Eminem – “Recovery” Review

Eminem seems pretty hellbent on making sure people know that he is sorry for his previous work, Relapse.  While Relapse was a long-awaited comeback full of nostalgic vulgarity, it ultimately left the listener unsatisfied and disappointed.  The songs were ok, but for them to be coming from Eminem, they didn’t seem to meet the bar set by his previous works.  Not only does he feel bad about Relapse, but he also mentions how he wasn’t happy about Encore either.  He mentions how he was on too many drugs when making Encore, and flushing everything out with Relapse.  Now, after giving himself time to sober up, he’s released his latest work, Recovery.  It was originally titled “Relapse 2,” but since he was so unhappy with the first, he wrote entirely new songs and slapped on a new titile, completely differentiating it from what he is straying so far from.  The verdict? It’s actually pretty awesome.

If you read my review of Relapse, you’ll know that I had a lot of complaints.  His voice was nasally, his lyrics were tried, and his beats were poor.  With this album, it was almost as if he read my review and took notes.  There are no nasal-pushed vocals or forgettable beats, and his lyrics have drastically improved.  His desire to gain forgiveness inspired him to show us that there’s a reason why he was named one of the greatest rappers of all time.  Given, you hear a lot of the same “suck my dick” lyrics, which I can honestly do without (he’s been saying it for years, it’s pretty damn annoying by now), but there are also fantastic eyebrow-raising hotspots. Though it seems there really isn’t anything new that Eminem could show us, as he is well past the point of shocking the audience with his lyrics, he is still able to give you that “wow” factor.

• The cons:

1. as much as his lyrical patterns are both nostalgic and refreshing in a market saturated by Wayne, Kanye, and Drake, there are many times where it’s a fault.  There are times when I’m listening and I feel like the flow of the music is being mudded up by the flow of the lyrics.
2. Eminem really must stop trying to sing.  A melodic chant here and there is ok, but when he’s straining his vocal chords trying to hit a high note, it takes the audience member out of the moment (“Not Afraid”).
3. If he wants to come off as vulgar, he’s going to have to talk about something else than his dick getting sucked or about gay guys.  It’s played out, annoying, overdone, over-saturated, etc.
4. The album artwork looks like it was designed by a high-schooler who pirated his first copy of CS4.

• The Pros

1. Much better than Relapse – both lyrically and musically.
2. The samples of Ozzy and “What Is Love (Baby Don’t Hurt Me)” come off perfectly.
3. Listen to the track “25 To Life,” and pay close attention to the lyrics.  The ending is phenomenal.
4. Lil’ Wayne makes a strong appearance on “No Love,” and as impressive as his verse is, Eminem slaughters him with some of the best lyrics on the entire album

The album isn’t anything shockingly different than what we’re use to, it does give us the reminder that his writing skills are some of the best in hip-hop.  He may have the stigma of the early 2000′s attached, but this won’t stop you from turning up the music and reliving the early decade.  Simply put, its a great album.  It’s certainly not his best, but its far from his worst.This album takes Eminem out of the early decade’s angry white rapper caricature and puts him right back where he needs to be.  It leaves you begging for more, with a strong desire to see how much further he will carry his career. I give it four out of five stars. ****

UPDATE:

So I guess some kid made a horrible rendition of the album cover and it flooded the interwebs.  The actual album cover looks amazing, here is a shitty pixelated version:

Drake – “Thank Me Later” Review

Drake is one of the most hyped artists in hip hop history.  It’s a bold statement, but it’s true.  The kid is in his early 20′s and started winning grammy’s before his debut album even came out, as well as having collaborations with the genre’s top names (Jay-Z, Eminem, Lil’ Wayne, etc).  I’ve been excited about this album for a while now, and I finally got to give it a good listen and review.  Here we go:

Have you ever wondered what something would sound like if you mixed the Kid Cudi album with the Kanye West 808‘s album? Cause this is pretty much it, with hints of Lil’ Wayne.  The majority of the beats are comparable to Kid Cudi, while most others will remind you of 808′s & Heartbreaks.  The song “Find Your Love” is nearly dead-on with Kanye’s “Paranoid.”  It honestly sounds like he used the same sample library.  For someone so hyped and anticipated, things like this don’t necessarily come as a knock-off, but more of a frustrating disappointment.  A lot of this album seems unfinished, like Drake wanted to lay down a bunch of great ideas but never finished the songwriting aspect of them.  Many of the choruses seem rushed and contrived, and though I understand the direction he pushes for, the melodies come off bland and uninspiring.  Along with that, Drake seems to rap the same way in each song.  I imagine someone could take the a-cappella tracks and mix-match them with any beat on the album.

There are, however, some great moments on this album.  Said moments come in the form of lyrics, though too few and far between.  When Drake talks about anything other than the usual hype of “I’m so awesome, I have money, look at me,” he talks directly about individual women.  Lyrically, it sounds like a teenager writing poetry in his English class, though an extremely talented one at that.  Every so often you’ll hear something so clever you’ll have a nice chuckle, like when Drake describes a girl as being “fine like a ticket on the dash.”  Other impressive moments will come from the featured artists; Young Jeezy kills it in “Unforgettable,” Lil’ Wayne does a good job with “Miss Me,” and T.I. and Swizz Beats team up on “Fancy” to make it a highlight of the album.  Alicia Keys makes an unimpressive appearance on the opening track, and Jay-Z gives yet another mediocre and forgettable verse in “Light Up.”  The best track on the album is the single, “Over,” and its frustrating realizing that there are only a few other tracks on the album that are as good.

When listening to the album in its entirety, you grow tired of the lyrical themes, but you leave the album somewhat satisfied.  But even with that satisfied feeling, taking into account all the hype and push, the album overall is a bit of a disappointment.  It’s exciting to listen to at first because of the hype, but you quickly realize just what it is – hype.  I give this album a 3 out of 5.  It’s enjoyable, but not nearly as enjoyable as it was supposed to be.

Kanye West – “Power” Single Review

LISTEN TO THE SINGLE HERE

Kanye’s new single is, whether you hate him or love him, pretty damn good.  ”Power” is his return to rap, his reminder to people who hated on the 808‘s album that this is the reason media outlets refer to him as an “icon.”  The single takes what was good on his previous album (the tribe-influenced rhythms and percussions) and  blends it underneath the rhyming that made him famous.  The lyrics are filled with how critics tried to tear him apart, how the cast of SNL can kiss his ass, and how he needed time to gather his thoughts, take a deep breathe, and continue with his art.

My opinion? I think the song is good, I’ve always been a fan of Kanye and I can guarantee you I will own a copy of the new album and review it, but there are certain things he needs to let go of.  For one, ever since the 808′s album, he’s done guest spots on numerous records and complained nearly each time about the paparazzi and how he wishes he could live a normal life.  Then he comes in with this single talking shit to the SNL cast because they ripped on him a couple times.  If you’re going to get pissed at someone who made fun of you, you might as well talk about EVERYONE ELSE who did the same.  Is he going to ignore the South Park episode? From what I recall he went on his blog the day after the episode aired talking about how funny he thought it was.  You can’t just pick and choose the jokes you like, Kanye.  If you don’t like a joke, don’t rap about it.  It’s comedy.  Whether someone sucks at it or not, if you go after one you might as well go after them all.  I don’t even know which joke in particular he refers to, but unless is was completely below the belt (which SNL isn’t necessarily known for), then rhyme in a different direction.

Outside of that, the song is pretty good.  You’ll definitely dig it if you’re a Kanye Fan.  If you already jumped on the “Fuck Kanye” bandwagon, then the song isn’t for you.  I give it four out of five stars.  I’m excited about the rest of the album.