"I still don't feel like I've made the perfect album"

[MikeNUFC]

I dont think he'll ever make something to top those first 3. I dont KNOW that, but I dont think so.

The lyricism on the SSLP is flawless - I've never heard a rapper craft multi-syllabic rhyming while storytelling, painting vivid pictures with incredible imagery and have so much cheek, humour and social commentaory in such a way that makes it sound almost effortless.

MMLP has amazing social commentary, is incredibly satirical, has broad messages throughout yet his delivery and passion is unrivalled. Contains some of his best verses ever. It's like a piece of art, this album - historical.

TES is amazing, incredily consistent, has a fantastic "feel" to it and is so well rounded. SFTM is one of the best rap tracks ever made. Taking his own situation yet still looking at it from a wider view on White America is unbelievably well delivered. His rhyming is typically fantastic.

I enjoyed both Relapse and Revoery but they didnt have what those 3 albums had - Relapse showed he couls spit again but the amount of forced rhyming kinda let it down. Recovery was just overloaded with punchlines and despite having some great tracks, lacks replay value. Neither had the imagination and creativity of his first 3.

His hiatus is the main reason for this but also the fact he's pretty settled his life which has meant he has lost some passion (bar Deja Vu & Your Never Over) and a lack of creative ideas his major flaw.

I agree with the EmBase quote, One Mic posted.

I'm excited for his next album though - just to see what direction he does for and see how close he can get - let's hope he picks better beats and remembers what he was doing when he wrote Deja Vu.

[One Mic]

I also suppose it depends on just how much longer he plans on putting out solo albums for.

Hip Hop is so different to other genres (I know that seems an obvious statement) but I mean the fact that it's still quite a young genre and it hasn't been around that long, in comparison to others. It's always been considered a young man's game and there haven't been that many 40+ year old rappers who still connect with a mass amount of people, still manage to keep relevant , still sell records, and are still getting attention in the mainstream.

Jay-Z is 41 years old in December and he is still very much relevant in 2010, so there is no excuse why Em can't go on until that age at least....if not longer. (Em is 38 atm)

"Do not tell me to stop yelling, when I stop selling I quit" - I obviously don't take those lyrics from 'No Apologies' 100% seriously, but the name "Eminem" will instantly sell albums regardless of the quality, so there isn't any concern about that. Eminem can pretty much remain as relevant as he wishes to.

I suppose there are loads of small contributing reasons as to why Em would decided to call it day in terms of music, but I hope he will go on for a few more years yet, and drop at least another 3 or 4 albums. There is bound to be that one album that will "be it" and blow us all away.

[Devil'sAdvocate]

I dont think he'll ever make something to top those first 3. I dont KNOW that, but I dont think so.

The lyricism on the SSLP is flawless - I've never heard a rapper craft multi-syllabic rhyming while storytelling, painting vivid pictures with incredible imagery and have so much cheek, humour and social commentaory in such a way that makes it sound almost effortless.

MMLP has amazing social commentary, is incredibly satirical, has broad messages throughout yet his delivery and passion is unrivalled. Contains some of his best verses ever. It's like a piece of art, this album - historical.

TES is amazing, incredily consistent, has a fantastic "feel" to it and is so well rounded. SFTM is one of the best rap tracks ever made. Taking his own situation yet still looking at it from a wider view on White America is unbelievably well delivered. His rhyming is typically fantastic.

I enjoyed both Relapse and Revoery but they didnt have what those 3 albums had - Relapse showed he couls spit again but the amount of forced rhyming kinda let it down. Recovery was just overloaded with punchlines and despite having some great tracks, lacks replay value. Neither had the imagination and creativity of his first 3.

His hiatus is the main reason for this but also the fact he's pretty settled his life which has meant he has lost some passion (bar Deja Vu & Your Never Over) and a lack of creative ideas his major flaw.

I agree with the EmBase quote, One Mic posted.

I'm excited for his next album though - just to see what direction he does for and see how close he can get - let's hope he picks better beats and remembers what he was doing when he wrote Deja Vu.

Deja Vu deserves all the praise it can get,the track is almost flawless and i agree with everything u said abt the MMLP and the SSLP,but with TES i think it was a step down for the rawness he had on MMLP and SSLP,yes he finally started getting LOADS of money,and it is a very good album,but it was a step down,than Encore was total shit on a CD,but hey after all Em is a legend on the mic,and truly he blessed rap with his presence.

[EminemBase]

TES i think it was a step down for the rawness he had on MMLP and SSLP,yes he finally started getting LOADS of money,and it is a very good album,but it was a step down

- Fuck that shit, bitch, eat a motherfuckin' dick
Chew on a prick, and lick a million motherfuckin' cocks per second
I'd rather put out a motherfucking gospel record
I'd rather be a pussy-whipped bitch, eat pussy
And have pussy-lips glued to my face with a clit-ring in my nose

A step-down you say? lmao. People always say stuff like that about TES, like he censored himself more or he was less confrontational and it's total bullshit.

All that was different was the subject-matter and presentation. He'd already explored storytelling, dementia and societal outrage enough - TES was a logical progression and a growth.

It was more realistic and the presentation was sharper, more consistent and more well-rounded, that's probably why people feel it was less "raw". It was less raw in a musical sense yes, it was more professional, but that's a step-up.

The subject matter was more focused and more real-world but in no sense did he step-down his aims, it's totally self-assured, self-aware and honed.

He went from calling out popstars to calling out members of the white-house. It's a powerhouse of an album and it encapsulated everything brilliant about his lyricism and art up until that point in an almost totally flawless manner.

[Devil'sAdvocate]

TES i think it was a step down for the rawness he had on MMLP and SSLP,yes he finally started getting LOADS of money,and it is a very good album,but it was a step down

- Fuck that shit, bitch, eat a motherfuckin' dick
Chew on a prick, and lick a million motherfuckin' cocks per second
I'd rather put out a motherfucking gospel record
I'd rather be a pussy-whipped bitch, eat pussy
And have pussy-lips glued to my face with a clit-ring in my nose

A step-down you say? lmao. People always say stuff like that about TES, like he censored himself more or he was less confrontational and it's total bullshit.

All that was different was the subject-matter and presentation. He'd already explored storytelling, dementia and societal outrage enough - TES was a logical progression and a growth.

It was more realistic and the presentation was sharper, more consistent and more well-rounded, that's probably why people feel it was less "raw". It was less raw in a musical sense yes, it was more professional, but that's a step-up.

The subject matter was more focused and more real-world but in no sense did he step-down his aims, it's totally self-assured, self-aware and honed.

He went from calling out popstars to calling out members of the white-house. It's a powerhouse of an album and it encapsulated everything brilliant about his lyricism and art up until that point in an almost totally flawless manner.

*listens to kill You and Criminal*

it is less raw to me,i just find the MMLP and the SSLP more packed with emotions than The Eminem Show,i rate the Eminem show a good solid 8/10 but its just the effect of that record is lesser than his previous 2 album's the SSLP and the MMLP,all in good ways man.

[classthe_king]

The Eminem Show is easily his most emotional album. It's not as raw, yes. But you can hear the passion and anger in his voice, it's what he's trying to replicate now but can't because he doesn't feel that way anymore. That's why that album is so real.

[katha]

I don't think that he will make an album as outstanding as his first three. He's just older, "settled in life" like MikeNUFC says and the drug use took its toll. He's talked about what an effort it was to basically relearn how to write and rap again, some of his earlier abilities are just gone IMO. He can still do outstanding songs and his last two albums have been good, but IMO the consistent greatness of his material from 1999 to circa 2002 is not repeatable.

EminemBase raises a very good point when he says that Eminem as an artist is mostly responding to his own circumstances. The shitstorm at the beginning of his career just gave him endless ammunition and he was able to transform that into great art. Now that's just not happening anymore. Perhaps it can't.

I listen to Dylan and, yeah, he made great music after the 1965/66 period, but he was never as breathtaking again IMO. An interesting parallel: Dylan made three all time great albums in about two years (Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde) while people were booing his concerts because he started playing rock music, the folk music scene he was coming from called him a traitor and a sell-out while the press simultaneously derided him and called him the "voice of a generation". He was absolutely livid and determined to do things his way and you hear that anger and that drive on those three records IMO. And on the concert recordings from that time.

Erm, back on topic: My point is, perhaps the perspective is sometimes a bit unfair? Because his first three albums were classics, everything after that seems underwhelming. But Relapse had some good and one very great song, Recovery had a bunch of good and two great ones IMO.

He could improve things on his next album by having more consistent/imaginative production, cutting back on the shouting, no more punchlines, broader content etc. And that would certainly make for an even better album than his two recent ones. But IMO his first three are so tied up in the context of the time when they came out and in turn influenced culture and provoked such strong reactions, which then in turn again influenced his songwriting. He's not that person anymore, the times are not like that anymore.

I'm happy that he makes good music again and don't expect the miracles he delivered at the beginning of his career. But I would be happy to be proven wrong, of course.

[EminemBase]

TES i think it was a step down for the rawness he had on MMLP and SSLP,yes he finally started getting LOADS of money,and it is a very good album,but it was a step down

- Fuck that shit, bitch, eat a motherfuckin' dick
Chew on a prick, and lick a million motherfuckin' cocks per second
I'd rather put out a motherfucking gospel record
I'd rather be a pussy-whipped bitch, eat pussy
And have pussy-lips glued to my face with a clit-ring in my nose

A step-down you say? lmao. People always say stuff like that about TES, like he censored himself more or he was less confrontational and it's total bullshit.

All that was different was the subject-matter and presentation. He'd already explored storytelling, dementia and societal outrage enough - TES was a logical progression and a growth.

It was more realistic and the presentation was sharper, more consistent and more well-rounded, that's probably why people feel it was less "raw". It was less raw in a musical sense yes, it was more professional, but that's a step-up.

The subject matter was more focused and more real-world but in no sense did he step-down his aims, it's totally self-assured, self-aware and honed.

He went from calling out popstars to calling out members of the white-house. It's a powerhouse of an album and it encapsulated everything brilliant about his lyricism and art up until that point in an almost totally flawless manner.

*listens to kill You and Criminal*

it is less raw to me,i just find the MMLP and the SSLP more packed with emotions than The Eminem Show,i rate the Eminem show a good solid 8/10 but its just the effect of that record is lesser than his previous 2 album's the SSLP and the MMLP,all in good ways man.

It's less artistic yes, like I said it's more realistic. That's obvious.

But it's not less raw in a sense of him censoring himself or watching his tongue. He's just as outspoken, in fact more-so and has the confidence of 2Pac on it.

It's just less demented, less unpredictable and less explosive, artistically. So feels tamer.

[Brood]

MMLP is about as close as he's gonna get to a perfect album. I know some of you prefer TES, but I don't see how that's his best album. I guess I'm biased towards the style & production of MMLP.

Eminem still has the potential to make classic songs (Going Through Changes). If he can fill an album with those caliber of songs, then he'll have another classic.

[Bloodonthewall]

I believe Em can still create his greatest album. The only thing holding him back is the beats he chooses. I think if he produced the whole album, he has the potential to make a classic. His lyrics are better than ever, all he needs is beats that sound 'classic'...which is hard to define until you hear it.

lol, I would absolutely love to be able to choose beats for his next album lol...

[Bloodonthewall]

I know some of you prefer TES, but I don't see how that's his best album. I guess I'm biased towards the style & production of MMLP.

I know some of you prefer MMLP, but I don't see how that's his best album. I guess I'm biased towards the style & production of TES.

[EminemBase]

Eminem still has the potential to make classic songs (Going Through Changes). If he can fill an album with those caliber of songs, then he'll have another classic.

Well I think an album's worth of "Almost Famous" and "Cinderella Man" quality would be better than GTC quality. I'm sick to death of his personal raps, he needs to think bigger now.

But with Recovery, I think he did have an album of high-calibre songs, the only real problem IMO was the production. Yes it had its lyrical flaws but it's pretty consistent of a high standard.

I think the producers or rather, the amount he used, ruined that album.

[Bloodonthewall]

^ sorry but mr Porter had the worst beat on Recovery by far. I hope he don't work with Denaun again lol.

[Devil'sAdvocate]

If Em produces 90% of his next album with maybe a Blaze / Porter / Dre beat here or there, I think it'll be his best.

i dont think beats make a rap album

u gotta rap,u know.

[Bistnal]

If Em produces 90% of his next album with maybe a Blaze / Porter / Dre beat here or there, I think it'll be his best.

i dont think beats make a rap album

u gotta rap,u know.

True, but the beats have to compliment the lyrics to make it good MUSIC, you know. If the lyrics are the best in the world and the beats are the worst, it still wouldn't be a good, enjoyable, listenable album.