Album Review: Relapse

After the release of "Crack A Bottle" and "We Made You", the jury was out on whether the once most diabolical villain in entertainment had lost all inspiration for his work. Now having heard Eminem's entire "Relapse" Album, Slim Shady is back...kind of. While they questioning of Eminem's mental state comes back into play with a song in which he talks about a step-father sexually assaulting his son ("Insane") and another in which he states he will kill everyone ("3AM"), Eminem's lyrical content was back to his old self. The only thing holding back this album is a foreign-cartoon sounding voice that makes all of these songs sound like a joke.

There are a few highlights to this album such as "Insane", "3AM", however the best song on the album is "Underground" the last song on the album. The verses are vintage Em, and despite having an overly cluttered hook, it concludes the album and leaves hope for all of the Dr.Dre/Eminem believers, that there is still magic left for the duo and that second album releasing this year could actually be back to vintage Eminem.

1. "Dr. West" (skit) 3.5/5
2. "3 A.M." 4/5 - Along with the video this song is what brought back Slim Shady's craziness.
3. "My Mom" 4/5 - Still has a funny voice, but I can't help but love Em's hate for his mom.
4. "Insane" 4/5 - Step father sexually assaulting Eminem? In a normal voice? May be the best or second best song.
5. "Bagpipes From Baghdad" 3.5/5 - Solid lyrically but the voice kills him, kind of an annoying hook too.
6. "Hello" 4/5 - Aside from a subpar rhyme scheme in the first verse a solid song from Em.
7. "Tonya" (skit)
8. "Same Song & Dance" 3/5 - Another song with the cartoon voice, not awful but just kind of a boring song.
9. "We Made You" 2.5/5 - Not a fan of the Eminem comedy, it doesn't seem natural.
10. "Medicine Ball" 3/5 - Lyrics are sub-par and the hook sounds like a Weird Al song.
11. "Paul" (skit)
12. "Stay Wide Awake" 4/5 - A good vibe for Em in a slowed down beat by Dre.
13. "Old Time's Sake" (featuring Dr. Dre) 3.5/5 - It's tough to give a Dre/Eminem song this low of a rating, but Dre's rhyme patter is awful.
14. "Must Be the Ganja" 3.5/5 - The best of Eminem's goofy songs, who doen't need a song about America's drug.
15. "Mr. Mathers"(Skit)
16. "Déjà Vu" 3.75/5 - Another good slow Eminem vibe song.
17. "Beautiful" 4/5 - Eminem gets personal on a song that brings back passion to his music, hook is a little annoying though.
18. "Crack a Bottle" (featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent) 3/5 - Needs to drop the funny act.
19. "Steve Berman" (skit)
20. "Underground/ Ken Kaniff" 4.5/5 - Best song on the album, only thing setting it back is cluttered hook.

Rating: 3.75/5