The sequel business is mostly there to justify the grandiosity of such lengthy, multipartite marvels of rhyming dexterity as вЂњBad Guy,вЂќ вЂњRap God,вЂќ and вЂњSo FarвЂ¦,вЂќ as well as him being able to tap into the effortlessness of his younger self, which donвЂ™t come easy these days. No, it sounds nothing like the original Marshall Mathers LP, and that was wise. And then thereвЂ™s the absolutely incredible вЂњMy DadвЂ™s Gone Crazy,вЂќ which shows how much fun Eminem can have with his daughter on record when heвЂ™s not making her an accessory to uxoricide.Д«ut The Eminem Show was the first sign of cracks in EminemвЂ™s armor, beginning to repeat a formula and also including weak tracks the stretch from вЂњSoldierвЂќ to вЂњDripsвЂќ is so dire it almost nullifies those great openers, and вЂњSupermanвЂќ was the first of many misguided attempts to make Eminem a romantic lead. вЂњWhite AmericaвЂќ remains his best-ever political track, and вЂњCleaninвЂ™ Out My ClosetвЂќ is one of his most gripping and conflicted emotional moments on record, while вЂњSquare DanceвЂќ and вЂњBusinessвЂќ are showcases of Slim ShadyвЂ™s purely original Mobius strip of a flow circa 2002.

The opening four-song run is nearly as astonishing as anything EminemвЂ™s ever done. But the closing waltz (!) is his finest Slim Shady cut in years, and вЂњTalkinвЂ™ 2 MyselfвЂќ has dated well, especially his admission that he had to stop вЂњdissing people for no reason.вЂќ Recovery laid the groundwork for something better than Revival, thatвЂ™s hopefully still to come. The strangely buried production mix never quite gels with his rapping style, despite the first-time involvement of such hip-hop legends as Boi-1da and Just Blaze, and he abandons his skits and original characters for the most part (bye Ken Kaniff!) to mixed, overly earnest results. Worst of all, in this context, the fact he still makes rape jokes (вЂњJust escaped from the state pen for raping eight women who hate men') is more infuriating than it was when he didnвЂ™t know better.ДЄt first, Recovery sounded like EminemвЂ™s worst, a defeated attempt to bury his sound and at long last try and catch up to what rap actually sounded like. The hooks are platitudes, the production often sounds like Rubin tracked at an airport, and EmвЂ™s verses are so hamstrung he fails to land both punchlines (an Anna Nicole Smith joke in 2017?) and polemics (nothing here as on-point as that BET cipher). He's also using his privilege for good by calling upon such fellow icons as BeyoncГ© and Rick вЂњ99 ProblemsвЂќ Rubin to assist him in eviscerating police racism and the callousness of this presidency. Revival comes with the most noble intentions of any Eminem record, and admitting to his past abuse and manipulation of Kim - as well as his regrets about Hailie and nearly dying from his pill addiction ten years ago - are all brave subjects to tackle. At his low point, itвЂ™s still incredible how well he could flow, even if the content wasnвЂ™t necessarily all that.Д®minemвЂ™s newest album comes at an unfortunate historical juncture: a time when heвЂ™s called upon to say something meaningful about the worldвЂ™s fraught state to the largest audience of anyone in his genre, and an age where he is absolutely struggling to rap like he used to.

Dre turns in some amazing beats here towards the start (вЂњMy Mom,вЂќ вЂњInsane,вЂќ вЂњBagpipes from BaghdadвЂќ), and Eminem himself earns a couple showstoppers on the arena-ready вЂњMedicine BallвЂќ and the closing вЂњUnderground,вЂќ whose bizarre rhythm is unlike any youвЂ™ve ever heard in rap, yet he never strays from the beat.

The serial-killer schtick feels creepier and more gratuitous than ever because it rarely leads to a new or funny situation on tracks like вЂњ3 A.M.вЂќ or вЂњStay Wide Awake,вЂќ and singles like вЂњWe Made YouвЂќ and вЂњBeautifulвЂќ were diminishing returns of lighthearted and impassioned fare like вЂњWithout MeвЂќ and вЂњMockingbirdвЂќ respectively.Д«ut Dr. Marshall Mathers himself considered this a low point only a year later, commenting on Recovery that he вЂњran them accents into the groundвЂќ - and heвЂ™s not wrong. Here are his eight major-label efforts, ranked in ascending order of greatness.

The most imaginative and morally tortured rap superstar to emerge in BiggieвЂ™s shadow, Eminem has been shocking us, surprising us, and making us laugh out loud for nearly 20 years, as well as annoying and infuriating us plenty.

Eminem discography download