Ranking All 9 Eminem Studio Albums From Worst To Best
5. Recovery
After finding his footing again with Relapse, Eminem's next, and seventh album proved his return to his exceptional form with numerous award wins and nominations.
Thematically much more serious, with a downplay on the Slim Shady persona, and reflecting on, most specifically, the previous two albums Encore and Relapse, Recovery concludes an intriguing character arc for Eminem, going from the full-blown addict he was during Encore, the recovered and re-discovering person he was whilst recording Relapse, and now, finally, the person he now has become, a rapper who has learnt from his mistakes, and wants to make the best quality music he can.
The singles stand out as exceptional additions to his plethora of hits, with "Not Afraid" providing a suitable anthem feel to the album and Eminem's rediscovery of who he is going to be moving forward with his career, which is in sheer contrast with the equally brilliant "Love The Way You Lie", an introspective song about domestic violence, the chorus of which is poignantly performed by Rihanna, and serves as a beautiful accompaniment of Eminem's savage and venomous verses.
Recovery, while not perfect, was an obvious return to Eminem's form of the past, despite the very much more mature feel to the album as a whole.