Throughout Marshall Mathers' time in the spotlight, he's released too many songs to count, and just enough albums to clearly rank from best to worst. His albums have also spurred various levels of controversy, but that's kind of what Eminem is all about.
He knows not everyone likes him, and he doesn't seem to care. But when it comes down to fans' opinions about his music, he might care. At least a little.
Because despite various sources claiming that his 2010 album 'Recovery' is one of Eminem's top accomplishments, fans don't feel the same. Here's why they're not thrilled with what some call one of Em's 'top' albums.
'Recovery' Is Highly-Rated By Most Sources
Interestingly, many sources, including journalists over at Billboard, think that Eminem's album 'Recovery' was pretty great. It also sold 1.1 million copies in its first week, meaning it ranks about middling in terms of sales records.
The thing is, not everyone who bought the album really loved it. In fact, a lot of self-proclaimed fans of Eminem thought it just wasn't his best work, although they've loved past (and subsequent) projects of his.
So why do fans question the overall success of 'Recovery'? The answer lies mostly in the music itself.
Fans Think Eminem's 'Recovery' Was Middling At Best
One fan posed the question of why so many people seemed to hate 'Recovery.' They suggested that people complained about Eminem's sound being too "pop," and stated that they would rank 'Recovery' comfortably in the top half of Eminem's albums.
The bottom line? "It's a bit pop at a few times but some songs are pretty dope," the commenter noted. Not everyone agreed, though; plenty of fans had complaints about the music, and their issue with the songs went beyond them being too "pop."
Some Rank Eminem's Album Low Because It Lacks Polish
Fans had various complaints about Eminem's album that all added up to one point: the album didn't feel like it was trying hard enough. Fans had plenty of specific points to offer to support their argument, but one fact in the equation is that Eminem himself stated that the album was spawned from another project.
At the time of its release, Eminem stated that 'Recovery' was originally going to be 'Relapse 2,' but he wound up scrapping that idea because he felt that the music that came out of the creative process (with various influences and producers) "deserves its own title."
That could explain why fans felt a lack of "polish." After all, changing up the creative process and working with different people (like collaborator Rihanna) does breathe life into a project, but it also throws things for a loop when an album is meant to be a sequel and trails off on its own.
Fans Don't Dig Eminem's Apologetic Lyrics
Another beef fans had with Eminem's 'Recovery'? The fact that he spent so much time apologizing for past wrongs, rather than simply moving forward and changing for the better.
As one fan stated after the fact, "instead of telling us he should've show[n] us."
But other fans were keen on giving Eminem the benefit of the doubt in some way, like one who claimed: "'Recovery' was the warm up for MMLP2 ['The Marshall Mathers LP 2']."
At the same time, calling any album a warm up, while somewhat offensive to the artist, also suggests that it just isn't worth listening to. Or, at the least, that it's not ever going to be good because it's not really complete enough to stand on its own.
Ignoring the fact that 'Recovery' featured some impressively successful pop crossovers with the likes of Rihanna, Pink, and Lil Wayne, fans had even more complaints than the album feeling 'unfinished.'
One fan said the production was "weak," as if someone inexperienced whipped up the beats. Overall, it was "amateur sounding" and "sloppy," said the fan, in part because of the various producers that Eminem credited with helping him create so much new material.
Others agreed that Eminem changed up almost everything about his "old style of music and his persona," leaning more toward pop, yes, but also ditching all the things that made his albums immediately recognizable from the first beat.
The good news is that in the years since 'Recovery' came out, Eminem has apparently redeemed himself, and with two other albums in three years. That left fans with plenty more material to buy, listen to, and pick apart online. The thing is, since streaming downloads and album sales are used to rank Eminem's albums, their purchases may inflate any one album to a false sense of importance on the "top" charts.