Eminem doesn’t apologize very much, but fans got the closest thing on the second verse of his 2010 single “Not Afraid” when he downplayed Relapse, his album from the year before. “Let’s be honest, that last Relapse CD was ‘eh,’” he rapped. His first album since 2004’s Encore, Relapse received mixed reviews — many of them chastising a new accent he adopted for the bulk of the record. In subsequent interviews, he would say that he “ran (the concept) into the ground,” and that he was still finding his feet creatively after taking a years-long hiatus to conquer an addiction to prescription drugs.
Many of the greats have at least one album like this — a work that was misunderstood by the masses, resulting in years to uncover its brilliance. Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak was chided for its use of Auto-Tune, and now it’s hailed as a turning point for Hip Hop-infused R&B, or whatever that hell that PBR&B title was supposed to mean. There’s De La Soul’s Buhloone Mindstate, Common’s Electric Circus — the list goes on. Relapse deserves similar treatment: the record stands as an artistic achievement that further solidifies Eminem as one of the greatest, most creative MCs to ever pick up a microphone.
Stay Wide Awake: When your video gets a Cinemax premiere, you know it isn’t for the faint of heart.
Slim Shady LP and Marshall Mathers LP were both rooted in the horrorcore that made his influences like Esham, with fantastical tales of murder, rape, and drugs, fully visualized. But those albums pinpointed his wife and the mother of his child as the targets of his wrath. Relapse fully embraces that idea for a whole album, truly delivering a slasher horror flick on wax. Even when celebrities like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan are name-dropped, Eminem’s victims here still feel nameless and faceless, allowing the listener to focus less on the shock value of his targets to gleefully (and, yes, problematically) enjoy the gore and technique for what they’re meant to be.
But from the moment Em gets doped up again on the intro of Relapse, he’s at his technical best, effortlessly melding to those beats the way that he did in the 2001 to Marshall Mathers LP era. Accent be damned (more on that later), “3 A.M.” has some of the best rhyme schemes and in-the-pocket flows of Eminem’s entire career. “My Mom” adds new flavor to the usual disses of his mother, as he paints an origin story for his serial killer character with his mother force-feeding him drugs as a child. (All while keeping the same rhyme scheme for entire verses at a time.) “Insane” is probably the last time Eminem has truly shocked us, telling a story of Em’s stepfather raping him. And after kidnapping a hitchhiker on the first verse of “Same Song & Dance,” he uses the last two verses to paint complete, beginning-to-end tales of killing Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears, respectively. The song’s hook, which teases his victims’ screams and attempts to escape as singing and dancing, subtly and cleverly adds a new layer to the song that comes after suddenly, his urges for a woman to dance on a stock single like “We Made You” has a grim, horrifying tone.
Then there’s “Déjà Vu,” Eminem’s best song in the past 10 years. Over a plodding beat by Dr. Dre, Eminem documents the events and addictive behavior that led to his overdose, complete with images of hiding drugs in porno cases and lying to his daughter Hallie, who seems both clueless and completely aware of what’s going on. After the cartoonish horror that takes up the majority of Relapse, the song tackles the cyclical, destructive nature of addiction in sobering, Requiem for a Dream-levels of somberness. The serial killer theme begins to clear into cathartic focus, appearing as a metaphor for the way Marshall Mathers destroyed his surroundings while under the influence: his daughter has it worse than any of the victims earlier on the album. “Deja Vu” is followed by the bluesy, self-produced “Beautiful,” which shows Eminem wallowing in depression before finding a light at the end of the tunnel.
Dr. Dre’s production on the album also can’t be dismissed. Relapse is the only Eminem album that is (almost) produced entirely by Dr. Dre, and it results in one of the Head Doctor’s most impressive performances from the third arc of his career. On songs like “3 A.M.” and “Same Song & Dance,” Dre pushes himself to provide the macabre backdrops to keep up with Eminem’s horrorcore. The duo also revisits some of the sound from their heyday: “Hello” would be perfectly at home on The Marshall Mathers LP, and “Bagpipes from Baghdad” sounds like a sequel to The Eminem Show’s “Square Dance.” While Dre keeps up with Eminem’s slasher aspirations, he still manages to temper it with the focused tonality that made his previous classics so well-rounded.
Show-N-Tell: “Déjà Vu” could be Eminem’s best song in the past 10 years.
Yes, there’s the pesky accent that takes up most of the album. For many listeners, that was the death knell — and it may have been a bad idea to use on his comeback album, as opposed to after showing. But the accent was part of the serial killer character Eminem was portraying: whenever he was drugged out and on the prowl, that was the voice he used. Not as efficient as Biggie’s back-and-forth vocal changes in “Gimme the Loot,” that’s for sure — but still an able signifier, as opposed to the useless tic that some fans mistook it for. While the present day’s abundance of streaming material on various platforms offers more choices than ever, fans weren’t exactly forced to settle for a measly bit of projects in 2009, and many chose not to revisit Slim Shady’s comeback as a result.
But whether you hate or love Relapse, it’s still a benchmarker project for Eminem. The conceptual, technical and emotional brilliance of Relapse are important because they’re the end of an era where Eminem’s music felt more like a craft than an exercise. These days, getting word of a new Eminem song makes you excited and fearful all at once. You know you’ll get some of the most dizzying rhyme schemes ever, in a way that only Eminem is capable of doing. But there’s a blatant disregard for the music behind it: he sounds like he’s senselessly cramming syllables instead of making songs. The end of the album, “Underground,” seems like a direct introduction into this new, bars-over-music Eminem. But even here he’s caught up to the beat more than he would be in the years that follow.
Photo: Karin Catt/Julian Alexander for SLANG Inc.
Call It A Comeback: Dissecting the merit of Eminem’s commercial prowess is a completely other discussion but the Relapse was the highest selling rap album of 2009 and won the Best Rap Album award at the 52nd Grammy Awards.
Much of Recovery was unlistenable pop drivel, making up for the lost time with the artsy inclinations of its predecessor. Hell: The Sequel was a satisfying rappity-rap side project, and a long time coming, but it was a coming out party for a newly-invigorated Royce Da 5’9” more than anything else. The Marshall Mathers LP 2 had its moments (“Brainless,” “Evil Twin,” “Rap God”), but it’s like the rap version of The Godfather III: useful for bringing finality to previous storylines, but just barely holds up on its own merit. Relapse is the last time we’ve seen Eminem’s love for words meet his unbridled creativity in a way what’s musically palatable, and it deserves more respect.
I have said for many years now that relapse was way better than recovery. Recovery was straight pop sh#t for the radio. Deja vu on relapse is problyprobly one of his dopest songs
So you father hear a bunch of bars about ass fucking in a weird accent
Than
Some shit from his heart? Your a clown
Actually deja vu is talking bout when he overdosed. Listen to the track before u try and correct the next person. Clown. Music box is also a dope track off the album
I’m not talking about that one song. You just said relapse is better than recovery. Read your own comment before u comment back on mine
So you rather hear a bunch of bars about ass fucking in a weird accent
Than
Some shit from his heart? Your a clown
Man, I thought I was the only person who felt “Deja Vu” was Em’s best song in years. It’s probably one of the few Em songs since he got sober that I can play over and over. The flow, the rhyme scheme, the story telling, he’s not screaming, the sarcasm, etc… I could go on but it doesn’t do it justice unless you listen to the track. It almost feels like MMLP type of track blended Eminem Show influence. Cool to see this album get recognition on Halloween. It took me almost 6 years to go back and give the album a fair listen again and understand what y’all are trying to say. Happy Halloween! ?
Personally this and the Eminem Show are my fav Em albums of all time. This is very underrated album tbr.
Last good eminem album The Eminem Show from 2002 #Facts
Relapse was Encore part 2 just darker and we all know Encore was Eminem at his very worst. Slim Shady LP best eminem album ever #Facts
Horrorcore masterpiece? Lmao ? These white boys are really trying to rewrite history. That album wasn’t “slept on”, it sold a lot of copies….It was just GARBAGE and no one liked it. Even Eminem admitted it was trash. Please stop.
This album sucked and still sucks. FOH trying to herald it in 2016, acting like it’s some unappreciated gem. The only reason this album even sold is because Eminem and a Justin Bieber share the same fans.
Wow you sound even dumber than the person that wrote this article lol
His worst effort ever. Garbage gay shit
First off this isn’t a horrorcore album. Second it just wasn’t that good. Third with that stupid accent on most songs that is what did it for me. Fuck this album
Exactly, Im lookin up at people writing how this album was good…and I check the article because I was like WTF is this cat talkin about.
THIS SHIT WAS STRAIGHT TRASH.
If Em could go back when he was spittin bars from Infinite and he would bitch slap himself.
Whoa on point with the exception of Recovery being pop drivel. His most mature balanced work yet. And zero gimmicks throughout
yeah Recovery was a good listen.
Recovery was like he was telling everyone to step the fuck up, rapping his heart out on so-called “pop-sounding” beats. Honestly, all of his albums since coming back shit on Encore.
Loved Replase!! Dope album
C”Mon guys, the beats are dope, the Rhymes schemes are dope. His flows are dope! I love this CD! Em’s gotta be the only mainstream artist to put out a horrorcore type album and actually sell probably a million copy’s. I don’t know the numbers but still. He’s saying shit you only really hear the underground independent artists spit! Stay wide awake ! Beast!
Agree with this a lot! Relapse had some of Eminem’s best flows & rhyme schemes. 3am & Stay Wide Awake are purely brilliant. And this album may have the best overall production of any of his albums. The content may not be for everyone, but for the majority of the project, he nailed what he was trying to do. There were a few missteps, so it’s definitely not a 5 mic-er, but a solid album overall that I HATED for about the 1st year it was released.
Probably would have gone over better with ppl if he released a serious album like Recovery 1st after all those years & then came back with this sick/twisted ‘ish. Would love a Relapse 2.
Anyone hating on relapse has a dick in each ear, and a potato where your brain should be.
I’m a white dude n it wasn’t good in my opinion…. There are so many rappers that make better music n don’t sound like a whiny little bitch
It was meh
I actually enjoyed Recovery
Relapse was a very good album. Beautiful was a great record and the last track was pure Run Rabbit Run type fire!!
Em is washed up. Good hiphop is more than just bars crammed together. Biggie was lyrical but he also made great music. Until Em can make good music again he’s stuck in a rut
I thought the album had was the best he put out in years but I was not a fan of that we made you trash that song really sucked. still sucks
Dr. Dre’s beat was dope. And the song feels completely different if you look at it as something Eminem is singing to his victims of Same Song And Dance, since that was the song before.
The Eminem Show and Relapse are the only Eminem albums I really listen to anymore….Recovery was as you mention, and MMLP2 was meh.
In terms of flow, this was the most relaxed and enjoyable flow Em has had in years. Compare a song like ‘Stay Wide Awake’ to any of his more recent songs. His flow is perfect; he tells a story without trying to force words to rhyme (See: ‘Bad Guy’ off MMLP2) and it works; I don’t mind the accents because they fit the theme of the album – a psychotic drug addict; I do believe this is tied for his fourth best album with MMLP2, with MMLP, TES and the SSLP being ahead of those albums.
Agreed 100%
If Marshall remade the album without the accent people would rate it much highly.
My list goes like this; TES, TMMLP, TSSLP, Relapse… I barely listening to his other solos all the way through.
D12 both albums are solid
He couldn’t have made this album without the accents
I think he’d have to rework most of the words if he did that. Try rapping along with any of the accent heavy songs in a normal voice, doesn’t flow too well.
Recovery was pop drivel? A lot of the beats had a pop leaning, maybe, but his lyricism and subject matter was on point. You guys get mad when he raps about old topics or goes for shock value yet you still complain when he tries to do something new or writes about real problems. He’s not the “kill every track” monster that he used to be but I will say that the expectations demanded of him are ridiculous. And Relapse is probably the worst album in Eminem’s catalogue. It has a couple of standout moments but a lot of the songs are goofy and tired and his accents ruin what could have been decent tracks. Encore had similar problems but still had more highlights than Relapse. There is no clever wordplay or punchlines that make for memorable lines. And if any song showed Eminem sacrificing flow for syllables, it’s “Stay Wide Awake”, not “Underground”. I also disagree that Dre’s production was a highlight, generally I thought it was quite boring and little flat. The best song on the album isn’t even produced by him. Relapse felt like Eminem was trying to give fans the old him when he wasn’t at a point where he had the skill set or mind state to do so. Every album he has done since has shat on Relapse in every area.
IMO, Recovery is not only his worst album, it’s his only album that’s totally wack.
WTP, No Love, Space Bound is whack for you?? SMFH
I agree with Trent. Recovery is absolute garbage and barely passes for a rap album. This is coming from someone who loved Relapse, thought MMLP2 was pretty good for the most part and that Encore was alright as well. The album is just pop garbage with terrible hooks, terrible flows from Em, terrible delivery and poppy production
You liking those albums doesnt justify shit, its just your opinion.
No love is the only Good one on that album to me, which says a lot considering that I don’t like wayne. Everything on that album may as well have been a Bruno mars or lady Gaga song. Yes, space bound is wack.
The pop production that dominated most of the album was most definitely whack. But in terms of lyrical ability it was crazy.
If Recovery was made by any modern rapper it would be greatly received, it’s only because it was Eminem in particular rapping over pop beats.
Sort of like if your grandpa started speaking in slang and did it correctly. I mean yeah, he’s doing it right. But c’mon grandpa, that’s not you.
To me it’s his dopest album. Not too nerdy but not too serious. Rhymes are ridiculous. Dre’s beats during that time were all kinda the same. Clunky, prodding, heavy piano and violin loops, simple drums, but it really worked for this album. My Darling, Careful What You Wish For, Deja Vu are the dopest songs on it to me.
Yeah the wordplay and the flow is just super dope thoughout the whole album. Like fr listen to my mom again and tell me that isn’t way more dope than the last time you heard it
Great article. Using the accents was a bad idea for a comeback album, in terms of commercial value, but since he’s proven that he can rap like old Em and then some Relapse has held up incredibly well. Although I disagree with the assertion that MMLP2 is like Godfather III; that album is insane lyrically, especially if you include the bonus tracks. The last verse on Bad Guy is one of the best of his career. The previous verses show Matthew Mitchell getting better and better at rapping – genius concept if you think about it.
This is a great article. Imo it would have been greater with a trimmed down track list. Something like:
Dr west, 3am, my mom, same song and dance, stay wide awake, must be the ganja, de ja vu, beautiful, crack a bottle, underground, hell breaks loose, music box, things get worse, oh no.
Drop the pointless tracks and keep the creepy ones (music box is so dope)
This album sucked. Even white boys weren’t fuckin with it. Stop it
I’ll take the occasional accents on Relapse before the yelling/snarling flow that he does on every other song now regardless of what the topic or beat is.
facts
I’m not sure about recovery being horrible. ‘Love the way you lie’ is an amazing song, it isn’t my cup of tea but as a single, a song about domestic violence is pretty dope. Also cold wind blows is up there with the best em songs, and when talking to myself dropped it was a bombshell! Almost famous was cool because it was before the shouting was irritating, and on fire lyrically is insane. The beat for ‘so bad’ knocks too. So I wouldn’t say that album was trash…
Relapse is an album where you have to listen to by yourself with headphones on to really understand how great it is. His last great album in my opinion. Recovery >mmlp2
Just buy a nice set of speakers and a subwoofer (those do cost like 2500 bucks to get any kind of quality sound this album deserves – just split it in half between speakers and sub, and buy Anti-Mode and amplifier as well) and let it all out to the neighbors as well. They grow to like horrorcore after a while. 🙂
This was a great article. I completely agree about the assessment of Deja vu. Trent Clark, I’ve noticed you have a problem with Eminem. Do us a favour: since you’re a writer, compose something for us and let’s see if you can spit a yarn yourself.
What are you talking about? I co-sign this piece 110%.
Relapse was one of the most cohesive albums of his career, It truly felt like one body of work.
Both Recovery and MMLP2 weren’t terrible but they felt to me like more of a collection of singles than an actual album.
It took me years but I came to the same conclusion. It was a huge disappointment at the time because everyone was expecting eminem show, lose yourself material of high quality, I figured after he had been gone so long he had time to craft a masterpiece. But instead we got this strange album talking about pills and killing girls with a Norwegian accent. It wasn’t what ppl expected or wanted from em, but I realize 7 years down the line that it stands alone as a great horrorcore album, better than anything Lynch, Esham, or Necro has ever done. if he had announced that he was going in a different direction,maybe it would have been easier to digest, but I was caugh off guard by it and doesn’t like it, but same song and dance, 3am, insane, my mom, bagpipes arent all that bad.
That being said, a few months after relapse, he did that “warning” song for nick cannon, and he came wit that angry edge that defined his early sound, and I loved it more than anything off relapse, just for the ability to hear him in his angry element again.
facts
Anything off of Relapse? Boy you are bugging. I like the warning, but its no where near the genius that was ‘Elevator,’ ‘Music Box,’ or ‘Buffalo Bill.’ All of which were on the Relapse Refill album.
this goes out for trump
who is sometimes a punk
but I dont wanne jump
out of the window dumb
hillary talking lots of junk
as if shes always drunk
the church she wanne bump
thats why her boat did sunk
from NY to CA
from FL to WA
unc don all day
n rap gonna stay
donalds gonna jump
getting the ball dunk
the economy he will pump
the war will end in the trunk
just like donald the unc
he will be rap and funk
a rapper is what we want
for the president of the USA
from NY to CA
from FL to WA
unc don all day
n rap gonna stay
in the white house
hill is dead row like a mouse
stay home with your spouse
because
else you will end up in jail
better go to sail
to an island far away
but dont let it be rikers
cuz that would be a fail
from NY to CA
from FL to WA
unc don all day
n rap gonna stay
Are you serious? This is one of my Go To albums by him. Legendary. Quality.
Eminem’s Relapse is unarguably the 3rd if not 2nd worse album of his entire career. Now, with that said, it is a great piece of work, compared to the other trash that is out there. Yes, his accent becomes repetitive, but admit it, when you first her the accent, you dug it….we all did. Then, it got tiring, the third and fourth time thru the album, but wait…you listened to it 3 to 4 times thru.
He had deep songs on there like Beautiful. Serial killer Shady came out in Same Song and Dance. The druggie side of Slim was in full effect on Must Be The Ganja. And the personal reflective side (the one that Shay allows us to hear about most) was completely exposed in Deja Vu.
This album is not the Infinite, SSLP, MMLP, The Eminem Show, but it could very well be right behind that, or just after Recovery/MMLP2.
Overall Slim doesn’t have “bad” albums. The accent, killed Relapse’s potential. It was everything we wanted, subject wise. He killed people, poked fun at himself, and of course our favorite; he made fun of his mom, lol.
Overall the album, in comparison to other Eminem works, deserves a solid 7/10. The rest of his work typically falls between the 8 and 9 range. Compared to today’s rap, this album would easily get an 8.5 at the very least, out of 10.
The Eminem show , mmlp, slim shady LP , , relapse mmpl2 recovery encore .. encore is the only one I can’t listen all the way threw
Exactly, i like relapse also, i can only listen to the first half of encore then i wish he would have cut it. I don’t understand why he is always putting so many tracks on his albums, some artists don’t go over 10 (illmatic) and it is a classic. “more is less” is a phenomenon that seems to play a role when we value things, pointed out by Daniel Kahneman one of the leading psychologists in the world. I feel like some of the tracks are merely “fillers” that takes the value of albums don like superman or square dance on The Eminem Show. Every album seems te have a few.
Stay wide awake is o e of my favorite songs by him ,… And those accents don’t sound bad at all
I agree stay wide awake is one of my favorite songs em has wrote!! Sickness raps that make the hype value go thru the roof!! If u need some energy and know the song by heart just listen and rap along with and ur good to go…eminem is the best of all time!! Enough said!
He called it , it’s classic now …
So this is it, this is what I wished for
Just isn’t how I envisioned it, fame to the point of imprisonment
I just thought the shit’d be different
But something changed the minute that I got a whiff of it
I started to inhale it, smell it, started sniffing it
And it became my cocaine, I just couldn’t quit
I just wanted a little bit then it turned me to a monster
I became a hypocrite, concert after concert
I was raking in the dough, rolling in green
Had the game hemmed up, like a sewing machine
But I was losing my freedom, there was nowhere for me
To not go and be seen, and just go and be me
And there was no in-between, you either loved it or hate it
Every CD critics gave it a 3 then three
Years later they go back and re-rate it
Then called the Slim Shady LP the greatest
The Marshall Mathers was a classic, the Eminem Show was fantastic
But Encore just didn’t have the caliber to match it
I guess enough time just ain’t passed yet
A couple more years that shit’ll be Illmatic
And eight years later I’m still at it
Divorced, re-married, a felon, a father, sleeping pill addict
And this is real talk, I feel like The Incredible Hulk
My back has been broke and I can still walk
Why did interscope delete Bobby Creek water from the re-up on Spotify
It was for copyright reasons. I remember Stat Quo, Ca$his, Bobby Watercreek, and Obie Trice leaving Shady Records. Most likely because they kept pushing their debut albums back. All of them got signed around the same time (minus Obie Trice, who was signed years earlier) and left around the same time. This was around the time when the rap music formula was changing.
Kayne was killing music charts, while what we somewhat call “gangsta music” wasn’t selling like it was in its peak years before 2006 – 2007. Also, what did not help them was “snap music.” Music execs knew of the change and just kept pushing them back.
If you don’t know the interscope, aftermath, Shady records routine; it’s either you’re hot and they know you sell units or they’ll lock you in the contract until you want to leave. If you leave, no royalties and they own your shit and what you got paid before is all you will get. It’s a sad situation for those three. Look at all the people Dre has signed besides Eminem, 50, and Kendrick, and see if they are still under the Interscope umbrella.
I respect your opinion Will, and the op-ed is dope, but sorry the voice makes this album unlistenable.
I agree with the author 100%. Great article, I look at this as Em’s last album…
Relapse was a return to form for Slim. Encore was lacking the shock value that made Em so great. Relapse brought that back 100%. When Em apologized for Relapse on Recovery I was surprised. Recovery was garbage, laden with R&B pandering. MMLP2 was only slightly better than Recovery. Not a perfect album like SSLP or MMLP but on par with the Eminem Show which too was one great listen.
Been saying Relapse is IMO his best album as a cohesive body of work. It definitely has the best, most consistent production and Em’s flow has never been better. Forget the accent, it’s not even used that much, combine the regular album with the bonus tracks, and it’s undeniably great…
its not even used that much? did we listen to the same album? or do you smoke crack?
He uses the accent on ten of the eighteen songs, that’s more than half the album. It used to be funny when he’d use goofy accents to make the occasional line funnier, but not so much when he’s ruining entire songs with it.
Good music don’t need defending it stands for itself. This album was 3/5 at best.
The closest Em got to a classic album was with his first two efforts and it wasn’t even that close.
He just can not choose beats that fit him best. Most of the production on all of his albums is weak. It’s sad.
You need to check your ears if you think production is weak on this, Dre absolutely murdered the beats
It’s like I could have written this article. Excellent piece. I want more story-telling in my music. I could visualize many of the tracks in this album very clearly.
Well done.
Definitely wish he would go back to rhyming with the beat and story telling instead of screaming over every beat.
His own biggest criticism of the Slim Shady LP was that he was always a step behind the beat. Now it seems as if he’s ahead of it or just completely off it at times.
Most of Em’s music hasn’t aged very well.
Hasn’t aged well? Care to give an example? The Marshal Mathers LP is timeless, in my opinion; as well as The Eminem Show. Relapse came out 7 years ago and I can still listen to it today. I will agree that on certain songs where he uses pop culture references of that time . . . it does seem somewhat dated – ‘We Made You,’ for example, but that’s just a terrible song. ‘The Real Slim Shady’ is littered with pop culture references but it’s still a song I could listen to today and get enjoyment from it.
I saw someone refer to this as Eminem’s American Gangster. Not sure if I completely agree but thought it was an interesting comparison.
decent article. i agree with many points. My darling is worth mentioning as the ultimate battle between Slim and Em. Yes, the beats on Recovery were not as dope anymore but there were some good songs – Cold wind blows, Cinderella Man, So Bad, Almost Famous, and You’re never over of course. You missed mentioning Bad guy which could be one of his all time bests with its mind-blowing, goose bumping scenario.
Excellent Article, sometimes it feels like i wrote that shit!
But dont forget Stay Wide Awake for its amazing flow
and MMLP2 Wicked Ways also was great 🙂
Anybody knows (Well any Real Eminem fan knows) that Relapse was Eminems second best album of all time. Following the Slim Shady LP. People who call relapse trash are the epitome of the word hypocrite.. Relapse was Raw, Uncut, Unapologetic, and Pure insanity. THATS WHAT EMINEM IS. The same people who say relapse was trash are the same people who will say MMLP2 was a classic. yea…. GTFO lmaooo
I’m as big an Em fan as anyone, and definitely respect your opinion, but you cannot say Relapse is better than MMLP – timeless songs like ‘Stan,’ ‘The Way I Am’ and countless other Em classics like ‘I’m Back,’ ‘Kim’ and ‘Criminal’ surpass anything on Relapse and SSLP. Both are great albums but in my opinion his albums are as such . . . 1) MMLP 2) TES 3) SSLP 4) Relapse 5) MMLP 2 6) Encore – this album gets too much hate; it was still Em as we knew him, but he was very drugged up at the time. And Recovery is 7th on the list . . . such a ‘poppy’ album – lyrics were on point, but between the flow and the bad hooks, it was just terrible.
I’m not sure I’d go 2nd best of all time.
MMLP and The Eminem Show were overall better pieces of work.
And I agree Deja Vu is one of Eminems best songs of all time
I didn’t sleep on this album.
Same here bud…I always thought this was a dope album…
Dunno why they assume that just cuz it got mixed review…doesn’t mean people slept on this album, this was one of the albums i was listening for halloween. It had that vibe…you know
Plus, why are they talking about something Em said back then?…articles these days
presonally TES is # 1. I go through phases with all things Eminem where I like one CD more than another (admittedly I don’t like MMLP2 or any of his newer stuff for that matter) but always land back on that one as my go to. Always liked relapse. Probably took al little getting used to the content but once I did and could listen to the flow … whole CD is lights out … second verse on Stay Wide Awake ??? gimme a break with that rhyme scheme.
Good call! Was shocked he didn’t mention Stay Wide Awake as it was clearly a top3 song on Replapse. 2nd verse in particular was brilliant. Dope dark Dre beat, great chorus, lyrical horrorcore brilliance & accent is almost not apparent.
Undisputably, his best album is MMLP. SSLP and TES drag out for second. Honestly, I don’t get the hate on encore. Mockingbird, Mosh, Like toy soldiers, Spend some time, One shot 2 shot, Yellow brick road, Never enough, Ricky ticky toc, Just lose it…….Like WTF!!!…I bump these songs on a regular and they are all classic. People just hate the whole album cos he did songs like ass like that, puke, big weenie. I won’t bring down the whole album cos he released some radio hype songs. I’d listen to encore over relapse any day any time. MMLP2 was really good too and far far better than recovery. Also, It had his best bonus tracks ever: Baby, Groundhog day, Beautiful pain, Desperation, Wicked ways (Goddammit, those bonus tracks should have been on the album).
The trouble with Relapse was that people were expecting “The Eminem Show” Eminem. They were hoping for an album where Em would rhyme with seriousness about issues that had plagued him for the last five years when he had been gone from the music scene. But instead what they got was a conceptual and experimental album from Em about serial killers and drugs. The accents were too much to bear for a lot of fans and no one really took Relapse seriously at that time. Time has been good for the album as now that we listen to it with distance from all the expectations at its release, we are able to appreciate the unbelievable flows, the multiple rhyme schemes and the fully sketched out concept of the album. The production was solid as well. There are a few weak songs that stop it from being an incredible album, but it holds up as a solid album in his catalog after MMLP, Eminem Show and SSLP.
Oh yeah, and just ignore all the great music on Recovery. Most of it had more of a rockish tone to it, and almost all of the songs have great verses. Go listen to No Love or Almost Famous and tell me it’s pop drivel again
We might be sleeping on Relapse but this writer is def sleeping on Recovery. Cold Wind Blows? Seduction? Tons of fire on that album.
I absolutely agree. Recovery was just as much slept on as relapse. Too many haters. Critics and even fans, shit actually everyone, hold Em to a higher standard that no other rapper can endure! Think about that. And he still puts ?out over a majority of rappers now and then. Props where props are due. One of the greatest if not the greatest. Musicians music should and needs to evolve.. Em’s music has evolved unless you are deaf or you just dont like him or his music. Its all subjective and opinionated most of the time. Seems he is always the topic of discussion so hes obviously doing something right
Dope write up on arguably best Eminem’s album outside of his prime (96-2002)!
Only a couple of things missing:
No mention of Stay Wide Awake which is clearly a top1-5 track on Relapse. Dope dark Dre beat, great chorus, technical brilliance by Em especially verse 2.
Also Relapse REFILL to me makes the album much doper.
Add Music Box, Elevator, Buffalo Bill, Taking my Ball, My Darling, Careful What You Wish for, & My Darling to the actual album (subtract Insane & We Made You) & Relapse is much doper then it already is!
Follow me on twitter @superdopehiphop and let’s talk HIPHOP!
relapse is my 4th fav album from em
1) mmlp
2)eminem show
3) slim shady lp
4) relapse
5) mmlp2
6)recovery
7)encore
I love every song of relapse except must be ganja but its jus an ahh skip track
The rhyme schemes flows and technical abillity is some of ems best and too be honest i didnt mind tha accent it wasnt likeable and got old but i didnt mind it after listenin a few times and was the last time em album had solid production front to back excluding must be ganja he sounds bit balanced when he spits unlike now where his voice is too gruff and his flow is boring ass fuck where he is getting off beat except for (medicine man) and acts like music doesnt exist which i hate i think its a classic for me i think its neck and neck wit his vintage work to be honest and it shits on anything he put after that tho recovery was a good album and so was mmlp but relapse avoided corny punchlines crappy female singers and bad beats (except must be ganja ) it had a sound i never heard em on and he sounded comfy yet feirce on every beat and em was actually funny yet real on tracks like beautiful and de ja vu and careful what u wish fo then my darling last two tracks on the bonus shoulda been on the album it woulda been a classic for me but to me the most slept on and the production is phenominal dre got em also em make dope songs not syllabes clumbsily
how could you not like the ganja song haha. I didn’t like Medicine Ball, musically.
One of his best
Eminem’s best album after “The Marshall Mathers LP” and “The Eminem Show”. I placed it just above “The Slim Shady LP”, “The Marshall Mathers LP 2”, “Encore” and “Recovery”.
Relapse is a creative masterpiece. Arguably one of the most underrated rap albums of all time in my opinion. Fantastic production too. I also think the accents work half the time. The other half they’re just unnecessary, which brings the album down a little bit for me. Can’t forget the Refill bonus tracks either. I personally think Relapse deserved a spot for top 3 Em albums.
I hated relapse at first but its eminems mona lisa
IMO Relapse is Eminem’s 4th best album. If I were to rewind in time back to it’s debut release I thought the accent was a bit to much and it really was just a good album not better then The SSLP, THE MMlP ,The ES , But better then Infinite and better then Encore. All I really hoped was that back then it would be better then Encore and thank GOD it was. The more I played Relapse and got used to the accent I enjoyed this album more and more and now can say it is a great Em CD. Lyrically EM’s word play is insane and lets face it the accent was needed to stretch words most of the time so it could come out the way it did. Dejavu one of the few personal songs on this album was the best song to me hands down. To me this album is more horror core based and maybe that was peoples problem. It was less personal and more in tune with fantasy based songs horror movie related and to me that was fine I didn’t care it was a fun lyrical album. In addition the beats and hooks were great. I have no idea why Em cringes when he hears this or so he says.
i bought it
dr dre 2020 *EMINEM VOICE *
I ALWAYS LIKED THIS ALBUM. DRE’S PRODUCTION AND MIXING WERE CRISP AND I APPRECIATED THE DARK HUMOR ON THIS ALBUM. ITS A SOLID 3.5/5.0
“The conceptual, technical and emotional brilliance of Relapse are important because they’re the end of an era where Eminem’s music felt more like a craft than an exercise.”
– Exactly.