Artist: Eminem
Album: Recovery
Release Date: 6.22.10
Say what you will about Eminem, especially in light of his recent string of lackluster albums. Most true Eminem fans haven’t had their palates fully sated since 2002’s The Eminem Show – but Recovery gives Em just that – a recovery. This is truly a project of redemption for Shady, from his addictions, career lows and personal losses. With Recovery Em dipped his pen in inspiration, the fuel that adds that intensity to his lyrics. That inspiration was displaced on the Relapse album (reviewed here), where gimmicks and meaningless fodder plagued the album. All that aside, Shady’s back!
Eminem returns to form throughout most of the album’s 17 songs – no interludes – with content that ranges from resilience to depression, from triumph to guilt and yes, even love. The intensity reaches heights on cuts like Cinderella Man, which metaphorically equates Em to the fabled character as the one who unexpectedly bests all his competition, and who can argue? Talkin To Myself finds Em in the midst of his addiction, recounting his own depressed thoughts which, he states, nearly drove him to send unprovoked disses at Lil Wayne and Kanye West. Citing the death of his best friend as a factor in his slump, Shady addresses his grief on You’re Never Over, an open letter of emotional tributes to his fallen friend Proof (of D12). Even on such a somber track, Em makes great use of his metaphors and fills the beat out impeccably. Opening the door on Em’s love life once again are cuts like Space Bound, So Bad and Love The Way You Lie which highlights the issue of domestic violence in relationships. They say genius inspires genius, which can be the only explanation for Lil Wayne’s verse on No Love – one of his hardest contributions since The Carter III. I’d also recommend Untitled, the hidden track, which presents itself as one of the album’s most stellar tracks.
Though he attacks most of his content with a lyrical ferocity that many fans have missed in his recent work (and all of hip-hop for that matter), the album’s labyrinth of content makes it spotty, calling his sincerity into question at times. For example, on So Bad it’s hard to imagine Em playing the romantic lover beneath the frantic tone of his own voice. And even the deepest of love devotions can’t erase some of the more misogynistic fodder found on some of the album’s other offerings. Even the inspirational feel of the lead single Not Afraid is somewhat undermined by the content on W.T.P.(White Trash Party). So though lyrically he fully delivers, he appears half-committed to some of the album’s concepts.
Despite its shortcomings, Recovery is Eminem’s best work in quite some time. Each song works separately, but the album as a whole is slightly lacking cohesiveness. With that being said, it’s still arguably the best hip-hop album released in 2010 so far – simply because it delivers real hip-hop. It has the fire that Relapse lacked and it proves once again why Eminem is undoubtedly one of hip-hop’s greatest lyricists. If this album sought to bring Mr. Mathers redemption, I’d say he’s found it…
Sound-Savvy rates Eminem’s Recovery with 4 out of 5 platinum headphones.
Eminem has many traits that people like Madonna have, The Who, The Beatles and all the great artists. They are flexible, intelligent and are always one step ahead of the crowd and reinvent themselves to meet a demand without losing who they basically are. He’s as popular as he is because this all adds up to a talent that many fall short of.. Pure Genius.
I agree with your review. This is probably my favorite Eminem album simply due to the fact that I don’t feel the need to skip a single track. MMLP is a classic obviously but he gave some of the verses on that album to some crap rappers in my opinion and I skip those songs because of that. What I like about Recovery is that only one verse is given to someone else and Lil Wayne really brings it. I like W.T.P. It’s just a club song the only way Em would do a club song. It had me laughing anyway. The whole album is really sincere though. Nice review.
Emotionally, Eminem is rather stunted. He’s ALWAYS sounding like a man with a flaming case of hemroids, spewing venom and vitriol even when he’s trying to sound thoughtful and romantic. It’s a step in the right direction and as you said, there are some good individual songs here, but it’s certainly no “Marshall Mathers LP”