Amazon EminemSo I made the decision to pick up a copy of Eminem’s latest album, Relapse—not sure what possessed me to do it, perhaps impulse? Hunger for humorous lyrical play?

Anyways, the last Eminem CD I bought with my own money was his debut The Marshall Mathers EP in 2000. The mainstream modern rock stations (K-Rock in particular) consistently kept “The Real Slim Shady” in their playlists for much of that year. After nine years of not listening to any Eminem or rap for that matter, I figured now would be an appropriate time to give him another shot.

Relapse contains a total of 20 tracks (5 of them are shorts/skits). It turns out that Eminem is still a very talented lyricist that has a deep understanding of melody, much more so than most rappers out there, or at least the ones on MTV.

“We Made You” features the production of Dr. Dre and the vocals of Dina Rae while Eminem goes after celebrities such as Jessica Simpson, Sarah Palin, and Kim Kardashian. “Bagpipes in Baghdad” is a highlight of the album as the bagpipe sample is one of the more musical elements heard on Relapse.

What I found disappointing about most of the songs on Relapse is the relentless use of the “F” word, especially when it does not enhance the flow of the song (“My Mom” for example). As a loyal Twisted Sister follower (SMF), I am always anti-censorship, but Eminem abuses the rights that Dee Snider stood up for in the 1980’s. Other than that, Relapse is a fair mainstream rap offering -Meds

2 Stars

Track Listing:

  1. “Dr. West (Skit)”
  2. “3 AM”
  3. “My Mom”
  4. “Insane”
  5. “Bagpipes From Baghdad”
  6. “Hello”
  7. “Tonya (Skit)”
  8. “Same Song And Dance”
  9. “We Made You”
  10. “Medicine Ball”
  11. “Paul (Skit)”
  12. “Stay Wide Awake”
  13. “Old Time’s Sake”
  14. “Must Be The Ganja”
  15. “Mr. Mathers (Skit)”
  16. “Deja Vu”
  17. “Beautiful”
  18. “Crack A Bottle”
  19. “Steve Berman (Skit)”
  20. “Underground”

www.eminem.com

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