Magnificent! Eminem just tears it up on this new album! “Recovery” is a 180 from “Relapse” and showing us that Slim Shady still can deliver! Highly recommended!
ARTIST: Eminem
ALBUM: Recovery
LABEL: Polydor Records and Interscope Records
RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2010
- Cold Wind Blows
- Talkin’ 2 Myself
- On Fire
- Won’t Back Down
- W.T.P.
- Going Through Changes
- Not Afraid
- Seduction
- No Love
- Space Bound
- Cinderella Man
- 25 to Live
- So Bad
- Almost Famous
- Love the Way You Like
- You’re Never Over
- Untitled
When Eminem returned with “Relapse”, I wrote about how awesome it was to have Eminem back again!
Now here we are with “Recovery” and not only is it different from “Relapse”, it’s a much better album than its predecessor. Not just in sales as the album had sold over 700,00 copies but it’s an album that just captures your attention on the first listen. With “Relapse”, we had an angry Mathers, this time around, there is more of an emotional connection to the listeners.
As much as I enjoyed the last album, “Relapse”, the truth is that his hardcore fans didn’t. And Eminem himself has said that he had more to prove to his fans with “Recovery” as his previous two albums “Encore” was about him doing drugs and “Relapse” was about “flushing ’em out”.
When the first single “Not Afraid” was released, this was a new Eminem. Thankful to his fans for being their for him, taking responsibility and emerging whatever darkness that he has been in.
Personally, I’ve always felt that Eminem has had a gift of rhyming whichever emotions he has been experiencing and I’ve always taken his music as what it is and it was a representation of what he’s feeling. But with “Recovery”, you get 17 solid tracks. I’m talking about a few songs that are good, this is one hell of an album.
I can easily say that when I first heard “Love the Way You Lie” (feat. Rihanna) on BBC Radio, I was amazed by the track with the first listen and from there on, I’ve just realized how wonderful this latest track was. The rhyming was fluid and Rihanna’s emotional vocals just worked and balanced the whole track out.
And then you have another solid collaboration with Eminem and Pink for the track “Won’t Back Down”. A bit angry but once again, an awesome flow of Eminem’s multi-syllabic rhymes that the artist is known for.
And I mean that in a good way because this is like a reborn Eminem and a style that people were familiar with many years ago, as if Mathers have found that right timing in his life where things are going right and his rhymes and the beats work in tandem with such a magnificent lyrical flow. Free from the drugs, in a better position in life and you can easily sense the vibe that he’s having fun with his music again! Definitely a different vibe compared to his last album “Relapse”.
Other solid tracks on the album include “Talkin’ 2 Myself” (feat. Kobe), “Going Through Changes” (featuring an Ozzy Osbourne sample), an interesting collaboration with Lil Wayne for the track “No Love”, “Space Bound” (which Eminem just tears it up!), “Cinderella Man”, “25 to Life” and “Almost Famous”. The production for “Recovery” is magnificent! I know I keep saying that Eminem is back but damn, “Recovery” is an album where Eminem is once again at his bad. Slim Shady is still delivering it and if you love his music, even if you say you dig his older work, then more than likely you’ll dig “Recovery”.
Overall, this is a wonderful album from Enimem and “Recovery” is highly recommended!