“River” (with Sheeran), “Tragic Endings” (with Skylar Grey) and “Need Me” (with Pink) are self-lacerating narratives about powder-keg relationships, each seeming like an attempt to recreate the lighters-up majesty of Number One hits like 2010’s “Love the Way You Lie” and 2013’s “The Monster.” On the Cranberries-sampling “In Your Head,” he says sorry to his daughter for forcing her grow on record with the fucked-up character of Slim Shady. But a certain indulgent messiness has always been part of the Eminem experience.
However, at 77 minutes, Revival is a heavy listen, going deep on ballads with guests like Ed Sheeran and X Ambassadors. “While he looks like a canary with a beak/Why you think banned transgenders from the military with a Tweet?” “Untouchable” even goes beyond vitriol to offer ideas: hire more black cops, the crap stops.”
Here, he follows his insane anti-Trump freestyle from the BET Awards with the huge piano-ballad screed “Like Home,” hooked around a soaring vocal from Alicia Keys: “All he does is watch Fox News like a parrot and repeat,” Em raps. It’s a mini-series working like the raw docu-drama of open-hearted goosebumpers like 2004’s “Mockingbird,” proving that, when he lets you peek inside, Eminem still carries emotional heft.Įminem’s solipsism also gets interrupted by world events. He raps from the hospital bed where he was shuttled after a 2007 methadone overdose and apologizes for all the things he won’t get to see her do. The LP’s last two tracks, “Castle” and “Arose,” form a powerful suite that moves from his days as a struggling dad penning letters to his unborn daughter to the pill-hazed superstar screaming about her loss of privacy. That confessional power also comes out as he revisits another favorite theme: his failings as a dad.
Eminem details his own missteps and self-doubt over a mostly beatless track as the sounds of crumbling paper and errant swears underscore his lack of confidence. Album-opener “Walk On Water,” featuring vocals from Beyoncé, wonders if that legacy can still be built upon. The title of his ninth LP implies a nostalgic return, and its most electric moments do look back, suggesting a confused and conciliatory man taking stock of his own legacy – the kind of honesty that’s always made him one of hip-hop’s most compelling memoirists.
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