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|Artist = [[Eminem]]
|Artist = [[Eminem]]
|Released = May 15, 2009 <small>(standard)</small><br />December 21, 2009 <small>(''[[Relapse (album)#Relapse: Refill|Refill]]'')</small><br /><small>(see [[#Release history|release history]])</small>
|Released = May 15, 2009 <small>(standard)</small><br />December 21, 2009 <small>(''[[Relapse (album)#Relapse: Refill|Refill]]'')</small><br /><small>(see [[#Release history|release history]])</small>
|Recorded = 2007–2009<br />54 Sound, Effigy Studios<br /><small>(Ferndale, Michigan)</small><br />KDS Music Studios<br /><small>(Orlando, Florida)</small><br />[[Record One Studios]]<br /><small>(Sherman Oaks, California)</small><br />Studio at the Palms<br /><small>(Las Vegas, Nevada)</small><!-- the information comes from CD booklet -->
|Recorded = 2007–2009<br />54 Sound, Effigy Studios<br /><small>(Ferndale, Michigan)</small><br />KDS Music Studios<br /><small>(Orlando, Florida)</small><br />[[Phantom City Studios]]<br /><small>(Orlando, Florida)</small><br />[[Record One Studios]]<br /><small>(Sherman Oaks, California)</small><br />Studio at the Palms<br /><small>(Las Vegas, Nevada)</small><!-- the information comes from CD booklet -->
|Genre = [[Midwest hip hop]], [[hardcore hip hop]], [[horrorcore]]<!--Do not remove sourced genres.-->
|Genre = [[Midwest hip hop]], [[hardcore hip hop]], [[horrorcore]]<!--Do not remove sourced genres.-->
|Length = 76:06 <small>(standard edition)</small><br />85:13 <small>(deluxe edition)</small><br />33:43 <small>(''Refill'' disc)</small>
|Length = 76:06 <small>(standard edition)</small><br />85:13 <small>(deluxe edition)</small><br />33:43 <small>(''Refill'' disc)</small>

Revision as of 18:47, 2 February 2010

Untitled

Relapse is the Grammy Award winning sixth studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released by record label Interscope Records, along with subsidiaries Aftermath Entertainment and Shady Records,[11] first on May 15, 2009, followed by May 19 in the United States. Relapse is Eminem's first studio album since Encore in 2004, thus ending the rapper's musical hiatus of five years.[12][13] Dr. Dre, who produced for Eminem throughout Eminem's career, produced most of the tracks on Relapse and performed on the number-one single "Crack a Bottle", which also featured 50 Cent. "We Made You" followed and also made the top ten on the U.S. singles chart. Other singles included "3 a.m.", "Old Time's Sake", and "Beautiful", which were all top 40 hits in the U.S. To date the album Relapse has sold over 1.7 million copies in the United States alone.[14] The album was noted as one of the most anticipated albums of 2009 by several websites and magazines.[15][16][17][18][19]

Background

Since 2005, Eminem had intended to take a break from recording his own music in order to become a hip hop producer for other rap acts, especially for the artists signed on his own label Shady Records.[20] Such a break came when Eminem canceled the European leg of the Anger Management Tour in the summer of 2005 due to exhaustion and an addiction to sleeping pills.[21] In the following year, the rapper's remarriage to his former wife Kimberly Scott lasted only eleven weeks before a second divorce,[22] while his closest friend and fellow rapper DeShaun "Proof" Holton was later shot and killed during an altercation outside a nightclub in Detroit. Devastated by this, Eminem relapsed into prescription drugs and became increasingly reclusive.[13][22][23]

Everyone felt [Proof's] loss, from his kids, to his wife, to everyone. But, for some reason, in hindsight, the way I felt was almost like it happened to just me… Maybe at the time I was a little bit selfish with it. I think it kind of hit me so hard. It just blindsided me. I just went into such a dark place that, with everything, the drugs, my thoughts, everything. And the more drugs I consumed, and it was all depressants I was taking, the more depressed I became, the more self-loathing I became…

— — Eminem, XXL, Issue of June 2009[24]

Speculation on an upcoming album by Eminem was reported since mid–2007 from announcements made by artists 50 Cent and Stat Quo, a current and former member of Shady Records respectively.[25][26] Also, rapper Bizarre—member of the hip hop group D12—stated that the release of the group's third studio album was on hold because Interscope Records wanted to release Eminem's album first.[27] By the end of the year, additional musicians associated with Shady Records, including The Alchemist, Bishop Lamont, Cashis and Obie Trice had confirmed on different occasions that the rapper was effectively working on a new album.[28][29][30][31] On September 12, 2007, during a call at the radio station WQHT Hot 97, Eminem stated that he was in limbo and was not sure whether he would release any new material in the near future. The rapper then elaborated that at that point he was constantly working in the recording studio and was happy he had come to terms with his personal issues.[32] In December 2007, however, Eminem was hospitalized due to an overdose of methadone.[33] In early 2008, he began the twelve-step program to recover from his addiction and, according to himself, has been sober from April 20, 2008.[33]

Recording and production

Recording history

In the initial recording stages of Relapse, record producer and long-time Detroit collaborator Jeff Bass of the Bass Brothers worked with Eminem on twenty-five tracks, for two years after the rapper had received treatment for his sleeping pill-addiction in 2005.[12][13] The death of Proof caused Eminem to fall into a period of "writer's block", where he felt everything he wrote was not worth recording.[24] To compensate for this, Bass chose to follow a production style that would allow the artist to rap "off the top of his head, as opposed to writing a story."[12] Eminem would then freestyle or record vocals one line at a time before interrupting and then recording another line.[24] At the same time, according to the Eminem's song rights supervisor Joel Martin, the rapper began collecting additional songs without noticing it, as he would often record or produce material initially intended for the musical projects of other artists, but end up with tracks he really liked.[12] "Beautiful", produced by Eminem, was the only song on Relapse that was recorded in these years while he was not sober.[34]

Eminem purchased the Effigy Studio in Ferndale, Michigan in 2007, and ended his working relationship with much of his former production team of the 54 Sound recording studio, including the Bass Brothers.[12][35] He then continued recording the album with producer Dr. Dre, who in September 2007 stated his intention to dedicate two months to the production of Relapse.[36][37] Working with Dr. Dre allowed Eminem to concentrate on the processes of songwriting rather than the production, which was largely taken care of by Dre.[36] The rapper justified his choice of using Dr. Dre for the vast majority of the production due to their long collaborative history and a musical "chemistry" only he and Dr. Dre shared.[38] This allowed the rapper to pick the beats from Dr. Dre's catalog that challenged him rhythm-wise in order to experiment with different flows.[39] The making of the album progressed at the Effigy Studio up to a year after, as recording sessions were then moved to Orlando, Florida in September 2008.[13][24] By then, Eminem had began to start writing verses again at such a pace that he often took more time to record the lyrics than write them. He credited sobriety as the reason behind his new creative run, acknowledging that his mind was free of the clutter that "blocked" him during his drug abuse in the last years.[24][33] The song-writing process would start by Dr. Dre giving a number of his beats on a CD to Eminem, who in a separate room in the studio would listen and select the ones he preferred and inspired him the most. The rapper would then write lyrics to the instrumentals, while Dr. Dre and his production staff continued to create new music. Once he felt he had written lyrics for enough songs, Eminem would dedicate an entire day to record his songs to the point that he would lose his voice for the following days. At that point, the rapper would then begin to write lyrics for new songs.[24][40] The process continued for the next six months, and allowed Eminem to have enough material also for a second album, Relapse 2.[11]

During this recording period, a handful of songs intended for Relapse were leaked on the Internet, including an incomplete version of "Crack a Bottle".[38] The song was then finished in January 2009 with additional vocals from Dr. Dre and 50 Cent.[41] Despite the leak, in February 2009 the album was being completed in a state of near-total secrecy, according to the British newspaper The Independent.[13] Even Polydor Records, the multinational owner of Interscope, had no information on the album at the time.[13] On April 23, Eminem suggested he and possibly Dr. Dre were the only ones in possession of the final copy of Relapse, while his manager Paul Rosenberg added that even Eminem's record labels were not in possession of the music at less than one month from the release date in order to prevent possible bootlegging.[42]

Music and lyrical content

"3 a.m."
In "3 a.m.", Eminem goes into detail about how he murders several people, including his own cousin.[43]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

In an interview for XXL, Eminem described the concept behind Relapse to be the ending of his drug rehabilitation and thus rap as if he was on drugs again, as well as the return of his fictional "crazy" alter-ego Slim Shady.[24] According to the interviewer Datwon Thomas, Eminem's influences for the album came from his own past drug issues, as well as television shows and documentaries involving crime and serial killers, as the rapper was fascinated by "serial killers and their psyche and their mind states".[33][44]

You listen to these people talk, or you see them, they look so regular. What does a serial killer look like? He don’t look like anything. He looks like you. You could be living next door to one. If I lived next door to you, you could be [one].

— — Eminem, The New York Times, May 21, 2009[33]

Relapse opens with the skit "Dr. West", where actor Dominic West voices a drugs counselor whose lack of trustworthiness causes Eminem to fall back to drugs and the return to his Slim Shady madman character.[45][46] The skit leads to "3 a.m.", where Eminem depicts himself as a psychotic serial killer during a spring of homicides at late-night.[43][47] When "3 a.m." was released as a single prior to the album's own release, Eminem noted that the song closely mirrored what he believed was the overall dark tone of the album.[39] On "My Mom", the rapper traces his addictive tendencies to his mother, and thus to have turned out to be a drug addict just as her.[7][33] Eminem continues his family tales on "Insane", where he imagines himself as a victim of child molestation.[46] For Eminem, the goal of "Insane" was to make song that would disgust the listeners and "make them puke", adding that he came up with this idea after thinking of the song's first line ("I was born with a dick in my brain/Yeah, fucked in the head").[40] His alleged former-girlfriend Mariah Carey along her current husband Nick Cannon are targeted in "Bagpipes from Baghdad", where Eminem raps over a pungi loop.[1][3] After "Hello", where Eminem re-introduces himself after years of being absent "mentally",[40] the rapper continues his violent fantasies on "Same Song & Dance", where he abducts and murders Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears.[1][7] The upbeat rhythm of "Same Song & Dance" reminded Eminem of a dance track, which inspired him to write something in order to "get women to dance to it and not really know what the fuck they're dancing to" without listening to the lyrics.[40] On the ninth track of the album, "We Made You", Eminem mocks several celebrities and plays the role of a "pop star serial killer".[48] Eminem noted that his various "celebrity bashings" were not meant to be seen as personal attacks, but rather it was him "picking names out of a hat" that rhymed with the words he wanted to use during the writing process.[49] On "Medicine Ball" Eminem mocks and impersonates deceased actor Christopher Reeve, in order to get his audience to "laugh at it, and then almost feel bad for laughing".[7][40] The next track is Stay Wide Awake, containing a quite eerie beat. Eminem raps about assaulting and raping women. Dr. Dre also has a guest appearance on "Old Time's Sake", a duet Eminem described as a "fun, yet reminiscent record old times" with him and Dre rapping back and forth between each other.[40] The song is followed by "Must Be the Ganja" where Eminem comes to believe that working in the recording studio is like a drug and an addiction to him.[40]

After the skit "Mr. Mathers", where Eminem is recovered to a hospital, "Déjà Vu" addresses his overdose in 2007 and drug dependency during his hiatus from music.[33][40] On the song, Eminem also explains how this has affected him in the last five years, to the point where his daughter becomes scared of her father's behavior.[50] "Beautiful", a ballad which samples "Reaching Out" by Rock Therapy, also deals with the same time period where Eminem believed he had "reached rock bottom" and lost hope for his future.[7][40] Eminem felt it was important to include "Beautiful" on the album as a reminder to himself as well as "anybody who is in a dark place […] that you can get out of it".[40] After "Crack a Bottle", a collaboration with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, Relapse ends with "Underground". On the final track of the album, Eminem sought to bring back to his music and lyrics the subject matter and punchlines reminiscent of "The Hiphop Shop times" (The Hiphop Shop was a clothing store in Detroit where local rappers – including Eminem – would compete in freestyle battles[51]), before he had gained notoriety and thus did not have worry about the explicit content of his lyrics.[40] The outro of the album features the return of Ken Kaniff, an overtly gay character who had been featured in every Eminem album until Encore.

Artwork

The album cover for Relapse was first published through Eminem's Twitter account on April 21, 2009.[23] It illustrates a head shot of the rapper composed by a mosaic of thousands of pills. A sticker on the cover resembles a prescription drug label, on which the patient is Eminem and Dr. Dre is the prescribing doctor.[23] Gil Kaufman of MTV News described the cover as a reference to the rapper's struggle and addiction to prescription drugs, adding that it follows Eminem's habit of displaying personal issues in his art.[23] The album booklet and back cover follow a pill prescription design. On the backside of the booklet is a dedication to Proof, where Eminem explains that he's sober and that he tried to write a song for him, but none were good enough therefore he dedicates the whole album to him. The CD itself is meant to represent the lid on a bottle of prescription pills, grey with the big red inscription "Push Down & Turn".[52]

Release and promotion

In 2007, Shady Records rapper Cashis discussed the album, referring to it by the title King Mathers, adding that it would be released later that year.[30] However, Eminem's publicist Dennis Dennehy would later deny this, stating that "there [was] no album scheduled for a 2007 release" and that as of August 2007 there was no confirmed title either.[53] No other official statement was made for over a year, when on September 15, 2008, at an event held by Shade 45 to celebrate the publication of Eminem's autobiography The Way I Am, the rapper confirmed his plans to release a studio album by the title of Relapse. During the party, he also previewed to the audience a song called "I'm Having a Relapse".[54]

In regards to the album's release date, Rolling Stone wrote on the issue of October 2008 that Virgin Megastores had planned to distribute Relapse on November 27, 2008, coincidentally on Thanksgiving in the United States.[55] On October 27, a spokesperson for Interscope explained that there was no official date at the time, and that any release dates that had been posted on any website were unfounded.[56][57] In a phone conversation during the finale of Total Request Live on November 16, 2008, Eminem asserted that Relapse would be released during the first quarter of 2009, precisely during either of the first two months of the year, explaining that he was in the process of selecting the songs for the album.[58]

Despite the leak two months before, "Crack a Bottle" was eventually released for legal paid digital download as well as a promotional single on February 2, 2009 and also reached the number one position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100,[59][60] while, according Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg, a music video for the song was produced and directed by Syndrome and has been released in several parts from May to early June. At the time of the release, various contradicting reports disputed whether the song would be included on Relapse.[61][62] Despite the initial confusion, in a press release head label Universal Music Group eventually confirmed the single's inclusion on the album.[11] In similar press statements, since March 5, Universal made public the regional release dates for Relapse. The album will be available as early as May 15, 2009 in Italy and the Netherlands, while it will be sold in most European countries and Brazil on May 18, and the following day also in the United States and Australia. Additionally, the record label also announced a second album by Eminem, Relapse 2, which will be released by the end of the year. Eminem explained that he and Dr. Dre had recorded a considerable amount of music and thus, by releasing two albums would allow listeners to have access to all of his music.[11]

After the release of "Crack a Bottle", the music video of the single "We Made You" was aired on April 7, and became available for purchase a week later on April 13.[63][64] The video was directed by Joseph Kahn and premiered simultaneously on several MTV channels, as well as MTV's website.[65] On April 28, the third overall single for the album, "3 a.m.", was released once again for paid music download.[66] A music video for "3 a.m." was directed by Syndrome and filmed in Detroit. It premiered on May 2 on Cinemax, several days after a trailer for the video was posted online.[39][67] Two more singles were distributed prior to the album's release, as "Old Time's Sake" and "Beautiful" went on sale on the iTunes Store on May 5 and May 12 respectively.[68]

"Popsomp Hills" is a fictional rehabilitation center established to promote Relapse.

Previously on April 4, 2009, Eminem was featured on CBS during the network's coverage of the 2009 NCAA Final Four, in segment where he recited the spoken word "Love Letter to Detroit". Later on the same day, the rapper inducted the hip hop group Run-D.M.C. to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Adam Graham of The Detroit News described this as "all part of the calculated promotional push" for Relapse.[69] The rapper performed live at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards on May 31,[70] while he appeared on the covers of hip hop magazines Vibe and XXL in their respective issues of June 2009;[24][71] the second of which was created by a deal struck with Eminem and Marvel Comics, where the rapper would pose as Marvel's main vigilante The Punisher if Marvel created an issue starring him and The Punisher in order to promote Relapse.[72] An iPhone game to accompany the album was released on May 19, 2009.[73]

While on the Never Say Never tour, fellow group members Swifty and Kuniva (D12) along with Royce Da 5'9" stopped by KISS 100FM for a live interview and spoke on Relapse. Royce stated that the album will be a game changer, and jokingly said he might have to push his own album back 3 years after Eminem drops his.[74] Kuniva added that D12 recorded many tracks for Relapse but wasn't sure if they would make the album or not.[74] Swifty then confirmed that Eminem would in fact be dropping two albums in 2009, Relapse 2 following Relapse.[74]

Relapse: Refill

The re-release of Relapse, titled Relapse: Refill, includes seven bonus tracks, including the single "Forever", also featuring Drake, Kanye West and Lil Wayne (previously found on the More Than a Game soundtrack) and "Taking My Ball" (also released with the DJ Hero video game), and five new tracks. Relapse: Refill was released on December 21, 2009.

I want to deliver more material for the fans this year like I originally planned. Hopefully these tracks on The Refill will tide the fans over until we put out Relapse 2 next year.

— — Eminem'[75]

The first two songs released are "Elevator" and "Hell Breaks Loose" which were both made available to download on December 15, 2009. Both songs reached the top ten on the United States iTunes chart.

Reception

Criticism

The album has received mixed reviews from music critics, garnering a 59 out of 100 rating on review aggregator Metacritic.[76] On one hand, Rolling Stone called it a "more painful, honest and vital record", putting it on the same level as his critically acclaimed third attempt, The Eminem Show.[7] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic described the album as "musically white-hot, dense, and dramatic" and said "his flow is so good, his wordplay so sharp, it seems churlish to wish that he addressed something other than his long-standing obsessions and demons".[1] The Daily Telegraph lauded the album's honest way of showing Eminem's drug addiction and overuse.[2] Entertainment Weekly awarded the CD an A–, saying, "Relapse's real resonance comes from the fragile, harrowing genius that lies behind that painted-on grin".[3]

On the other hand, Alan Ranta of PopMatters said, "being insane is simply not a good enough excuse to spread chauvinistic hate-speech like this, especially not when delivered in such a formulaic casing. All in all, Relapse is not much more than a brightly polished turd of old-hat hate, incompatible with the direction society is headed."[6] Ann Powers of Los Angeles Times noted, "Eminem could have pulled his music into a new category. What he presents is still powerful, but narrowly cast."[4] . The album won at the 52nd Grammy Awards for the Best Rap Album.[77]

Performance

The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 608,000 copies in its first week of release.[78] Besides the US, Relapse also managed to reach the No.1 spot in his first week in various other countries including Australia, France, Norway, Denmark and New Zealand,[79] while it managed to climb into the Top-5 in many of other countries, including Germany, Italy, Finland, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Sweden.[79][80] In its second week the album stayed at No. 1 and sold a further 211,000 taking its total to 819,000 to become the fifth best-seller of the year.[81] In the third week Relapse dropped down to No. 2 selling another 141,000 copies taking the total sales of the album in the U.S. to 962,000 in only three weeks,[82] Relapse dropped to No. 3 in its fourth week selling 87,000 to push its total sales to 1,049,000 in the US.[83] The next week, Relapse went down to No. 4 and sold 72,000 units.[84] In its sixth week Relapse was at the No. 5 spot and sold another 47,000 copies, pushing its total sales to 1,169,000 in the US.[85] Relapse dropped down to the No. 9 in its seventh week gaining sales of 39,000 taking its total US Sales up to 1,207,000.[86] Relapse remained at No. 9 in its eight week selling a further 34,000 copies to take its total US Sales to 1,241,000.[87] It became the best selling rap album of 2009. [88]The album has so far sold over 1,760,000 copies in the United States alone.[89]

Track listing

All song titles, notes, samples, writing and production credits are according to the album booklet.[52]

All lyrics by Eminem, music compositions listed below.

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Dr. West" (skit)Dr. Dre, Eminem1:29
2."3 a.m."Dr. Dre5:19
3."My Mom"Dr. Dre5:19
4."Insane"Dr. Dre3:01
5."Bagpipes from Baghdad"Dr. Dre, T. Lawrence4:43
6."Hello"Dr. Dre, M. Batson4:08
7."Tonya" (skit)Dr. Dre, Eminem0:42
8."Same Song & Dance"Dr. Dre, D. Parker4:06
9."We Made You"Dr. Dre, Eminem, Doc Ish4:29
10."Medicine Ball"Dr. Dre, M. Batson3:57
11."Paul" (skit)Dr. Dre0:19
12."Stay Wide Awake"Dr. Dre5:19
13."Old Time's Sake" (featuring Dr. Dre)Dr. Dre, M. Batson4:38
14."Must Be the Ganja"Dr. Dre, M. Batson4:02
15."Mr. Mathers" (skit)Dr. Dre, Eminem0:42
16."Déjà Vu"Dr. Dre4:43
17."Beautiful"Eminem6:32
18."Crack a Bottle" (featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent)Dr. Dre4:57
19."Steve Berman" (skit)Dr. Dre1:29
20."Underground"Dr. Dre6:11

Bonus tracks

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
21."My Darling"Eminem5:20
22."Careful What You Wish For"Eminem3:47

Relapse: Refill

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Forever" (with Drake, Kanye West and Lil Wayne)Boi-1da5:58
2."Hell Breaks Loose" (featuring Dr. Dre)Dr. Dre, M. Batson4:04
3."Buffalo Bill"Dr. Dre, M. Batson, Eminem3:52
4."Elevator"Eminem4:52
5."Taking My Ball"Dr. Dre5:01
6."Music Box"Dr. Dre, D. Parker, Eminem (co)5:05
7."Drop the Bomb on 'Em"Dr. Dre4:48

Notes

  • "Dr. West" features Dominic West
  • "Tonya" and "Mr. Mathers" features Elizabeth Keener
  • "Paul" is performed by Paul Rosenberg
  • "Mr. Mathers" features Mathew St. Patrick
  • "Steve Berman" features Steve Berman and Angela Yee
  • "My Darling" and "Careful What You Wish For" are available upon purchase of the Premium version of the album.[90][91]
  • "My Darling" is also available to download from Eminem.com with the use of a bought CD.

Samples

  • "Insane" samples "Jock Box" written by Rhonda Bush, originally performed by The Skinny Boys
  • "We Made You" samples "Hot Summer Nights" by Walter Egan
  • "Beautiful" samples "Reaching Out" by Queen + Paul Rodgers
  • "Crack a Bottle" samples "Mais dans ma lumière" by Jean Renard

Musical personnel

  • Mark Batson – keyboards on all tracks except 17
  • Dawaun Parker – keyboards on all tracks except 9 and 17
  • Trevor Lawrence, Jr. – keyboards on tracks 1–6, 8, 12–14
  • Mike Elizondo – guitars on tracks 2, 4, 8 and 12; keyboards on tracks 2, 4 and 5; bass on track 2
  • Eric "Jesus" Coomes – guitars on tracks 3, 13, 14 and 18; bass on tracks 13, 14 and 18
  • Sean Cruse – guitars on tracks 5 and 16
  • Charmagne Tripp – chorus vocals on track 9
  • Traci Nelson – backing vocals on track 14
  • Jeff Bass – keyboards, bass and guitar on track 17
  • Luis Resto – keyboards on track 17

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position 		Certification Sales
Australian Albums Chart 1[92][93] Platinum[94] 70,000+
Austrian Albums Chart 2[93] Gold[95] 10,000+
Belgium Albums Chart 1[93] Gold[92] 15,000+
Canadian Albums Chart 1[96] 63,826+[96]
Czech Republic Albums Chart 3[97]
Danish Albums Chart 1[98]
Dutch Albums Chart 3[93]
Finnish Albums Chart 5[99]
French Albums Chart 1[100]
German Albums Chart 2[101]
Greek Albums Chart 2[102]
Hungarian Albums Chart 14[103]
Irish Albums Chart 1[93][104]
Israel Albums Chart 5[105]
Italian Albums Chart 4[106]
Japanese Albums Chart 1[107]
Korean International Albums Chart 1[108]
Mexico Albums Chart 4[109]
New Zealand Albums Chart 1[110] Platinum[111] 15,000+
Norwegian Albums Chart 1[93]
Polish Albums Chart 1[112]
Russian Albums Chart 3[113] Gold[113] 10,000+
Slovenian Albums Chart 2[114]
Spanish Albums Chart 3[115]
Swedish Albums Chart 3[93]
Swiss Albums Chart 2[93] Platinum[116] 30,000+
Taiwanese Albums Chart 1[117]
UK Albums Chart 1[118] Platinum[119] 300,000+
U.S. Billboard 200 1[120] 1,790,000+[89]

Promo Singles (Digital only)

Year Song Chart positions
U.S. UK CAN
2009 "Crack a Bottle" 1 4 1
"Old Time's Sake" 25 61 14
"Insane" 85 — —
"Dr. West" (skit) 105 — —
"Careful What You Wish For" 125 — —
"Hell Breaks Loose" 29 — 21
"Elevator" 67 — 59
"Music Box" 79 — 63
"Buffalo Bill" 117 — —
"Taking My Ball" 123 — —
"Drop the Bomb on 'Em" 128 — 88

Release history

Region Date Distributing label Format Catalog
Australia[121] May 15, 2009 Universal Music Australia CD 2703216
Germany[122] Universal Music Germany CD 0602527032160
Italy[123] Interscope CD
Netherlands[124] Universal Music Netherlands CD 0602527032160
Denmark[125] May 18, 2009 Interscope CD
France[126] Interscope CD
New Zealand[127] Universal Music New Zealand CD 2703216
Poland[128] Universal Music Poland CD 2708880
Portugal[129] Interscope CD
Russia[130] Universal Music Russia CD
Sweden[131] Universal Music Sweden CD
United Kingdom[132] Interscope CD 2703216
Brazil[133] May 19, 2009 Universal Music Brazil CD 602527032160
Canada[134] Interscope CD B001286302
India[135] Universal Music India CD 0602527032160
Spain[136] Universal Music Spain CD
United States[1] Interscope CD 001286302
CD [Clean] 001286402
LP 001286301
Japan[137] May 20, 2009 Universal Music Japan CD UICS-1190
CD + DVD UICS-9106
Argentina[138] May 28, 2009 Universal Music Argentina CD

References

General
  • Christgau, Robert (May 20, 2009). "Eminem: A 'Relapse' Of Horror?". All Things Considered. National Public Radio. Retrieved May 22, 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Specific
  1. ^ a b c d e Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: Relapse". Allmusic. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  2. ^ a b McCormick, Neil. "Review: Relapse". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved May 21, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ a b c Greenblatt, Leah. "Review: Relapse". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 21, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ a b Powers, Ann. "Review: Relapse". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 21, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Cohen, Ian. "Review: Relapse". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  6. ^ a b Ranta, Alan. "Review: Relapse". PopMatters. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
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Preceded by Irish Albums Chart number one albums
May 21, 2009 – 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Canadian Albums Chart number one albums
May 24, 2009 – June 14, 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
21st Century Breakdown by Green Day
 UK Albums Chart number-one album
May 24, 2009 – June 7, 2009 		Succeeded by
Sunny Side Up by Paolo Nutini
Preceded by
R&B Collection - Summer 2009 by Various artists
 UK R&B Chart number-one album
May 24, 2009 – 		Succeeded by
The E.N.D. by Black Eyed Peas
Preceded by Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
May 25, 2009 – June 8, 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
21st Century Breakdown by Green Day
 New Zealand Charts number-one album
May 25, 2009 – June 1, 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
21st Century Breakdown by Green Day
 Billboard 200 number-one album
May 25, 2009 – June 13, 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
21st Century Breakdown by Green Day
 Japanese Oricon Albums Chart number-one albums
June 1, 2009 – June 8, 2009 		Succeeded by
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