Five years ago was when we last heard an Eminem album (if you don’t count The Re-Up). Starting with his critically-panned Encore, Eminem went into a downward spiral that included the cancellation of the European leg of his Anger Management tour, his second divorce from the infamous Kim, and the tragic death of best friend and fellow D12 member, Proof. Eminem turned to sleeping pills to help him cope, and became addicted, making him a refugee from the spotlight and eventually led him to thoughts of suicide. But thanks to rehab, Eminem cleaned up and hit the studio with Dr. Dre to have a relapse with his favorite drug of all: hip-hop. With his new album Relapse, Eminem tackles familiar topics: drugs, addiction, celebrities, his mom, absurd violence, and some deeply personal stories. Is Eminem back? Hell yeah…
While the topics may not be fresh, it’s the Eminem that everyone clamored for when the silly Encore dropped. Relapse is something like a perfect storm of the many elements of Eminem: he brings the lyrical ability and complex rhyme schemes that he demonstrated on Infinite, the dark, maniacal serial-killer mentality of The Slim Shady LP, and the song-by-song structure of The Marshall Mathers LP. Add in some of the silliness and commerciality of Encore and you have Relapse.
The album kicks off with actor Dominic West (of The Wire fame) portraying a doctor that Eminem visits as he checks out of rehab. Dr. West proceeds to reveal himself as a manifestation of Slim Shady’s addiction, trying to get him to relapse. The intro is spot-on, as it seamlessly transitions into Eminem’s horrific realization that he’s a serial killer on “3am.” Right off the bat, Eminem is establishing that this album isn’t going to be some commercial hodge-podge that many feared Relapse would be, based off the lead singles. He comes out of the gate with bloody corpses and Silence of the Lambs references. He follows it up with the neck-breaking “My Mom,” a rather funny tribute to his much-maligned mother Debbie and her love of Valium and other painkillers, a habit that she passes down to him through putting it in his food, among other things. Debbie is an old topic, but the song’s too good and too funny to dismiss just because we’ve heard it before. Eminem’s impression of his mother is still as funny as ever.
Next up is “Insane,” a song that’s equal parts obscenely graphic and imaginative, and most definitely disturbing. Eminem addresses being sexually assaulted by his stepfather, and the descriptions are cringe-worthy. Dr. Dre puts the “Psycho”-esque strings to work to give the song a haunting feel that serves as the background and basis as to why Slim Shady is as crazy as he is. He follows with similarly-themed joints like “Medicine Ball,” “Stay Wide Awake,” and “Underground,” tracks that stay on the serial-killer vibe. It’s like he’s unleashed his Slim Shady persona to wreak havoc all over Relapse, something we haven’t seen him effectively do since the Marshall Mathers LP.
Eminem also embraces his human Marshall Mathers side in “Déjà Vu” and “Beautiful.” “Déjà Vu” documents his struggle with prescription drugs, and is the only song that mentions the death of Proof, and is presented as one of the reasons Eminem falls into substance abuse. Dr. Dre laces “Déjà Vu” perfectly, giving it the dark, somber mood appropriate for Eminem’s battle with his demons. “Beautiful” sounds like it was written knee-deep during his depression, as he struggles to handle the cards he’s been dealt. Eminem could have done without singing the hook, but the rest of the song is on point as Eminem evokes a powerful feeling of sadness throughout the song.
Dr. Dre also shows that he hasn’t fallen off the face of the earth, as the beats range from good to great. Dr. Dre crafted a very dark, eerie mood for this album that many producers can only dream of duplicating. This is Eminem’s best-produced album, and it serves as a shining example of how amazing the chemistry is between Slim Shady and the Doctor. If this is any indication of the quality of production that will appear on Before I Self-Destruct, Relapse 2, and Detox, then hip-hop is in for quite a treat.
The first four tracks (including the “Dr. West” intro) and subsequent songs that are loyal to the concept set a very high bar for the album, and also set a very dark mood. Eminem lapses in and out of this dark place, as “Bagpipes From Baghdad,” “Old Time’s Sake,” “Must Be the Ganja,” “We Made You,” and “Crack a Bottle” don’t follow the standout tracks’ subject matter. The songs aren’t bad, per say, but don’t particularly vibe with the overall theme of the album. As good as they are they take the listener out of Eminem’s twisted mind and the dark tone that dominates the album. This is perhaps the album’s greatest falter: that it doesn’t have that cohesiveness that the MMLP had with its flow and content. Despite the fact that much of the subject matter is familiar to Eminem listeners, it’s still excellently delivered. Even on these songs, Eminem demonstrates that his technique is still among the best in the game.
While many fans may ask why he’s rapping about some of the same things, many other fans will answer that this is the Eminem that they’ve been waiting for since Encore: the deranged drug-user known as Slim Shady, mixed with the vulnerability and humanity of Marshall Mathers. While he acknowledges those facets, he also manages to sneak in some of the flaws of Encore, bringing down the album. Eminem hasn’t totally relapsed into his Slim Shady and Marshall Mathers days, but he’s technically flawless and still has one hell of an imagination. Relapse 2 should be fine as long as he reproduces the high points on this album, where he evokes his earlier works and alter egos. If the non-relevant songs listed in this paragraph were axed and he stayed with his multiple-personality format, then Relapse would be knocking on the door of “classic” status.
85/100
“3am”
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“Déjà Vu”
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“Beautiful”
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- Eminem: Relapse Intro + Insane Preview
- Eminem: What If? Vol. 1 [Remixed by Isbjerg]
- Slim Shady Is Back! Two Albums Set for ’09
- Guess Who’s Bizack?!?
- New Tracks From Eminem & 50 Cent
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