For a song with verses like this, I'd hope the beat would have some kind of variations. Nonetheless, Em's doing a better job than in Survival or Berserk IMO.
That third verse has like 50 bars. Crazy, loved it. One thought I keep having is: is it good that it's this long, or is it too long for a track that's just rapping without a storyline? The beat could've been better, I see now after a few listens. The drums are meh, and that synth kinda gets annoying after 6 minutes, and when you listen to it a few times... But I do like the swith-ups, like during the I'm Back quoting in the third verse. Oh, and ''Why be a king when you can be a god?'', I love that line so much. Awesome ending.
Seems to be 5 bonus songs and two bonus skits on the Deluxe 2CD Edition. http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00FKAA3MA eminem.com/preorder
KEN KANIFF IS BACK. Edit: I'm still sad that Paul Rosenberg, Steve Berman and the Public Service Announcement aren't back though.
Paul - ''No one likes this album you can't put it out.'' Steve Berman - ''This shit is gonna flop so hard. I'm gonna lose my job. Why did you shoot me?'' Those two are boring. PSA2013, though, I'd like to hear that.
"Tower Records told me to shove this record up my ass. Do you know how it feels like to be told to have a record shoved up your ass?" "Do you know why Dre's record was so successful? He's rapping about big-screen TV's, blunts, 40's and bitches. You're rapping about homosexuals and Vicadin!" I don't see why you don't find that at least amusing. I thought the skits were freaking hysterical back in the day! Especially "Paul" and "Em Calls Paul" in Encore! I was a huge Michael Jackson fan as a kid, and I was rolling on the floor laughing after listening to that skit.
As disarmingly poppy as it is, I don't hate it. But the album is called "The Marshall Mathers LP II" and that is a joke.
It's just ok. I don't care that it's pop, but it's not good pop. This album's going to be pop as fuck, by the way. Brace for that now.
The verses aren't actually as cringe-worthy as Love the Way you Lie's.... but holy shit that chorus and beat. He's rapping over a POP beat! C'mon Em! Calling this MMLP 2 was a bad idea...
"Oh, he's too mainstream Well, that's what they do when they get jealous, they confuse it It's not hip hop, it's pop, cause I found a hella way to fuse it" -Eminem, "Rap God", The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013)
IMO "The Monster" is a really great song. Proves once again how Eminem and Rihanna work so well together in a song. You can also notice the vocal-boosted production, like in "Rap God", in this song as well, which is something I'm growing to love. I hope the tracks on The Marshall Mathers LP 2 are produced this way as well. It's way more easier to hear what Em's actually saying this way! After listening to this song, however, I think calling this album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 was actually a perfect idea! When you look at "Survival", "Rap God" and "The Monster", you see that, like the original The Marshall Mathers LP, Em's talking about his life and lows at that current point in time. This album looks like that it's going to be a Part 2 to The Marshall Mathers LP lyric wise, rather than just continuing the sound.