As you may or may not know, I’m a huge Eminem fan. Yes, really. And yesterday, his new album Relapse dropped, and I’ve been listening to it very busily today at work while I was coding. The two songs that were released, We Made You and 3 a.m., showcased a style that had some undertones of his earlier works in terms of lyrical attacks, but didn’t have the original playfulness as we were used to. After listening to the whole album, I can say this- Eminem’s lyrical wit still hasn’t dropped, but his musical stylings have.

One of the strengths of the album (just as all Dre-produced albums) is that the beats are simple, while allowing the lyrics to do the heavy lifting. However, the album does feel much darker than previous work, with a type of zaniness that can only be described as circus-like. It’s all a game to Em, and he himself is part of the whole spectacle. In one skit with Steve Berman (his actual manager, I believe) , he laments that he had a ‘drug problem’ which is why he’s been out of commission for 4 years. Steve blasts him for coming up with the same excuses as everyone else “in this town,” and so forth. Rather good self-mocking skit. The whole album plays a bit out like this- him realizing that he’s absolutely part of the cog that created him, while also despising the machine in and of itself. For fans of all his previous albums, note that Ken Kaniff makes a comeback as well.

If there’s one problem I’d find it’s that there aren’t enough songs that pop out immediately as chart toppers, something that was the problem with Encore as well. Whereas The Eminem Show was wall-to-wall made for radio play, this one will probably take a little bit longer to gain some traction. There’s some harkening back to Infinite in tonality, and the parts that I felt didn’t catch on immediately have a more old-school rap flavor– mid 90s, not late 70s. Thankfully though Em skips out on the AutoTune T-Pain effect that’s been used so heavily by Kanye and lately, Jamie Foxx. He skips the fads and goes straight for the lyrics which may serve him well ultimately, but until some interesting videos are released, it may take a bit of getting used to. But hey- he’s not doing that badly- Relapse (Deluxe Version) is the #1 Album downloaded on iTunes, while hot on its heels is… Relapse again, the “non-deluxe version,” I suppose.

Check it out if you get a chance. Em being who he is, I’m sure each single he drops will get to the airwaves inevitably anyways.