Ranking Eminem's 8 studio albums
To try and diversify content a little bit and not just shoehorn myself in sports I decided to look to pop culture today. Eminem, an artist I liked a ton during middle school and high school released his 8th official studio album Friday Revival. I listened to it. Then I decided to compare it by listening to all the albums in reverse order. For those who don't know that is Revival, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Recovery, Relapse, Encore, The Eminem Show, The Marshall Mathers LP, & The Slim Shady LP. Any song I know by heart after hearing the beginning and end to see how it fits in album placement I skipped for time's sake. It was fun to have a day with just some headphones on and thinking about life while listening to music. I haven't did this in a good 7-8 years when I was deep into listening to hip hop, R&B, & Pop music. I've diversified and allowed a little rock to seep in there.
What's the criteria for this? Unlike my boxing rankings there isn't much. This is the exact opposite. Do I or don't I like a song. Do I or don't I like the album. Does the album make sense? Does it fit together? These are all thoughts going through my head as I listen critically to the album. Of course I'm revealing it in reverse order so #1 is at the bottom if you really want to scroll down there. I tried to come up with some form of justification for each album without rambling. I can say after listening to each album that my #1 album didn't change at all while listening. I had a feeling it was the best Eminem album and even proclaimed that I doubt he could top it again. His later albums showed that exact struggle.
8) Revival- His newest entry was a let down. He took on Donald Trump and went for a pop commercial sound. He went pop and commercial for his guest appearances which featured hardly any rappers despite owning his own label and having many frequent collaborators. This was his 8th and worst studio effort.
7) Relapse- I remember liking this album more as a kid. I think that is because of the type of sarcastic humor which would have fit well with me in high school/college. However going back and listening to it. It is the opposite of Revival. It isn't really a pop sensation even though it tries to be with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent on there. He also appeals to the hardcore rap fan with a few songs and of course attempts his commercial draw. However it feels like he recorded 50 songs and picked his 20 favorites. It didn't really have a clear concise message. This was his 5th studio effort.
6) Recovery- I came into this thinking it was his most commercial outing.(At the point it was released it was.) However his newest Album Revival attempts to snatch that. This does however show the deep lyrics Eminem has showed flashes of throughout his rap career. The wordplay is there. It is something its predecessor Relapse lacked. This is the beginning of him dumping the other rappers he frequently collaborated with like D-12, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre and pushing more main stream with Pink and Rihanna. This was his 6th studio effort.
5) Encore- This album was a lot of hit and miss. The first half the the album struggled. They definitely picked the wrong single in Mosh for it. They should have went with Encore or Never Enough if they wanted to get everyone going. The middle of the album struggles until song 13. Once the 2nd single Just Lose It hits the album goes in with 7 straight really good or great songs that I would rarely skip if I were listening to my library on random. This is a good album but not great. You could tell his best work was behind him. This was Eminem's 4th studio album.
4) The Marshall Mathers LP 2- The only recent album I like. It is borderline great. Legacy may be my favorite Eminem song. He had the clever wordplay that returned on Recovery. It was more consistent than Recovery and Relapse. It was shades of an earlier Eminem and maybe channeling a previous title for a part 2 like The Marshall Mathers LP is just good luck for Eminem. The verse for Stan part two tossed in their with a couple other verses from The Marshall Mathers LP was an excellent callback. So was the skit that seemed to continue where Criminal left off nearly 12 years before. This was an attempt at a concept album that Eminem isn't known for. He still had the commercial appeal with Rick Rubin producing Bezerk, Legacy, The Monster featuring Rihanna, etc. This was Eminem's 7th studio album.
3) The Slim Shady LP- This is definitely Eminem before he took rap seriously. He took it seriously as in hey I need to get paid for this. The album is really really good. He took some of his earlier work an merged it onto this album.(Role Model , 97 Bonnie & Clyde etc.) He went commercial with My Name Is which took MTV by storm. This brought Eminem to commercial respect. Guilty Conscience followed featuring his first official collaboration with Dr. Dre and the start of a long partnership that was very beneficial for both artists. This is also Eminem's funniest album to date. I enjoyed going back through it probably for the first time in 5-6 years when I probably put it on while rushing to and from work. This was Eminem's 1st studio album
2) The Marshall Mathers LP- The first Classic Eminem released. He built upon the Slim Shady LP with an even better album, something most artists struggle to do.(check any issue of The Source/XXL from 92-2007 and you can read about a ton of Sophomore slumps.) The Real Slim Shady somehow gained even more popularity if that was possible following My Name Is. It happened when he took over MTV with 100 people that "looked exactly like him," a direct quote from the song. I'm not sure Tupac would have got the same response if he had 100 people dressed like him in the studio.The second single The Way I Am let you into the type of person Eminem is. He also came deep with guest appearances from D12, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Nate Dogg, & Sticky Fingaz. Stan was his third single and again struck a cord with fans. He later did a rendition with Elton John that took the world by storm. And of course you have Bitch Please two, Marshall Mathers, Under the Influence and Criminal which also very big songs for him. This is the album that caused a lot of parents to take note of the mature content on the album that they may not have paid attention to with the Slim Shady LP. I remember in middle school during the Up In Smoke tour the leg in my city was cancelled and they rescheduled to like 50 miles down the road. It was a huge news story in the area and why Charleston, WV struggles to bring in top artists.(T.I. was the last big artist and even he couldn't wait to get out there and was really slow to hit the stage.) This was Eminem's 2nd studio album.
1) The Eminem Show- This is the definitive album for Eminem. It was the apex of his career and I called it just that when it came out. You can listen to this album nearly front to back and not find a flaw. Everything flows together masterfully much like the last album. However this once again made Eminem more popular at the time it was released. The worst part of the album is 7-9 when Soldier, Say Goodbye to Hollywood, & Drips come in a row. That's the worst part and all are good to passable songs. You later get a 3 song arc of When the Music Stops featuring D-12, Say What You Say featuring Dr. Dre, Til I Collapse featuring Nate Dogg at 16-18 that I would put up against any other artists 3 song arc of an album.(note none of these are separated by skips/interludes.) This album has something for everybody on it. He even raps about the white privilege on White America that dominates the news cycle today. I could literally talk about every song on the album. But I digress. This is without a doubt his best album bar none. No bad songs or songs I would ever think about skipping. This was Eminem's 3rd studio album.
So that's the list. Just a quick recap incase you don't want to read the above.
1) The Eminem Show
2) The Marshall Mathers LP
3) The Slim Shady LP
4) The Marshall Mathers LP 2
5) Encore
6) Recovery
7) Relapse
8) Revival
What's the criteria for this? Unlike my boxing rankings there isn't much. This is the exact opposite. Do I or don't I like a song. Do I or don't I like the album. Does the album make sense? Does it fit together? These are all thoughts going through my head as I listen critically to the album. Of course I'm revealing it in reverse order so #1 is at the bottom if you really want to scroll down there. I tried to come up with some form of justification for each album without rambling. I can say after listening to each album that my #1 album didn't change at all while listening. I had a feeling it was the best Eminem album and even proclaimed that I doubt he could top it again. His later albums showed that exact struggle.
8) Revival- His newest entry was a let down. He took on Donald Trump and went for a pop commercial sound. He went pop and commercial for his guest appearances which featured hardly any rappers despite owning his own label and having many frequent collaborators. This was his 8th and worst studio effort.
7) Relapse- I remember liking this album more as a kid. I think that is because of the type of sarcastic humor which would have fit well with me in high school/college. However going back and listening to it. It is the opposite of Revival. It isn't really a pop sensation even though it tries to be with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent on there. He also appeals to the hardcore rap fan with a few songs and of course attempts his commercial draw. However it feels like he recorded 50 songs and picked his 20 favorites. It didn't really have a clear concise message. This was his 5th studio effort.
6) Recovery- I came into this thinking it was his most commercial outing.(At the point it was released it was.) However his newest Album Revival attempts to snatch that. This does however show the deep lyrics Eminem has showed flashes of throughout his rap career. The wordplay is there. It is something its predecessor Relapse lacked. This is the beginning of him dumping the other rappers he frequently collaborated with like D-12, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre and pushing more main stream with Pink and Rihanna. This was his 6th studio effort.
5) Encore- This album was a lot of hit and miss. The first half the the album struggled. They definitely picked the wrong single in Mosh for it. They should have went with Encore or Never Enough if they wanted to get everyone going. The middle of the album struggles until song 13. Once the 2nd single Just Lose It hits the album goes in with 7 straight really good or great songs that I would rarely skip if I were listening to my library on random. This is a good album but not great. You could tell his best work was behind him. This was Eminem's 4th studio album.
4) The Marshall Mathers LP 2- The only recent album I like. It is borderline great. Legacy may be my favorite Eminem song. He had the clever wordplay that returned on Recovery. It was more consistent than Recovery and Relapse. It was shades of an earlier Eminem and maybe channeling a previous title for a part 2 like The Marshall Mathers LP is just good luck for Eminem. The verse for Stan part two tossed in their with a couple other verses from The Marshall Mathers LP was an excellent callback. So was the skit that seemed to continue where Criminal left off nearly 12 years before. This was an attempt at a concept album that Eminem isn't known for. He still had the commercial appeal with Rick Rubin producing Bezerk, Legacy, The Monster featuring Rihanna, etc. This was Eminem's 7th studio album.
3) The Slim Shady LP- This is definitely Eminem before he took rap seriously. He took it seriously as in hey I need to get paid for this. The album is really really good. He took some of his earlier work an merged it onto this album.(Role Model , 97 Bonnie & Clyde etc.) He went commercial with My Name Is which took MTV by storm. This brought Eminem to commercial respect. Guilty Conscience followed featuring his first official collaboration with Dr. Dre and the start of a long partnership that was very beneficial for both artists. This is also Eminem's funniest album to date. I enjoyed going back through it probably for the first time in 5-6 years when I probably put it on while rushing to and from work. This was Eminem's 1st studio album
2) The Marshall Mathers LP- The first Classic Eminem released. He built upon the Slim Shady LP with an even better album, something most artists struggle to do.(check any issue of The Source/XXL from 92-2007 and you can read about a ton of Sophomore slumps.) The Real Slim Shady somehow gained even more popularity if that was possible following My Name Is. It happened when he took over MTV with 100 people that "looked exactly like him," a direct quote from the song. I'm not sure Tupac would have got the same response if he had 100 people dressed like him in the studio.The second single The Way I Am let you into the type of person Eminem is. He also came deep with guest appearances from D12, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Nate Dogg, & Sticky Fingaz. Stan was his third single and again struck a cord with fans. He later did a rendition with Elton John that took the world by storm. And of course you have Bitch Please two, Marshall Mathers, Under the Influence and Criminal which also very big songs for him. This is the album that caused a lot of parents to take note of the mature content on the album that they may not have paid attention to with the Slim Shady LP. I remember in middle school during the Up In Smoke tour the leg in my city was cancelled and they rescheduled to like 50 miles down the road. It was a huge news story in the area and why Charleston, WV struggles to bring in top artists.(T.I. was the last big artist and even he couldn't wait to get out there and was really slow to hit the stage.) This was Eminem's 2nd studio album.
1) The Eminem Show- This is the definitive album for Eminem. It was the apex of his career and I called it just that when it came out. You can listen to this album nearly front to back and not find a flaw. Everything flows together masterfully much like the last album. However this once again made Eminem more popular at the time it was released. The worst part of the album is 7-9 when Soldier, Say Goodbye to Hollywood, & Drips come in a row. That's the worst part and all are good to passable songs. You later get a 3 song arc of When the Music Stops featuring D-12, Say What You Say featuring Dr. Dre, Til I Collapse featuring Nate Dogg at 16-18 that I would put up against any other artists 3 song arc of an album.(note none of these are separated by skips/interludes.) This album has something for everybody on it. He even raps about the white privilege on White America that dominates the news cycle today. I could literally talk about every song on the album. But I digress. This is without a doubt his best album bar none. No bad songs or songs I would ever think about skipping. This was Eminem's 3rd studio album.
So that's the list. Just a quick recap incase you don't want to read the above.
1) The Eminem Show
2) The Marshall Mathers LP
3) The Slim Shady LP
4) The Marshall Mathers LP 2
5) Encore
6) Recovery
7) Relapse
8) Revival
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