Recovery

'Eminem's return to prominence in 2009 was supposed to come in two parts: Relapse in the early summer of 2009, and Relapse 2 later that year. As what often happens when rappers announce conceptual multi-album projects, Relapse 2 was initially delayed before it was finally trashed. Eminem's follow-up became Recovery instead. When asked about the name change, Eminem said, "I had originally planned for Relapse 2 to come out last year. But as I kept recording and working with new producers, the idea of a sequel to Relapse started to make less and less sense to me, and I wanted to make a completely new album. The music on Recovery came out very different from Relapse, and I think it deserves its own title." Given the fact that "recovery" is the opposite of "relapse," can we expect to hear a forward-looking, optimistic Em on his seventh studio album? To answer that question, listen to the previous six albums. When the urge to burn down your apartment subsides, you will have the answer. Recovery features production by Just Blaze, DJ Khalil, Jim Jonsin, Boi-1da, and the Alchemist.' - Matthew Richardson / Prefixmag.com