Every golden boy of every decade has seen the kind of rock-bottom despair that Eminem beats to death in his new LP “Recovery .” Elvis Presley faded out in sloppy humiliation. John Lennon took more than 100 acid trips and got murdered for being a “phony.” Michael Jackson slipped off the deep end. Kurt Cobain did himself in with a triple-lethal dose of heroin and a shotgun blast. So when we find out that one of the most successful artists of the 2000s was addicted to a hodgepodge of pills and went through a suicidal period, we know one thing is true: America always tries to love its stars to death.
As he reminded us in “Renegade,” his now-mythical duet with Jay-Z, “We as a people decide if Shady’s as bad as we say he is.” Eminem has continually given himself over to us on a platter. “I am whatever you say I am / If I wasn’t then why would I say I am,” he again reminded us on the moody masterpiece “The Way I Am.” Ladies and gentlemen, the recovery of our dear Slim Shady is, indeed, in our hands.
He’s not the pop genius that Lil’ Wayne is, nor is he the entrepreneurial genius that Jay-Z is. That being said, Weezy and Hova are not the mad lyrical geniuses that “Recovery” reminds us that Eminem is.
Em again unleashes the intellectual dexterity that has made us unable to hate him, no matter how tasteless and/or perverted his raps are — they are just too damn clever. In “Recovery” his lines are as witty as they are moronic.
Take, for example, his duet with fellow early-oughts pseudo-badass Pink in “Won’t Back Down,” which is not a Tom Petty sample and is somehow a lot better than you’d imagine: “Shake that ass / like a donkey with Parkinson’s” or “I don’t need the [expletive] swine flu / to be a sick pig.”
Ah yes, even in his ripe 37 years, Slim has not lost his youthful snottiness. “Cold Wind Blows” contains the same brand of “na na na” immaturity that made him famous with his monumental introduction to the world “My Name Is.” “On Fire,” however, shows that he has upped his sophistication, with an (intentional or not) ultra post-modern aside: “I wrote a [expletive] hook in between two long-ass verses and you mistook it for a song.”
Although it is indeed an improvement from his last couple pill-ridden efforts, “Recovery” is, alas, not a full recovery. The man does come off as anxious for our approval. He even admits in “Talkin’ 2 Myself” that he considered releasing a diss record on Lil’ Wayne in the height of his drug-induced despair and — frankly — jealousy.
Now, he is desperate for our attention and re-establishing his super-stardom. However, simply announcing, “I’m back,” does not in fact mean you are back. Just ask Mase .
The reserved singing of “I’m going through changes” in the aptly titled “Going Through Changes” is reflective of his desperate disposition. It’s not just you, Em — this is not the same world that literally almost loved you to death in 2000. With “Recovery,” the wily, puckish emcee gives us reason to love him again, but not enough to overdo it.
2.5 out of 4 stars