Rank Eminem's albums

[OneFallsRich]

TES
MMLP
MMLP2
SSLP
Recovery
Relapse
Encore
Infinite

[LmtdShady]

I can't rank them, because I don't look at them as "just albums" he released. Each one was tied to his life situation at the time, so that's how they have to be judged. For instnace, if some don't like Encore becuase it was too bizzare, it's because he was on hardcore drugs at the time. If some dislike Recovery because it was too soft, it's because he was literally going through a recovery process in real life. But I will add that I'm in awe at how even at this age, he's pure fire in MMLP2. Each new album is my new favorite.

[Brainless BadGuy]

MMLP
TES
Devil's Night
SSLP
MMLP2
Relapse /Refill
HTS
D12 World
Encore
Recovery
Infinite

[UofLCard]

Infinite gets too much undeserved disrespect.

[Brainless BadGuy]

Infinite gets too much undeserved disrespect.

The only reason I rank it last is because the production sounds pretty terrible tbh, I do find it a good album to listen to now and again although I do prefer the SSEP.

[unmissingpiece]

I can't rank them, because I don't look at them as "just albums" he released. Each one was tied to his life situation at the time, so that's how they have to be judged. For instnace, if some don't like Encore becuase it was too bizzare, it's because he was on hardcore drugs at the time. If some dislike Recovery because it was too soft, it's because he was literally going through a recovery process in real life. But I will add that I'm in awe at how even at this age, he's pure fire in MMLP2. Each new album is my new favorite.

What recovery process?

[Visadio]

MMLP
TES
SSLP
Relapse
MMLP2
Encore
Recovery
Infinite

[shadyblogger]

I can't rank them, because I don't look at them as "just albums" he released. Each one was tied to his life situation at the time, so that's how they have to be judged. For instnace, if some don't like Encore becuase it was too bizzare, it's because he was on hardcore drugs at the time. If some dislike Recovery because it was too soft, it's because he was literally going through a recovery process in real life. But I will add that I'm in awe at how even at this age, he's pure fire in MMLP2. Each new album is my new favorite.

What recovery process?

Are you serious "what recovery process"? The man was getting sober. That says enough right there but he also had other issues in his life at the time as well.

[unmissingpiece]

I can't rank them, because I don't look at them as "just albums" he released. Each one was tied to his life situation at the time, so that's how they have to be judged. For instnace, if some don't like Encore becuase it was too bizzare, it's because he was on hardcore drugs at the time. If some dislike Recovery because it was too soft, it's because he was literally going through a recovery process in real life. But I will add that I'm in awe at how even at this age, he's pure fire in MMLP2. Each new album is my new favorite.

What recovery process?

Are you serious "what recovery process"? The man was getting sober. That says enough right there but he also had other issues in his life at the time as well.

Not really while recording Recovery. I meant that I didn't know about any issues in his life that occurred during Recovery. That was more around 2005-2008, right? He had been sober for a while then. If you're referring to how he referenced his struggles in Recovery, I'm not sure if discussing major personal issues would cause an album to be soft, for instance, the recovery process in Relapse is described in Deja Vu and yet Relapse wasn't soft.

I don't even think Recovery is "soft" .. I enjoy it less for other reasons.

[shadyblogger]

Eminem got sober 2008. He recorded Recovery 2009-2010 for the most part. Those are his first couple years of sobriety which are always the shakiest especially the first. People getting newly sober are unstable as fuck, usually insecure, and not performing at their optimal level, and somewhat traumatized to having such a drastically different lifestyle that affects them both emotionally and physically. Relapse really ought to have been more shaky of an album for him because he really was detoxing at that point and possibly in his first few days of sobriety on some songs. Recovery he was still well "recovering." MMLP 2 he had a few years of sobriety under his belt and was more or less back to normal and therefore produced much higher quality work. There are other factors that go into it but the whole getting sober process largely affected Relapse and Recovery. MMLP 2 he was way more stable emotionally and in his songs so the quality of songwriting on MMLP 2 was a lot stronger than that of Relapse and Recovery.

[unmissingpiece]

Yeah, I agree with that. Staying sober is likely a real struggle.

But getting sober doesn't necessarily =/= a soft album.
Why do people refer to Recovery as that soft anyway? It was toned down in comparison to Relapse, but he was violent, explicit, etc on Recovery as well.

[shadyblogger]

Yeah, I agree with that. Staying sober is likely a real struggle.

But getting sober doesn't necessarily =/= a soft album.
Why do people refer to Recovery as that soft anyway? It was toned down in comparison to Relapse, but he was violent, explicit, etc on Recovery as well.

Recovery was watered down and way too poppy for its own good. It also felt very unnatural and forced. It didn't feel like a true Eminem album.

And yes staying sober is most definitely one of the most difficult challenges to overcome. I have known some people who have fought addiction successfully and others who haven't. Addiction really is a terrible thing. I can't put into words how horrific and dark addiction can get. Some people's stories I have heard are enough to give me nightmares.

[unmissingpiece]

Yeah, I've struggled with different sorts of harmful addiction (not drugs, but similar things) and it's definitely hard and tempting to relapse.

Poppy and watered down, yes. I don't know, maybe I'm not interpreting the word "soft" right. I sort of call that selling out, but it seems too harsh to say that outright.

[shadyblogger]

Recovery has a lot of pop beats and the hooks/choruses are extremely poppy and at times annoying. Eminem's punchlines and puns are often corny and awkward on Recovery. That's pretty much all I'm saying.

[unmissingpiece]

The subject matter wasn't that poppy but the production/features were.