Eminem - Relapse

The time lapsed between The Marshall Mathers LP and Relapse just seems like a lifetime, doesn't it? And yet, Eminem, who spent nearly half the decade inactive and sequestered in his home, seems to have aged little. This is both good and bad. Good: his flow and way with words are completely unassailable. Verses here and there throughout Relapse are mind-blowing. Bad: The album feels a bit hermetically sealed and dated (he makes fun of Heath Ledger and Sarah Palin a year and half a year too late, respectively). There were some giggles upon his release, "He still does skits!" Yes, but not only is it laughable that he still do skits, they are continuations of the same skits that have appeared on all of his albums (ha-ha, his manager and lawyer still don't like him). What's worse is that on songs like "My Mom," and on the skit "Steve Berman," he recognizes that this is the same ol' shit before going on to do it anyway. Add this to the bloat that is a prerequisite for a superstar blockbuster rap album, and you have a bloated album that is 4 skits and 5 songs too long with some of the best bars of the year.