Review Summary: No Marshall, not that kind of recovery.
Eminem has been around for quite a while. Starting off as one of hip-hop's finest rappers he amazed the world with the critically acclaimed
The Slim Shady LP,
The Marshall Matters LP and
The Eminem Show. Although the
Eminem Show was far from a flawless effort, it still brought him mainstream success. However, after that his music started to decline in quality, leading up to what is probably his worst release to date,
Relapse. This album, was shunned by fans and critics alike, and made Eminem lose a lot of credibility. And now, hip-hop's finest white rapper and my childhood hero(yes, really) has released a new album, Recovery. Essentially Relapse pt.2, Eminem has a lot to make up for with this album.
So, is Recovery really a musical recovery for Marshall, after having released the consecutive loads of douchebaggery
Encore and
Relapse? Well, not quite.
It is a fact that Eminem does a better job at pretending that he actually has something to say, which is a definite improvement over his last effort. However, that sadly doesn't make his lyrics any better. If you listen to this record a few times, you will soon notice that Marshall's problems are just about as interesting as those of any celebrity that you can read about every day in your favourite gossip magazine. Sure Eminem, your problems can be bothering you, but we already had to endure one (boring) album full of them.
But luckily, he does have something else to sing/rap about, hope! He wants his fans to give him another chance, a chance to make up for his mistakes. If any, Recovery shows that
Eminem has gotten more human. The best example of that is the album's lead single
Not Afraid. It shows an Eminem that is ready to face the dangers of the world, ready to love and ready to win his fans back. Which is in sheer contrast with the Eminem on
25 to life, reminiscent of his old Shady self, spurring hatred to the hip-hop scene. While it may seem nice to have the old Shady back, he just doesn't sound the same. It just doesn't work as well as it used to.
That said, I am having a really hard time with the guest spots he chose for this album. Lil' Wayne, I can understand(he would probably work together with a bag of sand if he got paid for it), but Rihanna and P!nk? Agreed, Rihanna has a beautiful voice, but not even that can save the failure that is
Love The Way You Lie. They just don't go well together. Even worse is the collaboration with P!nk, which just might be the worst thing Eminem has ever done. Well, it's not as bad as
Ass Like That, but it comes pretty close. Lil' Wayne's song is just, ehm... Lil' Wayne standard.
Recovery wasn't quite the comeback for Eminem I imagined. Most of the time he is attempting to create something new, by calling in a guest or even by singing himself(really?), and falls flat on his face. Whenever he does attempt at letting his ol' dirty Shady side come up it sounds watered down, and he just doesn't sound as vital, or interesting, as he did before. Maybe it's time he retired.
