Eminem
REVIEWS
THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP, (2000)
Rating: 7
Best Songs- Stan
Worst Song- Kim
Very good - if you don't forget to treat the lyrics as funny instead of, say,
obnoxious.
Written by Ratko Hribar
Ready for yet another boring review from me? No? WHO GIVES A FUCK??? Anyway, I'm here and I'm writing again which means this ol' site will soon be overloaded with lame pretentious reviews in which I'm mostly making an ass out of my little humble self. So is there any better way to come back with a bang than to review the most overhyped artist nowadays? Please do notice that I didn't say "overrated" cause if anything, Eminem is often underrated by the critics. Why is that? Well, because of his hilarious/disturbing public appearance, of course. That said, I find Eminem's big breakthrough album (this thing here) to be pretty yawn-inducing. Sure, it IS respectable, but from where I'm sitting it isn't revolutionary in any way. Okay, so the lyrics aren't exactly tame with all kinds of homophobic stuff throughout which quite honestly sounds detestable to me (especially those infamous skits with blowjobs and stuff. YUCK!!!). Oh yeah, it's supposedly "funny", but I just think it's all waaaay too offensive towards the homosexual community. Of course, even women aren't spared of Eminem's lyrical exhibitions so we have a whole lot of "bitches" running around in most of these songs, which, again, annoys the hell out of me.
Not surprisingly, the ultimate low point of the record is that disgusting ‘Kim’ track which literally shows us Eminem killing his wife Kim in audio, and believe me – it's intolerable (not to mention that it's WAAAAAAY too descriptive). If you like the lyrics to this song I suggest you to kill yourself. Don't bother getting a medical treatment, just put yourself out of your miseries by pulling the damn TRIGGER. Perhaps I shouldn't say that, but it really does sound sick so anyone who likes it can't be all that normal. Granted, it might be interesting to see Eminem having fun in the studio, but the final result is all but acceptable. I can tolerate his homophobic rants to a certain extent (well, at least it can sound funny... sometimes) but I don't think anyone needs to listen to something so horror-laden as ‘Kim’. As I've said, you might like it as a concept, but murder is no joke. I can clearly see why the critics aren't thrilled with this guy since his "message" isn't exactly positive.
Oh well, but that's just one part of Eminem's character as he can still occasionally give us some very intelligent social comments, although they're mostly buried under a ton of solid ol' bitch-slappin' and wankin'. However, in the midst of it all there are some great beats to be found (mostly courtesy of the famous producer Dr. Dre), and yes, I happily agree, they’re definitely worth checking out. ‘Kill You’ has one to boast, but the lyrical matter is standard Eminem stuff. Still good, IMHO. And hey! There's ‘Stan’! Oh yeah, ‘Stan’ features some neat storytelling along the lines of that typical "psychopathic-white-trailer-trash-who's-accidentally-Eminem's-fan-kills-his-pregnant-girlfriend" mold that has become somewhat of a trademark for Slim Shady, er... Eminem. Strangely enough, this track contains a great sappy sample from Dido's ‘Thank You’ (which doesn't sound all that great in the original) and is backed by various sound effects (rain, scribbling noises...) so it ends up being a true highlight of the record.
‘Who Knew’ has an equally interesting beat and more solidity follows in the form of both ‘The Way I Am’ and ‘The Real Slim Shady’, the first being spunky and the second quite humorous. Elsewhere, the "angry" tune called ‘Remember Me?’ uses some interchangeable rapping vocals by RBX and Sticky Fingaz (who?.... exactly), but at least the opening spraying samples are just lovely (if you don't mind me using such a corny word). ‘I'm Back’ contains dumb lyrics, but again, the beat is okay. Eminem then slows down with ‘Marshall Mathers’ and establishes an almost ballad-esque moody atmosphere so I kinda enjoyed it. Not surprising then that the effect is spoiled by some pointless homophobic rants, but hell, it's not like I didn't see it coming. Pretty good, all things considered.
The onslaught of anger and destruction flows further through tracks like ‘Drug Ballad’, ‘Amityville’ (pointless collaboration with Bizarre of D-12), ‘Under The Influence’ (again, with D-12) and ‘Criminal’. Regardless of their lyrical content there's vocal hooks a-plenty, and the beats are top notch as usual so I’m not gonna complain. Stuffed between them is the already described ‘Kim’ which for me represents the lowest point of this otherwise solid offering. Also, ‘Bitch Please II’ incorporates lots of special guests (including Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg) so the final result is recommendable even though it's totally predictable, since it follows the conventional rap formula of "bitches & niggaz". Oh well, I'll probably see Tom Jones doing a thrash-metal version of ‘What’s New Pussycat?’ sooner than any rap artist will actually bother to write something outside the usual "bitches" lyrical matter... Anyway, now we get to the hard part – what record rating can I possibly give to this? Well, since it's obviously too offensive for an eight I think a seven should do nicely. Who gives a shit anyway? Eminem will continue to have huge record sales no matter what I write here, so I might as well be generous.
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