Guess who’s back, back again HHAWW/O

DISCLAIMER The favourite lines placed in this review don’t necessarily mean anything to me. In most cases, they’re just ones that make me laugh, or maybe show a different side of Eminem.

I bought this CD when I turned 18 back in February, and its been on high rotation in my player ever since. The Eminem Show is an amazing, CD.

It all starts with Curtains Up, the first of five skits on the album. There’s nothing here except a bit of music and the sound of a curtain going up. The stage is set, here’s the performer and if you’re not ready for the show get out now, because once you hear the opening of track two, there’s no turning back.

AMERICA!, Eminem yells right as track two White America begins. This is a bit of an angry track as Eminem takes on his first victim – the government. White America also talks about how Em was discovered and got his record deal. As far as swearing goes, there’s about as much here as there is in any other song on the album. This is about the average.

Favourite lines:
“Let’s do the math, if I was black, I would’ve sold half – I ain’t have to graduate from Lincoln high school to know that, but I can rap so fuck school I’m to cool to go back, gimme the mic, show me where the fuckin studio’s at”.

The next song is Business. Eminem has a lot of fun with his some of his songs and this is one of them. Its not really meant to say a lot, except that he’s the master of rap, or something like that. Openly dissing Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden, this is one of those songs where Eminem wants you to take him lightly. The music suits the mood. Its light, and a bit more up-tempo. In these respects, Business contrasts both the previous and next songs.

Favourite lines:
“There’s no such thing, like a female with good looks who cooks & cleans”.

By now you’ve no doubt heard about Eminem’s childhood. In case you haven’t, here’s Cleaning Out My Closet. There’s no doubt in my mind why this became a single: because fans expected it. After all the publicity and controversy surrounding his life, especially when he was growing up, there would’ve been one hell of an uproar if there wasn’t a single on it.

Cleaning Out My Closet has three distinct subjects, each with a verse to themselves. The first deals with the public that disses Eminem because they don’t like his lyrics. Basically he says “get over it” and gives his side of the story. The second is designated to his father, who walked out on the family when Eminem was only a few months old. Eminem actually doesn’t diss his father as much as he says that he can’t understand how anyone can do that to a kid. The subject of the final verse is Eminem’s mother. He goes through what his mother did to him as he was growing up. This is the angriest of the verses. The music is depressing, which again suits the mood.

Favourite lines:

“I look at Hailie & I couldn’t picture leaving her side, even if I hated Kim I’d grit my teeth and I’d try to make it work with her, at least for Hailie’s sake.”

Square Dance is about all the people that have some kind of a problem with Eminem. We’re not talking about the ordinary protester on the street, this is aimed at the American government. It’s also apparently a dig at Nelly, after his song Hot In Herre. You be the judge on that one. This song basically says you don’t want to mess with Eminem because he’ll never lose. Its also another light song, as well as being on the serious side. The music is again appropriate and the lyrics are very opinionated. I guess it kinda says “Fuck the talking, lets rumble”.

Favourite line:
“I’m a pitbull off his leash, all this peacetalk can cease”.

The Kiss is the second skit. I’m not going to go into too much detail on these, but this one does flow nicely into the next song.

Soldier has the same music at the start of it as The Kiss has at the end, which is what I mean about the flow. This is a fast song with a good beat. Its an inspirational song – talking about never giving up, no matter how heavy the load on your shoulders gets.

Favourite lines:
“It's actually better, cause instead of you murdering, You can hurt em' and come back, again and kick dirt on them.”

Say Goodbye Hollywood talks about all the problems he’s got and how hard his life has been, maybe he needs to take a bit of break. He also talks about how maybe Hailie’s the only thing keeping him going. The music has a bit of a marching feel to it, especially in the chorus. It’s still hip hop though.

Favourite lines:
”Thank God I got a little girl Now I’m a responsible father so not a lotta good I'd be to my daughter layin in the bottom of the mud”

Drips is our first introduction on the album to Obie Trice. He and Eminem have a verse each and I think Eminem takes care of the chorus. I could be wrong on that count though, I can’t quite tell. The subject matter is purely STD’s. It discusses how Em & Obie got an STD off the same person. To me it says “Be wary of who you sleep with, because you don’t necessarily know who they’ve slept with”. Em & Obie both have a different style of rapping, which compliments each other well.

Favourite lines:
”All these bitches on my dick, That's how dudes be gettin' sick”

If, somehow, of the last two years since it was released, you’ve managed to escape the album’s lead single Without Me you deserve a medal. This is one song that’s been absolutely played to death, and yet I still love it. It’s perfect for a lead single because it’s like Eminem announcing his return and dissing some people he’s dissed before, such as Moby and Limp Bizkit.

Favourite lines:
”So this must mean I'm disgusting, But its just me I'm just obscene”

Paul Rosenberg is another skit. This Paul Rosenberg guy leaves a message on Eminem’s phone telling him to leave his gun at home. Nothing much here.

Sing For Moment is the last single from this album that ever had any airplay for it’s video over here in New Zealand – despite C4’s claim one night they were going to show “every video ever made”. Um, excuse me, C4, there were videos made for both Business and Superman, you just chose not to play them because they’re not suitable for kids or whatever. Clearly a case of false advertising here. Anyway, the song is about how kids idolize rappers like him, but he didn’t choose it that way and he doesn’t take any responsibility for it – same sort of message as an earlier song Role Model. The chorus is a sample from an Aerosmith song. I don’t know what it’s called, but it goes “Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears” etc.

Favourite lines:
”It's all political, if my music is literal, and I'm a criminal how the fuck can I raise a little girl? I couldn't. I wouldn't be fit to”

Superman should never have been released as a single. It’s so completely sex orientated so it seems every third word has to be covered up or bleeped out or something, it’s just ridiculous. However, when you do have the pleasure of listening to the album version, it’s actually pretty good. This is a revenge song aimed at every girl who’s ever fucked him over. You can feel the anger flowing from him, which is what the lyrics do. It’s a very tight, very well put-together song, but there is a lot of hate flowing through it.

Favourite line:
”wouldn't piss on fire to put you out”

Hailie’s Song is my favourite. It’s dedicated to his little girl, as the title may suggest, and the first two verses are actually sung!!! Yes, you read that right. Now, Eminem can’t sing. He knows that, anyone hearing this will know that, and I’m sure Simon Cowell would have something nasty to say about it, but the refreshing thing here is not only Eminem doesn’t care, he makes fun of the fact he can’t sing, and he sings anyway. The third verse is back to rapping though. It talks of Eminem’s relationship with Hailie’s mother, Kim. It’s nothing new really, but in Eminem’s twisted, backwards way, it’s still a declaration of love for his daughter.

Favourite lines:
”I got my baby, baby the only lady that I adore / (Hailie). So sayonara, try tommorra, nice to know ya. Our baby's traveled back to the arms of her rightful owner.”

We now come to another skit, Steve Berman. Eminem shoots someone who he thinks is going to criticise this album. Looks like he doesn’t take rejection well.

When The Music Stops is actually not an Eminem song, it’s D12, Eminem’s off-shoot group that he’s a part of. Every member has a verse, and there’s no chorus’s. The verses here are pretty good, but I’m not entirely sure what they’re about. It’s well produced and sounds all good, unlike their latest hit My Band.

Favourite lines:
”You smokin' crack? 'Fore I do that, I'd beg Mariah to take me back” (From Eminem’s verse, which is first up).

Dr Dre makes an appearance on Say What You Say which is quite welcome at this point. He’s got a brief stint on Business, but for an album which he helped produce, you’d think a man like Dr Dre would appear more often than he does. The song’s about standing up to people and being independent. Dre’s verses are as good as Em’s, which is definitely an achievement. This is another quality track. Just because we’re reaching the end of the album it doesn’t mean thing’s are going to change.

Favourite line (this one from Dre):
”From the hood, and I'm a hornet, and I'ma only sting when I cornered”

Till I Collapse features Nate Dogg. It’s yet another song about not giving up and rapping til the end. By this stage the theme is getting fairly repetitive but there’s something angry, in your face, heavy, and even motivational about this one that makes it just as good, if not better than the others with this theme.

Favourite lines:
”Sometimes you feel tired, feel weak, / When you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up. / But you gotta search within you, find that inner strength”

The last actual song is one of the funniest. My Dad’s Gone Crazy features none other than Eminem’s daughter Hailie Jade. The song completely takes the piss out of anything and everything. Nothing here is meant to be taken very seriously. There’s digs at the government, people who have called Eminem homophobic and his mother, among other things.

Favourite lines:
”I don't blame you, I wouldn't let Hailie listen to me neither”

Curtains Close is the final track and the final skit on the album. It’s Eminem drunkenly singing part of the intro to Without Me and changing the words.

Favourite lines:
” Guess who's back? Back again…. Ken is back, tell some…men”

This review is part of madtheory’s hip hop appreciation week W/O. The theme for this year’s W/O is faith. So how does The Eminem Show relate to faith? Well, this being the first Eminem CD I ever owned, it gave me faith that there were decent MCs in the industry, such as Eminem, Dr Dre, Nate Dogg and a couple of the members of D12. That last one’s turned out to be wrong since the release of My Band, but I from what I’ve heard out of the others there are still talented hip hop artists around. Obie Trice seems to have a positive career in front of him.

Also, I started this review at least a year ago, and had faith that one day I would finish it. Finally, that goal has been achieved, even if it is the longest thing I’ve written.

The Eminem Show is a masterpiece of an album. The lyrics are amazing, the music compliments them, and the emotion just pours out.