While Revival isn’t the defibrillator that Eminem needed to revive his dominance, the album has enough highlights to maintain decent replay value and enough lyrical miracles to keep mindful rap from totally flat lining. His pen game hasn't lost even half of a step, and he still possesses the neurotic edge that's always made him such a driving force in hip-hop.
This is an album that could certainly have done with some editing – it feels about four or five tracks too long at a total of 19. But it's one whose high points do more than justify their existence.
When Revival's confessionals work, it's proof that, when the real Marshal Mathers stands up, he can still pull us into his evocative dramas.
In some ways, Revival almost feels like Recovery 2.0. While not focused entirely on sobriety, Revival is equally emotional and reflective, with touches of darkness stemming from Em’s continued feelings of guilt and self-recrimination.
Now that it's here ... we can say that the real Slim Shady does show up and prove himself on a handful of Revival's songs, but many of the more 'noteworthy' moments are buried under a mountain of contradictions and cringe-worthy attempts at shock value.
Listening to Eminem challenge himself on a sheer technical level -- and the absence of any major guest rappers suggests he thinks he's in a class of his own -- can still be a wonder but the overall effect of Revival can be a bit grim, and that can't be chalked up to the dark currents sweeping through America in 2017.
Revival is ultimately plagued by the same pitfalls as Infinite, which found him shadowboxing against ghosts, unable to land any punches. This time he’s competing with a version of himself that no longer exists. And though it’s easy to empathize with his creeping self-doubt, it’s tougher to swallow in the context of an album that ultimately proves that those doubts are correct.
Production-wise, Revival is a trainwreck.
Perhaps the biggest problem with Revival – as with many latterday Eminem records – is the struggle of an intelligent fortysomething artist to evolve while somehow remaining true to the demands of his sniggery core audience of alienated males, one he knows he shares with Trump. Listening to Eminem trying to square this circle, it’s just one face palm after another.
Revival isn’t even interesting enough to warrant all of the critical beatdowns it’s taken in its short time in the world. Instead, it’s boring and predictable, which are greater threats to the Eminem legacy than anything else.
His good intentions just make how genuinely excruciating this record is all the more sad. Slim Shady may have spent the last decade and change putting out bad records, but Revival stands as the first truly terrible entry into his already sagging discography.
Revival is the most pleasureless record he’s ever made, so stymied by his worst tendencies that like many other inept apologies from 2017 it only points out how much further he has to go rather than how far he’s come.
does eminem not listen to music? he seems to have forgotten what a song is supposed to sound like
castle is sisyphus, pushing the rest of this album up the hill. 1 hour and 17 minutes of this is better spent clipping your eyebrows off with the sword of a 1000 year old mongol warrior
Marshall’s flow sucks on every track.
Marshall is drowned out in every track.
ALL of Marshall’s deliveries are hella annoying on every track.
^These are severe understatements.^
Sheeran was a godsend.
Not something I get to say often.
You could do something with some of the ideas which are presented on this album but that doesn't save the songs from being an absolute errand to listen to.
L
If Arose didn't exist this would be much, much lower. His face is how I feel about the album.
Average Score: 26/100
Overall Score: 24/100
Favorites: River, Arose
Least Favorites: many but specifically Bad Husband and Heat
1 | Walk On Water 5:03 feat. Beyoncé | 57 |
2 | Believe 5:15 | 32 |
3 | Chloraseptic 5:01 feat. PHresher | 26 |
4 | Untouchable 6:10 | 21 |
5 | River 3:41 feat. Ed Sheeran | 36 |
6 | Remind Me (Intro) 0:26 | 18 |
7 | Remind Me 3:45 | 15 |
8 | Revival (Interlude) 0:51 feat. Alice and the Glass Lake | 33 |
9 | Like Home 4:05 feat. Alicia Keys | 26 |
10 | Bad Husband 4:47 feat. X Ambassadors | 22 |
11 | Tragic Endings 4:12 feat. Skylar Grey | 27 |
12 | Framed 4:13 | 48 |
13 | Nowhere Fast 4:24 feat. Kehlani | 27 |
14 | Heat 4:10 | 12 |
15 | Offended 5:20 | 35 |
16 | Need Me 4:25 feat. P!nk | 23 |
17 | In Your Head 3:02 | 34 |
18 | Castle 4:14 | 72 |
19 | Arose 4:34 | 65 |