The plot of Rehab?
 

1. Em leaves rehab (the "Dr. West" intro) but then relapses (into pills --> turns into Slim Shady; "3 AM")
2. the Slim backstory is recapped (horrible childhood; "My Mom", "Insane" explains the bodies in "3 AM" a la Rob Zombie's Halloween)
3. Slim goes on a black-weekend of pill popping and murdering (pretty much the whole of the album)
4. Slim OD's ("Mr. Mathers" skit)
5. Slim dies, is reborn as Marshall Mathers, faces his demons ("Beautiful," "De Ja Vu")
6. Marshall/Em reunites with his mentor and prodege ("Crack A Bottle")
7. and they all live happily ever after.

no way man, the plot is this

They tri4ed to get her to go to Rehab
she said "no no no"
she was bad, but if her daddy thinks she's fine
she's not gonna go to rehab no no no

wow, I'm an idiot. I obviously meant for the title to be the plot of RELAPSE.

More and more, this album is bothering me.

The voices he uses COULD point to a shizophrenia plot point. Or it could just be that he's losing his mind (in real life).

Either way: the Child Called It-ness of the album makes it hard for me to WANT to listen to it. Then add in the relentless pill-talk (which could have been interesting had it been addressed fully, seriously -- in a primal scream therapy manner), and the relenetless murder-fantasies (it's one thing to call Lindsay 'practically a 10' but another to then see yrself kidnapping and strangling her), and the relentless shock-adelica (Christopher Reeves? I mean, what is that? What's the POINT???)

I think I was really hoping for a serious comeback. And by serious, I mean one where he addresses (not just touches upon) the serious things that he's gone thru since the last LP. Instead, we get a few late-album glimpses into something real, and then a whole lot of shit that I'm not sure why we'd be expected to care about?

Maybe RELAPSE 2 is the planned serious album.....

I don't mean to bag on yr love for m&m, but really?

any seriousness he might display "since the last LP" is completely contrived.

I suspect that his last appearance in the real world was before Dr. Dre and before the checks started rolling in.

although I typically agree with yr hip-hop tastes 110%, I can't get past this "rap for white guyz".

1. I wouldn't say I love him. I just find him talented and interesting.
2. by seriousness between albums I mean the death of Proof, the drug addiction, the getting fat, the getting married & divorced, and hiding from limelight a la Brian Wilson insantiy. Had this album addressed all of those events in accurate detail, it could have been wholey satisfying.
3. I'm sort of let down by yr elitist, lame-ass and slightly racist "rap for white guyz" comment.

well, I certainly don't want to let anyone down!

but what else to call it?

there's always somebody who fits that bill; be it: snow, vanilla ice, insane clown posse or whoever. white people have been repackaging black music for ages. this isn't something new. m&m's nasally voice just happens to resonate well with the "white, male, under 18 and living in the 'burbs" crowd.

as soon as my (then) 13 year-old brother-in-law brought eminem's first album to my attention, I knew it wasn't going to be for me (dr. dre or not).

and there's no slightly racist about it. I hate white people. hate them BAD.

haha. Okay.