A few weeks ago, Eminem released a brand new album and I’ve got to say, it is sort of shocking. He seemed to mellow out a tad, going with slower, more personal songs, a side we haven’t seen from him in a while.
The style of songs are at first listen, very different and take a bit getting used to, much in the way some of his other albums did, but even more so. It is a little startling, but the more you listen to it, the more you see that Eminem at his core is very much present throughout every song. It turns out to be a very good album once you get used to it.
So how does it stand compared with his other albums? Let’s find out.
I am going to rank all his full length albums from my least favorite to most favorite.
Before I begin, however, I just want to inform you that I think his songs from his Shady XV compilation album and the Southpaw soundtrack are definitely his best ever made, but since they are not full albums with just him, they will not be listed, though I highly recommend checking these two out, for it really shows off his mastery of the English language.
UPDATE 9/16/18
Might as well add his new album Kamikaze to the list. In short, it’s incredible. It’s shorter than most of his albums, but it has some of his fastest, most creative and best raps to date. He just explodes through the whole album. He doesn’t use a lot of collaboration for the choruses like he’s been, which I miss, and it lacks a little in his awesomely absurd creativity just a tad, but it’s a crazy good album for sure. There’s only one song on it that I don’t really get what he was thinking cuz it’s awful…the rest are incredible.
Find out where that lands on the list as well!
END UPDATE
And now, here we go!
#10
Infinite (1996)
Eminem’s first full length album. It is quite good, but the low quality hurts it and actually prevents it from being higher on the list.
#9
Encore (2004)
His fifth album is also his most disappointing, and the artist himself agrees, I believe, blaming his drug addiction on the poor result of this album. It features some very good songs on it, but also a handful of, in my opinion, the only bad songs he’s ever made. The rest are catchy and kind of good, but also very weird, making it easy to believe he was struggling with drugs at the time he was writing the album.
#8
The Slim Shady LP (1999)
The first major label release of Eminem and the album that brought him world renown. It is really quite strange, but amazing nonetheless.
#7
The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
His third album is his best selling and even holds the record for the fast selling album of all time, last I heard anyway. It is a few steps up from his last album, though lyrically it is more like what you would expect to hear from every other rapper in the world, and I like Eminem when he does he own unique style more so than when he raps about drugs and killing people.
#6
The Eminem Show (2002)
His fourth album is like a hybrid of the two albums preceding this one, making it quite fun to listen to with some of the catchiest songs he’s ever written.
#5
Relapse (2009)
His first album to come out after I and many other believed he had retired. It was quite different than his last few albums, sort of reminiscent of the Slim Shady LP, but with better raps. There are a few too many joke songs and not enough of the emotional ones he usually has on each album though.
#4
Revival (2017)
And here is where his brand new album stands! That’s right, as of right now I find it to be his third best! Some truly unique songs with plenty of accompaniment from other artists make this truly a one of a kind album for him. A downside to the album is there is a bit too much on his political views in his lyrics, and we all know politics need to stay out of music.
#3
Recovery (2010)
This album really shows off what the rapper is capable of, propelling him into a completely different league from all of his previous albums. Every song is unique and full of energy. It’s just awesome.
#2
Kamikaze
And here’s where his latest effort lands. It’s just so stinking enjoyable. His raps are the best he’s ever done, but it’s short length hurts it a bit.
#1
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013)
This leaves us with his only “sequel” album and by far his best one. This took all the momentum of Recovery and tripled it. Every song was full of twists and turns, leaving you unable to predict what would happen next. The album has a ton of other artists to add their talents to the songs, the beats are awesome, not those typical rap beats, thus making the album hard to believe it is even rap. And every single song is jaw dropping. You can tell he put a ton of effort into this one.
Revival had the unfortunate timing to follow up his number 1 album, which makes me wonder if it hadn’t, would I like it more?
Who knows? But that is all his albums, from worst to best, though I can’t say any of them are anything but good.
VidChord 
The single line of “we all know politics need to stay out of music” alone discredits your legitimacy. Music have played a significant role in political expression for decades. Specifically, much of the early rap releases that served as Hip Hop’s foundation addressed political and social issues affecting African Americans (“The Message,” “Straight Outta Compton,” “By All Means Necessary,” “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” etc.). The remark denouncing Eminem’s lyrics about drugs and violence proves further that you have little to no understanding of the purpose of Hip Hop and its history and foundations. A good place to start to educate yourself about the history of politics in Hip Hop would be here: https://thegrio.com/2010/06/15/hip-hop-and-politics-have-a-long-history-behind-the-mic/
As for the ranking, I understand that music is subjective, but there is also an element of objectivity to it as well. The Marshall Mathers LP and The Slim Shady LP (and to a lesser extent, The Eminem Show) are widely acknowledged by the Hip Hop community as classic albums that will go down in history as some of the genre’s best. Those albums are also Eminem’s most critically acclaimed records. On the other hand, releases such as Relapse, Recovery, and Revival have received the most mixed/negative reception from both fans and critics. Eminem fans and music fans have varying opinions of his discography, but yours is so out of touch that it cannot be taken seriously.
P.S. If this ranking is strictly based on personal taste, disregard the second paragraph. You like what you like. However, the descriptions you give to each album (using the word “best,” for example) make it seem as though you are ranking these based on ‘worst to best’ rather than ‘least favorite to most favorite.’ If you were attempting to rank these objectively, then my points apply.
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thanks for the comment!
yep, whole thing is my opinion. I even state “I am going to list them from my least favorite to most favorite.” in the beginning. I don’t care about what is widely considered the best and all that biz or what hip hop is all about. I don’t even like the genre, but Eminem has always lured me in with his talented wordplay. I have been a fan of writing my whole life and to hear it used in the way he does is what I really enjoy, and lately in a not so hip hop way. That is why I like his newer stuff more and totally understand why most people would disagree.
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Goddammit, now I feel bad. Hope you have a nice day.
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