This is the album that Relapse should have been. Eminem returns just over a year after his previous output with Recovery, arguably his best album since The Eminem Show. Recovery is Eminem’s 7th studio album, and takes a bold step away from his previous work, perhaps to show his growing maturity.
Relapse was not a bad album, yet it failed to deliver anything to match Marshall’s previous back catalogue, other than a handful of highlights.
It is possibly for this very reason that Eminem scrapped Relapse 2, and replaced it with Recovery, as the man himself stated: ‘the idea of a sequel to Relapse started to make less and less sense to me, and I wanted to make a completely new album’.
Recovery is Eminem’s lament towards his recent checkered history; he deals with issues that went untouched during Relapse.
In fact, by the second song, ‘Talking 2 Myself’, Eminem has directly confronted the poor reception to his previous two albums, “It's different, them last two albums didn't count/Encore I was on drugs, Relapse I was flushin' 'em out”. The tone is set for the rest of the album, Eminem leaves us in no doubt that he is back and stronger than ever. ‘Won’t Back Down’ is a testament to his return and Pink’s vocals on the chorus prove a perfect match for Eminem’s fast free-flowing rap.
‘Going Through Changes’ samples Black Sabbath’s 1972 song ‘Changes’, providing a poignant reminder of the serious drugs problem Eminem recovered from, as well as the death of his best friend Proof. The D12 member was shot dead in 2006, and despite the profound effect it had on Eminem, Relapse rarely dealt with his reaction to Proof’s death. However, on Recovery, Eminem confronts his recent past head on, particularly the incident that led to Proof’s death: “They say Proof just flipped out, homie just swift out and bust,/Nah, it ain't like Doody to do that,/He wouldn't fuckin' shoot at no-body, he fights first”.
Eminem’s first two albums’ were full of anger, the rage in debut album, The Slim Shady LP, brought him to the worlds’ attention. However, he is in a different place on Recovery, the anger in his voice is still there, yet the lyrics display more emotion than witnessed on previous albums. The Just Blaze-produced song, ‘No Love’ featuring Lil Wayne, samples the 1993 dance track ‘What is Love’ by Haddaway to great effect. Eminem uses the song to counter his critics, and whilst the reference to Kanye West’s ‘the greatest’ speech is out-dated; the song proves to be another demonstration of Eminem’s complex rhyme schemes. ‘No Love’ starts a run of brilliant songs, the two slower tracks ‘Space Bound’ and ‘25 To Life’, separated by the rousing ‘Cinderella Man’.
Both ‘Space Bound’ and ’25 To Life’ have beautiful acoustic guitar backing tracks, which enhance the rawness of Eminem’s voice as he raps over the top. If his recovery from drug addiction forms the first half of the album, Eminem’s destructive relationship with women provides the subject matter for the second half, “Your screaming as I walk out that I’ll be missed/But when you spoke to people who meant the most to you/You left me off your list”. The second single from the album, ‘Love The Way You Lie’ featuring vocals from Rhianna, follows a similar formula to ‘Space Bound’ and ’25 To Life’; however, with the extra star-power of Rhianna it is bound to be a hit. Recovery is certainly more commercial than previous Eminem albums, and this is reflected by the calibre of producers and artists on the album.
It is Eminem’s most consistent album, crafted, honed to perfection. There are no filler songs on this album, each song has earned its place, and surprisingly there is not a single comical song to be seen. No ‘We Made You’, ‘Without Me’, or ‘My Name Is’, which makes the album all the more sincere. Eminem has returned with a brilliant 7th studio album, one which will cement his place as one of the greatest rappers of all time.
Relapse was not a bad album, yet it failed to deliver anything to match Marshall’s previous back catalogue, other than a handful of highlights.
It is possibly for this very reason that Eminem scrapped Relapse 2, and replaced it with Recovery, as the man himself stated: ‘the idea of a sequel to Relapse started to make less and less sense to me, and I wanted to make a completely new album’.
Recovery is Eminem’s lament towards his recent checkered history; he deals with issues that went untouched during Relapse.
In fact, by the second song, ‘Talking 2 Myself’, Eminem has directly confronted the poor reception to his previous two albums, “It's different, them last two albums didn't count/Encore I was on drugs, Relapse I was flushin' 'em out”. The tone is set for the rest of the album, Eminem leaves us in no doubt that he is back and stronger than ever. ‘Won’t Back Down’ is a testament to his return and Pink’s vocals on the chorus prove a perfect match for Eminem’s fast free-flowing rap.
‘Going Through Changes’ samples Black Sabbath’s 1972 song ‘Changes’, providing a poignant reminder of the serious drugs problem Eminem recovered from, as well as the death of his best friend Proof. The D12 member was shot dead in 2006, and despite the profound effect it had on Eminem, Relapse rarely dealt with his reaction to Proof’s death. However, on Recovery, Eminem confronts his recent past head on, particularly the incident that led to Proof’s death: “They say Proof just flipped out, homie just swift out and bust,/Nah, it ain't like Doody to do that,/He wouldn't fuckin' shoot at no-body, he fights first”.
Eminem’s first two albums’ were full of anger, the rage in debut album, The Slim Shady LP, brought him to the worlds’ attention. However, he is in a different place on Recovery, the anger in his voice is still there, yet the lyrics display more emotion than witnessed on previous albums. The Just Blaze-produced song, ‘No Love’ featuring Lil Wayne, samples the 1993 dance track ‘What is Love’ by Haddaway to great effect. Eminem uses the song to counter his critics, and whilst the reference to Kanye West’s ‘the greatest’ speech is out-dated; the song proves to be another demonstration of Eminem’s complex rhyme schemes. ‘No Love’ starts a run of brilliant songs, the two slower tracks ‘Space Bound’ and ‘25 To Life’, separated by the rousing ‘Cinderella Man’.
Both ‘Space Bound’ and ’25 To Life’ have beautiful acoustic guitar backing tracks, which enhance the rawness of Eminem’s voice as he raps over the top. If his recovery from drug addiction forms the first half of the album, Eminem’s destructive relationship with women provides the subject matter for the second half, “Your screaming as I walk out that I’ll be missed/But when you spoke to people who meant the most to you/You left me off your list”. The second single from the album, ‘Love The Way You Lie’ featuring vocals from Rhianna, follows a similar formula to ‘Space Bound’ and ’25 To Life’; however, with the extra star-power of Rhianna it is bound to be a hit. Recovery is certainly more commercial than previous Eminem albums, and this is reflected by the calibre of producers and artists on the album.
It is Eminem’s most consistent album, crafted, honed to perfection. There are no filler songs on this album, each song has earned its place, and surprisingly there is not a single comical song to be seen. No ‘We Made You’, ‘Without Me’, or ‘My Name Is’, which makes the album all the more sincere. Eminem has returned with a brilliant 7th studio album, one which will cement his place as one of the greatest rappers of all time.
4/5
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