Real men wear purple
All in all, it's hard to see Eminem's latest as anything but a major disappointment. Over the past few years, Em has been criticized for a lot of different things, some accurately and others less, but here he opens himself up to the type of criticism that would probably hurt him the most by releasing an album that just isn't very good.

How bad is it? Well, to be fair, not horrid, but it is safe to say that it is more crap than crepe. The best tracks are at the beginning and the end, with the exception of the first song, which I can honestly say I will probably never intentionally listen to again. The album reaches its creative low during the middle, the section that allegedly marks the return of his Slim Shady alias. Personally, when I think Slim Shady, I think of tracks like "Role Model" and "Just Don't Give a Fuck," not dis tracks directed at Jessica Simpson's ass and choruses that sound like he wrote them while he was taking a dump (which is ironic, considering, as folklore goes, that is the exact moment when Em created the name Slim Shady).

All in all, it feels as if Eminem spent the past half-decade rewriting the rules of rap, and with this album he attempts to prove that those rules don't necessarily apply to him. The tale of the tape is that in hip-hop, you're only as good as your last record, so if Em wants his spot back, he will have some work to do. Part of me thinks that this was partially intentional, since Em has recently said that he never wanted the level of fame that he's amassed. This album may be the first step towards him getting that wish.