Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The debate continues, but I reckon song-for-song this is his best, 16 Aug 2007
Everyone has their favourite Eminem album. For some it was the startling debut of the Slim Shady Album, for younger fans his more recent work. Now that he seems to have retired from performing and is sticking to producing (the odd slip aside - even Eric Clapton will never REALLY retire), it's interesting to look back on his output and, for me, this is the clear winner.
There is, of course Stan and The Real Slim Shady and The Way I Am, all copper-bottomed hits. Kim is as painful to listen to now as it was when he recorded it. Since then he married her again...and divorced her again. Not since Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton was there so much pain in a celebrity pairing.
The best one for me, though, doesn't appear on all versions of this album - but seek out the Special Edition with its bonus track The Kids, Marshall's tribute to his love of South Park. It is the funniest thing he has ever done, and dare I say the best?
I saw the man himself when he played Milton Keynes - his last perfomances in Britain, as it turns out - and the songs from this album excited the fans most. It's easy to see why.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Astonishing, 7 Jan 2007
Wow! This album broke down boundaries like no other in recent times. I'm a heavy metal fan & don't really enjoy rap, hip-hop or whatever u wanna call it.
But this one blew me away. Before this i thought eminem was a comedy act. The album is stunning though. It's not just rap, it's a masterpiece in storytelling. Young Marshall certainly had a lot on his mind & what a way to let it out!
This is not rap, rock, pop or any kind of stereotype, it's a modern day popular music masterpiece. Stan is amazing & without it, a dull lady called Dido wouldn't have ever appeared (Marshall - report to my office now!!!). Still, complete & utter genius.
It's a work of art. Stan is one of my top 3 tracks ever and, coming from a metal fan, this is saying something.
This album transcends genres, race and generations. It's just a shame that M&M hasn't gotten close to this kind of quality since :(
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful and unbelievably good from start to finish, 15 May 2003
The release of The Marshall Mathers LP must have driven a whole bunch of Eminem-haters crazy because, with this second album, Eminem proved he was here to stay. In my opinion, this is the best of Eminem’s first three albums, taking the rap and hip-hop up more than a few notches from the already lofty heights attained in The Slim Shady LP. This artist’s unique personal flair really bursts forth here, giving us beats and rhymes much more complex and musically adept than what had come before. In addition, Eminem has by now thoroughly come into his own. He is intentionally courting controversy, daring his critics and those who would love to have him censored or simply locked away somewhere to step outside with everything they have. Those who will look underneath the violence and the swearing and the offensive remarks Eminem makes in his lyrics will find a deeply complex person with something important to say, a man who does, in his own special way, highlight the kind of real problems many young people face in the modern world, and the accusing fingers he points in all directions often serve to highlight the problems inherent in the individual and society itself. And, as he is wont to say, he is the only person brave enough to say these things. This album hits the floor running with Kill You, a track announcing to the world Eminem’s confidence in himself and rejection of authority and criticism. This level of comfort and confidence proves a great boon to the next track Stan, a song in which he reverses roles and plays the innocent good guy who is too late to help a deeply troubled fan. Eminem marvels at his own stardom in Who Knew and Marshall Mathers, breaks the news to the Eminem-haters that I’m Back, and taunts them all, with a little help from RBX and Sticky Fingez, with the track Remember Me?. The Way I Am is an important song, as Eminem clearly understands that his public persona is not the real Marshall Mathers but is rather whatever the people think he is; to his critics, he will always be a subversive criminal corrupting the youth of America, but to his fans he is something much different. Songs like Amityville (featuring Bizarre from D-12) and B**** Please II (with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit and Nate Dogg) raise the levels of violence and strong language up to a level that might not appeal to all Eminem fans, but the tracks are very well laid out. Criminal is the perfect ending to the album, a final statement about Eminem’s nature and the interpretation of what he does by the public at large. However, the most important track on this second album, in many ways the song that made me a fan, is Kim. This track, a prequel to the first album’s Bonnie and Clyde 97, is understandably controversial, seeing as how it is basically a fantasy about Eminem murdering his wife, but in a very, very strange way it is actually a love song of sorts. Few songs can rival it in terms of the immense power it communicates, especially toward the end when Eminem is basically shouting, letting go of all the betrayal and anger he feels inside. I am not really into rap and hip-hop in general, so it is difficult for me to review albums such as this. Beyond trying to communicate how incredible I think The Marshall Mathers LP is, the main point I would like to make is that no one should simply dismiss this music without listening to it for themselves. Many of those who objectively give Eminem a chance will still hate the guy, but it is much better to determine your own feelings first-hand as opposed to dissing the guy simply because you’ve heard he is violent and dangerous or because some group has labeled him a bad influence on young people.
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