Eminem – Recovery

Here’s a review on Eminem’s latest release, Recovery, by our contributing writer, Richard!

Detroit rapper Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, is all business on his seventh album Recovery, the follow-up record to 2009’s top seller Relapse.

After being announced as Relapse 2 in March 2009, the disc has shape-shifted into a completely different album than it was originally perceived, and like a Republican living in Arizona, the change is welcome.

Much is different about Slim Shady’s work this time around. Long gone are the skits that used to riddle the track list on previous outings and sayonara to the random goofball songs. No more mindless numbers like “The Real Slim Shady,” “Without Me” and “We Made You.” What we have instead is a passionate dedication song titled “Not Over You” (an ode to childhood friend Proof who died in 2009), “Talkin’ To Myself” (a diddy about Mather’s insecurities about his place in the rap world) and “Going Through Changes” (a Black Sabbath sampled track about what else, changing).

Recovery is pure work. The flows and verses are epic as ever, displaying typical Eminem creativity, sharpness and intricacy. He continues to twist language into a complex pretzel of awesomeness. With lines like, “I’ve turned into a hater/I’ve put up a false bravado/But Marshall is not a egomaniac, that’s not his motto/He’s not a desperado/He’s desperate, it’s startin’ to bottle/ inside ‘im, One foot on the brake one on the throttle/ Fallin’ asleep with writer’s block in the parking lot of McDonald’s,” how could you go wrong?

What stands out the most about the music and production is the lack of intensity on the beats. It seems that Mathers really shuts it down when he works with partner in crime Dr. Dre. The Dre-esque hard snare snaps coupled with pounding bass are formulas for great rap music, but the lack of his beats (in fact there is only one, “So Bad”) is where the album stops from being practically perfect. And although Dre gets executive producing credits, the record would have been a more enjoyable experience if the verses of Recovery were done over the beats of Relapse (predominant Dre).

Overall fantastic work and I recommend this album highly. It is so far the best rap piece of 2010. Fans of the genre will especially enjoy it, as it’s yet another catalog of genuine Eminem poetry.

Buy the album at our record store on Amazon

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