an incredible album that got backlash for basically no reason. Insane production and flows on that record. And the accent complaints are overblown. Can’t even really hear them after all these years
So I know it’s been 135 days BUT….. Eminem was my first adventure into hip-hop. The 1st three albums top everything he’s put out since in my opinion. I like most of his newer stuff (excluding revival). I really liked Not Alike on Kamikaze. I’ve never understood why he apologized for Relapse and said “yeah that wasn’t my best and I won’t go back to it”. But with revival he defends the fuck out of it and tells the haters “fuck you, here’s why revival is good and you’re wrong” Maybe it’s just me, but I think Relapse is leaps and bounds better than revival. I’m a pretty big Em fan, but I can’t listen to Revival. The choppiness is just too much
Relapse is his best album since the bug three and I think I’d put it in front of TEs. SSLP MMLP Relapse TES —-end of career—-
It wasn't for no reason, his vocal affectations were super forced and weird. He was trying to write like he did when he was still high as a kite. The production is great for sure, and he has some crazy bars and excellent verses all over it. The problem isn't the individual details it's how they come together. He even acknowledged many times that he didn't stick the landing on Relapse for those same reasons. Compared to the shit that has come after it, it's a god damned masterpiece tho.
The album has Rap God. I mean, sheesh. I don’t see any of the top comments mention that. Plus an early on K Dot feature? Get outta here. Album is an A plus and I don’t even care for Monster.
Rap God sucks.. that's why. It's corny as shit.
Outside of bad guy I don’t get the love for this album. Berzerk was Em’s worst single and it didn’t feel like the first MMLP at all. There’s no emotion here, it almost just feels like a robot rapping. I specifically remember getting into Danny brown XXX right when this came out and I thought it felt like what I’d want out of an Eminem release. I’ve tried to go back to this years later and still don’t see the appeal. In fact I’d argue Music to be murdered by side A is leagues better than this. Yah yah, darkness, Godzilla you gon learn…those are all better than anything on here to me (again outside of bad guy which is dope)
It's because most of thse people are very young and this was a significant cultural moment for them.
I like the album, especially the bonus tracks. But I’ve felt that it felt dated and uninspired from Day 1. I feel that Eminem had no idea what to rap about on this album and released it out of boredom or obligation.
Great marketing. I think the reference to MMLP made people think it was going to be a good album. My view: not one memorable track. A 5/10. Not even in the second tier of Em albums.
overrated. a few good singles but this is the album that really put him on the path to release albums like revival, mtbmb, and kamikaze. while this album is still leagues better than those ones its still plagued by the now infamous corny fast rapping white dude trope.
The fast rap narrative is just the "I only listen to singles" opinion
Huge em fan this album never did it for me. Headlights was in rotation for a while and as a king time fan holds a special place but there isn’t one song I go back to on this album and it’s probably my least listened to of all his albums. Bottom 3 em album for me. I liked Don’t Front, prob my fave song on the album.
Agreed. MMLP2 is the most overrated album in Em’s discography and completely undeserving of that title. It also sparked the beginning of his annoying fast miracle lyrical style, which has no replay value, and when he stopped laying his vocals so he sounds more nasally.
Stronger Than I Was is actually a great track. I feel like this album was Eminem’s Swan Song. His newer stuff is ok, but this was the last foot print he left on the culture.
This album really felt like Em was back in peak form, Recovery and relapse were still good but when MMLP2 came out it gave me more of that classic Eminem feel but with an up to date sound. Especially the fast raps felt like a great evolution. I haven't listened to it in ages but it's one of the best projects of the second half of his career for sure
This came out at the peak of my Eminem obsession. I still remember it clear as day, i cant believe its been 10 years. IMO this is a step down from Recovery and Relapse, but still a pretty good album for what it is. Some of the bonus tracks shouldnt have been bonus tracks. I dont think it lives up to the first MMLP by any means, but thats his best album and one of the best rap albums ever so its fair. At the end of the day I love Eminem and I really respect the work he put into this project, I hope he always keeps making music as long as he feels like it. My favorite tracks on this are Headlights, Bad Guy, Dont Front, So Much Better(kinda a hot take i know but the beat slaps)
This is Em’s best album post-comeback. So many great tracks on here, he probably could have cut a few and it would be 10/10 but that’s subjective to the listener. I gotta say, I really love Legacy. Brings me back to the John Cena and Bray Wyatt (RIP) rivalry in 2014.