Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP2 - Ears on Review

OK, I just found that long awaited album and I'm listening to it right now. You know it, it's Eminem's The Marshall Matther's LP2.

Since I'm listening it for the first time, let me write down the notes as I listen to the songs..

1. Bad Guy - I don't like the beat, weird and makes the song hard to understand at first. But it seems it's finally a storytelling song, something I've waited for a long time. These days rappers seldom do storytelling.

Oh.. the song is something like Stan 2. It's about Stan's little brother who's come for Eminem. The beat changes now and the song enters an epic finale.. damn. Good one.

2. Parking Lot (skit) - sounds like a continuation of an older skit, fans will recognize.

3. Rhyme Or Reason - this one has a great beat. Em does it like a pro here. Sounds like he's just having a lot of fun with it. This is what we need from him.

4. So Much Better - Dark Eminem. Great beat again, a bit weak hook, but has A LOT of references to Eminem's old songs so it's bound to remind most of the fans of the first time they heard those.

5. Survival - what to say here, a bit bland song in my opinion, but it's a commercial for CoD so that's understandable. Good enough, just not great.

6. Legacy - Wow.. a great start. Sounds it about to be another storytelling with a Dido-eque chorus and Em rapping with his kid voice.

Very personal song, the ones Eminem was praised for years ago. This is the one that people will listen to long after the singles lose their novelty value.

7. Asshole (feat. Skylar Grey) - Ouhh.. he starts it off furiously. A lot of bragging, like he want's his skill to be acknowledged (similar to previous song). Good flow. Classic Eminem.

8. Berzerk - You all know this one. For me personally, it grew on me with the video. It's not special but seems like a good choice for a single.

9. Rap God - Again, you've all heard this before, the one where he establishes himself as a Rap God.

10. Brainless - Classic Eminem style funny intro. Funky beat, nice flow. One of those you listen for fun.

11. Stronger Than I Was - um.. weird into. Sounds like a Linkin Park song for the first few seconds. Eminem sings a lot of it.. actually only a small part of it is rap. The rest is him singing and it's great. He's not trying to be a good singer or anything. THIS IS EMINEM'S GENIUS RIGHT HERE. Easily the most original song Em did in the last couple of years. This is what evolution is. Pure gem.

12. The Monster (feat Rihanna) - Well, you know this one too. Another single. I didn't like it too much, but it's a catchy song that will sell the album to a lot of kids.

13. So Far - wow.. another weird intro... I feel I'll love it. Yup, here comes the rapping and it's great. It also goes over a rock type of beat, but one much better than Berzerk beat and Eminem does some homages to his previous work (you'll love it).

Weird.. sounds like a completely mashed up songs, and yet it's perfect. Whoever produced this one should get an award or something. This is another of of the high points on this album.

14. Love Game (feat. Kendrick Lamar) - Another one everyone's already heard (didn't seem like that many, yet it seems like we heard a lot not that I write about it. Anyway, I love this one, it's funky fun. Also, great transition from previous song. It almost sounds like one song.

15. Headlights - Starts off dark, like some horror is about to follow. Oh.. now there's gentle singing.. Here comes Eminem. And he raps very calmly, and about his mom. It somehow sounds beautiful even though he just goes over all of the fights they had.

He actually says he loves her. Very emotional song, perhaps the most personal one so far. Man, makes you.. wow. Really, this is what we've been waiting for. This is Eminem. He's in a happy place, peaceful.. though the ending almost sounds like he's on a verge of death and is saying farewell (literally saying ''I'm not afraid to die'').

Perfect song.

16. Evil Twin - weir change of pace.. this one sounds like something from Relapse. He's angry again. Maybe he should've left Headlights for the end, and this one somewhere up higher. Now he's cocky.. plays on Eminem/Slim Shady competition and places himself in top 4, right after Pac and Biggie he says he's 3rd and 4th place both.

Well, that's it I guess. On first listen, this is a great album, much, much better than Recovery (which I hated). This is a classic Eminem album, a few ups, a few average ones. But overall, I give it a 9. EMINEM IS BACK.