The cringe pop songs are gone, Eminem's flow is pleasing to the ear without the yelling or as much of a choppy flow, but the production is way too bland once again. At this point I'd rather him make a mixtape and rap over classic beats. He still raps well (of course) and writes some noteworthy bars (albeit too much of this is about the same thing), but the songwriting as a whole isn't good enough to make tracks with replay value. I was surprised 'Tobey' was a single, and after listening to the whole album more than once, 'Houdini' aside, nothing has hit single written all over it by any means. The concept of the album is maintained, but in doing that there is too much repetition. I love Eminem as a rapper, but there aren't songs here that I get excited about. Beats: ★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★☆/★★★☆ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: Renaissance, Houdini 1. Renaissance Fun rapping over a hard beat - Something we should get more of from Eminem. Content wise it feels like something from 'Kamikaze'. - "Cause I don't see no fans, all I see's a bunch of complainers/Kendrick's album was cool, but it didn't have any bangers/Wayne's album or Ye's, couldn't tell you which one was lamer/Joyner's album was corny, Shady's new shit is way worse/Everything is either too tame or there's too much anger" 2. Habits This begins a theme of Eminem poking fun at cancel culture and the Shady Vs Marshal battle. The production isn't great but the rapping and flow gets better as the track progresses with a beat change-up. 3. Trouble A short skit leading into the next track. 4. Brand New Dance The Christopher Reeve references are back from Relapse. Apparently this was an Encore leftover. It's one of the least interesting songs on the album. 5. Evil "And not the good kind of gay either (What?)/Where two men fuck each other and hate beaver (Woah)" Haha. Jesus... Again, the instrumentation isn't that impressive, but it's the best song since the opener. 6. All You Got (Skit) More Shady Vs Marshal 7. Lucifer The hook is okay, but the beat is repetitive and makes the song drag on. "Why can't you make fun of people behind their backs like a normal person?" 8. Antichrist This is mostly about Eminem being offensive and provoking. As above though, it drags on. The lyrics are better here with more quotables. "Cause I can spit a bar that is a/Cross between Nas and GZA, Biggie Smalls, and RZA/So hard, Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj'll scissor." 9. Fuel About Em never stopping! Decent feature from JID. 10. Road Rage There is a whole verse about how we are meant to coddle obese people, pretend there's nothing wrong with it and that it looks good. "Yeah, all my obese people, if you're fat, proud, and you know it (Hey)/Raise your hand if you're shoving food in your mouth at this moment (Mmm)/But if you're mad 'cause they're clownin' you for poundin' them donuts (What?)/Put 'em down and either do somethin' about it or own it." Then this in the next verse - "Call me a transphobe (Really? Yeah) 'cause I just can't go (What?)/And try and pretend you was never a man though (Sorry)" Then the song transforms into Juvenile's classic 'Ha'. This is a song most will agree with the content of and the beat change makes it fun. Of course this site predictably has their knickers in a twist about it. "Ha!" 11. Houdini The catchiest song on the album thanks to its contagious hook. A well chosen first single that borrows from Eminem's earlier hit, 'Without Me'. 12. Breaking News (Skit) 13. Guilty Conscience 2 Shady and Marshal trade bars about what trouble Shady has gotten Eminem into. The most enjoyable bit of this is where Em goes through all of his feuds. He is about to kill Shady, but then he wakes up... 14. Head Honcho Basically brag rap/overcoming the hate featuring Shady Records signee, Ez Mil. "Give a fuck if you hate me worse than each track on Revival." 15. Temporary The first song to change up the theme of the album being a song for his daughter, Hailie, for when Marshal dies. Eminem raps, at times, unevenly, over a piano evoking sadness. It's no 'Mockingbird'. 16. Bad One Eminem brags about his place in hip hop. There are some quality bars. "Haters, I made a few/But like when Three Stacks just plays the flute/I ain't got shit to say to you (Nah)." 17. Tobey This second single set the tone for the album regarding the quality of the beats. It's average and I think BabyTron has a poor voice. The chorus/concept is kind of creative though. I'll give them that. 18. Guess Who's Back (Skit) A 'comedic' skit that partly makes fun of the flow of Em's in 'Houdini'. 19. Somebody Save Me The second song from Eminem directed to his family. He apologises for not being the best father ("I don't even deserve the father title"). The hook from Jelly Roll isn't bad here.

While there are some good moments, with catchy written/sample hooks being a feature on songs like 'It's Real' and 'Cemetery Made', and it's a fairly consistently enjoyable/decent album, again from No Limit, nothing reaches great heights and Mr. Serv-On doesn't have that X-factor. He's a decent rapper, but Mystikal, Brotha Lynch Hung (who for some reason isn't credited on streaming services), Mia X and other features stand out more. While some features are on choruses, Serv only gets two solo tracks. He apparently came with more of an experimental flow on his next album, so I look forward to checking that out. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Heaven Is So Close, It's Real, Who Raised Me, Hustlin, Cemetery Made, Throw Ya City Up

As the ratings below show, this is a solid album all the way through. I feel like every listener will have a different set of their favourite tracks just because there aren't any that truly stand out - maybe apart from the opener. The vibey 'You See Me' would be near the top for me if not for the unfortunately autotune rubbish of the feature. It's just a consistent album that an be played on loop without wanting to skip. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Goin' Hard, My Spot, Can't Rain Forever, Peaceful Mind 1. Goin' Hard (with Paul Wall & Maxo Kream) 82 2. Tear Da Lane Up (with Keara Alyse) 74 3. My Spot (with Z-Ro) 80 4. Can't Rain Forever (with Jack Freeman) 80 5. Look Alive (with Propain, OTB Fastlane & Yung Al) 70 6. It' Too Late (with Killa Kyleon & Slim Thug) 70 7. Game Won't Die (with Eddie Coke) 75 8. You See Me (with DJ Chose) 60 9. Legend Mane (with Bun B & Big K.R.I.T.) 74 10. What We Stand On (with AL-D*3000, Jay Worthy & Sauce WoodWinnin) 63 11. Ashtray 70 12. Slfmade Sundays (with Quiet Money Dot) 62 13. Freestyle Finale (with Big Pokey) 74 14. Late At Night (with Lil' Flip, Lil' O & Mike D) 73 15. Remain Solid 62 16. Love Da Hustle (with Eddie Coke, Devin The Dude & Keara Alyse) 70 17. Peaceful Mind 80

At only 23 minutes long, you'd expect some more heat from this. Vocally, the Rev hasn't dropped off, but at times the production is the issue and there's not great moments. 'Don't Stop Y'all' is the worst. It sounds cheap and 'Take a Tour' has a kind of Caribbean flavour that doesn't work too well. The chorus of 'High and Mighty Joe' is poor too. Everything else is decent to good and sounds like you'd expect it to with hard drums and at times electric guitars. Some of the sampling on songs like the opener is great too. I don't enjoy the 'Sweet Home Alabama' sampling so much on 'Home Sweet Home' though. There's not a lot of creativity with that one. It's a bit of mixed bag from the legend's first solo project, but there are some good songs to take away. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: I Used to Think I Was Run, Boom Ditty, The Way 1 I Used To Think I Was Run 80 2 Home Sweet Home 50 3 Boom Ditty 80 4 Breaktime 70 5 High and Mighty Joe 50 6 The Way 73 7 Don't Stop Y'all 40 8 Mind on the Road 70 9 Take a Tour 56 10 Distortion 60

While I think Run-D.M.C.'s production was on the up with their previous albums, here we see them branching outside to more top-tier producers from Naughty by Nature's KayGee, Q-Tip and Pete Rock to name a few. Pete Rock handles the title track so well with it being my favourite song from the group. You can hear KayGee's recognisable production from the first note on 'Hit 'Em Hard'. 'Big Willie' is the obligatory rap-rock track from Run-D.M.C, with Tom Morello, from Rage Against the Machine, on the guitar, but they've done better. There are some nice touches to the instrumentation but the first verse from Rev Run sounds mixed too low and it gets repetitive during the verses. 'What's Next' also sees Run going back to a reggae sound which they had a couple of songs in on their earlier albums, but it's the least likeable moment on the album. All in all this is a decent rap project to add to so many from what is the greatest era in hip hop, but Run-D.M.C. do lose their unique sound and style here, with it sounding like lots of other albums from the early-mid '90s. They even look like Naughty by Nature on the album art. The rapping is less traditionally Run-esque as well, and while never a strength of the group, there isn't anything topically interesting being spat. Some of it sounds more like an Onyx record, who Jam Master Jay helped to sign. There are too many okay, but nothing special, boom bap songs like 'Three Little Indians', 'In The House' and 'Get Open' to name a few. 'Can I Get a Witness' elevates beyond those mainly thanks to a catchier hook, and the same can be said for 'Wreck Shop'. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Down with the King, Hit 'Em Hard, Ooh, Whatcha Gonna Do, Can I Get a Witness, Wreck Shop