Politics, personal woes reverberate in Eminem’s ‘Revival’
Revival
Has Eminem gone soft? In “Revival,” which marks the rapper’s eighth consecutive No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200, there is as much edge as vulnerability.
The album finds the 45-year-old hip-hop luminary taking stock of his colorful life and career when he isn’t mulling over politically charged issues.
This time around, Eminem confronts his demons with a more “sedate” approach, particularly noticeable when you listen to the collection alongside his previous releases, “Relapse” and “Recovery.”
But, make no mistake, the sting is still there—especially in tracks like “Untouchable,” about racial injustice that is polarizingly viewed with shifting perspectives.
“Like Home,” his noteworthy collaboration with Alicia Keys, takes aim at its polari-zing subject matter—Donald Trump—with a more caustic message: “Time to bury him, so tell him to prepare to get impeached/ Everybody on your feet/ This is where terrorism and heroism meet, square off in the streets/ This chump barely even sleeps/ All he does is watch Fox News like a parrot and repeats/ While he looks like a canary with a beak/ Why [do] you think he banned transgenders from the military with a tweet?” Ouch.
In the quick-witted collection that reverberates with thematic pertinence as it evinces growth for its tough-talking headliner, the hefty recording’s relevant themes are made more accessible by the catchy hooks brought to pulsating life by Eminem’s stellar guest vocalists.
Take Beyoncé. She may have taken a hit in Eminem’s “No Apologies,” but she has agreed to smoke the peace pipe with the quarrelsome rapper—with positive
results: In “Walk on Water,” Queen Bey seamlessly shows off her sparkling vocals as Eminem raps about hurdling his imperfections as an artist.
In “Need Me,” his singoff with Pink, Eminem discusses the difficulty of being in a relationship plagued by lies and infidelity.
Even more significant is “River,” Eminem’s hit-bound duet with Ed Sheeran, about the disastrous repercussions of a romance gone awry.
Dangerous Man
Streisand’s son also rises
Jason Gould, Barbra Streisand’s only son (with Elliott Gould), may have turned 51 last Dec. 29—but, his first full-length album, “Dangerous Man,” demonstrates that real talent knows no shelf life.
The singer-actor, who came out of the closet in his early 20s, has been lurking in the shadow of his 75-year-old superstar mom since his acting debut as an adult in 1989’s “Say Anything.” (Asked about her son’s homosexuality, the legendary actress told The Advocate in 1999: “I would never wish my son to be anything but what he is.”)
Irving Berlin’s “How Deep is the Ocean,” Jason’s divine duet with his mother in 2014’s “Partners” album, proves beyond any doubt that he deserves his own “piece of sky,” so to speak.
His covers of “For All We Know,” “The Way You Look Tonight,” “This Masquerade” and the exquisitely sung “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” which benefit from his impressive range and jazzy improvisational crooning, will make pop-and-crossover aficionados sit up and listen.
Jason’s idiosyncratic musicality shines through in his intimate, self-penned numbers, “Dangerous Man,” “All’s Forgiven,” “Morning Prayer” (a reimagined cut from his 2012 Extended Play album) and “One Day”—each sounding as personal as the next.
What makes them irrepressibly compelling is the fact that some of his “telling” issues concern his celebrity parents.
What about his voice? Imagine a delectable hybrid of Josh Groban and George Michael, especially in the contemplative single, “Connection.”
Don’t take our word for it—get your own copy of the album, which was
released last Dec. 15.
The Bodyguard
Whitney’s legacy lives on
If you’ve been missing Whitney Houston’s music, you can’t go wrong with the soundtrack of the West End musical, “The Bodyguard,” based on the iconic songstress’ 1992 blockbuster movie with Kevin Costner, about the budding romance that blossoms between a popular actress and her tight-lipped bodyguard.
Most of Whitney’s chart-topping singles are in the album—from her “high-wire” ballads (“All at Once,” “Run to You,” “I Have Nothing,” “Saving All My Love for You,” “One Moment in Time,” “The Greatest Love of All” and “I Will Always Love You”), to the irresistible dance tracks (“I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” “I’m Every Woman,” “How Will I Know?”) that helped catapult her to the top of the charts.
“X Factor” champ Alexandra Burke sings the role of Rachel Marron in the soundtrack—and she more than passes muster.
Is she better than Whitney? Not really, but it’s impossible to replicate Whitney’s crackerjack singing in complex tunes that require complete vocal control and prodigious note-bending skills.
During Alexandra’s stint with “The Bodyguard” in London, the degree of difficulty was even higher, because she had to sing all those difficult songs daily! So, pacing and proper vocal placement were key to
preserving her voice.
