Relapse (2009)

Its been a while since I posted anything and my net connection being a pain and I have been trying to get around my books for a change. Actually getting myself to write this thing is thanks to the LiveWriter thing which is pretty neat.

Eminem’s new album was released a couple of months back.

There was a time when I used to love the Eminem songs where he used to go around insulting every other artiste I had heard of. Starting with his first big-fat-hit the Slim Shady LP. I remember hearing it blaring out of every Omani college student’s car at one point of time.

OK. He has been missing from the industry for 4 years and not many industry-folk liked the fact that one of their most marketable artistes were going on holiday. All the same, he (like all other rich people in showbiz) had drug issues. This album is something of a post-rehab achievement if you will.

The theme of a rap album is always based on the lyrics and topics. This album is based on madness and insanity. There is a fair bit of violence – but every Eminem album had that. What is missing? Humour.

I guess rap music has the ability to bring out the mindset of a person better than any other type of music. In Relapse its obvious that lousiness was the undertone. There are countless rhymes made with Vicidin (a pain-killer) and a host of other drugs. There is also an overdose of high-level chemistry and biology as well which I couldn’t really connect to, or laugh at.

The best track, IMO, is Stay Wide Awake. Though the themes are pretty much the same recurring ones, the vocalization is more effective. Yeah, that is whats actually missing. Most songs fall flat in a sense. He hasn’t put in the energy he did in older albums. Where is the screaming? Where is the emotion?