Bad Guy/ Headlights

[Tonite]

These two tracks stuck out the most in the first two listens..

C'mon man, Bad Guy may very well be one of the best crafted songs he's ever created. Is it better than Stan? Possibly. Fact.

The raw passion, the image it makes.. 10/10 no doubt.

Hate to say it but my emotions are higher than ever at this point, I mean hearing Headlights and mixing it with the rumours and a few slight hints about his retirement makes me wanna cry. I can't bare it. Too much to take in, I think everyone is shocked at this stage.

Please don't leave Em.

[_Hawk_]

If Bad Guy's verses sounded like those on Legacy it would be so much better. It's an awesome track, but that filter (plus the atmospheric effects) would elevate it.

[trentimus]

Not better than Stan.

[ladelsofgravy]

imo, stan is a good song, but i wouldn't even put it in his top 50 best songs to be honest

[Ottawa613]

C'mon, Stan is a top five Em song. It's real hip-hop. A simple beat to rap over, a chorus that adds to the mood of the song and straight fire. Unbelievable storytelling while playing in character, great flow, great delivery. Songs like Stan are what made Eminem one of the best rap artists of all time.

Nothing against Bad Guy, because I really enjoy the second half of the song, but Stan is simply a better song. It's highly, highly unlikely anything Eminem will ever make in the future will touch Stan.

[trentimus]

Stan is probably one of the greatest pieces of hip hop story telling of all time TBH

[EminemInsider]

Bad Guy...That third verse onward is fucking genius. That's my initial impression after 2 listens, at least. It's like he snapped and found a way to perfectly organize and phrase his thoughts on the big picture of his career.

"I'm the polyps on the back of your tonsils eating your vocal chords after your concerts..."

Why do I think this line represents reality, and is the reason he's deciding to retire?

[SliK]

There is absolutely no way Bad Guy is better than Stan.

[ladelsofgravy]

C'mon, Stan is a top five Em song. It's real hip-hop. A simple beat to rap over, a chorus that adds to the mood of the song and straight fire. Unbelievable storytelling while playing in character, great flow, great delivery. Songs like Stan are what made Eminem one of the best rap artists of all time.

Nothing against Bad Guy, because I really enjoy the second half of the song, but Stan is simply a better song. It's highly, highly unlikely anything Eminem will ever make in the future will touch Stan.

Spoken like a true Stan. Just kidding.

I agree he went the right route with the instrumental. The hook, I'm not so sure. It's actually the first verse of Dido's song "Thank You", where it did feel much better placed in than in Eminem's song.

It's hard to say what makes me think of Stan as not one of the best songs he's ever made, but I guess its kind of one of those things that has artistic merit but just isn't fun to listen to.

[Atone]

I can't listen to Bad Guy for the same reason i can't listen to Stan, i didn't like either song,

much like MMLP 1, MMLP2 has 2 songs that i will not have on my Eminem archive, MMLP1 had Stan and Kim, MMLP 2 has Bad Guy and Headlights

I never really liked Stan cuz, now, it's a good song, GREAT story, but for some reason, whenever it came on when i had the actual album in a cd plater, i would skip it, i can't figure out why, i just..don't like it

it's the same thing with Bad Guy, i guess cuz it's part 2 of Stan, i can't get into it

with Kim, the whole Yelling thing, i never really liked it, i never had interest in it

Headlights, fucks with me, ALOT, cuz, after all these years, Eminem forgives his mom, and as i listen, i think about the shit with me and my mom, and just can't ever see myself forgiving my mom, the fact that i would love to shit on my mom's casket when she hopefully kills herself, is kinda messed up, but, my mom did shit that was unforgiveable

idk, maybe for me, my sistuation with my mom is the same situation he has with his dad, but still, Headlights just, makes me think about shit i do not want to think about, lol.

[Amadeo]

The second verse of Headlights is fucking brilliant.

[Snakebeast]

The second verse of Headlights is fucking brilliant.

I'm interested in what you think about the album as a whole, Amadeo (assuming you're the real Amadeo, which I think you are).

[Steelez]

bad guy's second part >>>>>>>>>> the 1st part

[Kill You]

I like Bad Guy better than Stan, yeah. But I've never been a big Stan fan to begin with. He obviously rhymes a lot better on this than Stan.

[Amadeo]

The second verse of Headlights is fucking brilliant.

I'm interested in what you think about the album as a whole, Amadeo (assuming you're the real Amadeo, which I think you are).

Haven't really had time to soak it in, but first impression is that it's much better than Recovery and just edges out Relapse due to how outside-the-box and ambitious it is, while Relapse isn't creative/ambitious at all.

Singles are all fairly shitty. Asshole is awful. The presence of these songs puts this album comfortably behind his first three.

There are moments of genius scattered throughout and there are many funny/cool moments. I'll go ahead and say "So Far..." is cool/hilarious all through. It was a stroke of genius to reference lyrics from I'm Back/TRSS back-to-back and weave their instrumentals seamlessly into the song.

My favorite moments:

The end of Bad Guy

Rhyme or Reason's first two verses are cool

Almost every throwback reference was awesome. Loved the "Criminal/genitals/emerald" one in Rhyme or Reason.

First verse of Brainless is dope as shit, chorus of that song is cool...his singing has improved dramatically. "Insert insult here"...yeah, cool song.

This is post-drug Eminem reaching his potential, creatively/artistically. The album has all the usual flaws of recent Eminem...his flow is so bad on Headlights along with his rhyme splitting that it almost takes me out of the moment/mood he's trying to create. I originally overrated the song because I let the context of the relationship between him and his mother cloud my judgement...the song is definitely heartfelt and powerful, though. Feels like a perfect closure...almost like he planned it all along. I'll pretend the horribly written first verse doesn't exist.

Overall, a cool album (much to my surprise) and about the best we'll get from modern Eminem...he threw everything he had at this one. I was reminded while listening to this album that this is the same person who made SSLP/MMLP/TES far more frequently than I was reminded on Relapse/Recovery.