''Revival'' is the ninth studio album by American rapper

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing Hip hop music, hip hop in Middle America (United Sta ...

. The album was released on December 15, 2017, through

Aftermath Entertainment Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label founded by hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre. It operates as a subsidiary of, and is distributed through, Interscope Records. Current acts include Dr. Dre himself, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, ...

Shady Records Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg, after the highly successful release of Eminem's ''The Slim Shady LP'' (1999). Shady has seen negative times when being part of the unsuccessful ...

and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner ...

. Production for the album took place during 2016 to 2017 at various recording studios. In addition to Eminem himself, music production was handled by various record producers, including

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

Fredwreck Farid Karam Nassar (born June 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Fredwreck, is a Grammy Award-winning American hip hop recording artist, DJ and record producer. He got his big break when he became a producer for Dr. Dre's newly founded re ...

, Skylar Grey,

Alex da Kid Alexander Junior Grant (born 27 August 1983), professionally known as Alex da Kid or by.ALEXANDER, is a British musician, record producer, songwriter, record executive and fashion designer from Wood Green, London. He has gained recognition for p ...

, and executive producer

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...

. ''Revival'' features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

s from artists

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

Phresher Kashaun Rameek Rutling (born May 16, 1989), known professionally as Phresher (stylized as PHresher), is an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York. Phresher first gained recognition in 2016 for his single "Wait a Minute" featuring Remy Ma, and ...

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

X Ambassadors X Ambassadors (also stylized XA) are an American pop rock band from Ithaca, New York. Its members currently include lead vocalist Sam Harris, keyboardist Casey Harris, and drummer Adam Levin. Russ Flynn is a touring member that plays guitar an ...

, Skylar Grey,

Kehlani Kehlani Ashley Parrish (born April 24, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. Kehlani is originally from Oakland, California, and achieved initial fame as a member of the teen group Poplyfe in 2011. In 2014, Kehlani released the ...

, and

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

. Eminem first revealed that he was working on an album following the release of " Campaign Speech" in October 2016. A year later, he performed a viral freestyle at the

2017 BET Hip Hop Awards The 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards are a recognition ceremony held October 6 at the Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami Beach, Florida, and aired October 10 on the BET cable channel. The nominations were announced on September 15, 2 ...

, criticizing President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

. The album has many lines critiquing Trump's presidential campaign and

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

. The album's lead single, " Walk on Water", featuring Beyoncé, was released on November 10, 2017. "

Untouchable Untouchable or The Untouchable may refer to: People * Untouchability, the practice of socially ostracizing a minority group of very low social status ** A word for the Dalits or Scheduled Caste of India, a group that experiences untouchability * ...

" was released as a promotional single a week prior to the album's release. ''Revival'' was leaked online on December 13, 2017, two days before the album's release date. The album issued several more singles, including "

River A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

", featuring Ed Sheeran, " Nowhere Fast", featuring Kehlani, and "Remind Me". A music video for " Framed" was also released on April 3, 2018. Reception to ''Revival'' was mixed, with critics divided over its rock-influenced production on several songs and the heavy use of

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

artists for guest appearances. The album debuted at number one in Australia, Canada, Finland, the UK, and the US. In addition, it was the UK Christmas number one album of 2017 and has been certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

in the UK. It was followed by ''

Kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending ...

'' (2018), Eminem's tenth studio album, in which he reacts to criticism of ''Revival''.

Background

Eminem first revealed that he was working on an album when he announced the song " Campaign Speech" on his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

in October 2016, writing, "Don't worry I'm working on an album! Here's something meanwhile." Rumors about the release date started in late 2016, saying the album would be called ''Success'' and would be released sometime in January 2017. A fake tracklist also was leaked at the same time, with

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

Chance the Rapper Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape ''10 Day'' in 2012. He ...

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudi would move to New Y ...

Vince Staples Vincent Jamal Staples (born July 2, 1993) is an American rapper and singer. Staples was once a close associate of Odd Future, Mike G and Earl Sweatshirt in particular. He is currently signed to Motown and Blacksmith Records. Staples rose to ...

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and ...

and Mástein Bennett as featured artists. Rumors were sparked again in February and March 2017, when Eminem announced he was headlining three shows in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

. Various news articles said that because he was performing, he would have to release new material to perform, or at least preview, at the festivals. On October 10, 2017, Eminem performed a freestyle titled "The Storm" at the

, criticizing former President

. The freestyle went viral, garnering millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

within weeks. On October 25, 2017, Paul Rosenberg posted a photo to

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

Yelawolf Michael Wayne Atha (born December 30, 1979), better known by his stage name Yelawolf, is an American rapper. Born in Alabama and raised in Tennessee, he embarked on his career independently in 2005, releasing one extended play (EP) and four mixta ...

's '' Trial by Fire''. In the background of the photo, there is a billboard ad promoting a drug called "Revival". Suspicion was aroused when fans noticed that the 'E' in "Revival" was reversed, similar to Eminem's previous logos. Visiting the website listed on the billboard ad revealed several clues. On the website, a promotional video about ''Revival'' makes references to Eminem's song "

Lose Yourself "Lose Yourself" is a song by American rapper Eminem from the soundtrack to the 2002 motion picture '' 8 Mile''. The song was composed and produced by Eminem, longtime collaborator Jeff Bass, one half of the production duo Bass Brothers and Lui ...

". The website also references " Sing for the Moment", "

Brain Damage Neurotrauma, brain damage or brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating t ...

", " Fack", "

Role Model A role model is a person whose behaviour, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term ''role model'' is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who hypothesized that individuals compare themselves ...

", and " Any Man". According to the website, "Revival" treats "Atrox Rithimus", a nonexistent medical condition. One translation of Atrox Rithimus, from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

, is 'terrible rhyme'. The website is also registered to one of Eminem's labels,

. When the phone number for "Revival" is called, it plays the background music of

's "

I Need a Doctor "I Need a Doctor" is a single by American rapper Dr. Dre featuring fellow American rapper Eminem and American singer Skylar Grey. The song was produced by Alex da Kid and released for digital download through the American iTunes Store on Februar ...

", which Eminem features on. These details led fans to believe Eminem's new album will be called ''Revival''. This would follow suit with the names of two of his last three solo albums, ''

Relapse In internal medicine, relapse or recidivism is a recurrence of a past (typically medical) condition. For example, multiple sclerosis and malaria often exhibit peaks of activity and sometimes very long periods of dormancy, followed by relapse or ...

'' and '' Recovery''.

Release

The lead single, " Walk on Water", was first performed by Eminem at the

2017 MTV Europe Music Awards The 2017 MTV EMAs (also known as the MTV Europe Music Awards) were held at The SSE Arena in Wembley, London, United Kingdom, on 12 November 2017. The ceremony's host was Rita Ora, with voiceovers provided by Capital FM DJ Roman Kemp. This was t ...

on November 12, 2017, with co-producer and writer Skylar Grey on vocals. Both performed the song and a medley of " Stan" / " Love the Way You Lie" on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'' on November 18. Ed Sheeran 2013

The album release date was teased multiple times. On November 28, 2017, the release date of the album was announced to be December 15 via both

's and Eminem's social media accounts, while also revealing the fake drug campaign of the record. On December 5, Eminem shared a complete list of all the tracks featuring on his album via his Instagram account. The list features a total of 19 tracks, including an interlude track to Revival, featuring artists such as Phresher,

, Skylar Grey,

and

. On December 7, 2017, the album cover was revealed and projected onto a Detroit building. That night, the song "

" was released and a pre-order was set up on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'''s Tatiana Cirisano listed the cover as one of the worst of 2017, dubbing it "provocative but undeniably cringeworthy".

Singles

On November 8, 2017, Eminem tweeted a picture of a doctor's prescription note with the words " Walk on Water" and "Take as needed" written on it. Additionally, the doctor's note was labeled with the logo for ''Revival''. This caused speculation that the first single would be titled "Walk on Water". On November 9, Paul Rosenberg shared a video on Instagram linking the drug "Revival" with "Walk on Water" and confirming the song, which was subsequently released the next day. An audio video was uploaded to Eminem's

channel. As of December 16, 2017, the video had nearly 50 million views and over 1.1 million likes. On December 23, 2017, the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for the song was released exclusively on

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Appl ...

and Eminem's official

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

channel. "Walk on Water" debuted at number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the 57th entry for both artists on the chart. Beyonce 2016

", featuring

, was released as a second single of the album. The song was released to radio on January 5, 2018, and was released a single on February 7. An audio video was uploaded to Eminem's YouTube channel on December 14, 2017. As of January 15, 2018, the video has over 60 million views and 1 million likes. On February 14, 2018, the music video for the song was released on Eminem's official Vevo channel. Commercially, it has reached number one in the United Kingdom, Norway, and Sweden as well as the top 10 in Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, and Switzerland, and the top 20 in Belgium and the United States. The album's third single, " Nowhere Fast" featuring

, impacted US

Contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

on March 27, 2018. The two artists performed the song at the

2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards The 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards were held on March 11, 2018 at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The list of nominations was announced on January 10, 2018. DJ Khaled and Hailey Baldwin hosted the ceremony. TBS, TNT, and truTV broadcast th ...

. "Remind Me" was released to Italian radio as the fourth single from the album on July 6, 2018. " Framed", a

horrorcore Horrorcore, also called horror hip hop, horror rap, death hip hop, or death rap, is a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery. Its origins derived from certain hardcore hip h ...

song, received a music video on April 3, 2018, inspired by 1980s horror films.

Promotional singles

"Untouchable" was released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

on December 8, 2017. The song features a sample from the song " Earache My Eye" by

comedy duo A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases fo ...

Cheech & Chong Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo consisting of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. The duo found commercial and cultural success in the 1970s and 1980s with their stand-up routines, studio recordings, and feature films, which were based on the hippie a ...

. A remix of "

Chloraseptic Chloraseptic is an American brand of oral analgesic that is produced by Tarrytown, New York-based Prestige Consumer Healthcare, used for the relief of sore throat and mouth pain. Its active ingredient is phenol (just in Sore Throat Spray, not i ...

" featuring

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (or Tity Boi), is an American rapper. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he initially gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip hop duo Playaz Circle, a ...

and Phresher was released as a promotional single on January 8, 2018.

Content

According to Eminem, the album's title is "kind of a

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

. It's a revival for myself and (that's) the theme of the album. But there's also hopefully the revival of America." ''Revival'' has many lines critiquing Donald Trump's presidential campaign and

, calling Trump a

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

, an

Aryan Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ...

, a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

and "basically ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

". In "Framed", Eminem narrates a fantasy in which he seems to have murdered Trump's daughter Ivanka. On "Like Home", he raps his regret over having collaborated with Trump on a mock national convention in which Trump endorses his

Slim Shady Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

persona. Such criticisms are contrasted by lyrics such as those on "Like Home" celebrating the sanctity of U.S. civil liberties and calling for a "brand new America" without Trump. On "Heat", Eminem jokes that he agrees with the former president about one thing— grabbing women by the "pussy". On "Untouchable", Eminem addresses racism in America, including

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to ...

, blaming it on Republicans and criticizing the philosophy of ' pull yourself up by the bootstraps', retorting, "where the fuck are the boots?" "Nowhere Fast" deals with gun violence in the U.S., with an extended version naming the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...

as being largely responsible. Two joke-laden tracks focus on newfound romance and related sexual escapades: "Remind Me", which samples

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

' " I Love Rock 'n' Roll", and "Heat", which samples clips from the film ''

Boogie Nights ''Boogie Nights'' is a 1997 American period comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley and focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic fi ...

'' (1997). The last three songs, "In Your Head", "Castle", and "Arose" deal with the rapper's personal life. The first of these, sampling

The Cranberries The Cranberries were an Irish rock band formed in Limerick, Ireland. Originally named the Cranberry Saw Us, the band were formed in 1989 by lead singer Niall Quinn, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler. Quinn was ...

' "

Zombie A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in w ...

", expresses regret regarding some of his early lyrics related to his Slim Shady persona. "Castle" is structured as a series of letters to his daughter, Hailie Mathers, climaxing in a series of events in 2007 which led to him overdosing, also expressing a struggle with fame which made him consider quitting rap. Continuing the theme, in "Arose", Eminem pens thoughts to his family from the perspective of his

near-death experience A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death which researchers claim share similar characteristics. When positive, such experiences may encompass a variety of sensations including detac ...

. Finding his strength to continue living, he rewinds to the near the end of the previous track, where he considers quitting the industry, then continues in a new direction to his sobriety and the success of his more recent work, with high hopes for the current album.

Critical reception

Upon release, ''Revival'' generally polarized music critics, as many were divided over its perceived lack of focus, lyrics, heavy sampling of rock music in the production, and the abundance of

artists for guest appearances. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 50, based on 24 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Don Needham of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' criticized the album's production and focus, stating that "If Eminem thinks his verbal box of tricks can overcome the weakness of any backing track, his recent albums get demonstrated otherwise." In a positive review, Andy Gill of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' complimented the album's lyrical themes: "But ultimately, it's all about Eminem himself, and nowhere more dynamically than in the berserk self-assessment "Offended", where he asserts, amongst other things, that if the time he spent writing were taken into account, he'd be a minimum-wage slavea faintly ludicrous claim, but immediately backed up by a bravura extended burst of rapid-rap babble that both explains and exemplifies his skills, and leaves one wondering not just how long it took to write, but how on earth he manages to pronounce such a polysyllabic torrent so perfectly."

Neil McCormick Neil McCormick (born 31 March 1961) is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster. He has been Chief Music Critic for '' The Daily Telegraph'' since 1996, and presented a music interview show for Vintage TV in the UK, Neil McCormick's Ne ...

of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' stated that ''Revival'' "represents Eminem on top form, which is to say unstoppable, unbeatable yet often indefensible." ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' concluded that ''Revival'' is "mildly more admirable than previous outings but no more enjoyable. A chance to bust out of the slump has passed Eminem by. It just might never happen for him." In a mixed review, Jon Caramanica of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' remarked that while the album is "probably the best of his recent albums", he criticized Eminem's apparent lack of awareness to the evolution of hip hop's sound in general, arguing that he is too "beholden to his own aesthetic." In a negative review, ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' gave the album an "F" rating, calling the album "ugly, arthritic, and pleasureless" and "a disaster". Comparing ''Revival'' to Eminem's previous bodies of work, Matthew Ismael Ruiz of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' stated that "Musically, ''Revival'' is no different, chock full of piano ballads and pop-star features that echo the most cynically commercial corners of his catalog. The shock value comes not from the album's overwhelmingly bland hooks or cringe-worthy humor (of which there is plenty), but from the moments where his growth as a human is most apparent", concluding that "''Revival'' is another late-career album that does little for his legacy." Writing for ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...

'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

found the album "much cleverer than lemmings claim, bluntly and intelligently political too, but so received in its cartoon misogyny and pop grandeur you know he felt irrelevance bearing down even before #MeToo killed this album on the vine". He singled out "Untouchable", "Chloraseptic", and "Like Home" as highlights. Trent Clark from ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

'' said that "Eminem's dedication to wrecking mics like

Robert Mueller Robert Swan Mueller III (; born August 7, 1944) is an American lawyer and government official who served as the sixth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2001 to 2013. A graduate of Princeton University and New York ...

can never be questioned but the production choices still remain an enigma. When he doesn't bath in lamely visible rock samples like Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" or The Cranberries' "Zombie" (on "Remind Me" or "In Your Head" respectively), he's mostly square pegging his intensified lyrics on mechanical slabs of assembly line pop hybrids." He singled out "Framed" and "Castle" as highlights:

it's largely the retreads of past glory where he hits his stride the hardest. On the hypnotically-produced "Framed," Marshall dons the hockey mask for old times sake and pulls up off homicidal fantasies that for better or worse, feature the album's most in-pocket rhyme moment. And when he plunges into his drug-altered psyche to speak on his greatest love — his daughter Haile Jade — the ever-reliable DJ Khalil steps up to the plate on "Castle" with a darkened soundbed of macabre guitars and deathly drum marches that feature the album's most vintage Eminem moment.

Mitch Findlay from ''

HotNewHipHop ''HotNewHipHop (HNHH)'' is an online publication that covers daily news about hip hop and pop culture, including streetwear, sports, and sneakers. In addition to its editorial content, HotNewHipHop also produces the video serieses; ''How to Roll ...

'' wrote: "''Revival'' is, by far, Eminem's most pop-friendly album to date. While previous albums merely flirted with the sound, ''Revival'' has bought a ring and proposed to it. Therefore, if you're somebody who finds no pleasure in the production of 'pop-rap,' you'll find no solace here." He singled out "Framed," "Castle" and "Arose" as highlights, with the latter two being "among ''Revival''s strongest tracks. Conceptually and lyrically, the closing pair find Eminem in excellent form, and longtime fans will no doubt cite these two as album highlights."

Commercial performance

''Revival'' is Eminem's eighth consecutive album to top the US ''Billboard'' 200, debuting with 267,000 album-equivalent units, 197,000 being traditional album sales. As a result, Eminem became the first musical act to get eight entries in a row debut at its summit. ''Revival'' entered atop the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

with 132,000

album-equivalent units The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditio ...

, becoming the year's second largest opening behind Ed Sheeran's '' ÷'' and giving the rapper his eighth consecutive number-one album. As of October 2018, it sold 321,000 album-equivalent units in the UK. It additionally arrived at number one in Australia, becoming his ninth entry to top the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. The album then fell behind ''÷'' the following week. In 2018, ''Revival'' was ranked as the 32nd most popular album of the year on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Track listing

Credits adapted from Tidal. Track notes * signifies a co-producer. * signifies an additional producer. * "Remind Me" features backing vocals by

Mr. Porter Denaun Porter (born December 7, 1974), also known by the stage names Mr. Porter, Kon Artis, and more recently simply Denaun, is an American rapper and music producer. He was a member of Detroit hip hop group D12 until its disbandment in 2018. ...

. * "Revival (Interlude)" features vocals by Alice and the Glass Lake. * "Offended" features vocals by Kent Jones. * "Castle" features vocals by Liz Rodrigues. Sample credits * "Chloraseptic" contains elements of "It's My Thing", written by

Erick Sermon Erick Sermon (born November 25, 1968) is an American rapper, musician, and record producer. He is best known as one-third—alongside PMD & DJ Scratch—of 1980s/1990s hip hop group EPMD and for his production work. Career Sermon started prof ...

and Parrish Smith and performed by

EPMD EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is a concatenation of the members' names "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. ...

. * "Untouchable" contains samples of " Earache My Eye", written by

Tommy Chong Thomas B. Kin Chong (born May 24, 1938) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, musician, activist. He is known for his marijuana-themed Cheech & Chong comedy albums and movies with Cheech Marin, as well as playing the character Leo on Fox ...

, Gaye Delorme, Richard Marin and performed by

, and " Born to Roll", written by Duval Clear, Andre Brown, Tyrone Kelsie and Eric McIntosh and performed by

Masta Ace Incorporated Masta Ace Incorporated was an American hip hop crew formed by rapper Masta Ace. History The group, also known as ''The I.N.C.'', included Eyceurokk (Eyce, Uneek and Rokkdiesel), Lord Digga, Paula Perry and R&B vocalist Leschea. Ace first gai ...

. * "Remind Me" contains samples of "

I Love Rock 'n' Roll "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is a rock song written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker and first recorded by the Arrows, a British rock band, in 1975. A 1981 cover version by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, released as the first single from her album of ...

", written by

Alan Merrill Alan Merrill (born Allan Preston Sachs; February 19, 1951 – March 29, 2020) was an American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. In the early 1970s, he was one of the few resident foreigners to achieve pop star status in Japan. He was the write ...

, Jake Hooker and performed by

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

; "Saturday Night", written and performed by

Schoolly D Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr. (born June 22, 1962), better known by the stage name Schoolly D (sometimes spelled Schooly D), is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Career Schoolly D teamed up with DJ Code Money in the mid-1980s. His ...

and " Bust a Move", written by

Matt Dike Matt Dike (December 2, 1961 – January 16, 2018) was an American music executive, record producer, and DJ. He co-founded the hip-hop record label Delicious Vinyl in 1987. In the 1980s, Dike was artist Jean-Michel Basquiat's studio assistant a ...

, Luther Rabb, James Walters and Marvin Young and performed by

Young MC Marvin Young (born May 10, 1967), better known by his stage name Young M.C., is a British-born American rapper, singer and actor. He is best known for his 1989 hit " Bust a Move". His debut album ''Stone Cold Rhymin found international acc ...

. * "Revival (Interlude)" contains elements of "Human of the Year", written and performed by

Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (russian: Регинa Ильинична Спектор, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian–born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in ...

. * "Framed" contains samples of "Pilgrim", written by David John Byron and Kenneth William Hensley and performed by C&K Vocal. * "Heat" contains samples of " King of Rock", written by

Darryl McDaniels Darryl Matthews McDaniels (born May 31, 1964), better known by his stage name DMC, is an American rapper. He is a founding member of the hip hop group Run-DMC, and is considered one of the pioneers of hip hop culture. Early life McDaniels gre ...

Joseph Simmons Joseph Ward Simmons (born November 14, 1964), better known by the stage name Run, Rev. Run or DJ Run, is an American rapper, producer, DJ and television personality. Simmons is one of the founding members of the influential hip hop group Run ...

and Larry Smith and performed by

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history ...

, "

Girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...

", written by Adam Horovitz and

and performed by the

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar, programming) ...

and an uncredited sample of "Intro (Feel the Heat)" from the film ''

'' and performed by

John C. Reilly John Christopher Reilly (born May 24, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer, and writer. After his film debut in '' Casualties of War'' (1989), he gained exposure through his supporting roles in '' Days of Thunder'' (1990), '' ...

and

Mark Wahlberg Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), former stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, businessman, and former rapper. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Mark Wahlberg, multiple accolades, including a B ...

. * "Offended" contains samples of "In You (I Found a Love)", written by Charles Bradley,

Thomas Brenneck Thomas "Tommy" Brenneck is an American guitarist, record producer, and engineer. He became known as the leader of the Menahan Street Band and a member of The Budos Band, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and El Michels Affair. He is the founder of ...

, David Guy and Leon Michels and performed by Charles Bradley. * "In Your Head" contains samples of "

", written by

Dolores O'Riordan Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan ( ; 6 September 1971 – 15 January 2018) was an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. She was best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist for the alternative rock band the Cranberries. One of the most recogniz ...

and performed by

. * "Arose" contains samples of "

I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby I Am or I'm may refer to: Language and literature * "I Am that I Am", a common English translation of the response God used in the Hebrew Bible when Moses asked for His name ** I am (biblical term), a Christian term used in the Bible * "I Am" (po ...

", written and performed by

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

and " The Rose", written by

Amanda McBroom Amanda McBroom (born August 9, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Notable among the songs she has written is " The Rose", which Bette Midler sang in the film of the same name, and which has been sung by many other recording art ...

and performed by

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;'' Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received numerous accolades, including four Golden ...

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Performers *

– vocals *

– vocals * Skylar Grey – vocals *

– vocals *

– vocals Technical * Mike Strange – recording engineer , mixing engineer * Joe Strange – recording engineer * Jason Lader – recording engineer * Stuart White – recording engineer * Rob Bisel – assistant recording engineer * Johnnie Burik – assistant recording engineer * Tony Campana – assistant recording engineer *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career M ...

– mixing engineer * Eminem – mixing engineer * Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri – recording engineer * Robert Reyes – assistant recording engineer * Charles "CharlieRed" Garcia – assistant recording engineer *

– mixing engineer * Quentin "Q" Gilkey – mixing engineer *

Frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...

– recording engineer *

Aalias Aaron Kleinstub (born August 20, 1989), better known by his stage name Aalias, is an American music producer and musician from Cleveland, Ohio. Biography Aaron “Aalias” Kleinstub is a songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentali ...

– recording engineer *

Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Blaze attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue his mu ...

– recording engineer * Andrew Wright – recording engineer * Ann Mincieli – recording engineer * Brendan Morawski – assistant recording engineer * Travis Ference – recording engineer * Sam Harris – recording engineer * Chris Galland – mixing engineer * Robin Florent – assistant mixing engineer * Scott Desmarais – assistant mixing engineer * Steve Hammons – recording engineer * Adam Comstock – recording engineer * Darwin Sanchez – recording engineer *

Scram Jones Marc Shemer, (born November 5, 1977), better known by his stage name Scram Jones, is a producer, DJ and rapper from New Rochelle, New York. He has produced music for Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Styles P, Tragedy Khadafi, Jadakiss, Saigon, Dip ...

– recording engineer * Myles William – percussion, programming Production *

– producer * Skylar Grey – producer * Eminem – producer , co-producer * Luis Resto – additional producer *

– additional producer , producer *

Mark Batson Mark Batson is an American producer, musician and songwriter. He has worked on albums by artists including Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews Band, LeAnn Rimes, Anthony Hamilton, Eminem, India Arie, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Maroon 5, Skylar Grey, Grace Potter an ...

– producer * Emile Haynie – producer * Dr. Dre – producer * Neff-U – producer * Trevor Lawrence – producer *

– producer *

Rock Mafia Rock Mafia is an American record production team, consisting of Tim James and Antonina Armato who have been active since the early 2000s. They have written and produced 38 top ten singles, and have sold over 50 million records worldwide. They hav ...

– producer *

Hit-Boy Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr. (born May 21, 1987), better known by his stage name Hit-Boy, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. In May 2011, he had signed a two-year deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music production branch. ...

– producer * Illa da Producer – producer *

– producer * DJ Khalil – producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Legacy

Eminem said of the reaction to ''Revival'': "I think there's things to be taken away from this album and the reaction to it. Were there too many songs? Were there too many features? There were certain songs like 'Tragic Endings' and 'Need Me' where I felt like lyrically they would give the listener a second to breathe. I spend a lot of time writing shit that I think nobody ever gets." Later he said: "When the ''Revival'' tracklist came down the pipe, it was like overwhelmingly, 'This shit is going to be trash.' Nobody really wanted to be wrong about it. I'm not saying everybody, but a lot of people had already formed their opinion." He also stated that he is proud of the album, saying: "I'm good with ''Revival''. Fuck it. Because I couldn't have made this album [''

''] without it." On the ''Kamikaze'' opener, "The Ringer (song), The Ringer", Eminem criticizes detractors of ''Revival'' but apologizes for alienating fans who supported Trump while maintaining that he believes Trump is an "evil serpent" and says that he was questioned by the

U.S. Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

for his seemingly threatening lyrics against the president. This led

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ke ...

to file a

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...

request with the Secret Service to find out if the claim was true. In October 2019, the agency revealed to BuzzFeed that, in response to an email from a TMZ employee pressing the agency to investigate Eminem for his "threatening lyrics" about Donald and Ivanka Trump, they had conducted a

background check A background check is a process a person or company uses to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and this provides an opportunity to check and confirm the validity of someone's criminal record, education, employment history, and oth ...

and arranged an interview, in which the interviewers read the verse out loud to Eminem—and he rapped along. The agency subsequently decided against referring the case to a federal prosecutor. ''Revival'' is widely considered Eminem's worst and most polarizing album by fans and critics. The CD case for ''Revival'' appears in the music videos for two songs from ''Kamikaze'': "

Fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...

" and "

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a st ...

References

Footnotes Citations {{Authority control 2017 albums Aftermath Entertainment albums Albums produced by Alex da Kid Albums produced by DJ Khalil Albums produced by Dr. Dre Albums produced by Emile Haynie Albums produced by Eminem Albums produced by Fredwreck Albums produced by Hit-Boy Albums produced by Just Blaze Albums produced by Mark Batson Albums produced by Mr. Porter Albums produced by Rick Rubin Albums produced by Rock Mafia Albums produced by Scram Jones Albums produced by Skylar Grey Eminem albums Interscope Records albums Shady Records albums Albums recorded at Shangri-La (recording studio) Rap rock albums by American artists Political hip hop albums