Ahhh so today was pretty crazy! I woke up in the morning to discover the news I had been endlessly waiting for, Recovery had leaked! Ironically, I think it was first leaked last night around the time I was on here constructing my first entry.
The album is fucking amazing, beyond what anyone could've predicted. Unlike a few, including Eminem himself, I was a big fan of Relapse. There were some of the sickest rhyme schemes and execution of delivery that I had ever heard from Em, including a few classic songs; Deja Vu, Stay Wide Awake, Beautiful. Moreover, I liked the whole serial killer theme and didn't really mind the accents. But, I guess there were also some fillers on the album and although the complexity remained throughout, the content of some of it could be questioned.
Recovery on the other hand, some how manages to seamlessly combine heart ache, brutal honesty, and self deprecation with renewed confidence and hope. It's a mixed bag of emotions sewed tightly together with metaphors, similes, word play, double entendres, puns, and punch lines like we've never seen before. All this in his uniquely brilliant complex rhyme patterns and tornado like force of delivery.
Cold Wind Blows is a great start to the album with a catchy hook, up tempo beat and the type of clever/funny lines you'll get accustomed to by the end.
In Talkin 2 Myself, Em speaks with a harsh reality and openness that makes him so special, what other rapper do you know that would dismiss their last two albums by saying he threw them in the trash? (One of which, included the highest selling rap album of last year, a year which included Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Game, and 50 Cent all releasing albums). The answer, not many. He places it down to his drug problem but says he's back to normal by the end of the song and boy don't we see it.
Going Through Changes deals with his overdose, Proof's death and his suicidal thoughts. Out of every song on the album I think this was the closest to making me cry.
Not Afraid is the perfect lead single, an uplifting anthem, puts a smile on my face every time I hear it. And it's pretty hard not to sing out aloud to the chorus.
Eminem's verse on No Love featuring Lil Wayne is actually off the Richter scale. I cannot put into words how good it is, might be the best verse on a collab song ever! (I think you'll start to notice bold statements flying all over this blog). You actually have to read the lyrics while you listen to it to fully appreciate the genius.
25 To Life has one of the craziest flips I've ever heard in music. You won't find a more shocking, spine tingling twist in one of the Saw movies. (I didn't want to give anything away, but then I remembered only I read this!).
Love The Way You Lie, the much talked about Rihanna song, I'm not going to lie, I've never been a fan, but I have to give her dues on this one, probably my favourite chorus on the album and most likely to be a single. Could see it being another major hip-hop collaboration dominating the charts. Funny side note, he chooses the song with Rihanna on it, to mention for the first time that he has hit Kim in the past.
And finally, the Proof dedication You're Never Over, it's been a long time coming. All the previous Proof mentions in the album would give you a good enough idea on how significant he was in Em's life and how much he meant to him but this heartfelt message is one of true grace and beauty. Proof's death was really the cornerstone to Em's drug addiction which almost got him killed, his reclusive behaviour which alienated him from all his friends, and the depression that came from knowing he wasn't in the right frame of mind to care for his daughters; but it is a nice note to see although the pain will never go away, he is now a lot better and can openly talk about it.
All in all, I think what I'm trying to say is that Recovery is Em's fourth classic (SSLP, MMLP, TES) and may rank number one in from all of them? It's open to debate. I've heard it four times and it gets better and better, more layers than an onion (thankfully, Em's metaphors are of a slightly higher standard). I'm off now to go lay in bed and listen to it one more time before I go to sleep.
Thought/Quote/Lyric of the Day...
"Not many are lucky enough to have a guardian angel like you
Lord I’m so thankful, please don’t think I don’t feel grateful, I do
Grant me the strength I need for one more day to get through
So homie this is your song, I dedicate this to you"
x
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