Recovery
by Eminem
User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 1313 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,099 out of 1313
  2. Mixed: 113 out of 1313
  3. Negative: 101 out of 1313

Review this album

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. hiphop97
    May 27, 2013
    5
    This album is ok. His lyricism is great but his flow is not as good as it used to be and the production is poor but this album will appeal to the mainstream audience.
  2. djdenzel777
    Jul 1, 2017
    5
    A few standout tracks but an overall mediocre album. Definitely one of Eminem's most radio friendly albums and much of the music on this album sounds forced.
  3. MikeL
    Jun 22, 2010
    5
    This is a pretty mediocre album. Em's lyrics are definitely there, but the production is pretty bad, and his singing voice gets annoying after a while. I'd say it's still better than relapse, but it does not even compare to the eminem show or the marshall mathers LP.
  4. IvanB.
    Jun 22, 2010
    4
    Disappointing really... It seems he's so eager to prove he's a bad ass he just rages across the whole album. The thing about rage is that it gets old after a while. If you listen to his earlier albums he's got a good combination of comedy, light hearted songs, just plain silly songs, and then the serious raging songs... it's what makes them great, you get to experience Disappointing really... It seems he's so eager to prove he's a bad ass he just rages across the whole album. The thing about rage is that it gets old after a while. If you listen to his earlier albums he's got a good combination of comedy, light hearted songs, just plain silly songs, and then the serious raging songs... it's what makes them great, you get to experience different beats and dynamics... this album is all serious and rage with some below average love songs sprinkled in it. You get tired of listening to Eminem scream and growl his way through the album... after a while you just dont feel it... feels empty and almost like he's just gliding through the convoluted beats. Some of the tracks you have to listen really hard to understand what he's saying because the beat is overwhelming his voice, that is not EM's style... the em we all know and love thrives on simple beats, perfect enunciation, and clear rapping.… Expand
  5. marsb4
    Aug 31, 2010
    4
    This is Just not a good album really yes if he's not screaming he's cussing I've heard worse though his verses are good but it seems his beats are repetitive and he tries to hard to tell make himself seem as innocent we all want to hear your story but tell it raw but with less screaming and cussing and less pop and rap and more REAL
  6. EPIXMAN15
    Dec 25, 2011
    4
    I haven't been such a big fan of Eminem or Rap in general for a long time know but when I heard this, I honestly lost a lot of respect for him, jesus this is awful this is going to spawn a fan base that obviously isn't familiar with his earlier and much better work that was very much a fan of but all that is now lost in this latest album.
  7. ScottD
    Jun 28, 2010
    5
    I feel like a lot of people giving this album a 10 must have been listening to something else. When I listened to it the first time I literally found one song I liked. On a second and third listen I found a few additional songs to be pretty decent, but over all the CD felt uninspired, drab, and incredibly boring. I listen to Eminem for his fast beats, hard hitting rhymes, and inspired I feel like a lot of people giving this album a 10 must have been listening to something else. When I listened to it the first time I literally found one song I liked. On a second and third listen I found a few additional songs to be pretty decent, but over all the CD felt uninspired, drab, and incredibly boring. I listen to Eminem for his fast beats, hard hitting rhymes, and inspired music. This album featured basically none of that. I'm not sure ho heavy Dre was involved in the production, but the album felt completely without the soul his typical productions have. Maybe what makes Eminem so great is his ability to communicate with an enormous audience through his varying styles. Personally, I didn't really love Relapse, but Recovery was far worse than his last CD.… Expand
  8. KelK
    Jun 23, 2010
    6
    Best I've heard from Em in a while, but the overall sound is a been there done that. Still I would suggest a giving the record a listen.
  9. johnniedust
    Jul 21, 2011
    5
    I have no shame in saying that I liked Relapse better. Lyrically, Eminem has improved since Relapse, but in numerous other aspects, Recovery is a downgrade. The production values are weaker this time around, as Dr. Dre only produced one song (So Bad), so the strong bass and percussion are missing. The songs are mostly cliche soft rock beats, with annoying synthesized percussion,I have no shame in saying that I liked Relapse better. Lyrically, Eminem has improved since Relapse, but in numerous other aspects, Recovery is a downgrade. The production values are weaker this time around, as Dr. Dre only produced one song (So Bad), so the strong bass and percussion are missing. The songs are mostly cliche soft rock beats, with annoying synthesized percussion, produced by DJ's. The album overall sounds monochromatic and uniform. From beginning to finish, it is a noise album where Eminem screams in a monotone from track 1 to track 17. Despite a new theme of self-awakening, the album still has some very profane tracks (which did not generate any controversy from the media which largely ignored this), which is good that he was not being self-righteous or pretentious. But this serious side of him does seem phony, as he essentially acts as if he is too strong to laugh or smile. While Eminem, thankfully, finally decided to let go of the fart jokes, the album is still laden with outdated pop culture references and silly metaphors. Half of the tracks on the album are not really about anything in particular, but rather just random freestyles. While Eminem is on the right track lyrically, and in terms of delivery, he is in a dilemma where he is simply running out of things to talk about. But most importantly, the fans are happy. From a critical standpoint, this album is a setback, but if you like the new Eminem, go and buy his CD.… Expand
  10. NJR
    Nov 3, 2010
    6
    To put it simply, a major disappointment, all of Em's "Mainstream fans" will love this one because he uses his proper voice, but as far as Hip-Hop goes, the album is weak, the production is pretty awful, Em's delivery gets seriously boring, his tone does not change at all in the album and lyrically the album is very predictable and corny. The reason I give the album a 6 is simply becauseTo put it simply, a major disappointment, all of Em's "Mainstream fans" will love this one because he uses his proper voice, but as far as Hip-Hop goes, the album is weak, the production is pretty awful, Em's delivery gets seriously boring, his tone does not change at all in the album and lyrically the album is very predictable and corny. The reason I give the album a 6 is simply because of his flow, which has never let him down, but honestly these last 8 years have just been disappointment after disappointment for us real Shady fans, I just hope to god that someday he can return to the form he showed from 99 to 02.… Expand
  11. spadenx
    Jan 13, 2012
    6
    A lot better then Relapse but I did not like how Eminem sold out on this album (Lil Wayne, Rihanna, and Pink...come on). Also it only had a few good songs, The rest was trash.
  12. scfcjh
    Jun 30, 2012
    6
    Recovery is much an improvement on the previous album Relapse, and possibly should have been his comeback album. Saying that, it does not contain the great simple beats of Dr Dre that the old albums do and lyrically is not as offensive as his older material and when it is it seems like he has tried too hard to do so. Overall, it is not a great album, but minus a few blips such as SeductionRecovery is much an improvement on the previous album Relapse, and possibly should have been his comeback album. Saying that, it does not contain the great simple beats of Dr Dre that the old albums do and lyrically is not as offensive as his older material and when it is it seems like he has tried too hard to do so. Overall, it is not a great album, but minus a few blips such as Seduction and Almost Famous, it is a good album.… Expand
  13. sil3nt_nick
    Mar 24, 2013
    6
    Some songs like "Love the Way You Lie" and "Not Afraid" were fantastic, but a lot of the other tracks weren't very impressing. I would have liked that Eminem would not have used all of those background vocals in his songs because he clearly has enough talent to go without them except when he is singing instead of rapping.
  14. coco16
    Jun 21, 2013
    6
    Eminem's 6th studio album Recovery is what I like to call a breath of fresh air due to his previous lack luster album. This album has its flaws yes, the production is not always on point and is very plain at some points in the album but due to this being a experimental album for the Detroit MC I cut him some slack for it. Eminem almost reinvents himself with this album, coming out beingEminem's 6th studio album Recovery is what I like to call a breath of fresh air due to his previous lack luster album. This album has its flaws yes, the production is not always on point and is very plain at some points in the album but due to this being a experimental album for the Detroit MC I cut him some slack for it. Eminem almost reinvents himself with this album, coming out being brutally honest on subjects such as his past drug addiction, along with his difficulties with women. What you usually hear with most Eminem projects, you won't hear with this one. You won't hear a crazy, loud mouth bashing other celebrities and fellow rappers like he's known for, instead this album displays a more soft side of Eminem. While the album itself does have a bit more of a commercial/radio friendly sound, Eminem is able to pull off the sound, not greatly but good enough. His rapping doesn't sound forced like it did in his previous effort, it doesn't sound like he's trying to bunch up tons of words into one bar to rhyme a syllable, it's more natural. The weakest point of this album is Eminem's delivery and tone. His constant shouting throughout the album really hurts the project as a whole and while some of the beats on this project are heavy and loud, their is definitely something that could of been done to fix this. Same thing does for his delivery, while Em has had a fast pace delivery for most of his career, he's always known when to slow it down or when it was unnecessary, on this album, it's almost like he forgot. His double time flow is nothing impressive and for me to hear it every other track also takes away from the project. Overall this album isn't a terrible effort from Eminem, it certainly is a better effort than his previous two, it was an experimental project, working with new producers, artist ect. so I do keep that in mind and I advise anyone who listens to album to also as well.… Expand
  15. ihavevocaloid
    Apr 25, 2015
    6
    Recovery... I really don't know what to say about this. I think this was an extremely weak effort from a rapper that has so much technical ability and usually has the tendency to put out a great album. This whole album is about one topic, his recovery and regret for doing some bad things earlier in his life. It's great for him to be able to admit this, but really? A WHOLE ALBUM ABOUT IT?Recovery... I really don't know what to say about this. I think this was an extremely weak effort from a rapper that has so much technical ability and usually has the tendency to put out a great album. This whole album is about one topic, his recovery and regret for doing some bad things earlier in his life. It's great for him to be able to admit this, but really? A WHOLE ALBUM ABOUT IT? Why Eminem??? There are very few songs on here that don't talk about that, and guess what? Those are my favorite songs here. Okay, time to get away from the repetitive subject matter of Recovery, I normally liked the production. I liked Just Blaze's contribution to the album - Just Blaze can always make a good beat, and without him this album would have been a problem sonically as well as lyrically. The only thing I can really be extremely favorable about with Recovery is his originality - even with this album, you can't compare him to any rapper out there. Grade: B-. Highlights: "No Love", "Cinderella Man", "Untitled". Worst songs: "Not Afraid", "Going Through Changes"… Expand
  16. BIGMAN22
    Jan 21, 2016
    5
    few songs fall short due to poor production. eminem shows he can still deliver hard hitting bars with aggression and good storytelling. the pop oriented ones i didnt like much due to eminems terrible attempt of singing the hooks. however some of the songs off here i did enjoy. may not add up to his past work. but still shows he hasnt lost it.
  17. fifi3
    Jul 28, 2019
    5
    Recovery holds some of the irredeemable traits that most 2010s Eminem projects are littered with, but the couple of classic songs have to drag up the rating (Not Afraid, Beautiful) to average. A pretty bad overall effort as a whole, but it's still not worth bashing for the few shining moments it possesses.
  18. CORNROWKENNY
    May 14, 2018
    4
    There are some serious hits, but the tracks don't blend well together, going from emotional pop song to overly silly comedy rap to seemingly serious battle rap tracks. The production is all over the place as well, and it's often way to poppy and over-produced.
    No matter what kind of track Eminem wants to write, they only work a few times. If they do though, they are quite touching, funny    There are some serious hits, but the tracks don't blend well together, going from emotional pop song to overly silly comedy rap to seemingly serious battle rap tracks. The production is all over the place as well, and it's often way to poppy and over-produced.
    No matter what kind of track Eminem wants to write, they only work a few times. If they do though, they are quite touching, funny or/and technically impressive.    … Expand
  19. ToiletBoy
    Dec 25, 2017
    5
    Corny. Just really really corny. In my opinion this is when em started REALLY losing touch with the true rap world. No Love is dope though.
  20. Codeling
    Aug 7, 2021
    6
    This album is a little overpraised but it's still pretty good.
    Best songs: Going through Changes
    Worst songs: -
  21. drepoo
    Feb 23, 2020
    4
    disappointing, too many pop sounds and singing. There's good songs in there like cold wind blows, no love. going through changes (the hook is whack) and maybe MAYBE not afraid, but these songs can't save the entire project
  22. ChiIIaoi
    Jul 19, 2023
    4
    Review só pra lembrar a nota que eu dei pro album:
    album ruinzinho, agora só escrever pra passar dos 75 caracteres.
  23. TuomasLouhisalo
    Jul 25, 2023
    4
    Recovery is Eminem's most commercial album and that holds him back from the style of music that he came to be respected by in the first place.

    Best track: No Love (feat. Lil Wayne)
    Worst track: Space Bound
    Best feature: Lil Wayne

Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Most Discussed Album of 2010
2
#2 Most Shared Album of 2010

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
63

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 28
  3. Negative: 4 out of 28
  1. Expert Witness (MSN Music)
    Jan 7, 2011
    91
    No matter how cleverly he's rhyming, which varies, he could use subject matter beyond married-to-the-game and his traditional obsessions. But with Shady in the shadows, rarely are these themes lifted by Em's long-recessive sense of play.
    Read full review
  2. Slant Magazine
    30
    Much of Recovery centers around such themes as romantic devotion and anxiety, but the resulting material rings unsurprisingly hollow.
    Read full review
  3. The Guardian
    60
    Sadly, a piecemeal approach to production (Dr Dre has just one credit) leaves the album lacking an abiding mood and drowning in fashionable soft-rock samples.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »