kristinafh's Full Review: The Eminem Show [PA] [Limited] by Eminem
Preamble
What's a pop chick doing reviewing Eminem? Well, I recognize that no matter how slimy someone is on a personal level, you really have to separate the personal from the professional. In Eminem's case, he displays a talent of looping in rap and pop hooks with some interesting lyrics.
What I’m Reviewing
The Eminem cd I have is the Limited Edition version which contains 2 cd’s. The first cd contains the 20 standard tracks and the second cd contains a dvd that has a couple of live performances, interview snippets and a preview of his All Access Europe DVD which comes out June 18. I believe that approximately 2 million of these puppies were shipped to stores and it should cost you the same as the cd's with only one in them.
Rant
Let's get something straight. There's nothing out there right now that's been released recently or will be released soon that will present any competition for Eminem. This cd will debut at #1 and stay there for a couple of weeks.
May I just make a blanket comment about 2002? It seems to be the year of mediocrity in the music world. It's like artists (and record companies) don't know what to do next. Creativity? Where? Original thoughts? Where? Yeah, just wanted to share that with you :).
Overall Eminem seems to be having an identity crisis on this effort. In all of the interviews I've seen with him, he makes these proclamations about the huge differences between this and his last release. I scratch my head on that one. He thinks he's different but yet, the majority of the tracks are the same. Same isn't bad. It just is. And you know what, I can deal and like the same for now.
As a side note, as much as he moans and groans about the TRL crowd, it's exactly the group that made his first cd so popular. It'll be the same group that keeps him at #1 for a while.
Tracks
Curtains Up (skit)
White America
Business
Cleanin' Out My Closet
Square Dance
The Kiss (skit)
Soldier
Say Goodbye Hollywood
Drips
Without Me
Paul Rosenberg (skit)
Sing For The Moment
Superman
Hailie's Song
Steve Berman (skit)
When The Music Stops
Say What You Say
'Till I Collapse
My Dad's Gone Crazy
Curtains Close (skit)
With twenty different tracks on this cd, my approach is only to comment on those that made an impression on me.
White America is brilliant. (I never thought I'd say that about anything Eminem did). Lyrically, he connects some provocative thoughts with a music track that is laced similar to something Andrew W.K. would rock to.
The lyrics zero in on two points. First, the only reason he's as successful as he is is because he is white. Were he black, the mainstream media wouldn't give him the time of day. His second tirade more or less warns white america (like Tipper Gore) to be very afraid. He's just like every other kid in the suburbs.
Business is a little lighter and at times, a little hokey. Musically, it seems to be a rehash of Forgot About Dre with a touch of the Batman theme. Eminem jabs at his nemesis from Insane Clown Posse, and refers to his performance of Stan with Elton John.
I was unprepared for Cleanin' Out My Closet. If you ever wondered if Eminem bleeds emotionally, here's the song that proves it. Musically, it's a laid-back snare and keyboard driven piece. His lyrics are like scabs that he's hoping will heal, once he just spits it out and says it. He halfway apologizes to his mother, I'm sorry mama, I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry but tonight, I'm cleanin' out my closets, but sets her straight making her accountable for the negative impact she had on his life.
Then there's his father who abandoned him when he was two months old and now that Eminem has made it big, it's just coincidental that he wants to be a part of his life again. The last grouping of lyrics addresses some moments where he and his ex-wife had some major confrontations.
I have to wonder which lawyer allowed the interlude of The Kiss to be included. We've heard so many of the scuffles between him and his ex-wife Kim and this 1:15 spoken part seems to mirror a real life event.
Solider has an underlying keyboard rhythm that feels spooky and funky all at the same time. I can pinpoint the exact riff but it could be mistaken for a theme song from a gory, horror movie.
Lyrically, Drips is just downright gross. Obie Trice joins Eminem to sing about their various venereal diseases. Hard core rap fans will probably find more redeeming qualities about this song than most of the others on this cd. With the exception of the chorus that has that traditional Eminem hook, the verses are more straightforward rap.
I like Without Me for the disco feeling opening and an instrument that I think sounds like a tenor saxophone that trails Eminems' voice around like his second shadow. I love the jabs he gets in against his mother, F*ck you Debbie!. His other jabs seem to be against popular culture include threatening to kick Chris Kirkpatrick's (NSYNC) a*ss and accusing Moby (who once defended Eminem's lyrics) of being a homo.
Eminem seems to shine best when he samples from others. Sing For the Moment foundation is built entirely on Aerosmith's, Dream On. I was disappointed however in that he didn't capitalize on the emotion thrust of Aerosmith's song. Instead, he just seems to walk his way through the lyrics.
Superman (featuring Dina Rae) will be the track that gets Eminem in trouble with the every conceivable special interest group. I'll slap you off that barstool. There goes another lawsuit, leave handprints all across you....Don't touch what you can't get, end up with two backhands, put anthrax on a tampax, and slap you til you can't stand. Obviously his lyrics are blown up to display the amount of anger he feels towards women in general, mostly thanks to his mother and his ex-wife.
Another surprise is Hailie's Song. Eminem actually sings most of the song. Sure, there's the occasional screaming rap but there's like a soft voice inside of that scary man :). Lyrically, he seems to struggle with his soft, inner side, which seems to be only exposed to his six-year-old daughter Hailie and the hard, outer core, which he has built as a defense mechanism.
Liner Notes
The cd booklet seems a lot thicker than most. Eminem not only includes all of the production credits, but also all of his lyrics (handwritten by him) and various pictures of people associated to his music (Dre, Hailie).
Recommendation for Parents
Two things. First, Interscope Records has put out a "clean" version of this cd. Please. Don't even bother buying this. It's an insult to your intelligence.
Second, I don't want to be totally naive here. I am against the censorship of music but being the mother of a seven year old, I am very sensitive to the language and the concepts of some music. There is coarse language here and some of the concepts if taken in the literal sense are rude and crude. I don't recommend that you actively go out and purchase the cd for any youngster under the age of 13. But let's not be naive. With popular music - whether it's on the radio or on MTV - most likely, your child will be exposed to it.
The End
In the year of mediocre music, this scores a solid 3.75 out of 5 (thus the rounding up to 4).
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