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CD Review: Eminem, 'Relapse'

Posted 2009-05-26 14:01:47 by Spencer Sutherland

Eminem

'Relapse'

For fans of: Dr. Dre, 50 Cent

Mr. Slim Shady has been missing in action for five years, supposedly holed up in hermit-like solitude in his Detroit mansion. So it's no surprise that the album sounds dated -- the strange thing is that he doesn't pick up where he left off, but where he began. For better or for worse.

The topics are painfully familiar -- hating his mom and ex-wife, fighting with drugs and loving his daughter. Even the celebrity jabs are the same. It was funny to tease Britney Spears in 2000, but to be telling the same joke 2009 is painfully sad. Fortunately, the jokes aren't the only thing that's carried over from the turn of the century.

Dr. Dre is back producing and offering up the same dark beats that have complemented Shady's evil ways for a decade. Neither Dre nor Eminem give any credence to the fads of the day -- no Auto-Tune, Lil Wayne, or Kayne -- in fact, the only guests on the album are Dre himself and a few bars of Em's protégé 50 Cent. It's just an hour of Eminem exorcizing his demons and spitting rhymes better than anyone in the game.

Even though it's the same old story, it's still a great read.

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Comments

BIG PRADA G says:

Go jump on lil waynes dick then u faggot... he is what he is hate be happy it or love it ... what would u be happ him featuring on every remix talkan about swag and shit .... stfu man get out here ....

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tg game says:

i aggree with big prada to many rappers use feats and auto tune to help out crap albums wayne and canye is overrated anyay

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Shwaze says:

SPENCER SUTHERLAND, hm.... Where to begin? I'll start with you: mad props on the marketing with google very hard to be the first result, but it makes me sick that your entire review is CRAP! now the fun part. eminem presents: The RE-UP was released Dec. 5, 2006. you know nothing about hip hop, you dont even know how to listen. he re-married kim with out a prenup and had to go to war in court to keep her away from his money (listen closer, pay attention). his mom ruined his childhood, its hard to believe but what he says does happen to people, there has to be some validity there, brittney lost what she had, wanted sympathy got fat quit careing about life and look her plan worked she made the whole world feel bad for her(including you), and that is absolutly hillarious . there is a little thing called loyalty, its why game left g-unit. lil wayne kanye will never stand next to em and dre EVER the history is way too deep em wouldnt even call wayne back when he asked for a feature i beleive em said "FUCK WAYNE". just wait dre's album will destroy any and all. same old story hu? listen closer next time, you may try takin wayne and kanye's nutz out ur mouth and learn how to write a review

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coburn says:

Its great to read a shitty review and the comments are all ten time better than the review. this guy is an idiot. where his credability?

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nick says:

em is the only rapper dat dusnt talk bwt stupid shit lyk cars,cribs,cash cloths n hoes so if dats wot u lyk go fuk urslf n listn 2 evri oda simpl rapper out der,if u want real lyrics n songs wt substance listn 2 em

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kid piff says:

Its pretty obvious that this Spencer Sutherland didnt listen through the album the whole way through. Not ONCE did he mention Kim in his album, nor does he go on about loving his daughter Hallie. There are a lot more "skeletons under his faucet" that he reveals in this album including dark rape tales of his stepfather and his mother putting valium in his food. None of this was EVER mentioned before, but Spencer still describes it as "painfully familiar".
I've been a hardcore eminem fan ever since "my name is" came out when i was 9. I have EVERY SINGLE THING he's done from hellbound to Encore, So my take on this is if you liked eminem in his old freestyles, "hellbound", all up to "kill you" from the marshall mathers album, this is the album you've been waiting for! Listen to it the WHOLE way through and you will see that this is the
BEST EMINEM ALBUM YET!

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Sonny says:

Hey previous poster morons... try reading the review again. Why would he give it 3.5 stars out of 4 if he hated the album? He's saying that Em stuck with what he does best and didn't go with what's trendy (Kanye, Lil Wayne)it's a COMPLIMENT. He says Em's still spitting rhymes better than anyone in the game which is true. also a compliment.

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Spencer Sutherland says:

Dear Disgruntled Eminem Fans,

Last time I checked, 3.5 out of 4 stars was a good review.

Generally)great rhymes, great production, and a lot of lame, tired jokes. What did I miss?

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Dan Thatcher says:

I agree with all of the mean and nasty things that have been said about you Spencer. I hate Eminem, but I think I might hate you worse!

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GOB says:

Spencer Sutherland is a piece of shit reviewer. I think you only gave the album 3.5 stars to cover your own ass. Your true opinion of the album is in your crappy review.

Fuck you!

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Shady d says:

Lol on all the comments! The review was the definition of bull shit on a run. Eminem is what hip hop is was and still suppose to be. Yet the lyrics was dark and unfamilar territory has been mentioned he gave it his all by staying wide awake. He still got it and will continue to at his best. Btw we need a new reviewer if your going to shit on eminem do it like the source and give him a couple of mics....that started it off his favor. All the comments made are true!

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Ben Johnson from www.DMDstudent.com says:

Spencer, apparently all 15 fans of Eminem disagree with your review!!!

LOL.

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kidcalloway says:

lol, shwaze said everything that i was about to say after reading your bullshit review! but ive listened to the cd about 5 times through now and i dont recall any song even mentioning kim at all! basically your review sucks! and ben johnson, i cant belive you have any fu**** brains in your head and call yourself a student cause eminem sold over 600,000 records in ONE week on this relapes album! so dont comment on sh** you dont know about! the album is super nice yall! read a real review from xxl, the source, or rolling stone!

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Riven says:

I have to agree here. I am not a avid em fan like alot of these people here. Hell I havent bought a em CD since his one with bonny and klyde. I saw this in the stores and decided to buy it cause my car radio was shit.

I have to say that this is probably one of the best Cd's I have bought in many years and I have bought alot. Good songs, good lyrics and great beats. I give it a 4 out of 4 for sure and will listen to it many times.

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Duderton says:

Yeah. I like vanilla ice 2. Don be hatin. I type 1337 cuz I'm too legit 2 quit. Hold on while I drop 50 mad f bombs

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LOL says:

Hey Big Prada - your an EPIC DOUCHEBAG. You and "EPIC FAIL EMINEM" both deserves Brunos nuts in your face LOL

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