Eminem Album: “The Slim Shady LP [Edited]”

The Slim Shady LP is an excellent album, but it's definitely NOT for everyone. One needs to see through the often shocking and possibly horrific lyrics to get the humor.

1)Public Service Announcement -- very funny intro to the entire album.

2)My Name Is -- I think everyone has heard this one before...

3)Guilty Conscience -- both Eminem and Dr. Dre do an awesome job on this track.

4)Brain Damage -- Excellent track, Eminem talks about his difficult childhood and takes the listeners into his life.

5)Paul -- Prelude to the Paul skit on Marshall Mathers LP

6)If I Had -- honest and heartfelt

7)97' Bonnie and Clyde -- one of the best tracks on the album IMO, but also one of the most disturbing. Not for people who don't like to hear about family murders. The track Kim from the Marshall Mathers LP is actually a prequal to this track, which is interesting.

8)B**** -- a funny skit about a girl's reaction after listening to this album.

9)Role Model -- a parody about people imitating whatever they see and whomever they idolize.

10)Lounge -- a very funny intro to the next track. Shows some of Eminem's vocal skills other than rapping...

11)My Fault -- another candidate for best track. The content is hilarious at times, although the entire song ends on a sad note.

12)Ken Kaniff -- this Kenneth Kaniff from Connecticut is pretty nasty...

13)Cum on Everybody -- resembles Drug Ballad on Marshall Mathers LP. An okay track, with a nice beat.

14)Rock Bottom -- Great track, takes the listeners into Eminem's mind when his life was extremely difficult. Shows his vulnerability and honesty.

15)Just Don't Give a -- nice beat and rhymes throughout the song.

16)Soap -- okay skit, not one of the best.

17)As the World Turns -- this is one of the weirder tracks IMO, but worth a listen.

18)I'm Shady -- dark humor in this song.

19)Bad Meets Evil -- I like the style of the song being embedded in the context of someone telling a story. Quite original.

20)Still Don't Give a -- better than its prelude, nice ending note to the whole album.

That's the Slim Shady LP for you... Enjoy the album!

This review is specifically directed towards the edited version of the album. Now I'm not gonna start on some rant about free speech, or censorship, or whatever. That would just waste my time and yours, since you've already decided that you have an interest in this edited CD.

So here's the lowdown. This clean version of "The Slim Shady LP" does a lot of things wrong. The most obvious problem is the editing method used. Instead of dubbing words out, which is the least one ought to expect, they simply scramble/reverse the audio. Not just the vocals, either - the ENTIRE audio section gets altered. Taking out words is one thing, but when the entire beat and instrumental track gets scrambled, it kills the flow of the song. In "Guity Conscience" they also use this awful "scratching" effect on top of the audio - and I don't mean hip-hoppy turntable scratching, I mean a literal, unpleasant SCRATCHING noise that would make you think you had a defective CD or something. At other points on the album, the production gets even lazier as portions of the songs are actually SILENCED. As in no vocals, no backing instremental, no audio. Nothing but a blank space.

The second problem comes with the language they choose to edit. In most cases, edited versions are produced in order to remove curse words. On this disc, it's only the "F-word" that gets taken out, so you'll still be hearing "sh--" quite a bit. I'm not gonna get into a debate about appropriate language, but making an edited CD that you still wouldn't be able to play on radio seems rather pointless.

Most annoying of all, however, is what DOES get edited on this CD. Every drug reference gets scrambled, which is somewhat understandable, but still frustrating in many cases. But then they go and remove "violent" lyrics, and this is where things get out of hand. Words like "die," "kill," and "shoot" are all removed. Case in point - in "Brain Damage," there's a line about schoolyard bullies roughing up Eminem as a child. Eminem quotes these bullies as saying "You're gonna die!" but the word "die" is scrambled. Elsewhere on the disc, a narrator describes "the legend of Slim Shady" in a parody of Westerns, and relates the tale of how Slim was "shot in the back." The word "shot" is edited. Half of these edits are things you can say in G-rated movies. Taking out curse words is one thing, but what they do to this disc insults the basic intelligence of the listener. It's especially silly in a song like "Role Model," where the message of the entire song is how Eminem is NOT a role model, and how no one with a brain should do anything he describes.

You can see the irony here; "sh-t" is left in while "shoot" gets scrambled. Only "Just Don't Give" has been resonably edited, and that's only because the song had previously been edited when it was released as a single. This CD is un unlistenable mess; and even if you're willing to tolerate some "choppiness" in order to get a "clean" version, you'll be disappointed on that front as well. If you're looking for a relatively clean Eminem CD, I'd recommend the edited version of "The Eminem Show." All the edits on THAT album are of professional quality, and they succeed in bringing all the language to a TV-PG level, while leaving most of Eminem's wit intact.

Admittedly, this is not an album for the faint of heart. Even the edited version contains some foul language and questionable subject matter.

But please, Eminem is not to be taken too seriously. He is darkly comedic. If dark comedy is offensive to you, don't buy the album.

On the other hand, the lyrics are clever, the beats rock solid, and the production spectacular.

In my opinion Eminem is the best rapper to date and he is WHITE. His experiences growing up are not like those of other rappers, he never was a drug-dealer and he tried labor jobs. He talks about alot of experiences growing up, not having a dad, bully's at school, problems with his girl friend, being depressed for not getting a deal yet.

He has many styles that would fit anybody's likings but his lyrics can get offensive to people. HEY IT IS ONLY MUSIC FOR GOD'S SAKE. He says what is on his mind and isnt afraid to let his opinion out. Probably his wackiest and funniest album, pry cause he was not on probation and he was doing all the drugs that he talks about on the record.

After you buy this album, your fingers will hurt from always pressing the rewind button.

Great album from a talented white rapper.

On my top 5 of all time.

When this album broke the charts and entered the ears of America's Teenagers it did more than shake things up, it completely shattered the delicate balance of 1990s Clinton era Neo-Liberalism. Eminem, a cute blond white boy with a sadistic but sharp sense of humor and unmatched writing skills became the object of many peoples fantasies and worst nightmares

This being his first studio album, nobody outside of the Hip hop music world really knew who the F*** he was! Needless to say, from Gay Rights Activists to Christian Family Values Advocates, his first impression managed to incite anger on every side of the fence! It's hard not to see somebody as a threat if it is also clear that they are incredibly intelligent, articulate and could likely outsmart you. Eminem, could also Rap his ass off and carved his own path both in his writing style and musical style. A white Rapper being very much white in every way and not trying to be "Thug" or pretending to be "Old School" in any way was completely foreign to people. He instead, drew inspiration from his own life, emotions and attitude toward society. Beyond his "Skillz" as a Rap Artist, (there are a ton of great Rap Artistst out there), what made the Hip Hop Music World take notice was his authenticity. Authenticity is what Hip Hop is all about and Eminem had it in spades!

This album, more than shaking up stuffy white people, shook up Hip Hop music. That said Dr. Dre had allot to do with the sound of this Rap Masterpiece. West Coast Gangsta Rap was finally Frickin dead! East Coast Rap had turned into either overly preachy and political or completely nostalgic...Rap had clearly become an overly reproduced format by the end of the 1990s. It took these two mavericks to save it from the grave.

That said, it is a bloody concept album! It's progressive and innovative, it's psychopathic, it's funny and it is so well done that you can't help but like it. For many of the suspected Eminem Haters of the time, including Hipsters and Smart Assed Music Aficionados, The Slim Shady LP was a guilty pleasure. I know this because I saw it everywhere I went. From NYC's Electro scene, to Indirockers, to House loving Chelsea Boys, to Punks, to Pop Fiends, to Hip Hop snobs, hell, I even talked to a Classical Violinist and a Jazz Singer about this album.

For many people, this little disk of HATE had something to love!

Lets not forget to mention that this album for it's time, was the voice of America's Youth. In that way, it is similar Nirvana's Nevermind or even The Beatles. It was the right soundtrack for the mood of our youth. Angry, Irreverent, Politically Incorrect, Violent and Sadistically funny.

It is unfortunate however that Eminem has since become too calculated for his own good. But hey, he aint a kid anymore and has found his place as an adult, still doing what he does best...making great music!