Review Summary: Like Stan's carcass, it's a bloated mess
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, aka Eminem. Poster boy for controversy and comeback king extraordinaire, Eminem has been both offending and inspiring people for nigh on 20 years now.
Relapse, an album the man himself would go on to shout down in his following album, marks a somewhat shaky return to the limelight for Eminem. The rapping style hasn’t changed much, but adding to the experience is a somewhat more mature edge. Possibly not in terms of lyrical themes, as all the juvenile and somewhat unnecessary sex puns and flippant insults are back in droves. But that said, this is an album of 20 tracks, including skits and interludes. Having been in the wilderness for a few years, and returning as scathing and as unblinking to controversy as ever is clearly what all the fans secretly (or not so secretly) yearned for. If the return had marked a complete change in style, it would not only have been a disservice to the loyal fans, but also something of an insult to his himself and his principles. In that respect, he’s the same old Marshall- verses, choruses, looping beat mixes, basslines, catchy hooks et al. So, turning a blind eye to the reasons Em decided to call quits for a little while back in 2005, does this album mark a successful comeback for the man sometimes hailed as the best rapper of all time?
At the starting point, with the delightfully creepy intro ‘Dr. West’, a perfect, if not-too-subtle mood is created for the tracks that are soon to follow. A skit featuring a conversation between Em and the eponymous Dr. West (voiced by an actor who sounds like Steve Coogan if he was starring in ER), that becomes increasingly eerie as it builds to its’ conclusion. This leads immediately into the track that follows, single from the album ‘3 AM’. This album opening is exactly what was hoped for. The theme of the second track is a somewhat tenuous link between blackouts and murdering people, and yet it’s clear that the approach to such subjects as murder and crime on the album will be tongue-in-cheek. Verses are somewhat hit and miss in the song, with the rhyme pattern feeling very tired, and the lyrics being somewhat Eminem-lite, but a catchy chorus and very neat tune give this song a certain edge, and definitely mark it as a decent introduction to the album. That said, it does go on too long, and the reward at the end of it is hardly worth the time.
Imagine drinking a glass of your favourite alcoholic drink. Savouring the taste, feeling it warm you and kill off a few brain cells. Then imagine chasing it down immediately after with a drink you despise. Well, next song ‘My Mom’ is the despised chaser. Employing a dull drum pattern and verses that may be humorous, but lacks any kind of real substance (pardon the pun) apart from themes regarding the abuse of pharmaceutical drugs. Even the chorus can’t save it, as the monotonous drum pattern slowly repeats as a chorus that sounds recited by Eminem as a Speak n’ Say kicks in. It’s poor, to say the least, and after the first song, it’s boring. But then, almost as if Eminem senses the song wasn’t to your liking, the album picks up again, with the superb ‘Insane’. It’s fast, it’s racy, it’s filthy, and, to that end, it’s straight-up Em. Jokes about abuse, rape and molestation are the order of the day, but despite this, the song still manages to be funny. A sing-along chorus mimics the tune and sections the disgusting yet brilliantly penned verses apart, in order to make the combination of the repetitive, yet never irritating, tune and the symphony of profanity that goes along with it. ‘Insane’ may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s merits far outweigh any moral stance one might pretend to hold when it comes to this kind of humour. Unfortunately, however, it’s mostly downhill from here.
Out of the next batch of songs, ‘Bagpipes From Baghdad’, ‘Hello’, skit ‘Tonya’ and ‘Same Song And Dance’, it’s really only the first one that displays any flair or originality. A looping bagpipe tune and a cod Scottish accent by Eminem in the opening are amusing, and it’s a listenable, if somewhat uninspired piece. ‘Hello’, on the other hand is in dire need of something to distract from the dull tune and unimaginative chorus. It actually gets to the point where it not only feels like Eminem fodder but also feels completely mundane and pedestrian. Out of every Eminem album, there’s nearly always at least one song that just sits aside from the rest of album as the one/s you don’t like. Well, ‘Hello’ has this fact stapled all over its tedious, recycled face. It’s not so bad that Eminem might occasionally put a song on an album that isn’t liked, he’s only human. However, this is the first time, for me personally, that I’ve felt almost like the song was written with that intention in mind. Which might be okay, if it was the only song of such an unappealing temperament on the album. Which it’s not, as illustrated by the next song and the skit that precedes it. ‘Tonya’ sets the theme with the story of a girl who hitches a ride with someone (presumably Eminem) who then goes on to attack her, and ‘Same Song And Dance’ continues this story in song form. However, whatever the intentions were when writing the lyrics to this song, the message is lost amidst a slurry of tastelessness. It’s not even a problem that the theme is depraved, it’s that there’s absolutely no irony to it. The song’s structure and music itself is, surprisingly, one of the most memorable on the album, but even this fact can’t pull the piece as a whole out of the mire it so willingly sinks into.
The slapdash structure of the entire album is plain to see even at this point. ‘Uneven’ isn’t even the word I’d use to describe it, I’d describe it as ‘downhill’. It begins promisingly enough, but is sure to make sure that that impression is thrown out of the window pretty much straight away (less thrown, more hung). But soon it seems to pick itself up again, but, alas, it goes down again just as soon. If the law of averages is anything to go by, I’d say we’re due for another high point fairly soon.
No. In fact, not for a long while. The five tracks that follow are painfully, painfully average. Probably the most popular single (bewilderingly) off the album, ‘We Made You’ now rears its’ ugly head, and it truly is ugly. I seem to be one of the few who think so, but if the rest of the album was treading water, then this is standing ankle-deep in sand at the bottom of Mariana’s trench. After a horrific, mercifully brief twinkly start, the song goes into Jessica Simpson’s uninteresting voice singing her uninteresting chorus. I remember the first time I heard this song, and thinking that as soon as Eminem starts, it’ll get much better. But for some reason, it doesn’t. There are certain flashes of intelligence in the writing, but the fact that the chorus keeps repeating, and the hideous beat keeps looping is enough to conclude that the song was DOA. It seems almost like Eminem tried to recapture the spirit of his number one ‘Without Me’, even going on to make a somewhat entertaining video to the song. However, the difference between the two is that ‘Without Me’ is actually a good song- it’s clever, it’s topical, and it’s very funny. ‘We Made You’ is none of these, and seems almost like a cheap cash-in by a different, less successful rap band rather than a single by Eminem.
‘Medicine Ball’ is truly a difficult one. The chorus is psychedelic, and the verses are rather puerile, this time asking for trouble with a completely grotesque allusion to abortion. However, the first time I heard the song, I was fairly impressed with it. It wasn’t the best song on the album, but it was a significant step up from the previous song. That’s when it hit me. I was judging the song after having listened to it in the context of the album. Of course it seemed like a step up from the dross that came before it. So, in order to be fair, I waited a few days, and then listened to the song again, this time singularly. As I predicted, and much to my disappointment, it was revealed that the song was average at best. The lazy beat makes for an uneventful time as the listener, and the sewer-mouth verses lack any kind of subtle satire or general metaphor. In true Eminem fashion however, a skit now comes to the fore. This time it’s a skit of Paul Rosenberg doing one of his answerphone messages. If you remember skits of a similar style from previous Eminem albums, you’ll know what to expect. ‘Stay Wide Awake’ and ‘Old Time’s Sake’, do make for a more interesting listening experience than the songs that came before them, but really this is just down to the fact that they are livelier by comparison. The same tired structure of verse, chorus, verse, chorus comes full throttle, and there isn’t a hint of invention with an attempt to change around the rhyme pattern or anything of the like. There isn’t really much to be said about the songs because, frankly, they’re just plain average.
‘Must Be The Ganja’, a somewhat funnier, but still admittedly bland excursion follows, but does hint at something a bit brighter just about to happen, albeit nearly three quarters of the way through the album. Hints of cleverness set against the backdrop of a song about marijuana are something of an oxymoron, but it seems almost like Eminem just about pulled it off. However, the underlying factor seems somewhat more regarding Eminem’s persona. We’ve heard him rap about drugs before, his career before his hiatus was peppered with rhymes about getting high and abusing pharmaceuticals. Now though, it just feels beyond tired. Now it feels pretentious. Eminem is just too over-the-hill to be performing these kind of songs anymore, and when I say ‘over-the-hill’, I’m not referring to his age. I’m referring to his career. It always seemed like with his previous endeavours he was allowed to rap about such things, and why not, he was practically a kid then. But now, after his break from music, with his subsequent return, it feels just far too out of time for Em to write songs about the use of recreational drugs any more. There was always an expectancy that when he returned, he’d return more mature and more focused on things in life that actually matter (Recovery proved that he is capable of such writing, with allusions to drugs being fleeting), so to see his attempting to maybe recapture his glory days through a song that is not only about drugs, but also titled after them, feels like a total shame, and something of an own goal.
Beginning the home stretch is the dull overdose story ‘Deja Vu’, which is preceded by a scene-setting skit in ‘Mr. Mathers’. After the atmospheric and moody feel to this introduction, any kind of anticipation we felt for the song after hearing the skit is scuppered almost immediately. The melody is bland, the lyricism is tired, and the song just generally feels like something by a second rate busker. Even Eminem sounds tired performing the song, drawling out the chorus like his life depended on it, giving the distinct impression that he didn’t believe in the song very much. After the customary fade out ending, it seems like the sun has come out. The opening strains of ‘Beautiful’ fill the speakers, and make us question whether the album’s worth of material before it actually WAS that bad. A calm, melodic string piece begins, accompanied by a husky singing voice opening the song with a short verse. As soon as Eminem begins rapping, the drums come in, and the song really starts. A beat that should be really repetitive is saved by interesting touches such as a descending glokenspiel sound and an almost falsetto singing voice from Em during the chorus. The song itself is excellent, and shows us what a talented writer Em actually is (a fact which is easy to forget after the previous 16 tracks). It’s emotive, it’s got heart, and it’s laden with clever writing and metaphor. There’s even a spoken outro, giving echoes of ‘Hailie’s Song’ from
The Eminem Show. A solo accompanies this, almost akin to the use of the recycled guitar solo at the end of ‘Sing For The Moment’. The composition itself might be second rate, but it’s the combination of everything together that really makes this song stand out.
The final three songs are standard fare for what you’d expect for closing an album like this, but that’s not at all a bad thing, as these two tracks and one skit are both entertaining and well produced. Single ‘Crack A Bottle’ with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent is a neat sideline and retains the fun and trademark humour that Em is known for. The singalong chorus and funny verses finally give us the sense once again that this is an Eminem album, and he’s most certainly back. Skit ‘Steve Berman’ comes next, and if you are familiar with similarly titled tracks from previous albums, you’ll know the kind of scripted exchange to be prepared for. It’s funny, it’s daft, and it’s also rather self deprecating, which is refreshing in a way. The final song is ‘Underground’, and, in honesty, it’s about as underground as you could get. The beats are dirty, the verses and tune are both catchy and well maintained, and frankly, it’s a superb way to finish an album. It’s just a shame that it couldn’t have been on a better album.
It’s highly likely that Eminem’s return is what certain listeners would be looking for, and they got their wish. He’s back all guns blazing, attacking on all fronts. In that respect, we breathe a sigh of relief to know he is well and truly returned to the industry. The only unfortunate aspect of it is that it is not a return to form. No, far from it. Em has demonstrated countless times what he is actually capable of. His lyrics are what set him apart from his contemporaries- despite the fact he may not be the most well-educated kid in the world, he’s still wicked smart, and has utilised this fact before in order to raise a smile, a chuckle, or a controversy. The return was the easy distraction from the fact that
Relapse is a mediocre album at best, and while we could possibly put this down to the fact he’s out of practice, it still seems like something of an oddity that Eminem should not return stronger and better than he’s ever been before. It’s worth a listen, surely. Just most definitely NOT worthy of one of the best rappers of all time.
