Tag: Eminem

audio review : The Slim Shady LP ( album ) … Eminem

audio review : The Slim Shady LP ( album ) ... Eminem

“I wanted an album so rugged, nobody could touch it,” Eminem proclaims. If he’s referring to rap albums, this LP might just be that. I’ll say here and now with no hesitation or reservation that Eminem is the best rapper I’ve ever heard. No popular rapper you can think of, alive or dead, even comes close. I might’ve been saying the same about guest Royce Da 5-9 if he weren’t upstaged by a rapper whose comedic wit, clever wordplay and sheer rhyme skills near genius.

There is very little filler in Eminem’s verses. Even when he’s lacing them with unnecessary profanities; the Slim Shady persona is a deviant (white-trash) druggie who aims to offend; almost every two bars are a quality set and many of those sets are classic quotables. Unless he’s cheating it somehow, his creativity is close to amazing. He even does his own sound effects. The beats are also impressive, so the album’s only major drawbacks fall on Faulty choruses and silly skits.

my rating : 4 of 5

1999

audio review : The Marshall Mathers LP ( album ) … Eminem
audio review : Hell [ The Sequel ] ( album ) … Bad Meets Evil

audio review : Calm Down ( song ) … Busta Rhymes ( featuring Eminem )

This song begins exactly like Jump Around by House Of Pain because the first six seconds is that song’s first six seconds. The sample continues in a stuttered loop, over boomy drums, but the decision to use it at all was a banal move on the part of producer Scoop DeVille. There wasn’t anything special about it in the first place.

For what it’s worth, Eminem helps connect the concept a bit by mentioning the House Of Pain song in his extra-long verse, which is about as verbose but more entertaining than Busta’s rhymes. It’s far (far) from his best, but the Abraham Lincoln, Wake-Up Show and Stan bits rival highlights from the (first/good) Marshall Mathers LP.

my rating : 3 of 5

2014

audio review : So Far ( song ) … Eminem

Eminem raps better here than anywhere else on the second Marshall Mathers LP. That’s partly because he’s using the same contentious vocal delivery he used on the first one. The McDonald’s and Kroger bits are particularly commendable as they show the aging rapper can still amuse. What basically ruins the song; a remake of Joe Walsh’s Life’s Been Good; is its lack of originality.

my rating : 3 of 5

2013

audio review : The Marshall Mathers LP 2 ( album ) ... Eminem

audio review : Stronger Than I Was ( song ) … Eminem

This song ends too soon. The music should continue after the final chorus to let it all settle in. Not that the ballad invokes a deep emotional response. Eminem’s off-key singing ruins that chance, but he manages some pleasant-sounding vocal melodies.

The vulgarities he uses for the romantic partner he’s singing to; a “bitch” he dated until she walked out of his life; are off-putting because they seem to contradict the song’s underlying sentiment, but the melodies, however subtle, are Strong.

my rating : 4 of 5

2013

audio review : The Marshall Mathers LP 2 ( album ) ... Eminem