June 22, 2010

My Gut Reaction: Eminem - Recovery (June 22, 2010)


June 22, 2010 is a busy day for music lovers.  In addition to new offerings from the likes of The Chemical Brothers and RJD2, hip hop fans get to choose between How I Got Over from The Roots (which I want to digest further before reviewing) and the Wu Music Group's Pollen: The Swarm Part 3, yet another z-grade Wu-Tang Clan offering that is notable for at least explaining what the hell happened to the original version of the "Smooth Sailing" track that appeared on Wu-Massacre.  (As you can tell, I'm not really looking forward to that one.) 


But the new release that the world is looking at today is the seventh album from Marshall Mathers, Recovery.  With the album, formerly known as Relapse 2 before he scrapped the original concept and elected to record what he thought a mainstream rap album was supposed to sound like, Eminem atones for his misgivings (such as the original Relapse) while fully embracing his status as a pop artist.  In no way does he abandon his hip hop roots, however: in fact, he takes his love for our chosen genre one step further, securing beats and rhymes from outside of his comfort zone, thereby furthering the notion that this is Eminem's perception of what hip hop actually sounds like.  This means that there are absolutely zero guest appearances from the likes of Curtis Jackson, D-12, and whoever the fuck is still signed to Shady Records at this point, which is a great thing, but they've been replaced by such big names as Lil' Wayne, Pink, and Rihanna, so you take the sweet with the sour.  Nearly all of the production comes from the outside, as well, with the likes of DJ Khalil, Boi-1da (still riding his Drake high), and Just Blaze providing the majority of the assistance, but there is only one song produced by Dr. Dre, which is, well, that's also kind of a good thing, considering his output as of late (*cough* "Under Pressure *cough*). 


And Marshall himself only adds a few production sprinkles onto a couple of tracks, so that's nice.


Recovery hit the Interweb a full two weeks before its release, and Eminem was blessed with an almost unreal number of positive reviews, most of which singled out specific tracks, such as the Rihanna collaboration.  This leads me to believe that Recovery will probably be a huge financial boon for Aftermath/Interscope, but it also makes me think that all of those other early reviews were written by Interscope staffers, so it remains to be seen how this will affect the actual hip hop fans that have followed Marshall Mathers since day one.


Until now, anyway.


1. COLD WIND BLOWS
While I appreciate the fact that Marshall has avoided the rap album intro this time around, he kicks off Recovery with more of his trademarked horrible singing, which is almost worse somehow. When Just Blaze's beat finally kicks in, though, Em adopts his usual antagonistic persona, cursing out anybody and everybody within the tri-state area, sounding angrier than any multimillionaire has any right to, while still managing to diss both Mariah Carey again (sort of) and use the word “cunt” (not while referring to Mariah). This version of the Slim Shady character sounds damn near forty years old, an age at which he should know better. The hook is ass, but truth be told, this is the Em that everyone wanted to hear on Relapse, as he doesn't hide behind any goofy accents. This could have been worse.


2. TALKIN 2 MYSELF (FEAT KOBE)
So yeah, it sounds like complete bullshit that Eminem almost recorded disses against both Lil' Wayne and Kanye West (because they were drawing all of the attention away from him, even though he was busy popping tons of pills around the time that both men rose to prominence), but I can buy that he feels that he would have lost these battles. Not because Weezy and West are masters behind the microphone or anything (definitely not that), but because nobody would side with Marshall; hell, if he started a fight today, he might have trouble drumming up any support for his side. (Unless he battled Curtis Jackson. That would be very fucking interesting.) This DJ Khalil track is a strange amalgam of pop music and rap that shouldn't exist, and I'm afraid that this is what the majority of Recovery will actually sound like, given the Pink and Rihanna guest spots that are still to come (not to mention Em's own cameo on B.o.B.'s “Airplanes Part 2” with the chick from Paramore). The shout-out to DJ AM was a nice touch, and I like than Eminem doesn't even bother to pretend that he's invincible anymore, but I wasn't feeling this one.


3. ON FIRE
Not very good, but fucking hysterical all the same. I disagree with Marshall's statement that critics have never been kind to him throughout his career: at least early on, everyone was occupying prime real estate on his nut sack. But he obviously reads every review: after delivering a characteristically weak hook, he actually says, “I just put a bullshit hook in between two long-ass verses”, and that awareness of his own limitations and abilities cuts through any possible criticism this track will endure. Marshall still goes out of his way to attack unnecessary targets (David Cook? Brooke Hogan? Who cares?), and Mr. Porter, the only member of D-12 to make the album, provides a beat that is a bit too lazy for my taste, but I walked away from this laughing, which is always a better response than wanting to throw the CD out of a car window and punching the driver in the throat, so that was cool.


4. WON'T BACK DOWN (FEAT PINK)
In an interview, Em mentioned that he wanted Pink to sing the chorus on “Won't Back Down” because he felt that she would “smash it”. So why does she sound like every other generic pop tart? Where's Dina Rae when you need her? This is a better choice for a single than “Not Afraid”, as it is chock full of punchlines (some of which are actually funny, which is getting harder and harder for our host to pull off), and DJ Khalil's beat has that guitar-sample-driven sound that the kids are into these days. Also, everyone will probably laugh at the part toward the end where the music is turned down, followed immediately by Em admonishing the listener (who didn't do anything) for talking over him, shouting “Shut the fuck up when my shit's playing!” For a pop song, this wasn't entirely horrible.


5. W.T.P.
Marshall gives listeners yet another overproduced club track filled with mediocre one-liners mixed in with occasional inspired jokes (“Even my dentist hates it when I floss”). The beat, from something called a Supa Dups, would be pretty goddamn great for an entirely different artist, as Em is clearly out of his element. To his credit, his ability to ride any beat has remained intact ever since The Slim Shady EP (he was a completely different artist on Infinite, so this wasn't an issue back then), but he insists on singing to an audience that has never existed. I picture this as being the club song where guys will stop dancing, stare very carefully at the girl they're with in a brighter light, wonder what the hell just happened, and then buying another drink and saying “Fuck it, at least I'm getting something.” Ah, defeatist club music.


6. GOING THROUGH CHANGES
Okay, let me get the negative comments out of the way first: the hook on “Going Through Changes”, culled from a sample of Black Sabbath's “Changes”, is awful, and the track's placement immediately after “W.T.P.” is questionable. Aside from that, Marshall's recollection of the ups and downs of drug dependence is gripping. More so than during any point of Relapse, Eminem discloses his depression after losing his best friend Proof and how he tried to deal with it, all the while worrying about his daughter finding out. Pretty brilliant stuff, actually: I haven't been this touched by an Eminem song since “Mockingbird”. Emile's beat is low-key enough to not be intrusive while Marshall reaches catharsis within his four verses: had it not been for the cop-out on the hook, this could have been pretty great. Instead, it's merely really good.


7. NOT AFRAID
The first single from Recovery, notable for being the first track on which Marshall acknowledged Relapse as being “ehhh”. When taken within the album's context, Em's bars work much better, and there are some actual gems in here, such as “Like a 'fuck you' for Christmas, his gift is a curse”, but the singing on the chorus will severely try your patience. As it is produced by Boi-1da, “Not Afraid”, unsurprisingly, sounds like one of Drake's castoffs: thankfully, Marshall doesn't appear to be one to turn to Auto-Tune when he croons his little heart out. Seriously, though, who told the man he could sing? That person should be stabbed in the face. Not killed, though: they just need to think about the hell that they have brought upon the world. That would be punishment enough.


8. SEDUCTION
All sorts of embarrassing: the only saving grace on here is the Boi-1da instrumental, which is quite stark and minimal, not unlike most of the Thank Me Later beats. Who the hell wanted to hear Eminem resort to the tries-and-true trope of “I'll steal your chick”? Marshall seems to take things one step further, threatening to take another rapper's girlfriend away, and he toys with his flow as he is wont to do, but this was about as appealing as mixing peanut butter with spinach, or mixing Lil' Wayne with a toothbrush. Speaking of which...


9. NO LOVE (FEAT LIL WAYNE)
You are fucking shitting me! “No Love” samples Haddaway's “What Is Love”, and attempts to do so in an not-ironic fashion. Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan must be rolling over in their Roxbury graves. That was an interesting experiment, Just Blaze, but your production skills don't quite pull it off. This track is so much more unintentionally hilarious than “Like Toy Soldiers”, and the fact that Lil' Weezy is the first artist you hear only adds to the overt misguidedness of it all. Also, Em feels it important to mention that “you could still get roasted, because Marsh[all] is not mellow!” I'm sorry, but I can't even write about t his abomination anymore: the urge to laugh my ass off is too overwhelming. Everyone goes balls-out, but this track is a hilarious failure. Rumor had it that Eminem recorded a track with Royce da 5'9” and DJ Premier for what was formerly Relapse 2: the fact that he cut that track in favor of this kind of shit is mystifying.


10. SPACE BOUND
Sounds as though Marshall swiped an older Zero 7 song and replaced Sia's vocals with an effeminate, bionic Adam Levine from Maroon 5. The music (produced by Jim Jonsin) is alright enough, but Marshall has demonstrated throughout Recovery that he doesn't know what kind of beats he sounds good on (unless they're handled by Dr. Dre, anyway), and this is no exception. To be fair, I'm not a big fan of the serious Marshall anyway, so I'm kind of biased, but this was still weird.


11. CINDERELLA MAN
The repetition of the song's title is goofy, but I actually liked this track, which is essentially an extended Eminem apology for the lackluster Relapse, created in the hopes of appealing to his long-gone older fans. I don't think that the hook will help matters any, but fuck it, at least he's trying something new, and the wordplay that made everyone fall for Marshall Mathers to begin with is present by the bucketful. I also laughed out loud at the “Shady Dane” reference, even though referencing Dana Dane's “Cinderfella Dana Dane” was kind of an obvious way to go. All that was missing was yet another stellar performance from Safe Men's Paul Giamatti. The football stadium chant of a beat was also pretty stellar.


12. 25 TO LIFE
Marshall is so bitter about his marriage and how poorly his “wife” treats him that he compares the commitment to a prison sentence! How novel! Em sounds like an angrier Drake, except for when the twist ending occurs, when you realize that he's actually pissed about his relationship with (gasp!) hip hop! Fun! Seriously, Marshall still has a captivating flow that draws you into his pain: as long as he wasn't adopting a stupid fucking accent, this has never been his problem. So, even though the hook on here bothered me and the overall outcome sounds like frustration for frustration's sake, I appreciated the effort.


13. SO BAD
A three-verse-long pickup line directed towards...well, I guess you, the listener, as I can't imagine there are many women who still line up to listen to Eminem songs. Over a characteristically lazy present-day Dr. Dre prescription (and we're all eagerly awaiting Detox why?), Slim Shady tries every possible way to get a girl's phone number, even resorting to telling his life story (well, Shady's life story, anyway), and since this is an Eminem song, it ultimately works, and he ends up sleeping with her. At least I think that's what happened: I got bored midway through and allowed my mind to wander. Oooh, look, a blue car!


14. ALMOST FAMOUS
Um, Eminem is already famous, so already this track seems to be self-serving. True, Marshall is allegedly recounting his life pre-The Slim Shady LP, but still. Apparently, Em believes that the future of hip hop involves having a studio musician perform on the chorus sounding like Karin Dreijer Andersson from The Knife, which isn't entirely horrible, to be honest. Ignore all of the references to fame, and “Almost Famous” (I guess you'd have to ignore the title, as well) becomes an effective reintroduction to Slim Shady, as Marshall sounds almost interested in upping his lyrical game again, which is a direct result of DJ Khalil's instrumental, which is pretty damn good, especially when it avoids the cliché of looping the word “famous” throughout the beat: you'll know what I'm talking about when you hear it.


15. LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE (FEAT RIHANNA)
Remember the online petition that hit the blogs last November, encouraging everyone that wanted to hear Eminem and Rihanna on the same track to contact Aftermath/Interscope and demand that it happen during our lifetime? You don't? Oh, that's right: you were busy washing your hair that day. Anyway, looking past how disturbing it is to hear Rihanna sing about how she “like[s] the way it hurts”, this ode to a radio-friendly doomed relationship hits all of the usual points, even allowing Marshall to become slightly violent (I imagine that, had it not been for the presence of the guest star, there would have been a Chris Brown reference somewhere). It's depressing that Em's maturing as a songwriter has to be clouded by this Clear Channel piffle, which will probably be a huge fucking hit.


16. YOU'RE NEVER OVER
Whenever Marshall produces his own shit, you know exactly what to expect (overwrought, dramatic schtick that collapses underneath its seriousness and the overt insincerity of the host), but when he cedes to outside help, as Recovery has proven time and again, , he receives the kind of shit that T.I. probably turned down first. I don't understand how Em believes that this kind of shit is preferable to what he usually does when he's crawling up his own ass, but maybe he was creating a satirical comment on the disposable nature of today's hip hop. More than likely, he just wanted to sell records, and to do so, he studied Billboard and crafted tracks that all sound as though they could have been recorded by your average shitty radio rapper whose biggest goal is to have a hit song, just so they can tell that cute girl in their apartment complex that yes, they are a successful artist (word to Little Brother). Em's obvious contempt for our chosen genre isn't a progressive attack: it's a disappointment, and with this Recovery finally ends. Or does it?


Nope. Recovery ends with a hidden track.


17. UNTITLED
Marshall wastes a Havoc beat with an aimless final track that consists of nothing but punchlines, which is a strange way to cap the evening. Hard to believe that this is the same Havoc from Mobb Deep, but I've never doubted the versatility of the man: I can't imagine Prodigy rhyming over a sample of Lesley Gore's “You Don't Own Me”. At least Marshall thanks everyone for listening, so that was nice. Treat this as the outro that it is, and it still isn't all that great, but at least you're expectations will be lowered.


Fans who pick up the deluxe version of Recovery on iTunes are treated to two additional songs: the Dr. Dre-produced “Ridaz” and the Just Blaze-helmed, Slaughterhouse-featured “Session One”. Considering the fact that I'm not the biggest fan of Joe Budden (who didn't make the final cut of “Session One”), guess which track I'm more interested in? Royce and Eminem, on the same song? For the first time in eighty-seven fucking years? I'm in. However, I don't actually have those tracks, so I can't write anything about them: let me know in the comments if they're worth the effort.


THE LAST WORD: In the long run, Recovery will have the same impact as Relapse: Eminem's seventh album will be a big deal for a short while, and then will fade into hip hop obscurity. What's strange to me is that, for the first time ever, Marshall acknowledges the rest of the hip hop community (at least those outside of his own four walls) and picked up the majority of his beats from a third party, but the end result still fails to render him relevant to today's audience. The accents are long gone (thanks for accepting our feedback, Marshall), and the lyricism (or the wordplay, more accurately) has taken their place, but the majority of Recovery seems to have been designed to make us feel bad for a man who has millions of dollars, lost his best friend, and is still very aware that his former dependence on prescription drugs can come back at any time. He spends a lot of time apologizing, which was an interesting approach, but Recovery stands alone in Eminem's catalog as an album without a cohesive theme, sounding more like a collection of singles than anything even remotely resembling a coherent body of work. A few of the songs click, but I said that about Relapse, too. Recovery just isn't worth it in the long run. There, I said it.


-Max


RELATED POSTS:
Catch up on all of the other Eminem posts by clicking here.

37 comments:

  1. I agree for the most part with this, and if the beats and hooks were up to part with the verses, we'd have a completely different album on our hands. Hopefully, since he took people's advice on dropping the accents, he takes it on not singing next time around (doubt it though.) I liked the Kanye joke on No Love (and for mentioning him so many times on the album, you'd expect one beat by the man), but besides that it sucks. Also, that Havoc beat was completely wasted at the end. With the two bonus tracks, Ridaz is useless, and Session One is pretty good, but I'd suggest instead listening to the Tim Westwood freestyle with Em and Royce if you want to hear them together. (Although Crooked mocks the fact Joe isn't allowed on the track in Session One, which is pretty hilarious.)

    Hope to see The Roots review soon.

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  2. Oh, and also, each album he had songs that were viewed as highlights, where this is consistantly average. (SSLP - Guilty Conscience, Role Model. MMLP - Stan, The Way I Am. The Eminem Show - Till I Collapse, White America. Encore - ... Relapse - Beautiful (to some people), Underground.)

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  3. I agree, this is mediocre at best and failed to make a lasting impression on me.

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  4. AnonymousJune 22, 2010

    yea this album is consistently meh... i found it pretty boring actually.. eminem consistently disapointing fans since 2000

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  5. Muddy_DonutsJune 22, 2010

    The best part of this album is the surprise track with Slaughterhouse, and that's about it.
    (The Havoc beat at the end was good, but it was liked he produced the song and then just threw it away for no reason!)

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  6. AnonymousJune 22, 2010

    i agree with you here max, the beats here are trash but lyrically, eminem shines throughoutt the whole album, but the beats here are fucking garbage and it's a damn shame he hasn't hit up producers like pete rock, alchemist, preemo or even 9th wonder for beats

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  7. hey max... ur just a hater. u probably jealous that eminem is rich and famous and ur just a blogger. Eminem is the greatest rapper EVER and you hating blah blah blah...(insert random stanisms)

    nah for cereal thou this album is frustratingly mediocre. kinda nailed it on the review

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  8. AnonymousJune 22, 2010

    this album is trash, max please get back to REAL HIP HOP!!!!

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  9. I'm completely NOT interested in hearing this, but about that Wu Music Group's "The Swarm Pt. III: Pimpslap for Cilvaringz", 'M.E.F.' and 'Into You' are awesome, 'Dirts The Boogie' and 'You Must Be Dreaming' are pretty good (because of ODB, his son sounds like 9-years-old kid freestyling), 'Assed Out' is fucking awful mess, and I didn't give flying fuck about the rest, burn those mentioned and ignore that album.

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  10. I am a big Eminem fan, and I really wanted to like this album. However, I can't recommend this album to anyone. How can the man who brought us 'The Slim Shady LP' and 'The Marshall Mathers LP' bring us this? It seems as if Eminem thinks that just by spitting a few multi-syllable verses and getting rid of that awful accent that everyone will embrace him again. Although I, like nearly everyone else, appreciates that, it doesn't mean a damn thing if there is no content backing it up. Eminem sacrificed content for skill, and in the end, he gave us this. I will say, though, that 'Recovery' is better than 'Encore,' even though its barely above 'Relapse.' Bring it on haters!

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  11. AnonymousJune 23, 2010

    for eminem albums, if the album title has one word, it's shit. if it has more, it's good.

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  12. AnonymousJune 23, 2010

    Eminem is SOOOO 1999.

    Seriously though, just forget Eminem already. Crack a Bottle was ok, but that's just about the only good song he's managed in the last five years. Reviewing the work he's putting out nowadays feels like blasphemy towards the old Eminem. Don't kick a man when he's down.

    Which is ironic considering he has all the money and time in the WORLD to actually get some classic beats and write some classic songs for them. A shame really if you ask me, Em has showed that he has the talent, and everyone knows he has the backing and the money.

    Or the drugs might have taken a toll on the man's creativity, who knows. Either way, just forget Em. If you're looking for good rap from artists that at least try to keep it real try Sabac Red, or Rakaa Iriscience Crown of Thorns that's coming in a month or so. Or Cypress Hill's the Ritual, even.

    "People just don't see how much work is really involved in this rap shit"

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  13. A.R. MarksJune 23, 2010

    Know what, Eminem's gimmick just wore off. I for one was never into MM/SSLP; I imagine those who were are past the gimmick by now. His sound just aged, as did he.

    Notice no one even really mentions his "classic" albums in their top lists anymore.

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  14. AnonymousJune 23, 2010

    "Crack a Bottle was ok, but that's just about the only good song he's managed in the last five years."

    Best thing I've ever read.

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  15. AnonymousJune 24, 2010

    I think we're suffering from our own standards here. Yes, Marshall had an incredible run with his first three albums. No, he will likely never release anything as pertinent as that trilogy again.

    But this is an above average album from an elite MC who is obviously trying hard. For that alone, it's better than any Jay-Z LP since The Black Album.

    We want to complain about Eminem because we have such high expectations of him, but who's making better music right now?

    Doesn't Recovery whomp Blueprint 3? Thank Me Later? What commercially viable MC is making better music than him?

    I would even give Recovery the slight edge over the recent Reflection Eternal and B.O.B. discs, though I enjoyed both. (However, it's nowhere near as good as Damien Marley & Nas.)

    To hear Eminem in this context -- sober, accepting of his status as a pop icon, working outside of the Shady/Aftermath combine -- is jarring. But we should not mistake jarring for bad.

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  16. AnonymousJune 25, 2010

    ^i agree

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  17. AnonymousJune 26, 2010

    Recovery maybe better than Relapse and all but really? an improvement? hell no, this album has piss poor production and shitty guest appearances, Max should cop Canibus' new album if you haven't, you won't be disappointed by that album

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  18. Good review Max. I agree with you on the beats, as they consistenly sucked (With the exception of "Going through " which was lovely). I thought the beat on "Don't Hurt Me" was overly cheesey, but Em AND Wayne, ripped it. Also, is it just me or does Em scream on every song these days (uneccesarily)?

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  19. Tile GroutJune 30, 2010

    Even the mightiest Black Sabbath stan won't try to defend "Changes". Out of all the songs Eminem could have sampled - he chose "Changes". Give me Eminem's goofiest, stupidest accent over "Changes" any day of the week.

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  20. AnonymousJune 30, 2010

    I'm baffled by the comments. I like the cd. I don't know what people expect. Roots and Em on the same day. Great day for music!

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  21. AnonymousJuly 04, 2010

    You have ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS, without fail, downplayed Eminem's albums. And it's no secret that it has a lot to do with him being a better rapper than Jay-Z (that's not saying much since a lot of rapper are today better than him). But, I digress.

    While you are a hater and your reasons for hating Eminem are usually wrong, you are spot on with this review. I think it was isiecar and deedubb77 who his the hammer on the nail.

    a. Eminem thinks that as long as loses the accent, he is dope.

    b. He seems to be screaming in all his songs.

    I think once an artist needs to be guided by public opinion to decide what kind of music he needs to make, then he is no longer an artist. Where is the artistic input then? Eminem obviously got to know that his accent ruined Relapse (well, not that alone,but it played the dominant role in the suckery). He thinks that as long as he screams and just tried to emulate MM LP, he will be considered dope again.

    His voice sounds manufactured and devoid of genuine emotion. He just screams now! Just for the sake of it! I'm sure if he is told that the audience considers wearing a corset while singing autot-tuned nursery rhymes is gangsta, then there is little doubt that the Eminem of present will do just that.

    Plus Em has been feeding us a lot of BS lately. His excuse for Encore and Relapse sucking were that he was on drugs in Encore and flushing them out on Relapse. Really? Then what the fuck were you on while doing MM LP and SS LP?

    This man is no longer sure of himself and is now resorting to lies and half-assed truths to cover up his genuine shortcomings since he returned.

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  22. Give me a break with all your shit Max. I think that the one comment about our standards for Em being too high are dead on!

    He clearly can't win with you (and most of the comments on this page).

    He puts on a song like 'Love the Way you Lie' and you call it trash because it will get radio play (which to me means people like it...right?). God forbid he puts on a song that a lot of people will want to listen to and not just the Hip Hop purists.

    Then he throws down some freestyle like Dispicable that is not for radio and again, no credit. I think he has it all on this LP.

    No it's not his greatest work ever but better than most of the shit out there on a whole. Name some artists that have the appeal he does? That can rap as tight as he does? Why do you think so many people like his shit?

    I don't love all the beats on Recovery but you cant say the way he uses word-play, his lyrics and his ability rap like no one else doesn't deserve some props!

    Who the fuck are you to define Hip Hop?? Let the FANS do that and time and again they have spoken...Em runs the world of Hip Hop.

    Max, so for you it's basically, rap the way I want you to. Rap the way I think Hip Hop should be or else I am gonna trash the whole fucking thing.

    Obviously A LOT of Hip Hop fans LOVE Eminem.

    SO,

    Max...you're just another fucking Hip-Hop Snob

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  23. Of COURSE I'm a hip hop snob. Are you new here?

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  24. Okay, you are right. Using the word Snob was inaccurate. Maybe just a ‘HORRIBLE joke of a critic’ would have been more appropriate. Nope, not new to the site, just new to your shitty reviews. You are constantly targeting obvious shortcomings and taking the easy way out!
    Before you think I am just a crazy Eminem fan I will admit that I did not care for Relapse. I liked a few tracks but overall it was definitely his weakest record. Having said that, he is still one of the greatest ever (so like Jordan, even on his WORST night he’s still better than most of the guys on the court). It is fine to critique an album in the context of the artists previous work...but this should be stated. However, I don’t think you were. I think you were just saying it sucked. Plain and Simple.

    You really don’t seem to care for Eminem at all, which is fine (not everyone’s cup of tea) but you actually seem to personally despise the man. With comments like “sounding angrier than any multimillionaire has any right to”. Shit, I forgot that rich people are not allowed to get pissed off. OF COURSE!

    I must say I also loved your comment about Em’s use of the word cunt, “an age at which he should know better”. This is fucking hysterical, did you really expect Em to clean up his lyrics? I am hoping beyond hope you said that tongue-in-cheek. If not, I don’t think 99% of hip-hop is for you...And definitely not Mr. Mathers.

    It irritates me to no end how many critics get off on bashing artists who achieve mainstream success. You sound bitter when you say “It's depressing that Em’s maturing as a songwriter has to be clouded by this Clear Channel piffle, which will probably be a huge fucking hit”. I am not sure if you have a different understanding of the word piffle but this song is not it!! If you didn’t have such a hate on for the man you might appreciate the intent behind this song. If you were in the type of intense but poisoned relationship that this song sings about you might not consider the song writing here as trivial non-sense (definition of piffle). and YA. It is a huge fucking hit...Because it is really fucking good!!

    So you think Recovery will render Eminem irrelevant to today’s audience... You think he is trying to appeal to his “Long gone older fans”? God damn that is some funny shit!!!! 2.23 MILLION copies in the US alone in a matter of a couple months and still pulling down HUGE numbers....Ya you really nailed this review...He is clearly irrelevant! (Man I am still laughing...)

    You seem like one hell of a bitter hater with comments like “Recovery seems to have been designed to make us feel bad for a man who has millions of dollars, lost his best friend, and is still very aware that his former dependence on prescription drugs”. Why the fuck do you keep talking about how much money he has? How about you try to critique an album based on it’s merits and not based on your contempt for someone who has a lot of money? Is it about the music or the money? For you it seems like you care more about his bank account than his music!! WTF man....Give your head a shake! NO ONE cares about the money he has, we care about music he makes!!

    How about giving him props for rapping about his battle to overcome addiction. Not too many rappers sing about sobriety and the struggle to achieve it...and then make it a huge hit. Ever think that ‘Not Afraid’ might actually be designed to help people through these challenges and not about making us feel sorry for him!

    And why are you knocking a guy who uses his personal life as his inspiration for his music? I am pretty sure that’s what most artists do and I know that’s one of the things that people love about Em. He doesn’t just talk about money and bitches!! And FUCK YA I feel bad for a man who has lost his best friend! What the fuck is wrong with you?

    Maybe next time we can get someone who doesn’t have a personal bias against the man review his work. Because this review (and this reviewer) is fucking trash.

    There I said it!

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  25. Thanks for playing, but if you're trying to get a rise out of me, I could care less. This review is over two months old. I've since moved on, and so has mostly everyone else aside from you.

    I AM intrigued that one guy's personal opinion (littered with jokes and satire, most of which you seemed to miss - do you really think I would honestly say that someone should watch their language in THIS genre of music?) seemed to cause such a hateful diatribe, though. If you truly believe that my opinion of Recovery is off the mark, why don't you write a review of your own as a rebuttal? The readers appreciate seeing more than one perspective on things, and that may be more productive than lashing out at an author that could honestly give a fuck what you say, and you might even afford yourself the opportunity to back away from the "Eminem sold over two million copies in the US alone, so this album MUST be good" argument that you unsuccessfully tried to sneak into your comments.

    Thanks for reading!

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  26. So I guess your reading skills are as strong as your reviewing skills.

    I did not try to ‘sneak’ into my comments that selling over 2+ million copies in a couple months equates to good music. No one is buying your bullshit line. You said he was attempting to regain his ‘long gone fans’ and that he is irrelevant in the Hip Hop world. I was using his 2+ million sales to demonstrate that he still has a shit load of fans and is still a major player in the industry. Can you argue with that? Really? Can you defend your that outrageous critique?!? LMFAO!

    Shit man, your bias towards Em is so fucking obvious to everyone but yourself!!!!

    You say that this is a couple of months old review so should not matter. But seeing as how this is the biggest rap album of the year, a couple months isn’t that long. Stand by your critique Max! Admit that your personal bias against Em got in your way of what should have been a legitimate review!!

    Come on man...you totally fucked up this review and let your bias get in the way. Why not just admit it and move on?

    Thanks for reading!

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  27. Once again, I say that I am intrigued how one man's opinion has caused such a hateful diatribe. You realize that you're accomplishing nothing with this, right? Except for proving that you really, REALLY disagree with not only me, but the majority of the comments on this post. Which is fine by me, but your efforts might be put to better use elsewhere.

    The invitation for you to provide your own Recovery review still stands.

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  28. What am I trying to achieve? Nothing. I am just calling you out on being an obviously biased reviewer!

    But you are right. Someone shouldn’t criticize a review/reviewer unless they are willing to do one. You make a fair point; people should not just disparage someone for doing something unless they are willing to do it themselves...That is a good rule to go by.

    So how about I review your hip-hop album when you put it out. It goes both ways right? I am sure you are going show the world what real hip-hop sounds like, right?

    So let me know when your album drops.......

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  29. fuck all of you eminem haters...instead of sitting here and writing bullshit reviews which are purely biased and egotistic, give credit where it's due.the album succes on charts across the globe and in america speaks for itself!

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  30. why is it that Max only replies to comments if people attack him personally in them?

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  31. 99% of the time, I say everything I have to say in the review itself. I tend to leave additional comments if other readers bring up views I find interesting, or if they catch an error that I need to correct.

    1% of the time, I respond if you piss me off.

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  32. Seduction is not about stealing another rappers girlfriend. It is a diss towards a 'rapper'.

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  33. C'mon u claim to know about lyrics through out your reviews but you never realised that the track 'Seduction' is not about a woman. He is using it as a metaphor for 'hip hop' and how it seduces you.

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  34. The comments on this are hilarious. Especially this last one by "anonymous". Who must think he is the Sherlock Holmes of hip-hop for discovering the original(tired) metaphor in hip-hop. Comments on blogs like this always get a rise out of me.

    Though I think you pretty much summed up what might of been the worse album that year from the genre, if not in general. After track one, this album just went down hill. It is hard to listen to to this day. Suburban Americans and chicks that purchase one mainstream hip-hop release a year though seemed to enjoy it. So that means something in the end i guess...

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  35. people who like this album = age 15/white

    people who dislike this album = every hiphop fan on this fucking planet

    good review, read your bad meets evil post so might give that a listen

    -regards

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  36. So the real question is, how do u rate Em's last three solo albums against each other.. I came to the conclusion that i'd take terrible accents over Eminem's romance issues and zoloft addiction (Seriously could not choose pussier drugs to discuss)

    and to say white 15 year ols only like this albums is insane.. i got my cousin listening to Black Moon while one of my black best friends thinks this albums is great still

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  37. So the real question is, how do u rate Em's last three solo albums against each other.. I came to the conclusion that i'd take terrible accents over Eminem's romance issues and zoloft addiction (Seriously could not choose pussier drugs to discuss)

    and to say white 15 year ols only like this albums is insane.. i got my cousin listening to Black Moon while one of my black best friends thinks this albums is great still

    ReplyDelete