Recovered [Eminem Recovery]

Rap is a fickle industry and it's very easy for artists to get complacent after they reach a certain level of success.  I personally believe the best artist do it for the love, not for the money.  Eminem is an artist that does it for the love and it shows with his 7th album, Recovery.

Although Relapse was one of the most successful albums to be released in 2009 many critics were divided, but, it's worth noting that Eminems worst critic bashes the album as if he wasn't the one to record it.  Another testimony to how serious this man takes his craft, is the fact that he appearerd on BET's Cypher last year.  Was this neccessary for a man whose last release sold over 600k units its first week?  No, but, it was necessary for a man who felt like his last album wasn't his best work and he needed to get back to the basics of trying the be the best.



I'm all about lyrics and I do believe that Em was on point lyrically on Relapse, the key element that was missing were strong songs.  That is where the magic was lost.  There is a talent that Eminem has that other rappers of his calibre do not have and that is making a song.  A good song evokes emotion and takes your mind to a place that you forgot or didn't realize was there in the first place (Little known fact Daniel Day-Lewis listened to Eminem everyday while filming Gangs of New York as inspiration for his character Bill the Butcher).  Joy, humor, rage, excitement... Eminems talent iss getting that out.  This is where Relapse fails and Recovery succeeds. 

Eminem comes out the gate to evoke inspiration with his first single, Not Afraid, a departure from his previous efforts which would jump off with catchy melodies that would force you to memorize the lyrics after the second listen (WhyDoIKnowTheLyricsToThisSong-itis).  Songs like On Fire, Almost Famous & No Love reminds me that the lyricist that I used to rock to before the major label debut is still there.  Going Through Changes in my opinion is the most heartfelt song on the entire album, compared to I Love The Way You Lie which feels like a song that was inevitably going to be a single that women will gravitate towards (and it reminds me of a 80s pop song).  I cannot leave out W.T.P. where Eminem finally did a club worthy song (I'm not including Crack a Bottle, I'm talking about a solo joint), I honestly thought this couldn't be done by Em.  The fact its called a White Trash Party gives it the free pass for Eminem to cut loose and still have it be a banger.

I'm a fan of the album.  Even though Eminem isn't back to his bleach blonde songs and even if he doesn't connect on every song like he did with his previous releases before Relapse, this is a good walk towards recovery.