Review: Eminem's Relapse

Once again, Eminem just doesn't give a fuck. Perhaps he never stopped, but the results of his, ahem, care-free attitude are vastly different on his fifth major label release. Call it a return to form (with a twist), as there's a sharp lyricist's fervor -- recalling his days as a "true emcee" -- one that was wholly absent from The Eminem Show and Encore (his third and fourth records). Relapse recaptures the angry verbal acrobatics from those first two records that sold a cajillion copies and caused every white kid in the suburbs to pour peroxide in his hair. And yet, despite re-bottling that immature angst, Relapse is different and, in a way, it's mature.

Contemporary pop culture knows everything about Eminem. They've followed the violent turns and lawsuits of the marriages, divorces, re-marriages and re-divorces with his star-crossed and beloved Kim, mother of his also-famous daughter, Hailie. Even if we've rarely seen a photograph of Hailie, she's been a character in his rhymes since the now-teenager was a toddler. His life was fictionalized, tweaked really, for an Oscar-winning film. We know everything about Marshall Mathers...and on Relapse, he leaves Marshall behind. Instead, he embodies characters that we know aren't him, but allow him to re-channel the shock-and-awe rebellion (and skill) that made him great in the first place.

Marshall never murdered anyone, but Eminem more than ably begins Relapse with a vicious serial killer anecdote called "3 AM." Marshall wasn't molested as a child, but Eminem can open up "Insane" with "I was born with a dick in my brain/Yeah, fucked in the head/My step-father said that I sucked in the bed/Till one night he snuck in and said/'We're going out back, I want my dick sucked in the shed'/Can't we just play with Teddy Ruxpin instead?" Marshall never had a relationship with Mariah Carey, but Eminem can sure piss off Nick Cannon with the lyrical mastery found on the completely surreal "Bagpipes from Baghdad."

These characters aren't Eminem or Marshall or even Slim Shady...those personalities have finally solidified into an album of storytelling brilliance. The narrative no longer belongs to the writer.

Relapse isn't perfect, but the missteps are at least predictable. "We Made You" is the jokey first single that sounds beyond-dated in 2009. "Hello" is lackluster. "My Mom" retreads familiar territory even as Eminem tries to make it meta. And yes, there is that ridiculous hint of an accent (normally reserved for songs like "We Made You") sprinkled throughout serious tracks like "3 AM"...but it's certainly better than Auto-Tune (if not an all-out snide response to T-Pain's trick-du-jour).

Beginning with "The Way I Am," the final song recorded for arguably his best album, The Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem was stuck in a rut, dealing with his own fame. The Eminem Show and Encore were obsessed with his own celebrity and how he shielded himself from the public, and maybe from his creative center too.

Relapse all but abandons that mantra, until the end, when he unearths that demon from his back, once and for all, on "Beautiful" (It might not be a coincidence that "Beautiful" is the only pre-sobriety track included on Relapse, according to a recent Shade45 interview with Em). The track is succinct and paranoid and just bizarre enough to work, and might've been one of his greatest ever had he not wasted two albums on the concept already. But in the big picture, he's no longer rhyming about how famous he is and how hard it is to be famous...he finally just doesn't give a fuck.

And once you listen to the piggy-backing syllabic dexterity exploding all over "Underground," absolutely slaughtering an off-beat production few rappers (dead or alive) would ever even attempt, you won't give a fuck either. It's not the real story of Marshall Mathers, but it might be as close to real as rap gets.

Comments

[AliceTheCanineMessiah]

gonna get the CD today.

great review - thanks!

and thanks to kkayralene for pointing up the Beautiful video on youtube...

yow!

Best of Now, always, y'all...

Alice and Greg

[kkayralene]

I've been listening to "Beautiful" quite a lot lately and I believe half of it was written in Eminems recovery while the other half was written on the "outside". It is a searing and unflinching look at both the the artist and the addict. I do not believe that these are outsize "personalities" of eminem, but an interior look at what he may have personally experienced and witnessed by hearing other addicts stories and providing vehicle and testament to his, and by extension, their journey. It is an idea whse time has finally come to mainstream america. We are a nation of highly functioning, highly financed addicts and Eminem put the truth on the table. It is interesting that there is another column on H. Post about whether artists, using their art as vehicle, can change the world. I believe Eminem just did...oh, and P.S...his CD has a "push down and turn" prescription bottle on it. Genius...

[Kostaz]

Great review,the best I've read till now,congrats to the author.

[plebeianswillrevolt]

I'm glad he's back. Did not know that. I'll check it out. It is amazing to remember when I first heard him 10 years ago, and the major bet I lost being sure he was black.... Not being racist here, just the truth and everything about Marshall was groundbreaking, culture shaking. What was that song with Dido,.. epic, at least on par with Queen for being iconic.

[streetjustiz]

Though i would disagree on certain points, this is maybe the best review of Relapse i've seen so far. I have stayed away from Eminem since The Eminem Show proved disappointing on every level, but listening to the Tracks on Relapse has pretty much brought my confidence in him back up. Right from the Intro i knew the album would be good, and it is. Dont' want to go into details but i just gotta say this, the track "Hello" is pure Shady! Love it.

[argyle]

Shock and rhyme aren't talent. Not that Eminem isn't all over the beat, but the words don't do anything more than disturb the surface. If you want the mid-west flavor from some serious wordsmiths, I suggest Atmosphere or Brother Ali.

[Brandon Perkins - Huffpost Blogger]

shock and rhyme aren't his only talents...­.hence almost every other sentence of this review. the man is telling stories. better stories than those slug lazily lobs at his audience on "if life gives you lemons"...­.and i love atmosphere. and brother ali is always brilliant.­..but it's hard to compare their skill set to eminem's..­..one that is wholly unique. and i think this album proves that.

[William III]

Yeah, pretty much.