(for the record i LOVE recovery, but some ppl still pick at it...so heres my theory as to why)
Ok...the main problem with this album is the lone fact that it isn't an "Eminem" album
Its a mainstream rap album wich was conceived and released with one goal in mind: MAKE EMINEM POPULAR AGAIN AND PUT HIS NAME BACK ON THE MAP
Eminem is a smart guy. He knew what his career needed. It needed to be revived...recovered. So he and his people went back to the lab and decided to pretend relapse never happened. They publicly came out and told the world what they wanted to hear by saying "Relapse sucked, but wait...now we are really REALLY serious this time...this new album, you're gonna love it...we promise this time k!"
They got popular artists and producers and created a mainstream record. If Eminem created a raw hip hop masterpiece without the mainstream sound, it wouldnt have sold. People forgot who he was. His las 2 albums werent classics. He was practically a new artist again. He had to come out mainstream with this one and attract a crowd first.
Imagine if Kanye Wests first album sounded like MBDTF...people woulda been like "WTF IS THIS SH*T!? This n*gga is weird!"
But because he is already hot and didnt have to gain his fan base again, people accepted it for exactly what it was.... MUSIC.
So im sure Eminem will find that "Eminem" sound eventually, but for now lets just accept what he is doing in the mean time...he is rebuilding his brand and gettin popular again. Thats all.
Did he sell out? Maybe. Has he gone soft? Perhaps. Is he mainstream? Sure.
But...is he music still good? Yeah. Can he still spit fire? Hell yeah.
Its all a strategy people...its a business. He's still making music he wants to make, but he has a 2nd agenda...he wants to be hott again...i dont blame him...you cant be at the top of the world and then just come back a nobody. He NEEDS to be number one.