Viewing Eminem's Career Collectively.

[whore to a chainsaw]

I have seen all sorts of seemingly unflattering personality types bickering back and forth between one another like a bitchy old lady on her rag bickering back and forth with another bitchy old lady on her rag in regards to the quality of specific Eminem albums when placed in contrast with other Eminem albums.

Sure, Encore isn't as good as the rest of the bunch... but when it came out... did it not ADD to Eminem's legacy?

I'm sure most of the people here that have been fans since 1999 or 2000 will know what I'm saying when I'm saying ''When the Eminem show came out... and then 8 mile... most fans were probably thinking ''what the fuck is he going to do now?''

OBVIOUSLY a point in time would have come in which it was simply impossible for him to match his previous work... Encore being the representation of this. But, did any of you listen to Encore and decide that Eminem sucked? Or... did you find a couple of the songs that you like and promote Eminem to the friends you had that didn't like him regardless of his latest album being inferior when placed in comparison to those before it?

I know I denied it's mediocrity (for an Eminem album) to myself and listened the toilet humor out of that shit. Why would I do this if deep down I knew that he had fallen off?

Because whether it amounted to less than his prior efforts or not... he came up with something. He pumped out another album after SSLP, MMLP and the Eminem show. Something that was likely more difficult than making the first 3 prime albums even at a lesser quality because of what he had already said.

For this reason to truly appreciate how much of a fucking genius... no... sage? That's the same thing... damnit.. I dunno... To appreciate how much of a fucking good at rap guy that Eminem is you have to consider his entire career.

I see a lot of these stupid disputes going on between relapse fans that dislike recovery and/or verse-vica.

The reason both of them are great is because of the contrast with each other.

The reason The Eminem Show is so great is because it shows the diversity of the person that made it... because before that he made The Marshall Mathers LP.

That is what is so mind blowing about Eminem. One of the things, anyways. You can't show someone one Eminem CD and expect them to fully understand why he is so great. You can't show them lose yourself, criminal, kim, stan, sing for the moment, my darling, stay wide awake... his old sick freestyles... ANY of it. Sure you can blow their minds, but not to the extent that Eminem deserves.

What makes the Eminem show INCREDIBLE is how he continuously STILL makes FANTASTIC albums, and on top of that, the artist that made Encore, Relapse and Recovery is the same guy that made The Marshall Mathers LP, AND the Slim Shady LP that were each unique and each masterpieces and completely genius. Hes come up with this shit AFTER ALREADY making all of those masterpieces and basically saying what we thought was ''it all.''

No one is ever satisfied with what comes out.

It's always ''I miss the slim shady style Eminem... fuck this serious shit'' so he makes relapse. Relapse comes out and people are like ''What the fuck? Where are the serious songs? Where is the emotion?'' so he makes ''Recovery.'' That comes out and people are like ''What the fuck? SELL OUT! look at all of this emotional, main-stream appeasing dribble. Look at this one pun from this one song on the collective entirety of the album. Window Pane. Holy shit this CD sucks where is the angry Eminem from MMLP?''

THIS MAN CAN NOT WIN.

People disliking relapse before recovery came out is a perfect example of this.

He had to show that he could do both. Two CDs, the exact opposite (nearly, and from a lot of different standpoints, aside from both of them rocking) blowing anything else like either one of them out of the water... both by the same guy.

Recovery is amazing because it is a solid CD, and Eminem came up with it after coming up with everything ELSE he already came up with in his career. After saying what Eminem had said in his songs in the era in which relapse and refill had been released, what could most artists come up with that would be even close to Recovery? It's not about whether or not his latest CDs are as good as his first three... if anything it shows he has MORE talent even if they are not quite as good as the first three, because of how hard it would be to keep it fresh after slaughtering the whole genre that many years ago. You have to look at his whole career collectively to truly appreciate his genius. Each album makes me happier than the last and makes me respect Eminem more than the last because I consider that what I am listening to has been created by the man that created all of his older albums, after creating everything he has already created.

It is hard to verbalize my thoughts here, and find the words to explain what I mean here... but as major Eminem fans, I am SURE most of you must understand what I am trying to say.

Now that MMLP2 is coming out... people are going to be stacking it up against the greatest piece of musical artistry that this entire generation will see. That's not even a subjective opinion... although not all will agree, that's due to ignorance and what I said about MMLP is an objective fact.

No one is going to be considering how much HARDER it would be for Eminem to even come close to MMLP after already verbally raping fucking... everything. His options are so limited. He's already come up with the best of the best... then he's done it again and again until the new best is 80% of what used to be possible and now is not... because of him and how he already did it... To come up with a CD that simply is not a DISASTER would be an extremely amazing achievement when you consider what he has left to work with... what he has already done in his career... what he has already revealed about himself and the intensity/degree of it... we all know him so well. He has no wiggle space to use... what I mean is... to even TOUCH MMLP, he would have to have that same buzz going around about him like he did in 2000 when he was new to the scene. THERE IS NO WAY HE CAN DO IT. Anything he says (that matches what we're unrealistically expecting... to tie MMLP) could probably be easily contradicted by many of the personal truths he has admitted.

So he goes into character for it... so what? When MMLP came out... people ACTUALLY BELIEVED that he was nuts. He refused to compromise to ANY degree on that album. It was a nuclear bomb. No one had heard anything like it.

Do you know how hard/impossible it would be to provoke those feelings at the same intensity amongst the listeners? Especially when he has already revealed enough about himself to contradict any kind of behavior that is comparable to the shit on MMLP. He is setting himself up for extreme ridicule from ignorant people.

Don't get me wrong... I am excited as fuck about this album and especially since he's named it MMLP2... but seriously? SERIOUSLY? He actually thinks that it's POSSIBLE to appease fans that are stacking this new album up to the original MMLP... while knowing how critical his fans are?

I hope this CD is just fucking annihilating. I hope he lyrically murders the types of people I am talking about in this post. I hope he admits to being aware of the fact that most will think it wont stack up and proves that he sincerely does not give a fuck about them.

I can already see the infuriating responses when the album drops... it is INCREDIBLE... but it doesn't match MMLP so people start complaining. It will happen. No matter how good this album is. If he did everything PERFECT there is no way he will be able to appease those expecting to feel how they did with MMLP.

Instead of judging his present skills in comparison to his Y2K skills based on the quality of one album... why not look at his entire discography collectively... Listen to MMLP2 while keeping yourself aware that ''the guy that wrote this is the guy that has ALREADY written sslp, mmlp, tes, etc.''

It makes it so much more amazing.

Sometimes I day-dream while driving and listening to his newer shit like fly-away... and I imagine how it must feel to have those prime CD's in your past... and to be able to come back 80% of the way when meeting that 80% is likely more difficult than meeting the 100% that was his prime back then... back before he had said it all.

Sorry... I didn't take my amphetamines today. I don't own any amphetamines... so I guess they're not mine to begin with... but if they were, I'd be a lot less scatter-brained and a lot more cleaning my room and asking people if they have a phone charger I can use.

[Eminemeatinm&m]

Dayum, Ya shit ass punk cheap asshole want me to read dat shit?

[ladelsofgravy]

I think some people have a hard-on for criticizing Eminem because if they don't, then they're Stans.

Truth be told, almost all rappers fall off and very few rappers retire as good (or relevant) as they were when they debuted.

It does annoy me how Eminem is criticized for making too many mistakes, yet Rakim made a pitiful album a few years ago after 10 years of putting out absolutely nothing, and it's absolutely fine.

[tommygun999]

Dayum, Ya shit ass punk cheap asshole want me to read dat shit?

[whore to a chainsaw]

Dayum, Ya shit ass punk cheap asshole want me to read dat shit?

No.

For you I have a real treat. (It's only for special users though... so don't tell any of the regular members about it or they will be jealous.)

Check this out... but don't tell your parents you saw it here... No one wants to see you gone, and in replacement some angry, PMSing meta-Eminemeatinm&m taking your place to inflict bitching on us...

But here;

[_))lllllllllllllllD

^look at what it looks like LOL. You can go on MSN and make one yourself... highlight that and hit copy and select your favorite MSN contact... and say ''Hey, look at this it's my THINGY lol!'' and then as you await their impressed & shocked response... you can paste it a second time... this time removing several of the small case ''L's'' from the ASCII art... and then hit enter and be like ''The first one was mine, this one is yours.''

You can take the credit for thinking of it so everyone will think highly of you.

I would do it myself but its efficacy in regards to making you look cool seems to progressively decrease as you ascend through the teen years.

You're welcome.

[cryonseris]

I'm not reading all that because it's past midnight, but OP is cool.

[Eminemeatinm&m]

Dayum, Ya shit ass punk cheap asshole want me to read dat shit?

No.

For you I have a real treat. (It's only for special users though... so don't tell any of the regular members about it or they will be jealous.)

Check this out... but don't tell your parents you saw it here... No one wants to see you gone, and in replacement some angry, PMSing meta-Eminemeatinm&m taking your place to inflict bitching on us...

But here;

[_))lllllllllllllllD

^look at what it looks like LOL. You can go on MSN and make one yourself... highlight that and hit copy and select your favorite MSN contact... and say ''Hey, look at this it's my THINGY lol!'' and then as you await their impressed & shocked response... you can paste it a second time... this time removing several of the small case ''L's'' from the ASCII art... and then hit enter and be like ''The first one was mine, this one is yours.''

You can take the credit for thinking of it so everyone will think highly of you.

I would do it myself but its efficacy in regards to making you look cool seems to progressively decrease as you ascend through the teen years.

You're welcome.

Shut da hell up nigga buzz, I'm not a teen anymo'

[whore to a chainsaw]

Dayum, Ya shit ass punk cheap asshole want me to read dat shit?

No.

For you I have a real treat. (It's only for special users though... so don't tell any of the regular members about it or they will be jealous.)

Check this out... but don't tell your parents you saw it here... No one wants to see you gone, and in replacement some angry, PMSing meta-Eminemeatinm&m taking your place to inflict bitching on us...

But here;

[_))lllllllllllllllD

^look at what it looks like LOL. You can go on MSN and make one yourself... highlight that and hit copy and select your favorite MSN contact... and say ''Hey, look at this it's my THINGY lol!'' and then as you await their impressed & shocked response... you can paste it a second time... this time removing several of the small case ''L's'' from the ASCII art... and then hit enter and be like ''The first one was mine, this one is yours.''

You can take the credit for thinking of it so everyone will think highly of you.

I would do it myself but its efficacy in regards to making you look cool seems to progressively decrease as you ascend through the teen years.

You're welcome.

Shut da hell up nigga buzz, I'm not a teen anymo'

I find this racist.

Could anyone PM me the name of whoever is in charge around here? I'm fairly new to this whole interneting stuff. I'm nearly certain, however, that racism is probably not tolerated in a place like this.

It's not that I am personally offended or anything... I'm not even a N (the rest of the letters are R, E, G, 4, I in reverse order... except for the number 4... which is just kind of there for the sake of inanity.) but my cat is black and it's always getting in fights with these 2 orange jerks that live 2 houses down... I know it sounds stupid but some cats are actually quite aware of the things that are going on around them that you would think are only perceivable by humans.

When my cat gets mad it always leaves a bunch of its hair on my bed as if it's my fault... and then I get itchy eyes and I have a difficult time watching Seinfeld re-runs. Fucking George... lol

Anyways, sidetracked again. Sorry. Please ban this person.

[Snakebeast]

No.

For you I have a real treat. (It's only for special users though... so don't tell any of the regular members about it or they will be jealous.)

Check this out... but don't tell your parents you saw it here... No one wants to see you gone, and in replacement some angry, PMSing meta-Eminemeatinm&m taking your place to inflict bitching on us...

But here;

[_))lllllllllllllllD

^look at what it looks like LOL. You can go on MSN and make one yourself... highlight that and hit copy and select your favorite MSN contact... and say ''Hey, look at this it's my THINGY lol!'' and then as you await their impressed & shocked response... you can paste it a second time... this time removing several of the small case ''L's'' from the ASCII art... and then hit enter and be like ''The first one was mine, this one is yours.''

You can take the credit for thinking of it so everyone will think highly of you.

I would do it myself but its efficacy in regards to making you look cool seems to progressively decrease as you ascend through the teen years.

You're welcome.

Shut da hell up nigga buzz, I'm not a teen anymo'

I find this racist.

Could anyone PM me the name of whoever is in charge around here? I'm fairly new to this whole interneting stuff. I'm nearly certain, however, that racism is probably not tolerated in a place like this.

It's not that I am personally offended or anything... I'm not even a N (the rest of the letters are R, E, G, 4, I in reverse order... except for the number 4... which is just kind of there for the sake of inanity.) but my cat is black and it's always getting in fights with these 2 orange jerks that live 2 houses down... I know it sounds stupid but some cats are actually quite aware of the things that are going on around them that you would think are only perceivable by humans.

When my cat gets mad it always leaves a bunch of its hair on my bed as if it's my fault... and then I get itchy eyes and I have a difficult time watching Seinfeld re-runs. Fucking George... lol

Anyways, sidetracked again. Sorry. Please ban this person.

If you don't have a thick skin, TRShady is probably not the place for you. We are the collection of the most cynical, offensive, and sarcastic Stans on the entire internet. That said, don't mind that guy. Some of his posts are practically unintelligible, but he's a pretty nice guy. And don't get too hung over what we say. Half the time we're just dicking around.

Also, since I'm too lazy at the moment to analyze everything you said piece by piece, I agree with pretty much everything you say besides the fact that Encore wasn't as bad as people say. It was. You sure you're not some lost relative to Embase or something?

[Chilltown-JAKE]

I actually enjoyed reading this, well written bro. I completely agree with you.

[whore to a chainsaw]

Thank you for acknowledging my post as containing something of value for the other potential readers that haven't decided whether or not they're going to dedicate the necessary time & patience required to read such an intimidating amount of words.

Not to imply that your average user suffers from any sort of impairment in regards to literacy. (I think it might seem like I was suggesting this in some sort of offensive manner. I wasn't.) I'm just attempting to announce the hypothesis of what admittedly might be an ignorantly vague psychoanalysis of your common message board regular when he/s... who am I kidding. When he's not preoccupied with priorities as evidenced by his online presence in the first place... and he logs into his account here on this forum and while almost on mental auto-pilot... clicks a thread title that is completely fresh to him... not one of the usual threads that he clicks because 5-10 new responses have been added to the discussion since he last posted there... and then sees what I am guesstimating to be four thousand words... and the risk of wasting the ~ 7 minutes that are required to read it and the mental energy required to consider what is being said outweighs the probability of enjoying the read.

Fuck... I made that one too long too.

I HAVE TO CONDITION MY PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE19~!

[Snakebeast]

Thank you for acknowledging my post as containing something of value for the other potential readers that haven't decided whether or not they're going to dedicate the necessary time & patience required to read such an intimidating amount of words.

Not to imply that your average user suffers from any sort of impairment in regards to literacy. (I think it might seem like I was suggesting this in some sort of offensive manner. I wasn't.) I'm just attempting to announce the hypothesis of what admittedly might be an ignorantly vague psychoanalysis of your common message board regular when he/s... who am I kidding. When he's not preoccupied with priorities as evidenced by his online presence in the first place... and he logs into his account here on this forum and while almost on mental auto-pilot... clicks a thread title that is completely fresh to him... not one of the usual threads that he clicks because 5-10 new responses have been added to the discussion since he last posted there... and then sees what I am guesstimating to be four thousand words... and the risk of wasting the ~ 7 minutes that are required to read it and the mental energy required to consider what is being said outweighs the probability of enjoying the read.

Fuck... I made that one too long too.

I HAVE TO CONDITION MY PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE19~!

A-A-Are you Sherlock?

[whore to a chainsaw]

A-A-Are you Sherlock?

Only when I state the obvious in front of people that think I'm arrogantly & condescendingly implying that since I'm saying it... I don't feel as if they're capable of mediocrity of the mind.

People shouldn't assume things.

No SHIT, Sherlock!

I point out the obvious because I want to make sure that the people around me don't secretly suspect that I am unaware of the obvious things occurring and/or existing in our environment.

I know that they know.

What a stupid expression. ''No shit, Sherlock!''

Thanks evolution. Thank you for the sponge minds amongst everyone. You must have never considered that social trends and pop culture would eventually exist.

God damn, I need to learn how to stay on topic. I feel like a dick. Good thing I'm also a pussy. I don't mind going and fucking myself.

[Snakebeast]

A-A-Are you Sherlock?

Only when I state the obvious in front of people that think I'm arrogantly & condescendingly implying that since I'm saying it... I don't feel as if they're capable of mediocrity of the mind.

People shouldn't assume things.

No SHIT, Sherlock!

I point out the obvious because I want to make sure that the people around me don't secretly suspect that I am unaware of the obvious things occurring and/or existing in our environment.

I know that they know.

What a stupid expression. ''No shit, Sherlock!''

Thanks evolution. Thank you for the sponge minds amongst everyone. You must have never considered that social trends and pop culture would eventually exist.

God damn, I need to learn how to stay on topic. I feel like a dick. Good thing I'm also a pussy. I don't mind going and fucking myself.

No, I meant the way you think. Moving from thought to thought, making an immediate conclusion, then moving on. Just like Sherlock. BBC Sherlock anyways. I don't like the movie Sherlock though; love the actor, but he just doesn't feel like Sherlock. Holmes is cold, calculating, humourous at times but serious most of the time. Also has a nicotine addiction.

Back on topic, Eminem is awesome. I wanna meet him.

[yung rom]

Thank you for acknowledging my post as containing something of value for the other potential readers that haven't decided whether or not they're going to dedicate the necessary time & patience required to read such an intimidating amount of words.

Not to imply that your average user suffers from any sort of impairment in regards to literacy. (I think it might seem like I was suggesting this in some sort of offensive manner. I wasn't.) I'm just attempting to announce the hypothesis of what admittedly might be an ignorantly vague psychoanalysis of your common message board regular when he/s... who am I kidding. When he's not preoccupied with priorities as evidenced by his online presence in the first place... and he logs into his account here on this forum and while almost on mental auto-pilot... clicks a thread title that is completely fresh to him... not one of the usual threads that he clicks because 5-10 new responses have been added to the discussion since he last posted there... and then sees what I am guesstimating to be four thousand words... and the risk of wasting the ~ 7 minutes that are required to read it and the mental energy required to consider what is being said outweighs the probability of enjoying the read.

Fuck... I made that one too long too.

I HAVE TO CONDITION MY PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE19~!

Considering I too am considerably new here too, I probably shouldn't be the one to say this, but I will anyway:
You just wrote a very intelligent paragraph and people made fun of it before reading it. Don't worry about it. If you write so well like you did in the first post (and I thought it was really well written and I believe you're right - however - in Eminem's 2004 drugged-up state - he himself probably wasn't too conscious of what he was doing), you shouldn't seek approval of those who won't accept it. In the words of an old friend: "Fitting in is overrated, especially in women's clothing." If it's any consolation to the horrified expression on your face, I don't have any old friends, or friends, and I just made up that quote in a desparate act to sound funny. Anyway, my point is, don't sweat the small stuff. Don't sweat the big stuff either though, or you'll probably be spending too much money on deodorant, and, not having enough to support yourself, end up becoming the best smelling homeless Eminem fan in the world.
That being said, I do enjoy my made-up word known as "hypocriticallity" and like to use many lower-case letters in a desparate attempt at fitting in.
Have fun on TR, and here's my advice to you (from newbie to newbie): When people don't mention you in shout outs, try to surpress the expansive build-up of tears... If it's any consolation, I too failed at this arduous activity, getting water all over my computer and spending hours shopping for a rice bowl to place it in. However, this can also be a plus because when I have my Wish-We-Were-As-Smart-As-Asians parties that take place before finals, I will have less dishes.