Eminem - Recovery

Eminem
Recovery
Shady/Aftermath

After having three seperate discussions about this record with three different people of the course of this past weekend, I figured that was a sign. On the eve of the release Slim Shady's new album, let's take a look back at what is likely his most misunderstood work.

Everyone has a goal. Everyone has a dream. Imagine if your dream came true. You won state. You're the CEO. You got that movie role. Whatever it is, it came true. Your on top of the world and the road to the bottom of the mountain is littered with the corpses of your competitors that couldn't make the impossible happen; unlike you.

You achieved everything but something is keeping you awake at night. Your baggage from your old life is still with you. Old habits remains. Old thinking remains. Old patterns remain. The pain of the past makes your achievements ring hollow...

Welcome to Marshall Mathers' life in 2010. His best friend gets murdered in Detroit, he can't stop doing drugs, and he released two consecutive bad records. It looks like everything is going to fall apart. He had to hit the pause button on his own life before God hit the eject button.

But it's not just his life; it's all of our lives. Sure, we don't have millions of dollars and no asks us for autographs but it's the same struggle. Recovery is Eminem's most honest work. He had to take a hard look at his life where it currently stood at the time and then he had to reconcile his reality with the mistakes of the past while desperately trying to figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. It's not just his story. It's our story and he knows this.

Recovery is a powerful record where Eminem stared into the abyss and found the abyss staring back at him. If you or anyone you know has a substance abuse problem, please get help. Get help and do it today. If you don't know where to start, I recommend that you contact the Recovery Center of Huntsville. They have access to resource across the state and across the country. They can guide you to help in your own community.

Take another look at the cover photo. I appreciate the symbolism of the artwork. Let's all take a bit of inspiration from it. We're all going to make that long, lonely walk down 8 Mile Road but we're going to do it together.






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Here's how Miley Cyrus pissed off the entire city of Detroit

Rhodes Scholar and cancer researcher Miley Cyrus made another "uh-oh." This time it was in that Rolling Stone interview (I'm sure you've seen the cover by now). The long-story-short: She said, "Detroit’s where I felt like I really grew up." As you can imagine, the Motor City did not see the humor in this statement.

I really hate saying something supporting or defending Miley Cyrus but that quote was taken out of context. Sure, it was a poor choice of words but we're talking about someone with a sixth-grade education (or its Hollywood equivalent). Aaron Foley of the website Jalopnik really breaks down Miley's faux pas and what it means for Detroit residents. Read his take here. Basically, Cyrus is the latest in a long line of celebrity-types who have all made "derogatory" statements about a city that going through a really hard time. Detroit has been drilled harder by the Great Recession than any other city and it's collectively tired of jokes. This is all reasonable except for one tiny, little detail.

Cyrus essentially said something positive about the city. She got a tattoo on 8 Mile Road. She went to clubs in Royal Oak and the Renaissance Center. As far as "growing up" is concerned, the first time you get chased down the street by a for-real-ass Detroit crackhead, well..., that's a learning experience for everyone. Miley Cyrus digs Detroit in a roundabout, backhanded way.

...and she's not alone. I dig Detroit. I've got many friends up that way and, other than the snow, I wouldn't mind living there at some point in the future. Yes, we all hate Hollywood and any excuse to slam a moron celebrity is a good time, but it's not called for in this case. Everyone calm down and let a dum-dum have the time of her life. Instead, let's take a look back at some of Detroit's greatest hits...


Cold As Life opening for Blood for Blood and Pitboss 2000 @ The Magic Stick:

Walls of Jericho bring the Motor City hate to Wacken in 2009:
Here's the video for Black Dahlia Murder's single "Everything Went Black":

You should know this song...

Oh yeah, these guys are also from Detroit.





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