The Eminem Show - Full Review

I've been listening to Eminem's latest release, The Eminem Show, for a couple weeks now. I have been so impressed that I went out today and picked up an actual, legitimate copy. I applaud Shady Records for their incredible publicity coup in getting the record out to the masses weeks before its release, getting a buzz going, and basically allowing fans to decide for themselves whether it's worth the money.

I feel prepared to write an actual review of the record at this point, but I want to make it clear that my personal feelings about Eminem are not what I'll be discussing. Opinions of him as a human being are...varied, to say the least, and rarely positive. I only want to talk about the music.

The Eminem Show opens with "White America," a spleen-venting session (as are most Eminem tunes) directed at those who look to censor Eminem in particular and rap in general. Eminem says himself, at the outset, "I want everyone to pay attention to the lyrics in this song," and he makes some excellent points about why people feel so threatened by him. It's legitimate social commentary, and my only criticism is that he doesn't stick by his guns. After closing with "Fuck you, Ms. Cheney! Fuck you, Tipper Gore!" Eminem inserts his postscript: "I'm just playin', America, you know I love you." It goes to the roots of what Eminem often says about his music being entertainment first and foremost, but it seems like he's just trying to cover his ass at this point.

There are several intensely personal songs on this record, including "Cleanin Out My Closet" and "Hailie's Song." The former is a rage against his mother, who has been villified on both of Eminem's previous LPs; "Closet" is as complete an explanation as one can get as to why. "Take a second to listen 'fore you think this record is dissin'...Try to envision witnessing your momma poppin' prescripton pills in the kitchen." "Hailie's Song" is actually sung to his daughter, Hailie Jade, who is depicted more than once as Eminem's sole reason for existing (from "Say Goodbye Hollywood:" "Thank God I got a little girl...not a lot of good I'd be...layin' in the bottom of the mud"). It's a sappy, sweet ode that at times, in any other context, could be mistaken for a love song by any anonymous boy-band; here, it's a nice contrast to the rest of the album, allowing it to stand out and have some emotional impact.

Like on previous releases, Eminem gets help from friends Dr. Dre (on "Business" and "Say What You Say," notably), D-12, and even his own daughter (on "My Dad's Gone Crazy," a "Criminal"-style dare to the censors). It is Nate Dogg, however, who guests on the record's most memorable track (and the one that has been on repeat in my car for days) "Till I Collapse." On several songs, Eminem appears to regret the life he has chosen for himself; here there is an explanation why he continues, and it's the reason anyone performs: "Music is like magic, there's a certain feeling you get when you're real and you spit an people are feelin your shit/This is your moment and every single minute you spend tryin' to hold on to it, 'cause you may never get it again." This is the track that I long to hear and scream along with when Eminem comes to the Continental Arena later this summer.

In the end, The Eminem Show is a rap record. If you do not like rap, you will not like this record. It pushes the envelope, and makes some excellent points of its own along the way. More than anything, though, it is entertaining. It'll be several months before this record escapes my car CD-changer's magazine.

May 28, 2002 - 11:47 PM

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