Slim Shady LP, The (Clean Version) - Eminem > Reviews > I Do NOT Obsess...

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money

Advantages:	Funny .   Creative .   Entertaining .
Disadvantages:	The skits are annoying as f -  -  -  after a few plays .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

...I don't care WHAT some people say. I do not obsess over Eminem. Well...maybe just a little. (Be quiet - you know who you are.)

Marshall Mathers, Slim Shady, Eminem, White Boy, Satan - whatever you call him, he's all over the airwaves worldwide, and it does not seem that he will be leaving the charts anytime soon. Before Em's commercial debut (this album), the Detroit rapper had a lot of material floating around - the underground kind. Be sure to check out "The Slim Shady EP" as it contains earlier versions of many tracks featured on the CD I'm supposed to be writing about here.

"The Slim Shady LP" is easily found at pretty much any record store online or off, as well as second-hand stores and pawn shops. (I found my copy at a record store for sixteen dollars, but that's a different story.) Wherever you go, there it is. Or so it seemed in '99 when it dropped. Or so it still seems today. It's everywhere. Just like his new record. Just like athlete's foot. Just like Mom's eyes, which see every rotten thing you do no matter how old you are or how far away you are from her.

No matter where you get your copy of this record, you should be pleased with your purchase. Other than a couple of character skits that get old after the fourth or fifth play, this album is filled with an eclectic mix of fast raps, dance tracks, and hip-hop. Oh yes, and Em is funny (or offensive as hell, depending on how you look at it).

Rap industry legend Dr. Dre produced this album and also made guest appearances on tracks such as "My Name Is" (the first single), and "Guilty Conscience" (one of Em's more controversial creations). Royce the 5-9 (from D12) also appears on cuts ("Bad Meets Evil," "Soap").

But really, this is about Eminem, so...

BEST TRACKS:

My Name Is: A playful rap in which Em discusses his childhood and verbally assaults Pamela Lee ("Got pissed off and ripped Pamela Lee's tits off / Smacked her so hard I knocked her clothes backwards like Kris Kross..."). He also attempts to offend pretty much everybody in sight, with lyrics such as "When I was little I used to get so hungry I would throw fits / How are you gonna breast-feed me Ma, you ain't got no tits? / I lay awake and strap myself into the bed / Put a bulletproof vest on and shoot myself in the head..." It's nuts. It's his debut single. You can't help but laugh at it.

Guilty Conscience: Funny stuff. Period. Em and Dre team up to play the proverbial devils / angels on the shoulders of several different fictional characters they have created.

Dre: "All right, calm down - relax, start breathing..."
Em: "Fxxx that shxx, you just caught this bxxxx cheatin' / While you at work she's with some dude tryin' to get off / Fxxx slittin' her throat! Cut this bxxxx's head off!
Dre: "Wait - what if there's an explanation for this shxx?"
Em: "What? She tripped, fell, landed on his dxxx?"

The bass-line is solid and the music is loud, so please turn this one up to full volume when rolling down the road in your vehicle. Your fellow motorists will thank you for it - or force you off the road.

If I Had: A discontented, pissed-off (but funny) rap about how much poverty sucks. Eminem's rap is strong and bold, with a lot of heavy bass in the foreground to emphasize his irritation with the life he was living before this record dropped.

"But if I had a million dollars / I'd buy a brewery and turn the planet into alcoholics / If I had a magic wand / I'd make the world suck my dxxk without a condom on, while I'm on the john..."

My Fault: Hip-hop more than rap, with a strong sense of irony. And lots of heavy-hitting instruments that accentuate the lyrics - especially in the chorus. Eminem goes to a rave and gives a girl shrooms - with disastrous results.

"I never meant to give you mushrooms girl / I never meant to bring you to my world / But now you're sitting in the corner crying / And now it's my fault, my fault."

'97 Bonnie & Clyde: Tori Amos covered this ultra-weird song and made it VERY disturbing. Pick up a copy of "Strange Little Girls" if you want to hear it. Em's (original) version on the other hand, is just plain funny. On this one, he raps about killing Kim and enlisting his daughter Hailie to help dispose of the body.

"Now I know what you're thinkin' / It's kinda late to go swimming / But you know your Mama / She's one of those type of women / That do crazy things, and if she don't get her way she'll throw a fit / Don't play with Da-Da's toy knife honey, let go of it..."

Just Don't Give A Fuck: Dark and downcast, Em expresses his feelings for the world. It's loud. It's got lots of great basslines. It's the perfect song to play at high volume when you're just plain annoyed.

"So when you see me on your block with two Glocks / Screamin' 'Fxxx the world' like 2 Pac / I just don't give a fxxx..."

Still Don't Give A Fuck: The verbal intro to this rap sums it all up nicely. "...and if I offended you? Good. 'Cause I still don't give a fxxx." This song works very well as the closer, not just for the message but also because it's a quieter song than the rest. I'd definitely suggest that you listen to this one instead of skipping it like some people do.

All in all, The Slim Shady LP is a funny, creative album, which gives fans new and old alike a look into the things he thought and felt before anybody knew who or what he was. This is a solid debut that only gets better with age - I would give it five stars, but the skits break up the overall flow of the record and annoy the hell out of me.

Also on this CD:

Tons of raps about drug abuse, alcohol, violence (but he didn't REALLY kill his wife, as if any of you really thought that).

More swear words than even the most diligent censor could ever keep track of.

Unique, beat-laden raps that flow around each other almost seamlessly. Go ahead - try to rap along to one of Em's songs. Unless you're ultra-talented you'll have a hard time doing a good job of it. He's that good.

If you're easily offended, this isn't for you. Otherwise, check out eminem.com for more info and stuff.