The Eminem Show Review
by - Alan C Page
5/31/02 8:33:47 AM

Eminem has decided to make himself center-stage on his latest album, producing all but two cuts ("Business" and "Say What You Say" by Dre) and focusing mainly on his domestic difficulties and his critics. Em's rhyming is ferocious throughout much of the CD, but his self-produced beats are the Achilles' heel of the album. His production through much of the CD is patently bland, marked by uninspired drum programming and substandard keyboard work. Eminem's emceeing ability is unquestionable, but his lyrical talent alone cannot hold together this 20-track effort.

"White America" focuses on Eminem's large white fanbase and the debate over how his music affects them. He lashes out at easy topics such as Dick Cheney's wife and Tipper Gore, who have criticized his music before. What could have been serious social commentary about being white in America is essentially reduced to Eminem complaining that he is unfairly criticized because he isn't "the first rapper to smack a bitch or say faggot". The line "so much anger aimed in no particular direction, just sprays and sprays" summarizes the entire song. For the next track, "Business", Eminem turns from attacking his critics to criticizing his peers. "Business" is a generalized attack on the state of rap, with Em announcing that "hip-hop is in a state of nine one one" and urges that it is "time to get rid of these rap criminals". Naming names doesn't seem to be a problem with Eminem throughout the rest of the record (Moby, Chris Kirkpatrick, Limp Biskit), so it seems odd when he omits the names of the rap criminals we should be getting rid of in "Business". As for the beat, the Dre-produced track is average work for the Doctor and he has given better tracks recently to Mary J. Blige and Bilal.

"Cleaning Out My Closet" follows and is one of the more personal songs on the album. Starting off similarly to "Business", Em begins the song by swinging at invisible foes ("give em hell as long as I'm breathing"), then quickly focuses on the topic at hand: raging against his mother for everything she has put him through, from early childhood to present. The strongest part of this track is the hook, which is the emotional highlight of the CD. On production, Em (and co-producer Jeff Bass) creatively interweaves Latin-tinged guitar licks with a stutter step drum pattern, resulting in one of the better beats on the CD.

"Square Dance" is another album highlight. The first and third verses are seemingly aimed at battle rap veteran Canibus, as he is namechecked at the end the first verse (""Can-a-bitch don't want beef with Slim/Noooo!") and after the third verse ("Can-i-bitch won't square dance with me"). More worthy of note, the second verse of the song is Em's most direct attempt at political commentary on the CD, although the intent is muddled. On one hand, Em notes that the male members of his young fanbase are likely to be drafted in the "war on terror". On the other hand, Em doesn't express any opposition to this idea or to war in general, he merely states drafting as a possibility. While he does state opposition to the Bush administration ("no friend of Bush" and "with plans to ambush this Bush administration"), the political cause he seeks to rally his fans around ("the right to say something you might not like") seems particularly self-serving considering his controversial content, not to mention a right already protected by the First Amendment. The Em-produced track is one of the stronger ones on the CD, particularly since it works hand-in-hand with the square dance concept. Arguably, this song also features the most creative rhyme scheme and flow on the record.

Next, the "Kiss" skit re-enacts the pistol whipping Eminem gave to the bouncer who kissed his wife, a perfect lead-in to "Soldier", where Eminem declares himself "like a thug, with a little bit of Pac influence". True to that influence, the track mixes Em's recent criminal history with gun fantasy and heavy syllable emphasis, virtually trademarks of Tupac's thug anthems. The driving drums drive the track forward in spite of the unimaginative synthesized keyboard stabs and droning bassline that weigh the track down. This song is paradoxically followed by "Sayin' Goodbye to Hollywood", which finds a seemingly remorseful Em reflecting on how his domestic problems with Kim led to his arrest. The singing on the hook is bland and the track is a sparse backdrop, but Em paints a vivid picture with his verses.

"Drips" features over-the-top misogyny courtesy of unwanted guest Obie Trice, juxtaposed with Em's bitter tale of a man who is infected with AIDS by his girlfriend (told in second person at the end of a verse that starts in the first person, confusingly enough for such an autobiographical album and sure to start unwanted rumors). In the middle of the CD comes "Without Me", one of the fastest paced tracks on the album and the lead single. Here, the cartoonish Slim Shady alter ego makes a rare appearance on the album and over-the-top claims from Em such as "they tried to shut me down on MTV". Considering all the spins Eminem videos have gotten on MTV, claims like this are senseless. Near the end of the song, Em (with trademark irony) refers to himself as "the worst thing since Elvis Presley, to do Black music so selfishly/and use it to get myself wealthy", a line which deserves an essay unto itself, but begs the question, to whom is that line addressed?

Pointless skit "Paul" is the lead-in for "Sing For The Moment", which features a reworking of "Dreamweaver" by Aerosmith in its hook (and even features Joe Perry on guitar). This track finds Em again speaking on his place in the music world and questioning how music affects youth (a topic visited on this album on its first track and appearing as a motif throughout the CD). The beat is unmemorable, save for the Aerosmith interpolation in the hook. The song is actually a better written version of the theme from "White America". Next up, "Superman" is a clichéd misogynist braggodocio joint where Slim displays a generic "Southern bounce flow" over a stutter-step drum pattern. The track is forgettable and the female crooning on the hook sounds more like a joke than a serious attempt at singing. After hearing Em agonize over Kim on "Say Goodbye To Hollywood" earlier in the album, this song seems misplaced. If Em's lyrics here are any indication, his heart wasn't in this song, as it is the CD's lyrical low point (with a brief flash of inspiration in the Marshall/partial/arsenal rhyme sequence).

The album then shifts gears to "Hailie's Song". Eminem's singing is far from technically proficient, but it provides the one of the purest emotional moment on the album (behind only the aforementioned hook to ‘Cleaning Out My Closet'). The rhymed section seems misplaced after the sung portion (which apparently is aimed directly at his daughter), particularly when he refers to her mother with the hate-laden lines "What did I stick my penis up in?" and "our baby's traveled back to the arms of her rightful owner". The "rightful owner" concept alone sounds like the root of years of future therapy for young Hailie.

Pointless skit number two comes in with "Steve Berman", followed by "When The Music Stops", a punchline fest where Em and D-12 race to come up with the most offensive line, while working within the theme of the line between music and reality. Bizarre brings the funniest verse here, speaking on the comical possibilities of what happens when you take rap lyrics literally. Things get serious again with "Say What U Say". The Dre-produced minimalist keyboard beat doesn't warrant much discussion, but the Dre verse dissing Jermain Dupri has everyone talking. His curious decision to dub himself "White Pac" aside, Eminem comes with the rather bizarre observation: "If only I could use this power for good, I wouldn't, not even if I could". Not a very visionary outlook, coming from a single father. And it ignores the political material in Tupac's discography, where Pac attempted to use his power for good.

The Tupac references aren't over yet though. On the next track, "Til I Collapse", Eminem makes his intention plain, stating that his lyrics are a part of Em's plan "to cop millions of Pac listeners". Toward that goal, the track sounds like a substandard attempt to recreate the musical energy of Pac's own "Ambitionz of a Ridah". Eminem's lyrics triumph over the less-than-awe-inspiring beat, however, despite poor mixing which results in the track's thunderous hand claps coming through louder than Em's own vocals. The lyrics are seemingly freestyled, as Em makes contradictory statements like "I don't want to go back and forth with constant battles/The fact is I would rather sit back and bomb some rappers". Nate Dogg shines on the hook, the highlight of the song.

"My Dad's Gone Crazy" closes the album and essentially follows the Slim Shady pop single formula, only with daughter Hailie providing the vocal ad libs instead of Em. Interestingly, Em jokingly threatens to spark a nuclear war and destroy every country except Afghanistan, a continuation in the sequence of "war on terrorism" type references that starts on "Square Dance". However, such references appear to be more shock tactic than political statement, mainly because the Afghanistan/Bin Laden references on the album appear randomly without further explanation.

Fans who were pleasantly satisfied with Eminem's prior two albums will probably like this one, but folks hoping for a more solid full-length effort from Mr. Mathers are sure to be disappointed. It's no mystery that Eminem is far from the best producer or singer, yet he has chosen to do both here. His polysyllabic rhyming is in full form and there is plenty of venom, yet most of his humorous Slim Shady persona is now gone. Now that his closet is clean and his divorce is final, the question remains: what will Shady say next album?