Eminem Album: “The Eminem Show (Explicit)”

I have found "The Eminem Show" (Eminem's 3rd full length solo CD release for interscope records) to be honest, intelligent, frightening, and important.

Eminem keeps it real, and I love him for it!

The CD's content is much more personal this time around, a

logical next step in profit Shady's evolution.

All Eminem haters stop reading now and I'll see you on my next review.

Welcome home, Em. He's been gone for a while. "No he hasn't", you say, "he's released the Marshall Mathers LP in 2000 and the D-12 album last year" (don't admit that you actually bought that D-12 album, by the way). But true underground heads know that he took a vacation from the streets and started kicking some Generation-X, MTV-ready raps for all of America to eat up and/or criticize. But just like Jay-Z did with The Blueprint and Nas did with Stillmatic, Eminem brings it back to the streets with his third album, The Eminem Show. There's not one commercial, radio-friendly song on this album (except for "Without Me", which is the weakest track on here compared to the rest of the songs). Forget the title to the first single off his second album, THIS is the Real Slim Shady.

If you think he has totally ditched his style (shock value lyrics, dissing your favorite artists for no reason), you're wrong, as evidenced on "Without Me"'s third verse when he disses an *NSYNC member and Moby. The beef continues on "Say What You Say" when guest Dr. Dre takes shots at a certain producer in Atlanta: "I'm a giant...when I see you I'ma step on you and not even know it/You midget/...Over eighty million records sold/And I ain't have to do it with 10- or 11-year-olds." Timbaland also puts his two cents in as well at the end of the track. Unfortunately, we heard all this dissing before (The Roots vs. Nas, Nas vs. Jay-Z, Jay-Z vs. anybody who ain't him) so you're left with a "Who cares?" feeling. Therefore, the diss records (with artists) thankfully stop there.

Eminem, still one of the best, if not THE best, rapper in the game, brings it on politically ("White America"), explains his reasoning for him hating his parents ("Cleaning Out My Closet"), and shows affection for the only female he loves: his daughter ("Hailie's Song"). And songs like "Say Goodbye Hollywood" talk about his recent lawsuit(s). Now I wouldn't dare rank Eminem with 2Pac, but just like Pac's Me Against the World versus his other albums, The Eminem Show is Em's darkest and most personal record, which is why it's his best album.

Dudes on the block will be arguing over what's the best song on the album, but my pick is "When the Music Stops" with D-12, where, for once, everyone sounds good. And "Soldier" and "Till I Collapse" tie at second. In fact, there's not one song worth skipping on this album, but the aforementioned "Without Me", which really sounds like "The Real Slim Shady Part 2", comes close.

You either like Eminem or you don't, and he's not gonna change for no one. Like he said a few years back, he just don't give a you-know-what. But those who think that Eminem has changed his style are just mad because they can't find the "hits" that they found on his last two albums. This album is for the true Eminem fans only, not the mainstream, current-fad loving, bandwagon-jumping individuals. You probably won't see another single off this album on TRL, so that means that most of his fans will throw this album away. Oh well, their loss.

While both Slim Shady and Marshall Mathers are an important part of this CD, Eminem subsumes his two other personas to take center stage on The Eminem Show. While the album is not as consistently impressive as either of his first two albums, it contains some standout tracks and displays a unity of purpose and theme that marks Eminem as a more mature and talented artist more than comfortable in his own often-criticized skin. There is plenty of violence and cursing throughout the course of this exceedingly long release (coming in at over an hour and seventeen minutes), yet a softer and certainly more introspective Eminem sometimes reveals himself in the lyrics. While there is plenty of talk about his own life, it is now somewhat counterbalanced by criticism of the music industry, censorship, and even American policy (including, as everyone probably knows, some harsh words for Lynn Cheney and Tipper Gore). This doesn't make Eminem a global spokesman for anything, but it certainly seems he is trying to place his music in a larger context. Naturally, though, his most intense lyrics revolve around his own life, the penultimate example of which is Cleaning Out My Closet. In this self-revelatory track, Eminem launches a vicious attack on his mother, seemingly holding nothing back at all in his diatribe. He raises the specter of his ex-wife Kim in The Kiss skit, but there is no equivalent track to Bonnie and Clyde 97 or Kim on this album.

Eminem doesn't take himself too seriously, leading to tracks such My Dad's Gone Crazy, the brilliant and funny duo with his daughter Hailie Jade. Hailie's influence is felt most strongly, of course, on Hailey's Song. This is by far my favorite song on this album, and it is certainly unique in that Eminem actually sings the lyrics, reflecting the obvious joy he feels at getting his daughter back. There are certainly enough tracks reflecting the rage and youthful exasperation that have always driven Eminem, but there is also a measure of fun rarely felt in his earlier efforts. Without Me is loads of fun, forever conjuring up images in my mind of Eminem in that superhero getup from the video. In White America, Eminem seems to take delight in pondering the effects he has on young people; and I find a lot of entertainment values in Square Dance. The only song I don't really care for is Drips featuring Obie Trice, a song that seems to take shock value for its own sake a little too far for my tastes. Overall, though, The Eminem Show is yet another amazing album from the unstoppable force known as Eminem, and the maturity, commitment, and ever-increasing skills revealed in its conception and execution offer undeniable proof that hip hop's most controversial and influential star is going to be a force in the business for a very long time.

Let me just start by saying that I am intelligent enough to know that Eminem isn't a genius, but open-minded enough to not consider him a no-talent shock artist. Eminem does have some artistic integrity and he has some market savvy too. So the following review is written by someone who has heard enough music, (hip hop in particular) to not be easily impressed, but not so jaded or reactionary against what is new and popular that I want to pan the album just for the sake of being contrary.

The Eminem Show. Its supposed to be a concept album inspired by the 'reality-based' entertainment culture of recent years. The title is inspired by the Jim Carrey film 'The Truman Show' in which a man discovers that the day to day events of his life are being mareketed as entertainment to the masses. After two wildly popular albums Eminem finds himself under the spotlight, but instead of shrinking or inventing a persona bigger than he is...Eminem has decided to flash the crowd. Look at me he says...look at yourself too he implies. But before things get too uncomfortable or too preachy Eminem plies us with his intoxicating wit and verbal dexterity.

This is Eminem's most balanced, and most mature work to date. And its a good thing too, because we aren't so impressed with his tongue twisting polysyllabic rhymes anymore that it all sounds clever. Just like all hip hoppers the voice and the delivery only stay hot for a little while (Ja Rule take note) and so there better be some innovation or substance down the line. Em keeps it fresh by turning inward and being a little more human instead of the two dimensional rebel without a cause of the past. This time out, Eminem rarely promotes his drug use as a badge of honor. Maybe he was little more sober in producing this album because it just doesn't have nearly as many boring tracks as his previous albums have had. Its hard to make a CD that clocks in at 70 minutes engaging throughout, but Em pulls it off for the first time. Sure there are some moments where he re-hashes old material (Drips and Superman come to mind) but the music is still engaging and Eminem's witticism keeps things interesting enough that you are going to at least pay attention, plus no one wants to watch him pick his sores the whole time so Em steps in with some fun bangers that are more traditional 'battle-rap-I-am-the-greatest' products (see Till I Collapse and Say What You Say).

Speaking of the music, its startling that Em has almost completely abandoned the production help of mentor Dr. Dre (who only contributes three tracks on the whole album) and mans the ship alone primarily. The result? Well if you like Dre's signature production than he is sorely missed, but Em makes up for it with more musical diversity on his self-produced tracks. Its also interesting to note that Eminem seems to find adequate tracks to express his emotional growth. Em still has venom to spew but it seems to be hitting closer to home now. He isn't stabbing ex-wives and disposing of bodies with infant daughter in tow anymore, but getting more into the hurt that has come from his relationship with his mom, with his fans, and with himself. And for a change of pace. Em actually sings a lullaby type song about his daughter on Haile's Song. Although barely listenable, one has to give Eminem credit for being bold enough to do something that could be described as corny when he has attacked the rest of the world so vehemently for their sentimental subject matter. Its all the more courageous because his daughter seems to be the only thing he cares about besides his music and telling the world you value something is always risky. Exposing his daughter to the public eye (even featuring her on catchy My Dad's Gone Crazy) and even boasting he is a competent father are all cannon fodder for those who wait in the wings to attack Marshall.

Saying that this is Em's most mature work still does leave some things to be desired. He is still sometimes offensive just for the sake of it making hamburgers out of everyone else's sacred cows. With the exception of racial slurs, there really isn't anything Em seems shy about saying to get a rise out of people. If you found him obnoxious in the past, he is still obnoxious now, but if it didn't bother you enough to dismiss the Slim Shady LP, or the Marshall Mathers LP, than you are in for much greater treat this time around.

The last two albums were great! They both, like this one had amazing crazy lyrics. But those two only had a few serious songs and the rest of the cd was joking around. Not this one, most of the cd is serious and deep. Its a lot more fersonal that the rest.

Track Assesment:

1 Curtains Up(skit)

2.White America- Great anti government song 5/5

3.Buisness - cool song, coll lyrics 5/5

4.Cleaning Out My Closet - serious, deep, personal, amazing 6/5

5.Square Dance - cool beat, cool lyrics 5/5

6.The Kiss(skit) - kim....

After reading that you should relize how amazing this cd is.

ps-I dont know if its possible for him to grow after this one