Shadys back.... again. You gotta love him. He's been Eminem, hes been Slim Shady, hes dressed up as god knows how many characters in his videos but this album is the first time we get to see a little of Marshall. Usually he seems to joke about everything to avoid seriousness but this album is a lot more mature than his others.
I don't really know how to talk about this album without giving too much away.
Anyone expecting the usual Eminem stuff is going to be very dissapointed (or very excited) as there are a lot of new sounds on this album. There is a lot more of Eminem, not nearly as many featuring artists as his earlier albums although there are tracks featuring Obie Trice, Dr Dre and Mashalls daughter Hailie Jade Mathers.
There is also a track which features him singing which is a pleasent surprise to most fans as he has often said before that he cannot sing. But after hearing this track i totally disagree as i think his voice is fantastic. His voice has an amazingly haunting quality about it, a similar quality to Dido's voice.
The lyrics are still obscene and there is no shortage of insults and explcit language. True to form, there is a lot in there about his wife (or is it ex- wife?), his daugher, father and mother. In fact, there is a whole song dedicated to his mother called "Cleanin out my closet" which features on the soundtrack of his first film, 8 Mile which is released this Autumn. There is a song dedicated to his daughter called "Hailes Song" and also a song which features Hailie called "My Dads gone Crazy". That is quite simply one of Eminems most excellent songs ever. There is a song about a cheating woman who gives her husand a sexually transmitted disease after cheating on him which i'm sure is aimed at his wife Kim. There are no references to wanting her dead on this album though.
There is also an interesting twist to the traditional "Steve Berman" skit which he has on his two previous albums.
This album is a mix of very different sounds. There are songs with his usual bouncy, funny sound like the recently released hit "Without Me" and "Squaredance", as well as more serious slow sounds like "Superman" and "Hailies Song".
Whether you have likes Eminems previous albums or not I recommmend this album to you as its Eminem but with some new and original material and sounds.
I also recommend that anyone who decides to buy this splash out and order from Amazon so that you can get the limited edition version which i have been unable to find in shops. It only costs and extra couple of punds but it is worth a lot more as a DVD is included. It has trailers for his upcoming movie, 8 Mile, clips from concerts as well as his thoughts while recording the album, little messages for his fans and an episode of "The Slim Shady Show".