Who would like to see a "Jimmy Smith EP"?

[Amaranthine]

I've always wondered if Em made more songs for the soundtrack than were released. I wouldn't want him to make anything now, it's way too late, but I'd be very interested to find out if he made other songs.

And if Em ever performed Rabbit Run or 8 Mile live... I wish he had performed them at one of the promotional concerts, it would've made more sense than performing stuff from TES.

[Blu]

We already have, it's called Infinite.

[EminemBase]

It would have been good at the time.

But I wouldn't want to hear Em rapping as an up and coming rapper now, no.

What I would like is for him to indulge in character though, like Relapse. Relapse for me was a real progression as... with The Eminem Show, his content became almost solely focused on his personal life, and then by Encore, he was just totally self-obsessed. It's mundane.

But then with Relapse, you have this abstract, cinematic indulgence in character. With something like "3 a.m." he's painting a picture for the listener. You forget it's Eminem, Marshall Mathers, it doesn't matter. He's just an artist, using his words as tools, all that matters is the art.

That's a true use of his talents. I don't need to hear him rap anymore about rap, or himself, or anything in that ball park. I want him to indulge in abstract ways, get creative.

[Relapse.]

It would have been good at the time.

But I wouldn't want to hear Em rapping as an up and coming rapper now, no.

What I would like is for him to indulge in character though, like Relapse. Relapse for me was a real progression as... with The Eminem Show, his content became almost solely focused on his personal life, and then by Encore, he was just totally self-obsessed. It's mundane.

But then with Relapse, you have this abstract, cinematic indulgence in character. With something like "3 a.m." he's painting a picture for the listener. You forget it's Eminem, Marshall Mathers, it doesn't matter. He's just an artist, using his words as tools, all that matters is the art.

That's a true use of his talents. I don't need to hear him rap anymore about rap, or himself, or anything in that ball park. I want him to indulge in abstract ways, get creative.

Fans scared him away from that, which is a shame. I really wanted Relapse 2.

Yesss. Geno... I guarantee there's a Relapse 2 with songs like "Oh No!" & "Things Get Worse" just unreleased. I want it so bad >:(

[flyingmonkey10]

if only

[JamaicanPattlez]

Eminem should do whatever the fuck he wants to do, and stop thinking that he has to please us. Because ultimately, he's gonna piss a certain number of his fanbase off anyway. Remember Mr. Just-Don't-Give-A-Fuck? (Even though he DID care) He released songs that HE liked. If he's making music that he wants to release, then that's all there is to it. I don't think he particularly wanted to make Recovery though. Nobody makes three albums worth of songs only to hate it not even 5 months down the line.

[JamaicanPattlez]

I don't think he particularly wanted to make Recovery though. Nobody makes three albums worth of songs only to hate it not even 5 months down the line.

The second part is very true, but I wouldnt say that he didnt want to make Recovery. He was very much into Recovery, he just also liked Relapse.

Maybe so... but the dude doesn't seem like he really wanted to do it. At least, not in the beginning most likely. Like EmBase has said in the past, he submerged himself in Relapse, you can tell by every song he did.

[cityfan31]

Recovery is vastly superior to Relapse. Relapse 2 would have been more of the same, what's the point.

[EminemBase]

Recovery is vastly superior to Relapse. Relapse 2 would have been more of the same, what's the point.

I'd hardly say it's 'vastly superior'.

Firstly it's hard to directly compare them as... it's like comparing a horror movie to a drama.

Overall I'd say Recovery is, well, it's more accessible as an album, but that doesn't make it a better work of art or better album. I think if I was forced to say which was better I would say Recovery.

But in terms of production, Relapse is much, much, much better. Then in terms of rhyme and flow... I think Relapse is better again, his flows are hypnotic and his rhyming and lyricism superb.

Recovery is really only better in places musically or, conceptually ("Almost Famous" for one).

But they're very different albums, it's pretty odd to compare them.

As for saying 'what's the point' in Relapse 2... you have no idea how good some of that material may have been. I mean, "Buffalo Bill" (if off Relapse 2) and the rest of Refill is just awesome. I think it would have probably been a classic to me (as long as Em left off sub-par 07 material etc.).

If he put songs as amazing as "3 a.m." on the first one, there's no telling how good the stuff on the sequel probably was. You save the best till last, he wouldn't put out weaker material second.

[KS_1]

It would've been awesome back then as I'm sure he would've had more classics. Lose Yourself, 8 Mile and Rabbit Run are all classics. Would've been awesome in 2002 but nowadays unless it was unreleased stuff it wouldn't work.

Good idea though

[Mathers]

Recovery is vastly superior to Relapse. Relapse 2 would have been more of the same, what's the point.

For every reason Embase said (Embase taking more shots at Beautiful I see ). Every song on Refill is amazing (except I guess Taking My Ball) so imagine an album full of that. Plus possibly Cocaine and Insult to Injury and I think it would have been WAY better than Relapse.

I thought Cocaine was for Recovery.

[cityfan31]

Recovery is vastly superior to Relapse. Relapse 2 would have been more of the same, what's the point.

I'd hardly say it's 'vastly superior'.

Firstly it's hard to directly compare them as... it's like comparing a horror movie to a drama.

Overall I'd say Recovery is, well, it's more accessible as an album, but that doesn't make it a better work of art or better album. I think if I was forced to say which was better I would say Recovery.

But in terms of production, Relapse is much, much, much better. Then in terms of rhyme and flow... I think Relapse is better again, his flows are hypnotic and his rhyming and lyricism superb.

Recovery is really only better in places musically or, conceptually ("Almost Famous" for one).

But they're very different albums, it's pretty odd to compare them.

As for saying 'what's the point' in Relapse 2... you have no idea how good some of that material may have been. I mean, "Buffalo Bill" (if off Relapse 2) and the rest of Refill is just awesome. I think it would have probably been a classic to me (as long as Em left off sub-par 07 material etc.).

If he put songs as amazing as "3 a.m." on the first one, there's no telling how good the stuff on the sequel probably was. You save the best till last, he wouldn't put out weaker material second.

I've slowly come to that conclusion (Recovery being superior) over the last few months.

Although I do love Relapse, and it's a great show of skill and lyrically dexterity with some amazing beats, Recovery is better music.

Recovery has songs on it, Relapse was more of an exhibition of Em's rhyming skills combined with Dre's dark beats. Which was a really nice combination, but I certainly feel that one album was enough.

Buffalo Bill was great, Taking My Ball wasn't. Music Box was sick, but I'm not a huge fan of Hell Break's Loose. I can't see any evidence that what he had left was any better than Relapse, other than when the Forever and DTW verses came out - obvious steps towards Recovery and away from Relapse.

In an ideal world, we would have Relapse 2 (more Em music) and then Recovery, but it was only in moving away from Relapse that we got Recovery, and I wouldn't swap that.

Having been to see 2 live shows since Recovery, the songs on that album are just BIGGER than Relapse. They have more impact.

[_Hawk_]

Relapse is an extremely disjointed album. It's inherently supported by the loose suggestion that the rape/violence/misogyny is a product of his apparent relapse. With this out of the way, the rest of the album (collectively) falls rather flat. There's no flow to the tracks, nothing to really combine them together to create an overall story.

One can easily counter this with the use of the skits, but take those away and the album falls short of his previous releases (let's not include Encore). The jump between a track like 3AM and Insane to deja-vu seems incomprehensible. With the MMLP one can easily draw parallels between all the tracks as, artistically, they have elements of self absorption. One may argue Eminem has done this to death, but in the way it is addressed in 'Criminal' I don't think this is the case. Em can use a track like this to propel himself forwards as a rapper, whilst at the same time tackling contemporary issues and demonstrating his lyricism. How? By making a track that HE wanted to make. Relapse fills this latter category, but the rest is rather meaningless. One has to dig deep into it to find anything of real substance.

Now as an artist this 'substance' may not seem relevent (surely an artist can do whatever they want?), but if Em has been able to make his music contemporary whilst still making his mark as one of the best lyricists in the game, then Relapse IS a step back.

Some see Relapse as being akin to the SSLP, but even that album was contemporary. I actually think that the contemporary nature of an album makes it timeless. No matter if the jokes age, the nostalgia grows. Relapse doesn't have the substance to create nostalgia (apart from in a purely technical way).

(just to say, I do think Relapse is a good album )

[Berry]

Nah, it's a corny (hate that word) concept.

Plus, it's far too late. It would be plainly obvious then that Em has nothing to rap about or content to cover.

[UofLCard]

Fans scared him away from that, which is a shame. I really wanted Relapse 2.

I rather have had King Mathers.