By Odeisel
After two consecutive sub-par albums, Eminem returns to the stage with Recovery, the album formerly known as Relapse 2. The album is a declaration of Eminem’s resilience, rising once again from bouts with drugs and depression and personal loss (friend Proof’s death).
“Cold Wind Blows” contains that old sinister organ-driven angst ride that Eminem is comfortable rhyming over. His punchline setups are a bit stiff, and lines like “stick my dick in the circle but I don’t fuck around” and “call me a fag cause I hate a pussy” are beneath his established level of lyricism but the track’s energy and his delivery cover him. Singer Kobe ( I bet you panicked when you saw the track listing) drops some R&B goodness on the hook of “Talking 2 Myself” which finds Eminem recounting his dark period of mania, going after everyone and not even having the skills in his addled state to carry out any lyrical ass beatings. He asks for a Mulligan on his previous two and announces his return to normalcy.
Strings and that deep bottom return on “On Fire” with Eminem throwing flames at critics and kicking his old school threatening vitriol, threatening another blonde pop figure (Brooke Hogan). The chorus is lazy and uninspired but the verses are dope. The husky guitars of “Won’t Back Down” allow for a different slow flow and rhyme scheme from Eminem. Pink is underwhelming on the hook and serves as star power only.
“W.T.P.” is a pointless club song from Eminem and “I’m a boss” talk has him out of his element. “Going Through Changes” brings angst Em back, recounting the loss of his beloved Proof and the effects of that death on his life and his art. Lead single “I’m Not Afraid” with his moody synths is a step above his work on the last two albums but nothing exciting.
The DJ Khalil-produced “Seduction” with its “Murder Was the Case” drums and his melodic flow is a thinly veiled shot a Mariah and hubby. As a song it’s cool, as a continuation of the long running feud it’s lame as hell. He does switch flows a few times which salvages the musical value. The ghost of Night at the Roxy is ably manipulated by an inspired Just Blaze on “No Love”. Lil Wayne starts off with a lazy Cam’ron and then accelerates and detonates. Eminem does the same with perhaps his most motivated delivery on the album, castigating those who left him when he was down.
“Space Bound” with its acoustic guitar moodiness and slow drum rhythm finds Eminem divorcing himself from emotional connection in a failed attempt to protect his heart. The chorus contains annoyingly high-pitched vocals that throw off the song. “Cinderella Man” has a “We Will Rock You” beat and an uplifting chorus that almost sounds silly coming from Em when paired against the balance of the album.
Eminem’s vocals on “25 To Life” are full of rage and return him to his Kim-killing craziness but with a twist: the girl isn’t Kim, it’s Hip-Hop! Eminem brilliantly details the ups and downs of the relationships and the unfair demands that Hip-Hop has placed on his life. “So Bad” finds Eminem awkwardly posing as a player. He doesn’t sound comfortable with the mack talk. “Almost Famous” is a riotous beat that is so tough even the mighty Eminem allows it to do the heavy lifting. The dainty-yet-spooky femme on the chorus is eerie as hell. He could have rhymed dad and bad with glad and this would still be a banger.
The genius of having Rihanna on “Love The Way You Lie” given the subject matter and nature of the song is self evident. Her performance is passable and Eminem goes in over the synthy guitar-laden production. The album officially ends with the ode to Proof, “You’re Never Over”. It’s lively but the production feels like someone from Miami should be rapping over it. Emimen deftly delivers despite his horridly sung chorus. The Havoc-produced hidden track is pounding, sparsely-stringed flavor but doesn’t add or subtract anything from the album.
Recovery is an aptly-titled work that finds Eminem returning to his roots musically. There is anti-gay rhetoric, a few Michael J Fox jokes, and some jabs at pop people. His skill level has also recovered. His agility, while not as smooth as it was at his apex is still enough to hurdle the variety of beats. A couple songs just don’t belong but this is a solid return to respectability.
3.75 out of 5
Eminem feat. Rihanna – “Love The Way You Lie”
Eminem (feat Rihanna) – Love The Way You Lie
Eminem feat. Lil Wayne – “No Love”
Eminem Feat. Lil Wayne – No Love (Prod. by Just Blaze)
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Jonesy
I think that the entire album is great. It’s full of sorrow and somehow remorse. He is a great songwriter and he succeeds in transmitting all the emotion with a few words.
EMINEMFAN
this album blew my mind, cold wind blows. AMAZING cant be bothered to type out all the names of the rest of the songs but they are all WOWWWWWWW, get this album if you like GOOD MUSIC
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ASID
Descent review but I feel the album’s a classic
We have our different point of view but I could connect to alot of songs .
No stanism or d*** riding in my head btw
Hik-Matt
Fuckin’ Awesome, Just Don’t Get Cinderella Man…. Not His Usual Stuff, But Still Album Rocks.
My Favourite Is Almost Famous.
Siraj
This is the worst review period. The album is a classic, there isnt one bad song in the album. Every single song outdoes any single on relapse, and eminem says it himself, “When i recorded encore i was on drugs, on relapse i was flushing them out, so the last two albums dont count” Its so dissapointing seeing you take the credibility of this masterpiece. This review is UNRELIABLE people!
Bonez
Crazy album. I don’t know where 3.75 came from but this definitely 4.5 – 5, but hey I’m no expert.
SFbaby
This CD is amazing. This critic just wants to hear themselves sound good. Although he was correct about some of the chorus’s. I honestly don’t think the chorus’s were that bad, but it was just that EMs flow was so sick you didn’t want it to end. 10/10 on this CD. He keeps sayin’ “He’s Back”. Hes more than back hes better than ever.
G.Z.
This is a sh!tty review…4.5-5 easy
Eminem
I thought Spacebound was one of the strongest tracks on the album
She Lay Gutted
I love the Space Bound hook. It isn’t annoying at all, it’s beautiful.
Hiptics
I enjoyed your review. I think Recovery is one of Eminem’s best albums. Check out what we wrote about the album and let us know what you think. It was the FIRST review of Recovery published online:
http://www.hiptics.com/2010/06/08/eminem-recovery-album-review-read-the-first-review-of-eminems-new-album/
forex charts historical
Eminem is so similar to Madonna in many ways, The Beatles, The Who, Jimi Hendrix and all the big selling musical artists. They have that degree of flexibility, intelligence and the knack of being one step ahead of most people in their genre. They also are in process of always reinventing themselves whilst keeping who they are intact. This talent adds up to a quality that many fall short of and that’s why he is as popular as he is. Pure Genius.
em fam
I have heard so many people stating they are eminem fans but slating the album. This is to all these people each stand alone album eminem has released takes you on a jorney though his state of mind at the time. A real fan should just be happy eminem is in a good place mentaly. I have even heard people saying “instead of slating other pop artists hes singing with them”, for god sake he puts out what hes feeling and he has grown up as an artist, this is a new direction for eminem to expolre let him be his self .
Ollie
‘Critics man, critics have never got something nice to say man. You know the one thing I noticed about critics man, is critics never asked me how my day was…well imma tell ‘em.’
Pre-empted your strike, didn’t he?
If you weren’t a critic, you too would love this album, (assuming you are into music.)If not, then you shouldn’t be writing reviews about it.
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cynicdesign
This is one of those albums that takes more than one listen to relax into.
That’s a pretty harsh review of one of his best albums yet.
Now directin: yes. But the actual quality of the rhymes and Dre’s craftsmanship? Unquestionable.
Bella
Don´t know why Odeisel writes so bad about recovey. IMO it´s the best album Eminem ever made.
I agree with em fan, this album shows that Eminem is in a very good state of mind know. And every real fan should be very happy about it! Hope he comes some day again to europe and hope the next album (if there will be another one day) will be as great as recovery.
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