RATING: 95/100. NOT QUITE AS INCREDIBLE OR CONSISTENT AS SOME OF HIS OTHER ALBUMS, BUT IT COMES CLOSE AS ONE OF HIS GREATES PROJECTS. THIS ALBUM SHOWS AN INCREDIBLE ARTISTIC GROWTH FOR EMINEM.
Eminem somehow makes himself even edgier and darker on this album with songs like 'My Mom' and 'Insane'. This 2009 release gives us more 2000s Eminem with a new production style compared to his other albums. This album still has Dr. Dre's production on it which really shines here - Eminem's flow is really good and the overall theme of this album is honestly chilling.
THIS REVIEW DOES CONTAIN SOME DISTURBING AND UPSETTING CONTENT. MORE SPECIFICALLY ABOUT EMINEM'S DRUG ABUSE AND PERSONAL STRUGGLE BEFORE THE ALBUM WAS RELEASED. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The skit that opens this album was hauntingly well done. This album has such a genuinely eerie feeling to it and Eminem manages to sell it so incredibly well. It fits him so well and the way he did everything just works so well.
One thing about 'Relapse' that does kind of dim the album down for some people is the accents and voices that Eminem uses. He's playing various different characters - different voices aren't odd for him at all if you listen to his other albums, but it does get a bit unserious at times; this can be a good thing, but he's overusing it a little bit here. To me, I don't think this really "ruins" the album at all, but it is something you might have to get used to.
I think 'Relapse' is definitely a good album for people who are fans of Eminem and are familiar with his work and some of his deep cuts as well as his story, but if you aren't - this isn't the best place to start in his discography. I think 'The Eminem Show' is probably the best album of his for someone to start with if they're looking to get into his music.
This album is a huge step up from his previous work 'Encore'. It has some similar styles on it but they work here a lot better than they did on 'Encore'. The comedic tone is still there somewhat but it is drowned out heavily by eerier soundscapes and lyrics. The album as a whole is incredibly dark in both theme and sound, and Eminem manages to juggle this well without it seeming like "too much" for the most part.
'Relapse' tackles more of the serious issues that Eminem has and was going through at the time of the release. This album was his return to music after being on a four-year hiatus due to both writers block and his prescription drug addiction. This album is more similar to his first two albums in terms of the heavy horrorcore themes and style, and Eminem proves that he can still do Slim Shady very well after all of the time that had passed since then.
The album really reads like a horror movie at times. Eminem's mind is almost scary when you hear some of the themes, issues, and lyrics on this album. There's a lot to unpack - and it shows that Eminem works with horrorcore very, very well. He knows what he's doing with an album that sounds like this - and he sells it well.
This album works very well as the concept album it's meant to be. The themes of each track are so different from each other but they come together really well. Everything works and flows together in a really pleasing way - the album is delightfully disturbing.
One thing that really stands out (which gained praise from critics) is the production on the album. The production is absolutely incredible and the array of different sounds used makes for a lot of great variety which is really enjoyable. The different sounds in each beat make it so the album doesn't melt into one blob of a track - everything feels separated from the previous song, which is an incredible quality for an album.
I'm really glad that this album experiments as much as it does with so many different sounds. The style, delivery, and beats are all different from the last and it makes for such a great and interesting listening experience. This album is genuinely interesting and full of so much great content to unpack.
Using different styles and sounds works very much so in Eminem's favor here. He even used auto tune on this album - and it didn't even sound bad. It's something so unexpected for him. This fearlessness is really one of the things that makes this album so great. Everything is put together wonderfully - and the jumble of different sounds somehow comes together and works more than it should in most cases.
This album is also part of a bit of a two-part Eminem album run - with 'Recovery' coming the year after this album. He changes up his style and takes a more pop rap influenced style for the album; a drastic change when compared to this album and the sounds presented on it.
The title of the album is of course, fitting.
'Relapse' tackles a lot of drug related topics which were very much relevant to Eminem's life at the time. He had a cripplingly bad drug addiction for years and this album heavily touches on that and what he was going through. Eminem has never been shy of dark, oftentimes disturbing themes - and this album is full of them.
Eminem became heavily addicted to sleeping pills before this album was made. He planned to take a break from recording his own material to produce for other rap acts - more specifically the artists signed to Shady Records. He later went on a full hiatus from music as a whole after he cancelled the Europe leg of his Anger Management Tour in the summer of 2005. He was too exhausted to continue through with the tour with the condition he was in.
I find myself deeply interested in Eminem's story. He went through so much - even before his fame. Being famous just brought it to the spotlight, all eyes were on him which I'm sure made it even harder for him. It's so refreshing to know that he's finally sober and no longer struggling - he broke the cycle.
2006 is the year where things really started to spiral for Eminem. He had remarried his former wife Kim - which led to another divorce after only eleven weeks. In the same year D12 member and close friend of Eminem, Proof was tragically shot and killed outside of a nightclub in Detroit.
This sent Eminem into an increasingly reclusive and harmful state. He became heavily addicted to drugs and began gaining weight - so much so people couldn't even recognize him.
"Everyone felt Proof's loss, from his kids, to his wife, to everyone. But, for some reason, in hindsight, the way I felt was almost like it happened to just me... Maybe at the time I was a little bit selfish with it. I think it kind of hit me so hard. It just blindsided me. I just went into such a dark place that, with everything, the drugs, my thoughts, everything. And the more drugs I consumed, and it was all depressants I was taking, the more depressed I became, the more self-loathing I became..." - Eminem in a 2009 XXL interview, the same year of the release of 'Relapse'.
But these issues weren't new.
According to Proof, he first "straightened out" in 2002 when he was working on his semi-biographic film, '8 Mile'. During his time working on the film he was working for 16 hours out of the day, leading to him developing insomnia. He was given an Ambien tablet which knocked him out. This led to him getting a prescription that he would soon abuse for years. He became heavily addicted to these sleeping pills and would "goof off [with] a pocketful of pills" in the studio.
He had never been shy of talking about drugs in his work, but it was something that was truly affecting him.
At a point he stated he was taking a "ridiculous amount ... I could consume anywhere from 40 to 60 Valium [in a day]. Vicodin, maybe 30." he would fall asleep for an hour or two and then just consume more and more pills. He weighed 230 pounds at one point, and people in restaurants weren't even fazed by him sitting and eating alone anymore it became so common.
In early 2007 speculation started about a new project from Eminem. The same year he stated that he was in limbo about releasing new material at the time or in the near future. He had come to terms more with himself and was working "constantly" in the studio before an almost fatal event that would occur in the same year.
In December of 2007, Eminem's life was forever changed.
He experienced an overdose on synthetic opioids that were given to him by a dealer for the first time - he was told they were like Vicodin (which he had been doing at the time) but easier on your liver; he thought these pills were "better for him".
He collapsed in his bathroom one night due to a severe overdose. He was luckily rushed to the hospital. The doctors told him he had ingested what was equivalent to 4 bags of heroin - he was just hours away from death. The skit 'Mr. Mathers' and the track 'Déjà vu' reflect on this event and it's genuinely haunting to listen to. It's terrifying.
And yet this didn't shake him enough to stop.
He checked himself out before being fully detoxed after he missed Christmas with his children. He injured his knee sleeping on the sofa which required surgery - when he returned home, he had a seizure. His addiction "ramped right back to where it was before" within just a month of all of these incidents.
Church meetings were where he went first to attempt to get clean - but fans asking for autographs made him finally check in to a rehabilitation center. Elton John was a mentor and a huge help to his sobriety -
he's been clean since April of 2008.
Eminem was (almost) completely sober when creating this album. 'Beautiful' was written while he was in rehab and completed recording when he got out in 2005.
'Beautiful' is one of the most touching tracks on the album - possibly on any rap album. It's so upsetting - this whole album is. This is one of the most disturbing albums I have ever listened to; especially knowing the history of it all. Knowing that Eminem is finally sober and no longer struggling with any of these issues is such a wonderful thing.
'Relapse' comes from a place of hurt, and Eminem managed to make art out of it. Everything here is done wonderfully and the story behind this album and the inspiration for it all is devastating. This is one of the most deeply upsetting and disturbing albums I have ever reviewed.
My (short) review of 'Beautiful' (AOTY link only):
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