Review: Eminem's Relapse

Eminem's back with another tale of his miserable life squeezed in between long runs of rape, misogyny, homophobia, hyper-violence, and more rape. This time around, even children are the victims of rapist fantasies. He both masturbates to and threatens Miley Cyrus with possible rape/murder on separate tracks ("3. A.M." and "Underground") . Somewhere in between all the raping, Marshall even takes the time to "dropkick" a pregnant woman and fish out her unborn child with a coat-hanger ("Medicine Ball"). Did I mention he somehow finds all of this funny?

One could argue that the album works on some level of phylic displeasure, but that doesn't seem to even be his goal. Eminem hates the world, namely women and gays, but more than anyone, he hates himself. And Mathers is hellbent on making listeners hate him just as much. I for one don't particularly care to give him the gratification.

On a technical level, Relapse is a mixed bag. "3. A.M." is probably one of the best tracks, with a haunting, multi-layered symphony of crunchy beats and ghostly cries. The song plays like a horror film and is an obvious standout. "My Mom" has a uniquely funky flow with a tone that's intermittently mischievous and serious. "Deja Vu" and "Beautiful" seem entirely out of place, both full of humanity and struggle, backed by strong arrangements and poignant lyrical flows. Then again, the overall homophobia seems even more out of place with a song ("Beautiful") that takes its title and cues from Christina Aguilera. The remaining tracks drift into redundancy. They're not terrible, but are hardly groundbreaking.

The sad truth: Eminem is getting old. He's sounding forced, contrived even. The absolutely repellent material on Relapse isn't so much shocking as it is off-putting. In this modern era of media, full of internet celebs, unrated DVDs, and a never-ending desire to push the limit, "artists" like Eminem begin to sound washed up. We're not in awe of your repugnancy, we're just sick of it. For example, who wants to listen to a roughly five minute narration of a father raping his son ("Insane")?

The harsh reality for Eminem is that despite strong album sales, in a way, no one's really listening anymore.