I wanted to review Recovery the minute it I heard it in June, but I wanted to let the album sink in a little bit before I took my time in reviewing Recovery. I have been an Eminem fan since he came out with the Slim Shady LP. I believe that before listening to Recovery, he had 3 classic albums under his name. Which would be: Slim Shady LP, Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show. Encore was just a disappointment, and Relapse was just not the type of comeback I was hoping he would have. No matter how I felt about Relapse, I was still looking forward to his next album alot. Which was supposed to be Relapse 2, but turned in to Recovery. After listening to Recovery, the conclusion I came up with was that I think it is his best album to date. After a the whole summer of listening to the album, my mindset hasn't changed one bit. Here's my track by track analysis:
1. Cold Wind Blows
Great way to start out Recovery, I think this is the best opener he's ever had for an album. It's right up there with White America as the best track he's done to start an album. Love the beat that Just Blaze was able to bring out, and Eminem just flowed perfect with it.
9/10
2. Talkin 2 Myself
This was actually the first song I heard when Recovery first leaked. Originally, I wanted to hear the album from start to finish when it came out. But, I couldn't find Cold Wind Blows so I just heard this song first. I loved this song from the moment I heard it. As much as I love Not Afraid, I still think this would have been a better lead single for the album. It pretty much explained what was going through his mind when he was addicted to drugs, and in the last verse promising the fans he's back. Loved the beat and Eminem's lyrics and flow went great with it.
10/10
3. On Fire
This song kind of threw me off when I first heard it. Based on the title, I thought it would be a song in which he would use the fast flow he had been using on features of other people's songs. This song has a good beat to it, but I wish he would have used a faster flow on this song.
7/10
4. Won't Back Down
When I first heard he was doing a song with Pink, I didn't know what to expect. Based on the title, I thought it would be a motivational type song similar to Not Afraid. I was surprised to find out I was wrong, but I really liked the song when I first heard it. This is the flow that I wanted to hear on the song before. I still think this should have been the 2nd single instead of LTWYL. This song to me sounds like it was just meant to blow up on the radio.
8/10
5. W.T.P.
At first, I thought this was the weakest song in Recovery. It took awhile for this song to grow on me. Now, I have come to like this song for what it is. I wouldn't be surprised to see this song be a future single for Recovery. Just like WBD, this song sounds like it was meant to blow up on the radio
7/10
6. Going Through Changes
This is in my top 5 favorite songs on Recovery, and definitely one of my favorite songs of all time. Everything about this song was great: the beat, lyrics, flow, etc. I also love the fact that it's the only song in Recovery that has 4 verses. It makes it feel like it was just a special song. I hope that this song becomes a future single, with a music video to go with it. I think if Eminem were to make a video for this song, it would take the song to another level. With him showing how exactly he was like when he was all drugged out. and then at the end, rising above adversity and overcoming the challenges that were thrown his way.
10/10
7. Not Afraid
When I first heard this song, my thought was that it completely destroyed anything that was on Relapse and Encore. The last thing I wanted to hear was a joke type of first single. I wanted to hear something meaningful and worthwhile. and Eminem didn't disappoint with Not Afraid. There's only one negative thing I could say about this song, which is that the beat sucked. I wish someone other than Boi-1da would have produced this song. I would have liked to see what Kanye would have done with a song like that. I would have liked to see Eminem rap over a Jesus Walks type beat. That would have been epic.
9/10
8. Seduction
After Boi-1da disappointed me with Not Afraid, he redeems himself with Seduction. This time he comes up with a good beat, to back up Eminem. But, I gotta admit that at first I didn't like this song. It took multiple listens for me to like this song. Eminem's flow goes great with the beat that Boi-1da provides.
8/10
9. No Love
This is a song that I loved the moment I heard it. I'm willing to admit that I don't like Lil Wayne whatsoever. But, he tends to sound decent when he's in a song with Eminem. The only thing that would have made this song perfect is if it didn't have Lil Wayne in it. Once again, I loved the beat that Just Blaze brought to the table. The way Eminem flowed with the beat, I wish he would have had 2 or 3 verses.
9/10
10. Space Bound
This is one of my favorite songs on Recovery. This song completely caught me off guard, didn't expect a love song based on the title. If I didn't know that Jim Jonsin produced this song before hand, I wouldn't of known he produced this song. It doesn't sound like a beat that Jim Jonsin would do. It has a great beat, followed by great lyrics and great flow to go along with it. I see this becoming a future single, with a music video going along with it. I think it would have a great video to take the song to another level.
10/10
11. Cinderella Man
This song immediately reminds me of Till I Collapse, which is one of my favorite songs on The Eminem Show. Script Shepherd came up with a great beat for Eminem to rap on. This is a song that would hype you up big time for a big event. Eminem has a great flow that goes along with the beat pefect. Definitely one of my favorite songs on Recovery.
10/10
12. 25 To Life
4 great songs in a row, loved this song from the moment I heard it. My favorite song on Recovery is a tie between this song and Going Through Changes. The first time I heard this song, I thought for sure he was talking about Kim the whole time until the ending. It caught me off guard so much that I loved it. DJ Khalil came up with a great beat for the song, Eminem's flow goes perfect with the beat.
10/10
13. So Bad
I was surprised to find out that this was the only Dr. Dre produced song on Recovery. I was hoping to hear more songs produced by Dre. Even though I've been wanting to see Eminem and Dre do more serious work together. It seems like Eminem can only fool around when Dre produces a song. Relapse was an album full of Dre production, and not 1 serious song together. Despite everything I just said, I actually liked So Bad. The song is really catchy and could picture it as a future single.
8/10
14. Almost Famous
I love this song just for the fact that it sounds like it could have gone great in the Marshall Mathers LP, which is arguably his best album. This is another song that's one of my favorite on Recovery. DJ Khalil produces his 4th great beat on Recovery, he steals the show when it comes to production on Recovery. Love the beat, and Eminem's lyrics and flow goes perfect with it.
10/10
15. Love The Way You Lie
No matter how much this song has been played out, I still love it. This song is similar to me like Space Bound. I never thought that Eminem would ever do songs like this. But, unlike other people that I've read on this forum. I don't see it as Eminem selling out from the way he used to be. After listening to Relapse the year before, I wanted to hear a completely different album. He tried to resurrect with his old style on that albun, and I didn't like it much. I think LTWYL ranks up there with Eminem's best songs, it shows how much he has matured from the past.
10/10
16. You're Never Over
Eminem finally makes a tribute for Proof. I also think it was a fitting tribute, even though some people around here expected something deeper for a tribute. I loved the way it turned out, Just Blaze comes up with another great beat. I would like to see him and Eminem work on more songs together in the future. I've said this alot in this review, but this is one of my favorite songs on Recovery.
10/10
17. Untitled
All I have to say about this song is that it sounds like the old slim shady, which is always a good thing.
9/10
To finish off this review, I would like to say that I feel like Recovery is Eminem's most complete album to date.