Eminem Album: “Recovery [Explicit Version]”

If you have been let down or disappointed by the last few efforts by Eminem, don't count him out just yet. 'Recovery' is, in my opinion, probably one of the best albums since his debut, if not the best of his entire career. Gone are the immature pop hits that have occupied his albums since

. In their place are really deep songs that aren't really hardcore rap or hip-hop but certainly aren't weak, forgettable pop songs that made it onto his album in the past. On a few tracks of 'Recovery' he acknowledges that his past efforts, especially 'Relapse', weren't that great. He also states that with 'Recovery' he wanted to raise the bar and return with something that would silence his critics and reassure his fans that he was back to true form and better than ever. In my opinion, 'Recovery' does just that. It's a deep and personal album but better produced than

and features some of his best lyrics and raps. If you thought Eminem had lost his edge, give this album a listen because I think it's clear that he found it again.

The Good: For me, what makes 'Recovery' such a great album is how personal it is. There are a lot of tracks that deal with his personal demons such as his toxic relationship with his ex wife, the death of his close friend, his inability to deal with fame, his addictions. Unlike with 'Relapse' that seemed to lack any real feeling or personality, this time around he holds nothing back and combines revealing lyrics with some great beats that gave the album a real epic feel, starting with "Cold Wind Blows" where he starts off the album proclaiming his return and striking out at some of his adversaries and critics (including, of course, Mariah Carey) and the album ventures into personal territory from there. "Talkin' To Myself" shows off a different side of Eminem as he reveals his insecurities and admits that he envied the rise of rappers like Lil Wayne and Kanye West and wanted to tear them down just because he was starting to fall off his pedestal. He goes so far as to apologize to them for wanting to rip them, which seems very mature and new for an artist who used to go after everyone and anything in the past that irked him even in the slightest. "Going Through Changes" is a track where he admits he needed help and that he had issues with addictions; "Space Bound" deals with his fears of being alone and isolated and how those fears impact his relationships with others; "25 to Life" uses the metaphor of a relationship gone sour with a woman to describe his relationship with hip-hop. There are also some upbeat/triumphant tracks such as "You're Never Over" where he eulogizes and celebrates the life of his friend Proof and is able to turn a dark situation into motivation to go on and accomplish big things; "Cinderella Man" features a boastful, proud Eminem who proclaims that mediocrity isn't acceptable in his career anymore; "No Love" deals with him getting over being dissed and ignored by a woman he loves and how he won't let her actions bring him down. There are definitely a wide variety of emotions at play on 'Recovery' that shows off Eminem's insecurities, issues and his strengths and makes for a great listen overall.

The Bad: A few tracks didn't work as well for me and disturbed the flow of the album. "Won't Back Down" featuring P!nk sounds like an attempt at rock and a freestyle session - it was okay but I had no desire to listen to it again after hearing it for the first time. "Seduction" and "On Fire" felt like filler tracks. There are a few tracks, such as "W.T.P." (white trash party) and "Seduction" where Eminem tries to be flirtatious and attractive through lyrics and it just felt awkward and out of place.

In all, the number of good tracks with depth, feeling and good production definitely outweighs the weaker tracks. I was really impressed by this effort from Eminem and have had over half of the album on repeat. This is definitely worth checking out and worth purchasing.

Listen To These: "25 to Life", "Going Through Changes", "You're Never Over", "Space Boud", "No Love"

I consider myself an Eminem fan, but not nearly as much of a fan as I was back in 2002 when "The Eminem Show" came out. But then I heard "Love The Way You Lie", and I sat up and paid attention.

The track not only features solid production by Alex Da Kid, but an emotional hook sung by Rihanna. This beautifully written hook was penned by Skylar Grey, whom according to a reliable source has been signed by Alex Da Kid in what is his first production deal. After hearing this track, I know I'll be keeping an ear open for what Ms. Grey brings us next. In the meantime, I hope "Love The Way You Lie" gets slated for the next album single.

I will first start off and say, that I did not mind Relapse - it had a couple decent/good songs, but the album as whole felt kind of "meh" - beats all ran together, and nothing really outside of We Made You and Beautiful stood out from the rest of the tracks..

Recovery is easily on a whole other plane than Relapse, and it may go down as one of Em's best albums when it's all said and done.. It definitely has a production style that we aren't used to Eminem having - it's not selling out, or going pop - it's called evolution... Rap has clearly evolved over the years from a niche genre to a dominant force in the music industry - and you don't stay on stop by sounding the same, production values and styles change - the game has changed, grew and evolved since The Marshall Mathers LP or The Eminem Show... Relapse felt like it was trying too hard to be those albums at times - and that was part of the problem.. it felt like it was trying too hard envoke the ghosts of those albums, while trying to stay fresh, and very rarely is that a formula for success.. Recovery is Eminem fully evolved into what the game is today.. and this album proves that he is still the man to beat in terms of Rap royalty - No, not Jay-Z.. Eminem is the real king of rap - and long live the king - he's back.

favorite tracks from the album...

Talkin' To Myself, Going Through Changes, Not Afraid, Seduction, No Love, Space Bound, 25 To Life, Almost Famous.... the rest are good, but i believe these songs to be the absolute best.

I'll keep it brief - once again, he makes everyone look like amatuers. Drake who?? Kanye who??? Lil Wayne who???

His best lyrical assault since Marshal Mathers. The flow, the beats, everything about it is great. I love that he's injecting more positivity in more of his songs but they still hit you hard.

He's one of the few that will still be in the game 20 years from now. All the others can only dream of coming out with a killer album ten years from now.........

Eminem has recovered finally.

After being on record pretty much trashing his last album Relapse, the stanbase got offended by my comments. I stated basically that Eminem had shown no growth in his 5 year hiatus and relied on weak gimmicks to get by. Well well well, what a difference a year makes huh????

On Relapse, one of the final songs on the album was Beautiful which was a beautifully written testimonial that was a stark contrast to the rest of that garbage album (hey Eminem said it himself). It's no surprise that Recovery follows in that same vein with the overall vibe of this album. Another positive of this album is the switch in production. Dr. Dre only produces 1 song and thank the lord for that. I'm not knocking his legacy I'm just saying his beats in the last few years have been far less than spectacular. Also the change in production style seemed to light a fire underneath Eminem instead of being comfortable and going through the motions like he seemed to do on Relapse. With producers such as Just Blaze, Boi 1da and DJ Khalil amongst others, this album undoubtedly provides a different direction than previous album.

Eminem definitely delivers lyrically as well but that should be no surprise. He's back to doing what he was meant to do and that's dish out warnings and clever quips in a battle type style. There are no ridiculous over the top songs that warrant a skip (well maybe WTP but even that isn't that bad). Every track is a good track.

Eminem also ventures out by featuring Pink & Rihanna on his album. Most people didn't know this but Pink started out as an R&B; singer. However on this album she blesses a pseudo rock track that in my opinion definitely works. These two have nice chemistry to me and I wouldn't be surprised if they have recorded several other songs together. Rihanna also injects a unique energy to Love The Way You Lie that on paper doesn't seem like it would work but works beautifully.

Simply put, Eminem has righted every wrong from his previous two albums. He has "Recovered" by learning from his mistakes and sticking to what made him so loved while also successfully updating his sound and branching out. While Relapse was worst album of the year material, Recovery is undoubtedly album of the year material. Eminem raps with precision, skill, and a wealth of content never before heard on any of his other albums. This is the album we've been looking for for a long minute and I urge hip hop fans to go out and support good music. 4.5 stars.