Review Summary: Your average Greatest Hits album from an artist who is anything but average. Worth checking out if you're new to Eminem.
I'd like to start off by saying that this is my first review, so any criticism and ideas for the future would really be appreciated. I hope it's a good review, I'll try and make it as professional sounding as possible. I realise this score is similar to the other review, but I felt the other review was much too negative for the score it gave, so I decided to give it a go.
Ah, Eminem. Who hasn't heard of him today? One of the most controversial figures in music today, he certainly has made an impact. This album is, as a Greatest Hits album should be, pretty much a summary of his career so far, plus a few tracks which haven't appeared on his studio albums. Sounds like your average Greatest Hits album, and that, really, is what it is. Now on with the music:
It kicks off with a funny (at least the first couple of times) skit where Eminem (In a similar style to the Intros to
Encore and
The Eminem Show) walks out to a crowd and tells them to shut up before singing a little bit and introducing the first 'proper' song on the album (the first of the new tracks on the album), saying 'here's a song for the ladies'.
FACK is an annoying, unnecessary song. It has Eminem using his Slim Shady voice for the most part, except it sounds a lot higher than usual, and quite weak. The swearing in this song is completely over-the-top, as is the subject of the song (take a guess from the title). The beat is very repetitive and gets dull towards the end, although the song is slightly funny the first couple of times, it ends up being one of the ones I skip almost every time I listen to the album.
Anyway, the next two songs are definitely worth mentioning- I love
The Way I Am, with its backing track of bells and keyboard continuing throughout the song, giving the song a dark feel. The lyrics are excellent, with Eminem talking about the media attention he recieves for the controversy he creates. The chorus is my favourite part of the song, with the backing beat stepping up a little and Eminem sounding angry as ever.
My Name Is has a much lighter backing beat, with a lot of sound effects throughout the verses, and is a very enjoyable song about various incidents from his past, making fun of lots of people, including a teacher and his dad.
The next 2 songs are absolutely excellent-
Stan is easily my favourite song on the album, with it's infamous story about a fan who goes crazy over Eminem and kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend after recieving no reply to the letters he writes to his idol. Dido's voice in the chorus is beautiful, a light backing beat provides the perfect atmosphere throughout, with rain and pencil sound effects to compliment the letters and the overall atmosphere of the song. An absolute must-have song.
Lose Yourself begins with a small piano intro, then the guitar comes in, with Eminem talking in a very tense voice over it, before rapping about the difficulties of performing, building up tension before reaching a climax in the chorus. Annoyingly, Eminem decides to let the beat fade out for the last 20 or so seconds of the song, which he does a lot, and it becomes very tiresome as it happens many times during the album.
Shake That is a dull song which does nothing for the album- An
Encore song which is barely worth mentioning, apart from the fact you'll want to skip it. At least they didn't include
Ass Like That on the album. Luckily, the next song,
Sing For The Moment, gets the album back on track, with a bass and strings based backing beat with slightly strange drums (very powerful snare) and Steve Tyler singing the chorus. The lyrics are excellent on this track, about his lyrics being misunderstood, and the impact this has on children in particular, with tension building during the verses and a climaxing chorus yet again.
Without Me is in the same vein as
My Name Is and
The Way I Am, with an infectious chorus and Eminem using his Slim Shady voice to great effects, rapping about how the music industry tries to get rid of him, but 'It feels so empty without me', he states. The backing beat is drum based, although it can get grating towards the end of the song, with a strange effect (probably a synthesizer of some sort) playing a repetitive melody.
Like Toy Soldiers is one of his more famous songs, with a drum-roll style beat, a piano over the top and a group chorus (sounds like children singing), very much fitting with the song. This is a very melancholy song, clearly a Marshall Mathers song rather than a Slim Shady song. It's a very powerful song if you allow it to get to you, and worth downloading.
The Real Slim Shady takes a very different tone, where he raps about the state of state of society, and how many people try to imitate him, but he's the 'real Slim Shady'. The chorus is excellent, yet again, and I found one section of the lyrics extremely funny:
"Will Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell his records;
well I do, so f*ck him and f*ck you too!"
Mockingbird is up next, and I'm not really a fan of his voice in this song. It's a song about his daughter, which sounds full of emotion, but at the same time quite pathetic, unfortunately. The last line of the song really ruins it, with the sung chorus not being particularly well thought through. I skip this song about half of the time.
Guilty Conscience is extremely funny, with Dr. Dre rapping back and forth with Eminem. This song explores several situations where the conscience of a certain character 'comes into play'. It always makes me laugh, and is quite an unusual song. Definitely worth checking out.
Cleaning Out My Closet is a fairly good song, but not his best. He raps about his mother over a guitar based backing beat, which is probably the most interesting thing about the song. The chorus seems to contradict the verses a bit, saying he never meant to hurt his mother despite the number of times he insults her in the song. Not a bad song, but not a highlight either.
Just Lose It is plain annoying, and I always skip it. It is linked with
My Name Is,
The Way I Am and
Without Me, but with a difference- It's not a good song, unlike the others. It has annoying lyrics, backing beat and sound effects. Don't bother with this one, but the next song is something else...
When I'm Gone is a truly powerful song. It is the second song which hasn't been released on a studio album before. The lyrics are about his daughter and wife leaving him after he keeps leaving them. It made me cry the first couple of times I heard it, especially with the video to accompany it. The backing beat has a string section playing a nice melody, which breaks down to great effect at the end of the song. You can really hear the emotion in Eminem's voice, and the chorus is almost sung, but very much within his comfort zone. A real highlight.
There is also a live version of
Stan with Elton John singing the chorus and playing piano to add another layer to the backing tack. I love the first few notes he plays, and this version is worth checking out, being the last song not featured previously on a studio album.
Pros:
+ At least two of the new songs are worth putting on
+ His best songs are pretty much all included here
+ The track ordering works, unusually for a Great Hits album
Cons:
- A few weak tracks, which really shouldn't be included
- The lowlights of the album can be very bad
- No
White America? Why?
Recommended tracks:
The Way I Am
Stan
Lose Yourself
Sing For The Moment
Like Toy Soldiers
Guilty Conscience
When I'm Gone
I know it was quite long, but I thought track-by-track was the best format for a Greatest Hits album. As I said, this is my first review, so please leave any criticisms or comments for me, don't just say "I don't like this review".
Thanks,
Spamue1G
And yeah, FACK is a terrible song, I just found one of the verses quite funny for a couple of listens.
