Relapse, Recover (lol!!!!) or MMLP2

[Mr Change]

MMLP2>>>>>>>>>>>Recovery>>>>>>Relapse


Said this since the first couple of days the album came out.

As long as it's Rec>>>Rel I can get on board

Nice to have someone that agrees on that matter on a website were most people are diehard Relapse fans

Off the top ratings atm;

MMLP2- 8.6
Recovery- 7.7
Relapse- 7.0
Encore- 5.5

[VINTAGƎ]

MMLP2>>>>>>>>>>>Recovery>>>>>>Relapse


Said this since the first couple of days the album came out.

As long as it's Rec>>>Rel I can get on board

Nice to have someone that agrees on that matter on a website were most people are diehard Relapse fans

Off the top ratings atm;

MMLP2- 8.6
Recovery- 7.7
Relapse- 7.0
Encore- 5.5

TES - 10/10
MMLP - 10/10
Recovery - 9.5/10
MMLP 2 - 9/10
SSLP - 9/10
Relapse - 6.5/10
Encore - 4.5/10

[Notalius]

As long as it's Rec>>>Rel I can get on board

Nice to have someone that agrees on that matter on a website were most people are diehard Relapse fans

Off the top ratings atm;

MMLP2- 8.6
Recovery- 7.7
Relapse- 7.0
Encore- 5.5

TES - 10/10
MMLP - 10/10
Recovery - 9.5/10
MMLP 2 - 9/10
SSLP - 9/10
Relapse - 6.5/10
Encore - 4.5/10

You know, liking Recovery more than Relapse one thing, but giving Recovery a 9.5 is just stupid.

[Eedee]

VINTAG3 confirmed GOAT.

[VINTAGƎ]

Recovery is a really good fucking album. I'm getting tired of having to defend it on here lol. I know one person in real life who prefers Relapse over Recovery and that's it. There's a reason why Em said what he said about Relapse on Recovery and Recovery on MMLP 2.

MMLP 2 was largely seen as "how can he top the critical/commercial success of the last album?"

I know people on here want to make it seem like the tracklist looked like this:

1. Not Afraid
2. Won't Back Down
3. Love The Way You Lie
4. Spacebound
5. Not Afraid
6. Not Afraid
7. Spacebound
8. Love The Way You Lie
9. Love The Way You Lie
10. Love The Way You Lie

But the reality is, he was spitting on most songs. Certainly didn't have a "Stronger Than I Was" track on it for those who want to argue that Recovery was a pop album and that he sold out. MMLP 2 has Survival, Headlights, The Monster, and Stronger Than I Was. Just keep that in mind.

Whether fans on here want to admit it or not, a Relapse 2 would have ended his career. Relapse was a failed experiment. The accents turned people off, the subject matter turned people off, the corny jokes turned people off. Did it have dope production? Sure. Was he rapping his ass off? Definitely. But the majority of listeners don't wanna hear songs about shoving flashlights up Kim Kardashian's ass, told by a man using a weird voice. People weren't down with that. Not after hearing Eminem Show and seeing the level he could take his music when he actually got serious. Recovery saved his career whether you liked the album or not. Relapse 2 would have ended him. Encore was seen as strike one, Relapse was strike two. He needed a game changer. It is what it is.

As far as placing it above SSLP, that's personal preference. The songs on Recovery were more diverse. SSLP was basically a showcase of rap skills and not so much a crafting of songs. His rhymes were some of the best he's had in his career, a lot of quotables, but that's about it. It wasn't an album that made me feel anything, aside from Rock Bottom. The rest of it was just me appreciating his lyrics. Same with Relapse. All I can take away from Relapse is that he was super lyrical. That's about all I can appreciate.

[shadyblogger]

Yeah I feel all of Eminem's albums were necessary in his discography for him to progress and change as an artist.

[unmissingpiece]

@Vintage, When you think about it, the critical reception of Recovery wasn't that great. It was 4% higher than Relapse (59/100) and even lower than Encore's. It's (excluding Re-Up) his 2nd lowest critic score.

Also, I think Relapse really showcased some of his best story-telling. It was atmospheric and dark and beautiful (to me.) There's some real classics on there, whereas on Recovery I can name one: GTC. And I think SSLP was more than a showcase of ability. It was creative, witty, and brilliant, not chock-full of poor production, punchlines, and shouting.

And in Recovery, what can you take away from "Cold Wind Blows," (great song, but what's the message?) "Won't Back Down," "W.T.P." "So Bad," "Cinderella Man," and "Seduction"?
Also, I think the reason people prefer Recovery to Relapse is because from what I've seen, Relapse takes time to digest, whereas Recovery wears on you after a while. People hear from others that Relapse is mediocre, then go and listen to that album with that mindset and dismiss it after that. I've encouraged some more casual Em fans I know to take another listen to Relapse. And they've all decided over time, that they prefer Relapse to Recovery. Take a look at Youtube and even the recent qs on Y!A, the opinion on Relapse and Recovery has definitely changed from 2010.

It's true that Recovery was a far better move commercially, as he featured pop artists and had more emotional, mainstream-appealing records. However, that's not a reason as to why Recovery's a better album. It may have been a smarter move career-wise because it appealed to the masses.
Just my two cents. It's not "stupid" to give Recovery a 9.5, because everyone has there own opinion, but I still don't see your reasoning behind it.

[VINTAGƎ]

@Vintage, When you think about it, the critical reception of Recovery wasn't that great. It was 4% higher than Relapse (59/100) and even lower than Encore's. It's (excluding Re-Up) his 2nd lowest critic score.

Also, I think Relapse really showcased some of his best story-telling. It was atmospheric and dark and beautiful (to me.) There's some real classics on there, whereas on Recovery I can name one: GTC. And I think SSLP was more than a showcase of ability. It was creative, witty, and brilliant, not chock-full of poor production, punchlines, and shouting.

And in Recovery, what can you take away from "Cold Wind Blows," (great song, but what's the message?) "Won't Back Down," "W.T.P." "So Bad," "Cinderella Man," and "Seduction"?
Also, I think the reason people prefer Recovery to Relapse is because from what I've seen, Relapse takes time to digest, whereas Recovery wears on you after a while. People hear from others that Relapse is mediocre, then go and listen to that album with that mindset and dismiss it after that. I've encouraged some more casual Em fans I know to take another listen to Relapse. And they've all decided over time, that they prefer Relapse to Recovery. Take a look at Youtube and even the recent qs on Y!A, the opinion on Relapse and Recovery has definitely changed from 2010.

It's true that Recovery was a far better move commercially, as he featured pop artists and had more emotional, mainstream-appealing records. However, that's not a reason as to why Recovery's a better album. It may have been a smarter move career-wise because it appealed to the masses.
Just my two cents. It's not "stupid" to give Recovery a 9.5, because everyone has there own opinion, but I still don't see your reasoning behind it.

I've not seen any negative reviews for Recovery from respected sources. And it generated more Grammy noms than any other album he's done. Not that Grammy noms determine which one of his albums is the best, but it does show critics were very warm on that album.

Never mind critics though, every one I know in real life prefers Recovery to Relapse save for one dude as I mentioned before. He's one of my best friends and we had a big discussion over the two albums when MMLP 2 dropped and I encouraged him to go back and re-listen to Recovery because he had that same "it was too pop" opinion that most on here seem to have. Then he called me back and said "bro he's going hard on a lot of these records." I was like yeah that's what I told you.

Eminem's reasoning behind Recovery is really the best way I can describe it. He said something about how, on Encore and Relapse, the jokes and the shock value stuff works on first listen, and that's it. Then the joke gets old. He wanted to make songs that were timeless. Songs like Sing For The Moment, Till I Collapse, Lose Yourself. Which is when he's arguably at his best. When he has a real, and serious topic to write about. Now, the songs on Recovery may not be of the same quality as the aforementioned songs, but I appreciate the effort. I also think, as I said before, it was a very diverse record. His most well rounded album (well, until MMLP 2 dropped, which may give it competition in terms of variety) but look at his previous works. Slim Shady was largely word play songs, just flexing his rhymes and getting his feet wet. Marshall Mathers was largely anger driven music, pretty much a fuck you to his detractors on a lot of the tracks. Eminem Show was a mature record and largely personal, most of the songs were a reflection of that. Encore was largely humor based, although the jokes fell flat. Relapse was horror driven content wise, and relied heavily on technical skill. But look at the variety on Recovery:

1.) Cold Wind Blows - Classic Shady feeling track. Somewhat humorous spitting track.
2.) T2M - A personal record about his state of mind while battling his addiction, watching the rap game from the sidelines
3.) On Fire - Just pure spitting
4.) WBD - A rock driven track of just spitting. People may or may not enjoy it, but that's what it was
5.) WTP - Classic Shady joke track. Every album has at least one, and this was it.
6.) GTC - A personal record about fighting through his addiction
7.) Not Afraid - An anthemic, motivational record about overcoming your demons and rising above. Making it out of a dark place. Again, whether you like the track or not, objectively, that's what it is.
8.) Seduction - Smooth spitting track which shows Eminem in rare super cocky form.
9.) No Love - Pure spitting
10.) Spacebound - Twisted spin on a love song. It ends with Eminem choking the girl to death and killing himself. Pop sounding as it may be, it has dark imagery.
11.) Cinderella Man - Anthemic motivational track. That classic underdog theme he's known for writing about.
12.) 25 To Life - A song about his place in the game told from the perspective of a damaged relationship.
13.) So Bad - Chill, entertaining track with a typical Dre beat.
14.) Almost Famous - Pure spitting
15.) Love The Way You Lie - A love song about an abusive relationship.
16.) You're Never Over - Emotional track about the death of his best friend. A relatable track for anyone who's ever lost someone.
17.) Untitled - Pure spitting


Bottom line, it had different moods. If I was in a silly mood, I could put on WTP. If I was going through some tough times, I could throw on Not Afraid or Cinderella man. If I was in the middle of a shitty relationship, I could put on LTWYL, Spacebound, 25 To Life. If I wanted to vibe out I could put on So Bad. If I wanted to appreciate lyricism and Eminem going off, I could put on On Fire, Almost Famous, Untitled, etc.

Whereas Relapse, I can only be in one specific mood to appreciate it. A dark mood. That's it. That serial killer stuff is on almost every song, so much so that, any song that isn't (Deja Vu, Beautiful, We Made You) feels largely out of place.

I like diversity on records because I don't feel just one way all the time. I feel a variety of emotions and Recovery covers most of them. That's why I consider it a much better record.

[yoda you can call me]

I see what you're getting at but you've left one thing out about recovery, and that's his punchline rhyming that he adapted for the entire album.
It wasn't his style and i think he written that way because his confidence was knocked so badly from relapse and encore, that he went from spitting the most technically awe inspiring rhyme schemes to writing cheesy based punchlines in the space of a year, which leaves me to believe he was emulating current emcees that were dominating mainstream at the time (cough cough Lil Wayne cough cough)

That recovery period certainly showed vulnerability in his rhymes and in his subject matter.
I stanned over that album originally and i still think it's decent, because em on his B game is better than 90 percent of emcees on their A game..
But as time went by, the cracks appeared and it became obvious that album was not Eminem, it was forced..
MMLP2 however is most definitely EMINEM

[space_bone]

deciding on catching fire, or frozen. tonite. any input?

[unmissingpiece]

deciding on catching fire, or frozen. tonite. any input?

Off topic lol but I'd say catching fire. It was excellent!

[space_bone]

k. tough gurl time

[chopsuey567]

deciding on catching fire, or frozen. tonite. any input?

The Hobbit, ya dingus.

[Snakebeast]

Recovery is a gigantic schizophrenic mess that was rushed out the door.

[VINTAGƎ]

I see what you're getting at but you've left one thing out about recovery, and that's his punchline rhyming that he adapted for the entire album.
It wasn't his style and i think he written that way because his confidence was knocked so badly from relapse and encore, that he went from spitting the most technically awe inspiring rhyme schemes to writing cheesy based punchlines in the space of a year, which leaves me to believe he was emulating current emcees that were dominating mainstream at the time (cough cough Lil Wayne cough cough)

That recovery period certainly showed vulnerability in his rhymes and in his subject matter.
I stanned over that album originally and i still think it's decent, because em on his B game is better than 90 percent of emcees on their A game..
But as time went by, the cracks appeared and it became obvious that album was not Eminem, it was forced..
MMLP2 however is most definitely EMINEM

I really didn't feel the album had many terrible lines. Certainly not to the point where it ruined a song for me. Like on Wicked Ways he says "I'ma punch you in that hole where your eye goes, cuz I'ma sock it to you!" -- didn't ruin the song at all for me as I've raved about it many times on here.

Plus, bad lines to me are subjective. I think "my stepfather said that I sucked in the bed" is a bad line and not the kind of shit I can get down with -- I think an entire song about getting molested by your step dad is a bad idea in general and that has nothing to do with punchlines. It's all a matter of preference.

Eminem felt alive to me on Recovery. And real. No dyed hair, no trying to shock people. He was as a 39 year old should have been. Mature.