MUSIC REVIEW: EMINEM - 'RECOVERY'

A New Return to Rhyme with Reason; Stronger, Sharper & Earning Solid Notoriety

By: Andrew Shaw

July 5, 2010

(Shady / Aftermath / Interscope) Marshall Mathers III is back with Recovery — an album that had previously been anticipated as Relapse 2, and we have to take hats off to the reconsidered title. When an artist relies on previous associations, titles or works, an audience can often be sold short. When an artist such as Eminem — renowned for constant redefinition, reassertions, and reappraisals of himself and each of his personas — suggested that he may smudge something from the past into the present, we had possible grounds for concern. But he got it right, once again, in ditching one stream of consciousness, starting another, and venturing ever onwards. Not only is Recovery a bolder title, it houses a collection of songs with a renewed, fortified approach, as unapologetic and forward-thinking as we’d expect from one of the world’s most controversial artists.

People can sometimes deviate from art and concentrate too much focus on the controversies of certain performers — personal battles, politics, or misquotations. Few have suffered as much from this as Eminem. Whilst we can argue that the struggle for reason, understanding, and the kicking against the pricks previously shaped such notorious tracks from the man, it could be equally stated that this new dispatch from the artist is a new, improved set of definitions. Clearer now, perhaps more than ever, we get a full manifesto of how it feels to be alive in a certain state of affairs. We’ve passed through pains, trials, and all that crap to have emerged with a solid response.

Gone are the bitchier sideswipes that were perhaps amusing but a slight weakness; instead we have articulations of honed anger, more creative, balanced, and effective than before. Elements of humor, sex, and swagger remain, thankfully, but they are pinned down with such substance, previous naysayers truly have to take note. “Adult Content” now means so much more than “Strong Language”; it really does mean language with strength.

With a host of friends contributing voices, noises, and production tweaks — Rhianna, Pink, Lil Wayne, amongst many others — we get the sense that associates are called in to furnish an already strong, broad span of a bridge.

In “Not Afraid,” we’re served an expose of emotions from both the grimmer times and the here and the now. To pull a set of words in illustration would lessen the impact and reduce it to a sound bite. Internal rhymes and twisted phrasing display what Eminem has always done best.  A deeply personal set of lyrics that deserve to be heard in full is what you get.  A broader picture displaying complications between victims and protagonists is polished up with Rhianna’s vocal on “Love The Way You Lie,” again illustrating how personal tragedy can become public controversy and further feed a private pain. Like all decent artists, though, the duo prove to be an example of how to accomplish more than behavioral patterns.

Recovery gives us all the usual production values that we’ve come to expect — not too shiny, not too rough. Eminem himself has commented that producers and collaborators are family to him. We get the sense that maybe this recording did call for more trust and faith and patience than before. Goes to show how faith and integrity can really pay off.

For Fans Of: Dr Dre, Plan B, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, D12, Immortal Technique

Standout Tracks: “Not Afraid,” “Love The Way You Lie,” “On Fire,” “Cinderella Man”