Most people only know D12 from their sophomore album, D12 World. That's too bad, because Devil's Night kills D12 World in almost every way. In terms of lyrics, you're hearing the Marshall Mathers LP Eminem instead of the Encore Eminem you heard on D12 World. Swift is incredible on this album also. He kind of blended into the group on D12 World, but on this album he is pretty clearly the second best rapper after Eminem. The production on this album is razor-sharp, as opposed to some of the sloppy stuff on D12 World. Pretty much everything you could ever expect from D12, they deliver it on Devil's Night. Only one, maybe two songs are unlistenable. The best song that they have ever made, no question, is on here. This album even has a guitar solo and a trumpet solo. Bizarre is disgusting as usual, and there are plenty of clever insults, hilarious skits, and graphic violence and sex lines.
But it is D12, which means they do fall short in some areas. The major hit on them is that they can't be serious. They feel the need to joke about everything. Also, Eminem doesn't play nearly as big a part on Devil's Night as he did on D12 World. A little bit too disgusting here with the sex, especially on Nasty Mind. Unfortunately, Pimp Like Me is the prequel to the hated Superman. And one more thing. It may seem like nitpicking if you don't have the album, but the fades on the songs are obnoxiously long. Other than that, this album is excellent.
Best Song
Revelation. This is pretty clearly the best song of D12's career. A lot like Good Die Young on D12 World, Revelation is the only truly serious song on this album. In this song, the members of D12 talk about their childhoods. While everyone has already knows about Eminem's, you learn some disturbing about the other members. For example, you learn that Bizarre's dad raped him from the line "When my mom's on her period, my dad went to my room." If you think: Well, it's Bizarre, he's never serious... then you're wrong. If Bizarre has ever been serious in a D12 song, it was right there. Also, you can hear Kuniva railing against his neglectful mother "Do you see this nice big house, ma? It don't mean s**t!" A theme of suicide runs throughout this song, which is another one of Eminem's trademarks. The chorus has Eminem stating "One day I will leave this world, and I wait for the revelation." The beat on this song is suffocating and full of tension. It has a very distinctive guitar loop, and minimal drumming. It fits the lyrics perfectly though. This song has that guitar solo that I talked about, which comes after the lyrics end. This is one of the best rap songs of the 2000's in my opinion, and the whole album is worth buying if just for this song.
Honorable Mentions
That's How.....This song is easily the catchiest on the CD. It's incredibly violent (killing children), but still hilarious. This song is formatted in a really cool way, which is: a brief description of a situation followed by "That's how _____ get f**ked up." Insert anything in that line, from students to bouncers to drive-bys. Bizarre is good in particular in this song, because it is perfectly suited for his disgusting and profane humor. The chorus is incredibly catchy, and would be at home in a pop song if you didn't listen to the lyrics. Not a classic song by any means, but it is catchy and full of funny lyrics. This is D12 at its hilarious best.
Fight Music. This is the lead single of Devil's Night. The intro is great, with a few guitar chords over the background of people yelling. It builds up tension into the first, Eminem rapped chorus. As you can imagine, this is a fight song. Also, there are some disgusting sex lines, such as the conversation between Bizarre and Kuniva "Do you know why my hands are so numb?" "No." "Your grandmother sucked my d**k and I didn't cum." "Oh." The beat on this song is also really cool. It is another oppressive, guitar driven beat. But it isn't a D12 fight song without graphic violence, and there is plenty of that here. "I'll push your baby carriage into the street," and "I'll up my high by slitting your throat," are just two examples. This is a lot like 40 Oz. on D12 World, except significantly better. Great fight song.
Aint Nothing But Music. The last honorable mention was a close contest between this song and Purple Pills, the popular second single. But the Dre produced beat and lots of Eminem pushed this song above Purple Pills. Aint Nothing But Music has the traditional Dre beat, and a really cool chorus. Eminem goes crazy on his enemies in this song, and wonders why he can't have sex with numerous celebrities, such as Britney Spears. Bizarre is ridiculous as usual on this song, with lines such as "I'm up early with my hair curly, me and Mr. Furly, f**kin Laverne and Shirley!" That line makes no more sense in context than it does by itself. Swift is good on this song too, as usual. Overall, this is a quality rap song that is fun to listen to.
Most Overrated
Girls. This song doesn't appear on the tracklist on the back of the CD, but it is probably the most known song on the album. Yes, it's the famous Limp Bizkit dis track. The only thing is: this song is kind of lame. It does rip on Limp Bizkit well, but the other aspects of the song suffer. The hook is kind of lame, and the beat is even worse. Also, only Eminem raps on this song, nobody else from D12. I don't have a problem with the occasional dis from Eminem, but devoting a whole track on a CD to one enemy is a bit much. This belongs on mixtapes, not on your album. Although I do hate Limp Bizkit, this song is not good.
Worst Song
Nasty Mind. Bizarre isn't meant to carry songs. He is meant to provide the occasional hilarious line and that's pretty much it. I guess that D12 needs to toss Bizarre a bone per album so he stays happy. Just Like U was the one on D12 World, and this is the one on this CD. Also this song is very gross, with lines such as "I f**ked her with no baby lotion, and busted into the soap dish." Even worse lines appear throughout the song. Bizarre is incredibly gross as usual, saying "While I'm beating my meat, your daughter pretending like she's asleep." This song is very gross, shallow and terrible. A dark stain on an otherwise good album.
An excellent album from D12. If you're a fan of rap, you should really check this out.
