Recovery (Eminem Album) - Themes and Composition

Themes and Composition

The album was dedicated "2 anyone who's in a dark place tryin' 2 get out. Keep your head up... It does get better!" Eminem, in an interview with Billboard described that he was in "full-blown addiction" at the time of recording Encore, while he felt happy and "first got sober" during recording Relapse as he was no more an addict. However, he felt that while recording Relapse, he was not "paying attention to what the average listener might like or not like." Just Blaze, the first producer of the album stated that, " already knew what sort of mistakes he has made with the previous album and where he wanted to go from there." Thus, Recovery was more "emotionally driven" than Relapse, which was, as he explains, " rap records". The album's artwork featured two covers: One with Eminem walking down a country road and another with him sitting in a transparent living room in the middle of Detroit with the Renaissance Center in the background. The album's liner featured pictures of Eminem such as a picture of him praying and him posing without a shirt on.

The album opens with "Cold Wind Blows" in which Eminem sings regarding his "doomed love for his ex-wife" and on "settling scores with rival celebs". In "Talkin’ 2 Myself", he states the harm caused to his image with lyrics such as: "Encore’ I was on drugs, ‘Relapse’ I was flushing them out." "On Fire" shows "a murder-and-dismemberment fantasy" with gruesome rhymes and "Won't Back Down" which featured Pink was a heavy metal song. "W.T.P." ("White-Trash Party") sees his singing to go back to his early records with lighter and simple rhythmic frame, while "Going Through Changes" which features Black Sabbath's Changes, depicts Eminem's sorrow and shows himself being trapped due to fame. "Not Afraid" which is a mid-tempo song, focuses on a positive change from Eminem's past experiences, including an end to drug abuse, feuds and violence. Idolator commented that the song was based on the "dark days Eminem has lived through", and "he seems to be at peace with himself now." A writer for MuchMusic website noted that Eminem chose to use his Marshall Mathers ego for the song, rather than Slim Shady.

"No Love" features Lil Wayne as a hype man which is followed by Eminem's verses which according to Sam Wolfson of NME are "the best verses of his career." The meaning of "Space Bound" is not obvious or completely clear and according to Sasha Grey who is featured in its video, the meaning can be interpreted "in many ways". Jim Jonsin of MTV spoke about Eminem's two egos seen in the video and compared it to Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" video while Grey believed that the alternate Eminem who appears in the car is his subconscious. "Cinderella Man" with a "festive beat" had "the template of every album since Encore (2004)", with many minor keys and traces of post-grunge rock. "25 to Life" shows his discomfiture and depicts that the "selfish bitch" pulling him back "these days is rap itself." Despite the lyrics being tighter throughout the album, "So Bad" and "Almost Famous" views his other side of Slim Shady; his alter ego. The hip-hop ballad "Love The Way You Lie" describes a couple's refusal to separate despite having an abusive relationship. Rihanna sings the chorus again, backed by an electric guitar and a piano, while acoustic guitar, violin and pounding drums accompany Eminem's verses. The singing of Rihanna despite of being without vibrato, her voice "shows grief and regret". Towards the end he claims his influence, by "fevered rhymes" on "You’re Never Over".