I know this site has nothing to do with music so a blog would be a good place to put it. I normally stay away from reviewing music, but I have waited for 10 years for Eminem to come out with an album that is as good as his first 3. MMLP2 is fantastic and needs a review break down song-by-song. If you don’t like Eminem please move on and don’t flame the comments. The only way this can relate to games is that when I was 12 I wanted to be a rapper like Eminem so I created a name Ivory Soul to be my rapper name. I later realized that dream would never happen and used it as a gamer tag and it has stuck ever since.

1. Bad Guy

Kind of a direct sequel to Stan. This is the longest track on the album at 7 minutes and is a fantastic song. After so many average songs from Eminem, this is a great song to start with. The music is slow and very atmospheric but brings back the feeling from MMLP1. It’s about Eminem’s biggest fan killing him then his conscience comes back to haunt the fan. The ending is the best part of the song after the fan kills everyone. The second background voice that’s dropped really low to sound like Satan is interesting and the end just crescendo’s into a great intro to the rest of the album that gives you goosebumps. The rain in the background and the few instruments that you hear almost make it like Kill You.

Score: 5/5

2. Parking Lot (Skit)

This is just a skit but is a direct sequel to the bridge in Criminal. I can’t really rate this skit since it’s not an actual song, but it helps the bride to Rhyme or Reason which really just lets you know he doesn’t give a crap and just does what he wants with no reason to do it.

3. Rhyme or Reason

This is another song that just tells you Eminem doesn’t care what he says he’ll do it. The verses are full of great lyrics and angrily-driven rhymes that we loved in LP1. The chorus isn’t anything special but he’s trying to get that raw singing of his out. The song has a couple of Star Wars references and some pretty gross humor tossed in like in Under the Influence. It’s a great song, but the chorus is lacking a bit and there are some weak lines in here.

Score: 4/5

4. So Much Better

So Much Better is almost like what Puke from Encore should have been. The rhymes are better, it flows better, and just makes more sense and doesn’t sound like a result of a drunk night from Em. It’s a sexually charged and driven song about Kim cheating on Em. The chorus is great and the entire song is just powerful and makes you realize this woman is just sick and twisted. I feel he should have steered away from another Puke remake because that song was weak, to begin with.

Score: 3/5

5. Survival

The song was used to promote Call of Duty: Ghosts which was shameless on Eminem’s part. I’m not sure if the song was written before the promotion or written for it. Anyways it’s more a “nowadays” song with a lot of drum beats in the background and the rhymes are kind of all over the place. This song sounded rushed but it does get your blood flowing and is a powerful song. The guitar riffs and chants make it sound a little fake and you can tell Eminem wrote this song to connect to kids.

Score: 3/5

6. Legacy

Legacy is one of the best songs on the album. This is about Eminem’s childhood and sounds a lot like his previous stuff. The rain sound effects with the muffled filter make it sound like he’s reminiscing his childhood. The chorus is powerful and makes the goosebumps rise on your arms. The singer is a bit flat but it gives it a raw sound that the song really pulls off.

Score: 5/5

7. Asshole ft. Skylar Grey

A title with a cuss word in it! That’s not new from Eminem. Another song featuring Sasha Grey in the chorus. This is another remake of an Encore song called My 1st Single. I don’t know why Eminem would ever go back to Encore or any albums after that one. The song sounds a bit similar and he even makes a jab at the song. It’s better put together and flows better, but it’s not a song I wanted to see him go back to. It’s still a great song and is a bit “loud” like Survival but not as obnoxious. The song also sounds like a throwback to Criminal from MMLP1 and this is due to the fact that Eminem is just letting you know he doesn’t care what he does and he will do what he likes.

Score: 4/5

8. Berzerk

This was the first single from the album and took a while for me to get used to it. I expected another The Real Slim Shady, but this song is a rewind to 80’s rap. The chorus is fantastic but the verses are a bit weak. There’s a lot of record scratching and the first verse just annoys me. He puts filters at the end of each line so you can’t really understand what he’s saying until your 20th listen. This isn’t the best song he could have released as his first single, but it’s a great song and will grow on you.

Score: 4/5

9. Rap God

This is the best song on the entire album. After listening to this song you will imagine every rapper today throwing in the towel. Eminem just tears up the rhymes and this song just flows so perfectly. For him to rap this fast and rhyme this well for 6 minutes is amazing. In fact, this song is based on one line in Remember Me? from MML1 where he says, “I’m trying to clean up my fucking image / so I promised the fucking critics/I wouldn’t say fucking for 6 minutes”. Each verse just oozes lyrical ear candy. The song is exactly what Eminem should stick to and the last verse has him rapping at supersonic speed and just makes your jaw drop. Not to mention this is the best music video Eminem has come out with since his original 3 albums.

Score: 5/5

10. Brainless

Another fantastic song on the album. This is a nod to The Way I Am and Brain Damage from The Slim Shady LP. The piano riff in the background just steals the whole show and you can really hear the dark atmosphere taken from The Way I Am. The song is another song about his childhood and how he hates his mom. He sounds really pissed off and just blares out all these amazing rhymes in the song and gets your blood moving.

Score: 5/5

11. Stronger Than I Was

I’m not so sure about his song. It’s another song where Eminem tries to sing like Hailey’s Song from The Eminem Show. It’s very slow and there’s just a snare drum in the background and not much else. It doesn’t get interesting until the third verse where Eminem finally starts rapping. It’s a song about how much he hates Kim but there’s some stuff in here that he’s never revealed before like his anniversary date and how all the hate for her made him a stronger person. This is probably an anti-Kim from MMLP1.

Score: 3/5

12. Monster ft Rhianna

Obviously, another Love the Way You Lie from Recovery. The chorus is catchy thanks to Rhianna’s voice and the verses sound a lot like Love the Way You Lie just a bit faster and it flows a bit better. However, instead of being about Chris Brown beating up Rhianna, it’s about Eminem’s darker side and how he has to cope with it. It doesn’t really fit in with the MMLP thing because of Rhianna’s R&B chorus but it’s a great song nonetheless.

Score: 4/5

13. So Far…

This song is just so much freaking fun to listen to. The hillbilly guitar riffs, the crazy rhymes, and the nonsense Eminem spews are just fun and funny. He raps about how he’s connecting and coping with the world these days and how things have changed since MMLP1. He mentions PlayStation, Nintendo, Zelda, bashes a few rappers like Ludacris, and talks about shopping at Costco. It’s just how he is in real life and makes you realize under this fame he’s just a regular guy.

Score: 5/5

14. Love Game ft. Kendrick Lamar

This is the worst song on the whole album. It’s probably the only actual bad song. It’s another Drips type of song about Eminem complaining about slutty women. The chorus is so weird and does not fit into the song at all. Kendrick just doesn’t fit into this song like Obie Trice did in Drips. The rhymes aren’t that great and the beats are all over the place and the song just changes pace too much. I actually just hate this song.

Score: 1/5

15. Headlights ft. Nate Ruess

This song shocked me. Eminem is rapping about how much he loves his mom and he forgives her. This is an anti Cleaning Out My Closet and he mentions how much he hates that song and how much he wished he never rapped about how much he hated her. He mentions how much he loves her and the chorus is just touching especially the outro. It just shows that Eminem is maturing and evolving as a person and he’s overcoming lifetime problems.

Score: 5/5

16 . Evil Twin

This song is great. It’s about his Slim Shady side where he’s making fun of pop culture and calling out rappers. He’s frustrated that there’s not much left to complain about. This song sounds like a bit of Remember Me? from MMLP1. It’s just pure anger and disgust about the world and how the rap game has gone downhill. He complains about kids and crappy parents. The bassy synth brings you back to MMLP1 and he even mentions his previous albums in this song. It’s a great song to end the album.

Score: 5/5

The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is the best album that Eminem has made since The Eminem Show; that’s a long 10 years. The album sounds like a movie and is structured so well and there are so many solid songs on this album. It’s a bit weak going towards the middle but it picks up quick. If Eminem continues in this direction we may have another perfect album. Eminem has a purpose and puts his foot down in this album. He reminds everyone who’s the God of rap and makes rappers look over their shoulder and ups the ante and raises the bar for them. These songs don’t feel as organic as his first three albums but he does crunch more words and rhymes in songs than he has ever been able to before.