It has been three years since Eminem released Recovery, stating to the world that he was still recovering from his addictions. In Eminem’s usual controversial standards it was a ‘safe’ album and therefore it was an album that only a few songs that stood out, namely a song that I became attached to “Not Afraid”. It seemed, for the most part then, that Eminem was growing up a little. Had his new sober state done to that to him, or was it merely just Eminem having a middle life crisis?
So then once again in the public – the VMA’s no less – debuted a short clip of his then-upcoming music video for lead single “Berzerk”, which was then followed by the brilliant “Rap God”, “Survival” and the latest single “Monster”.
It is brave for him to name the album indicating that it is a sequel to the first Marshall Mathers LP but I’m sure that he has stated sometime in the press that this album is no way a sequel. I loved the first album but it’s shocking that I understand now as an adult most of the rhymes and words in there now. Then again I’ve grown out of this stupid love for Eminem now that I’m older, and not that teenager kid anymore. There are many bad points about this album and not enough good points, and again the whole “Marshall Mathers LP” is just off-putting. The album is legendary, and it cannot be outdone or surpassed – it is a timeless recording of a rapper at the height of his powers.
I’ve always been a loyal fan of Eminem throughout the years and although Relapse and Recovery may not have been up to his usual standards, I feel that Marshall Mathers LP 2 is a grower of an album. With any album you’re bound to miss at least one thing when listening to it the first time around – something I am very vocal about. So with that said I’ve listened to this album a lot of times: back to front, front to back. The opener “Bad Guy” sees Eminem talking about confronting someone that he hasn’t seen for a long time, possibly his ex-wife Kim, but as it turns out it’s alter-ego Marshall Mathers. For an opener, it’s really good. And towards the end of the song Eminem switches back to his other vocal/rapping styles and it’s really good to see that he hasn’t forgotten them totally.
The rest of the album flows to and fro much you’d like expect with the odd guest appearance by a few others, such as Skylar Grey, Kendrick Lamar and Rhianna namely. There are obvious favourites from the album – the singles “Berzerk” and “Rap God” - but I think that this album could be looked at with different views of opinions. Firstly: this album gets better with every listen, so if you’ve listened to once or twice and been put off, give it another spin and see what you think. Secondly: I think that Eminem has grown up in a lot of ways, yes he still raps about the obvious things, but to me it’s all just fun and games – there’s no malice behind it. Thirdly: I grew up listening to Eminem. I must admit that Recovery did improve his overall rapping technique largely. He had a better flow to his songs, more punchlines and better delivery, than less about putting on a stupid voice mimicking a child. The Marshall Mathers LP 2 sees his momentum improve: there’s a skit on the second track (the only one to feature on the entire album) whereas on Recovery there no skits.
So with repeated listens this album gets better, that’s a fact. It’s almost like this is an album of two halves – one half is as you’d expect, then the second half has more ballads and even the emotional “Headlights” which is an apology to Eminem’s mum. If the aforementioned song is anything to go by, then yes Eminem is growing up. I love the guest spots as well. Rhianna and Skylar Grey both Eminem has worked with them before, so it’s not odd to see them return with another guest spot again. Like many metal bands do and feature guest musicians is, it always awesome to see rappers as big as Eminem give another rapper the spotlight. Unlike Relapse which is one of my less favourite albums of his, MMLP2 is incredibly good; again, people are going to look at this in all different lights, but one thing I know is that I love this album.
RATING: 5 / 5
