This album was released on August 21st in 2018. I remember the night it dropped vividly. Well… I mean, I don’t know why I do. Nothing really happened. I just remember being like, “Oh, Eminem dropped another album lol. Hope it doesn’t suck.” According to pretty much everyone I’ve spoken to, it does suck. I’m hoping I like it more than everyone else, but considering how much I’ve disliked everything he’s done since 2001, I don’t think that’s likely. However, I’ve heard a couple songs from it that weren’t bad. I’m expecting wackness, but I already know it’ll have at least some material that I enjoy.

Thankfully, I don’t think this album is bad. I mean, it’s certainly not good, but it’s one of the more tolerable projects that Em dropped after The Eminem Show in my opinion. It starts off with The Ringer, which is one of three songs on the album that I actually like. Eminem immediately sounds bitter as fuck as soon as the album starts, talking about how he wants to punch the world “in the FOCKIN’ face right now!” I have to admit, I think parts of this song are pretty awesome. I think his flow is great here, and I especially love how he dissed that wack ass NF dude for being a Recovery era Eminem clone. However, I’m annoyed by how salty he is about the criticism for Revival, as if he doesn’t get why people dislike it. He literally defends Revival in multiple lines here instead of disowning it like he did Encore & Relapse. Revival is way worse than either of those albums though.

If you’re lookin’ to get a porterhouse you better go get Revival
But y’all are actin’ like I tried to serve you up a slider
Maybe the vocals shoulda been auto-tuned
And you woulda bought it, but sayin’ I no longer got it
‘Cause you missed a line and never caught it
‘Cause it went over your head because you’re too stupid to get it
‘Cause you’re mentally retarded, but pretend to be the smartest
With your expertise and knowledge, but you’ll never be an artist

Okay, you’re right, Em. You’re a lyrical genius, and everyone who hated Revival—a.k.a. everyone—is mentally handicapped. Great job. Good for you. However, complaining about it unfortunately isn’t gonna make us unenlightened people enjoy your fucking horrific failure of an album, so please quit bitching. I just don’t get why the hell this is the hill he wants to die on. I mean, I still like the song, but this is way worse than it could’ve been. I like how it’s structured though; it’s just one long verse over a relatively good beat. This entire track is pretty much just him throwing a tantrum about the reception of his 2017 album, but I still like it lol. His flow is great, and I honestly don’t hate everything he has to say here. Like, yes, it’s totally ridiculous for him to act like Revival wasn’t a horrible album, and it’s super childish for him to go on a tirade against critics, but his flow is dope, and I’d be lying if I said the content really annoyed me enough to make this unenjoyable for me. My biggest issue with most of Em’s other material is that it’s just unlistenable, but I like the way he sounds on this track, even if the production from Illa da Producer & Ronny J isn’t super amazing or anything. I think this is pretty good. The second song is called Greatest. It’s really crazy how bitter Em sounds on this shit. I’m not really a fan of the beat, but Em did his thing on the first verse. The hook is pretty terrible to be honest though. I definitely appreciate the diss towards Die Antwoord; everyone in that group can go fuck themselves. The second verse was nice aside from that terrible snot line.

I bullshit you not, y’all fools just forgot
That I’m so fuckin’ awful with the thoughts
And when I’m hostile I’m impossible to stop
So you can call it a nostril ’cause it’s-snot gonna ever

The final verse kinda sucks. The song is actually pretty bad, but it’s not terrible. The production and hook are really bad, but I like half the verses on this song. Some of the corny lines and bitterness about the reception of his album really tarnished this track for me. There are aspects of it that I like, but overall I think it’s wack. The third track is called Lucky You.

I heard this song when the music video dropped, and I honestly really love it. I actually think the production’s pretty dope, and I really like the first verse from Joyner Lucas. The Christmas quatrain was great.

I ain’t no gangster, but I got some bangers
Some chains and some blades and a couple of nines
Choppers and jammies, a partridge, a pear tree
My 12 days of Christmas was nothin’ but lies

His flow during this part right here is amazing to me…

They’ve invented a level up in the ghetto to get old
Lookin’ for somethin’ I prolly can never find now
Shit get relevant ’til ‘nother beef die down
In truth, a nigga just really want me tied down
I’ve been alone and I never needed nobody
Just only me and my shotty, I’ll tell these niggas to lie down
Keep all the money, I never wanted the lifestyle
I just pray to God that my son’ll be alright now

Eminem honestly killed this shit too. I love his verse. His flow was fantastic, and I even like the lyrics for the most part. His attitude towards the reception of Revival is a bit more likable here. The boomerish lyrics about mumble rap are a little lame, but aside from that I love the song. It’s dope af to me. It’s followed by another one of those Paul skits. It doesn’t really do anything for me at all personally, but I guess it’s kind of a cool callback to Em’s earlier work. Track 5 is called Normal. I actually like the beat a lot. I don’t really mind the melodic hook too much either. The song isn’t good to me though. I don’t care for the content at all; it just doesn’t interest me. He’s rapping about being in yet ANOTHER unhealthy relationship. It gets really lyrical miracle-ish during the second verse.

You don’t want me to flip, little conceited cunt
Eat a monkey dick wrapped in a stuffed pita fajita
Slut, treat it just like a drum, beat it
Complete it, and once you’ve succeeded, repeat it

I was also annoyed that he had yet ANOTHER line about how people “slept on” Revival. Nah, bitch. That album was trash, and you know it. Anyway, the song is mediocre to me overall. It’s followed by another skit called Em Calls Paul. This is literally Em leaving a message to Paul in which he angrily yells about someone who left a negative comment on Yahoo about Revival. In the skit, he’s driving to the dude’s house because I guess he plans to murder him. On one hand, it’s kinda funny, but on the other hand it’s a little pathetic, especially considering Em’s stature. Track 7 is called Stepping Stone. I like the beat on this track a lot. I love the first verse too; he’s more serious on this track. Instead of being salty as fuck about Revival, he’s reflecting on D12 and the death of Proof. This is the song in which Em officially announced the end of the group, which was kind of unnecessary because anyone with a brain should’ve known that there wasn’t gonna be another D12 project. The hook is unfortunately really bad to me. His singing is really rough. The second verse is great though. The third verse could’ve been really good, but for whatever reason he decided to switch to this really jarring melodic delivery, and it sounds fucking awful. The song is frustrating as hell honestly. I like the beat, and the rapping, but Em’s singing ruined it for me. It’s definitely one of the better songs, especially in terms of the content, but overall it’s just okay to me. It’s followed by my favorite track on the album, Not Alike, which is performed by Bad Meets Evil. I generally don’t really care for Tay Keith’s production, but I have to admit that this beat is dope as hell. Em kinda borrowed Offset’s flow from Bad & Boujee for the hook of this track, which goes over surprisingly well. Royce da 5’9″ killed the first verse too.

Everybody doin’ chick joints
Probably rob these little dudes at fist point
‘Member everybody used to bite Nickel
Now everybody doin’ Bitcoin

Eminem murdered MGK in the second verse. I love his performance on this track. That’s definitely my favorite verse on the album honestly. He killed that shit. Honestly, his verse on this track is 10x harder than Killshot. I love this shit. The song is dope af. Unfortunately, it’s followed by one of the worst songs on the album, Kamikaze.

What in the fuck is that hook? Why is he reminding us of FACK, one of his worst songs ever? The beat from Tim Suby is super cacophonous too. The first verse was pretty wack, but far from the worst Em’s done to be fair. I guess that’s not saying much though. The second verse is okay. I at least like the scratches from Scram Jones that come in after the second recital of the terrible hook. I’m not feelin’ the final verse, but it was kinda cool to hear him freestyle at the end; that was dope. It’s just crazy how the best song on the album is followed by what is one of the worst tracks. This shit is wack af. The following track is a single called Fall.

This is the second of three songs that I heard before hearing the full album. I’m not really crazy about Justin Vernon’s vocals on this track, but I suppose it’s better than Eminem’s singing could’ve ever been. The beat from Mike WiLL Made It is okay too I guess. The first verse is actually pretty nice.

These rappers are like Hunger Games
One minute, they’re mockin’ Jay
Next minute, they get their style from Migos or they copy Drake

The second verse has a lot of disses targeting rappers who I like quite a bit, including Joe Budden, Tyler the Creator, and Earl Sweatshirt. The only one that was kind of crossing the line was the Tyler diss in my opinion. The homophobia was hardly bearable on MMLP, so here it’s super tawdry and played out. I like the final verse a lot; I appreciate the Lord Jamar diss, although he probably shouldn’t brag about giving us Logic & Hopsin since they’ve become a stain on the culture. With that said, the song is pretty mediocre to me. I don’t care for the beat or Justin Vernon’s vocals, and only some of the rapping is actually enjoyable for me. The final three songs on this album are all trash. The hook on Nice Guy is fucking unbearable. Jessie Reyez’s high-pitched vocals are painful to listen to. I actually really like the beat from Fred Ball though. The verses aren’t really that great to me, but it’s nice to hear Em rap without feeling like he has to spit as quickly as possible for once. Honestly, if the beat wasn’t so good this might be my least favorite song on the whole album. This shit is terrible. It’s followed by what’s practically a sequel, Good Guy.

The way the previous track transitions into this one is really jarring. I actually love the instrumental on this track though. I’m not a fan of Em’s sporadic flow, and I don’t really care for the content either unfortunately. I also don’t like Jessie Reyez’s sung outro. Once again, the only aspect of this song that I like is the production, but I really love it. I think this beat is amazing. The song is wack to me overall though. The closing track is called Venom.

VENUMMMMMM. This is the third song I heard from this album, and it’s terrible. I knew it was gonna be bad as soon as I saw that it was for the Venom movie on the night of the album’s release. Honestly, the main issue with this song is just the hook. VENUMMMMMMMM. I don’t know what the fuck Em was thinking when he did that shit. I don’t care for the beat either. I don’t think the verses are terrible; it was kinda cool how he got autobiographical here. Honestly, I was ready for the song to end as soon as the second verse began. The rapping isn’t that bad, but as a song this track falls completely flat. It’s wack af to me, and the worst track on the album in my opinion.