The Slim Shady LP

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
On The Slim Shady LP, Eminem wants it all. He is conflicted, you see; the world has treated him badly, and he wants to respond in kind. But he isn't a straight-up gangsta--this is, after all, the first release on Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records, his post-Death Row-era venture--and Eminem (born Marshall Mathers) doesn't really want anyone to follow in his footsteps, which leads to some interesting contradictions on this album. In the first single, "My Name Is", he's self-deprecating, rapping about his poor upbringing and his hairy palms. But on the very next song, "Guilty Conscience", he plays the devil to Dr. Dre's angel--that is, until Eminem brings up an incident from Dre's devilish past, rapping, "You gonna take advice from someone who slapped Dee Barnes?" Later, on "'97 Bonnie & Clyde", he turns Will Smith's "Just the Two of Us" on its ear, making it a tale of murder; but on "My Fault", he actually feels bad--though whether it's for the girl he overdosed or for himself is tough to figure out. With his nasal Midwestern tone, Mathers has a clean, clear flow, and the production--by Dr. Dre, Marky, and Jeff Bass--is crisp but consistently fun. Eminem has some serious skills, and he makes for some great tunes--but the lyrics are as morally reprehensible as they get. --Randy Silver

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Customer reviews

review by: Jinny date: 2007-08-17 rating:
If Only He Had Stayed Like This
I still say that this is Eminem's masterpiece, his darkest album, and the soundtrack of his darkest hour. It also ploughs the sinister and disturbing recesses of Marshall Mathers' mind, spilling them all out with a lack of reservation which is stunning.

As is so often the case, Dr. Dre's production is impeccable, and what he can do with electronic sound is akin to what some artists can do with paint. Instantly recognisable 'My Name Is' often gets a panning by the artist himself, but it's his signature tune with good reason, being an expert masterclass in uncompromising lyrics, an assault of bad taste and shocking statements, one after the other: BANG, BANG, BANG!

And then Marshall gives us a sad and truly heartbreaking insight into his past in 'Brain Damage', all the while giving us clues as to why he ended up being one of the most aggressive, angry men in the history of music. 'If I Had' is also sober and thought-provoking, giving us more of an insight into the psyche of Marshall Mathers than most of his recent output. Drugs, frustration, anger, sorrow and boredom are all there, as well as poverty and a sense of humour, making this a classic of modern times, easily one of the best and most honest post-modern rap albums.

But key to this fantastic honesty and unflinching realism was the fact that this was recorded whilst Eminem was still relatively unknown, living a life of abject hardship with only a dream of something better to keep him warm - in fact that tone is all over this album.

Dark humour adorns 'Role Model', whilst heart-rending despair paints 'Rock Bottom' a murky grey, and in one of the finest moments of his career, Eminem gives us empathy and truly highlights the plight of the USA's underclass. Rap just doesn't come any better than this.

Eminem's trademark nonchalance and defiance are all over 'I Just Don't Give A F**k', whilst 'Still Don't Give A F**k' amuses with it's gobbiness, and 'Bad Meets Evil', featuring Royce Da 59 shows yet more dark humour and smart-assed rapping. The most disturbing song on the album is '97 Bonnie and Clyde', a grim fantasy of separation from his other half, of the permanent kind. It shows at least how willing Eminem is to voice the thoughts which most of us never would. People accuse Eminem of misogyny but never bother to dig beneath the surface - of course a man whose mother didn't raise him properly has issues with women, just as a women who has a bad father would have issues with men... makes sense, really. But above all that, Eminem's love for his daughter shines through.

This is an incredlbly important album, and around album three, the grit and realism of it looked further and further away. Eminem is capable of genius, in the form of this album, and I am certain that at some point in his career, if he wants to, he can return to it.

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review by: Pauline Fellows date: 2007-01-05 rating:
Just realised
Upon listening to this albumn again for aboun the thounsanth time I realised how good this albumn actually is I would always have said that this albumn is amazing but this albumn should be one of the top 10 rap albumns of all time I meen not 1 song deserves less than 8 out of ten and more than 80% of this albumn is worth 10 out of 10

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review by: date: 2006-09-04 rating:
THE BIRTH OF A GENIUS
the slim shady LP, a look in to the dark, twisted world of eminem, this was his debut, he was broke angry, and ready to take on the world, and let me tell you this album is nothing short of brilliant, eminem proves himself as an incredible lyricist, with an amazing delivery great voice, he is brutally honest and raps about a range of subject matters, such as the struggles of being broke, hilarious storytelling songs, killing his girlfriend, vicous battle rap songs, dissing everyone from his mum to vanilla ice, in fact, the majority of the songs on this album are hilarious battle rap songs, which doesnt really matter because eminem comes up with punchlines, jokes, and multis galore, this album is mainly produced by underground producers(apart from 2 songs produced by dr dre), and the beats are amazing, theye are not heavy or commercialized but still easy on the ear, and its obvious the producers took alot of time trying to get the mood of the production to fit the songs this is the second best of eminems 3 amazing albums(encore was garbage) i would highly recommend this, if you want to hear some amazing lyricism, brutal honesty, or amazing battle rap skills, peace

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review by: The King Of The UK date: 2006-08-04 rating:
OK
I dont really like ems style here, but it has grown on me, as has the marshall mathers lp since i wrote my review, but my opinions about songs like kim, and on this album bonnie and clyde 97 remain the same.
The beats are good and guilty conscius is great, dre shows his skills.
Em is good here, but better now. His voice suits this type of music and if he reproduces his flow here, it will bring another hit!!
A good album


review by: Ian date: 2006-05-01 rating:
Amazing.
What can I say to give this album it's fair dues? The Slim Shady LP is probably one of the greatest albums I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. This was back in the day when Eminem was real, raw, conflicted. The album is dark even at it's most light-hearted points (see guilty conscience). If you have become bored to distraction with commercial hip-hop these days, with all the bling-bling etc. or with eminem himself, check this album out before you jump out the window.

On this album Eminem explores topics such as drugs, poverty, love, hate, hopes, dreams.........the album is just amazing and the man's flow is unreal.

The best song on here is "Rock Bottom". The sorrow, despair and frustration is so strong it's scary. I think it's eminem's truest song and best.

Eminem, you may have lost your way but back in '99 you were on point like no other. I tip my hat to you sir.

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