audio review : Love The Way You Lie ( song ) … Eminem ( featuring Rihanna )

What’s bad is that Eminem, who has the potential to be one of the edgiest rappers in the world, is down to making generic love songs. What’s worse is that he’s decided to recruit the singing voice of Rihanna; one of pop music’s most annoying.

This is a song about a romantic relationship gone wrong; “wrong” in the sense that everything isn’t all right like it was when the guy and the girl first met. They’re fighting now, verbally and physically, only to kiss, make-up and fight again the next day.

It’s a love-hate situation with masochistic undertones; something celebrity gossip suggests both Eminem and Rihanna are familiar with. And I’d bet it happens more often than most couples would be willing to admit. But who cares. This song is boring.

Eminem’s forced delivery is bland and tiresome, especially when he’s playing the role of a pussy-whipped boyfriend involved in a domestic quarrel I couldn’t give a fuck less about. The music; maudlin rock-hop produced by Alex Da Kid; does little to help.

my rating : 2 of 5

2010

audio review : Recovery ( album ) ... Eminem

audio review : Stay Wide Awake ( song ) … Eminem

This is a journey into the mind of Eminem; not the person or the rapper in general but the dark side of his “forest”. There lives an alter ego of sorts; a deviant who enjoys raping, torturing and killing people; mostly young girls, it seems.

In a sense, he’s a real-life Freddy Krueger, but he raps a lot better. The rhyme schemes displayed here are staggering in their complexity. The music is dreamy and entrancing. It’s hard not to fall victim to the song’s seductive lure.

my review : 4 of 5

2009

album review : Relapse ( album ) ... Eminem