It has been a long four years waiting for Eminem to release another album. Just in time for the holiday season, Slim Shady presented an early Christmas gift for all his fans releasing his latest album, Revival, last Friday.

The tracks are not all traditional Eminem style; some say this album crossed over into pop and according to some reviews, not very appealing. I enjoyed the entire album and found the tracks to be very much Slim Shady style. Thankfully, his explicit lyrics and vulgarity are still there. It would not be an Eminem album without them.

Mom’s spaghetti

Keeping his Detroit roots near to his heart and music, Eminem promoted his new album by serving up spaghetti (in reminiscence of his ‘8 Mile’ lyrics of vomiting mom’s spaghetti in the song Lose Yourself) this past weekend at The Shelter in Detroit. Although not technically his mother’s spaghetti, the dining experience had Eminem fans out in full force to support his new album and his musical comeback.

Feeling the 80’s

Talk about a comeback; there are two tracks on Revival that caught me by surprise, the album’s seventh track “Remind Me” is rapped to the beat of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock and Roll” from 1982.

The second song that has not seen the light of day in almost four decades is the 1980 Bette Midler hit, “The Rose.” For all of you that are old enough to remember, you must check out Arose, the last track on Revival.

I applaud the unusual combination. However, I am certain when Bette Milder belted out “The Rose” all those years ago; she could not have envisioned the ballad ending up on a rap album.

Easy to lose yourself

If the spaghetti dinner did not bring back enough of old-school Eminem for you, rest assured, listen to the 80 minutes of Revival, and you will find plenty of sounds from back in the day when Eminem ruled.

Some of the tracks are collaborations with other artists such as Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Pink and Ed Sheeran. Although I enjoy these artists and listening to their music, I do not think these duets will reach the level of his Grammy-nominated duet with Rihanna, “Love the Way You Lie.”

More to come

Revival is rousing, and encouraging for many Eminem diehard fans and quite possibly infuriating to others.

Whether it be to rejoice in his lyrics and views or berate and censure his message, I am sure we are all waiting with baited breath for his next album.

In today’s atmosphere, I am hoping that Eminem’s next album comes swiftly. Speaking of swiftly, maybe a duo with Taylor Swift is on the horizon. She has jumped into the rap scene and taken on a much edger persona. No need for Tinder Eminem, Taylor is your match.
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