bagpipes from baghdad

First Eminem released “Crack a Bottle,” then videos for the jokey “We Made You” and deadly serious “3 A.M.” This past weekend, some fans may have found a way to hear a few more cuts from Relapse, Slim Shady’s first album in nearly five years. But Rolling Stone has listened to the entire album the way it was meant to be heard — and our official review of Eminem’s Relapse is right here.

In his four-star review, Rob Sheffield explores the true target of Relapse’s barbs: Eminem. After falling into a prescription-pill addiction that took him out the rap game and threatened to turn him into biggest adversary (his mom), Em is back, rhyming about Lunesta, Ambien and Vicodin with the brutal honesty of Richard Pryor’s 1982 Live on the Sunset Strip. The Dr. Dre beats are spare, the guest spots minimal — just brief cameos by 50 Cent and Dre.