The album also features pop artists such as Pink and Rihanna, as well as rapper Lil Wayne and the rap group Slaughterhouse.

To promote it, Eminem performed the album's songs on televised shows, at award ceremonies, and musical events; he also headed The Recovery Tour.

After staying on hiatus for so long, fellow D12 member Swift confirmed that Eminem had in fact planned to put out two albums that year, following with Relapse 2 in late 2009.

[11] The album was subsequently pushed back for an early 2010 release, so Eminem decided to re-release Relapse as Relapse: Refill, which includes a bonus disc featuring seven new tracks, including the single "Forever" (originally on More Than a Game soundtrack) and "Taking My Ball" (released with DJ Hero), as well as five previously unreleased tracks.

The songs "On Fire", "So Bad" and "Ridaz" from Recovery were recorded in the same sessions in Hawaii which led to speculation that they could have been intended for Relapse 2.

"[16] In contrast to Eminem's previous work, the album features no skits,[17] and downplays his Slim Shady alter ego.

[18] The record opens with "Cold Wind Blows" in which Eminem discusses his "doomed love for his ex-wife" and about "settling scores with rival celebs.

[22] "Not Afraid", a mid-tempo song, focuses on personal changes in Eminem, including an end to drug abuse, feuds and violence.

"[24] A writer for MuchMusic website noted that Eminem chose to use his Marshall Mathers ego for the song, rather than Slim Shady.

[27][28] "Cinderella Man" has a "festive beat" and "the template of every album since Encore (2004)," with many minor keys and traces of post-grunge rock.

[20] The hip-hop ballad "Love the Way You Lie", which features Rihanna, describes a couple's refusal to separate despite having an abusive relationship.

[37] There was a Call of Duty: Black Ops ad underscored by "Won't Back Down"; the song also appeared in the game as an easter egg.

On June 15, Eminem appeared among other artists including Usher and will.i.am for Activision's press conference during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 with Rihanna where the duo performed "Love the Way You Lie".

[48][49] He also headed The Recovery Tour; a series of European, American and Australian concerts in support of the album and its predecessor Relapse.

"Love the Way You Lie" went on to be number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks and is certified Diamond by RIAA and has sold more than 6 million in US.

Michael Menachem from Billboard commented that "Rihanna's chorus is exquisitely melodic and surprisingly hopeful, complementing the turmoil of Em's dark, introspective rant.

[70] The video was about a young school boy who was bullied but had the urge to stand up after being motivated by listening to songs by Eminem and Lil Wayne.

"[79] Songs "25 to Life", "Won't Back Down", "Talkin' 2 Myself", and "Cold Wind Blows" also debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 without release as singles.

[82] The album's artwork featured two covers: one with Eminem walking down a country road and another with him sitting in a transparent living room in the middle of Detroit with the Renaissance Center in the background.

[15] The album's alternate cover also inspired Drake's album, Views (2016), which showed him sitting on top of Toronto's CN Tower,[83] and respectively YoungBoy Never Broke Again's Don't Try This at Home (2023), depicting YoungBoy standing at the bottom of a steamboat across the Horace Wilkinson Bridge in Baton Rouge.

[86] AllMusic's David Jeffries praised Eminem's performance as potent and energetic, and said that the album "may be flawed ... but he hasn't sounded this unfiltered and proud since The Marshall Mathers LP".

[87] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph commended him for addressing more mature, introspective subject matter and successfully "framing his misogyny, homophobia and all-round bigotry with an undeniable sense of empathy and humanity.

"[88] Jody Rosen, writing in Rolling Stone, called it Eminem's "most casual-sounding album in years" and said that he "sounds content to be rap's wittiest head case.

"[95] MSN Music's Robert Christgau said that, although the cleverness "varies" and the themes are "rarely" upheld by his "long-recessive sense of play", the album is a comeback "for Eminem, not Slim Shady—and for Marshall at his most martial.

"[91] In a mixed review, Jon Caramanica of The New York Times regarded Eminem as "frustratingly limited in his topical range" and called Recovery "the most insular of all his releases.

[96] In a largely negative review, Pitchfork's Jayson Greene perceived a lack of lyrical depth and wrote "for the first time in his career, he actually sounds clumsy.

"[93] Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot criticized the writing, and said that it lacks hooks and fun: "The subversive humor is long gone, and his cultural references ... remain dated.

"[22] Slant Magazine's M. T. Richards also found Eminem's pop culture references "inane" and called the album's material "unsurprisingly hollow" with punchlines that "rarely resonate.

"[97] Los Angeles Times writer Jeff Weiss found his rhyme schemes "dazzling" and wordplay "clever", but panned its production as "monochromatic and monotonous.

"[98] The Guardian's Paul MacInnes said that the music lacks consistency because of a "piecemeal approach to production" and "fashionable soft-rock samples.