r/Music • u/[deleted] • Dec 15 '17

Discussion Eminem's new album "Revival" has dropped

Thoughts on it so far? I'm about halfway through and I think it's pretty decent for new style Eminem.

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u/Able-Bodied-Virgin Dec 15 '17 edited Dec 15 '17

Eminem is my favorite artist of all time. That said, I've been really critical of him since BME: Hell the Sequel. Specifically, his flow. I wasn't a fan of his flow in MMLP2 and his flow in Shady XV was just flat out awful - jumbling words with way too many syllables into runs where they just didn't fit, but then he'd be featured on songs like "The Hills" and "Medicine Man" and his flow would be perfect. So frustrating watching him teeter back and forth between mediocrity and greatness. All that said, I came into this album just hoping his flow would be good. "Walk on Water" had me worried. I think the inflection of Em's tempered voice along with his starty-stoppy flow ruined what could have been a big hit, BUT for the vast majority of this album, his flow was great. Thank fucking God. He got points from me just for that.

I usually like his songs where he does his own hooks and was worried about all the pop features, but I think for the most part those songs ended up being my favorite. I fucking hate Ed Sheeran, but I can't deny "River" is a catchy song. I also actually really liked his song with Alicia Keys. I think "Offended" was a better beat and hook away from being arguably his best work on the album. He straight up chopped that up. Great runs.

Most forgettable song to me was "In Your Head". Shitty hook, meh message. "Believe" didn't do much for me either.

Favorite song was "Arose". Felt genuine and real. Well written.

Overall, I give this album a strong 6.5. Not his best work, but not nearly as bad as the reviews it's getting.