Hey guys, if you have ever visited my forums page you should be aware I am a major fan of the rapper Eminem/Marshall Mathers/Slim Shady. I often get into conversations with other players about his music and I've found many other fans of him on this server. So I decided to make an overview of his music as a whole to share my experience and thoughts on him as an artist and as a person. And hopefully encourage some of you to get into him. Note: This thread is entirely opinion based. If you don't like something I mention, or Eminem in general, it is pointless to post on this thread. Also, needless to say Eminem's content can be dark and/or inappropriate for younger listeners. So proceed with caution. What I will be going over... -Ranking his albums -My personal favorite songs by him So, let's get started :p Before I begin, I should probably clarify for those who are unaware the difference between the three different personas of Eminem (Eminem, Slim Shady, and Marshall Mathers) Eminem is his stage name, and what he is known as. Slim Shady is the character he uses to express more comedic and less serious thoughts, and can be very dark but usually in a funny sense. Marshall Mathers is him as a person and what he uses to talk about more serious topics and express his actual thoughts, which can be just as dark as Slim Shady... His Albums... To date Eminem has sold more than 172 million albums, making him one of the world's best-selling artists. With this section I will list his albums from my personal least favorite, to favorite. Also, to get on this list it must be by Eminem only, so no Dre, D12, Bad Meets Evil, or other. I want to add I will not be including the following albums. The Slim Shady EP (1997) While this is a good album, and the start of his career. All of the tracks on this album are also on 1999's The Slim Shady LP. So it would be pointless to put it on here. However, it is a very good album and the start of his career so I would be lying if I told you not to listen to it. 8 Mile Soundtrack (2002) While this is a great album, and contains great songs, including Lose Yourself. I thought for that very reason it wouldn't be fair to put it on this list. But you should still listen to this album as it contains not only Lose Yourself but plenty of other good tracks that fit the theme of the movie perfectly. Curtain Call: The Hits (2005) It shouldn't be too hard to understand why this wouldn't be on the list. Even thought it contains 3 songs only on this album. Which are all great, it only has his best songs on it so it would obviously be number 1. Now, on to the actual list. I want to restate that this in completely opinion based. If you like an album I put low on the list, that's amazing. I'm glad you can see something in these that I don't. Also, don't think I hate any that I put low on the list. Remember, these are Eminem albums. So they are better than 99.9% of all music in my opinion. 8. 2004's Encore Eminem's 5th studio album, Encore was a failure in many diehard fan's eyes compared to the albums released before it. I believe this album had a lot of potential because it contains songs like Mockingbird, Like Toy Soldiers, Mosh, and Yellowbrick Road. The majority of the the tracks felt like filler songs, just put on the album for the sake of making it longer rather than focusing on quality. Although it was later revealed this was an extremely hard time for Eminem. As he was struggling with a drug addiction. And only a few months after the album was released his best friend and fellow D12 member, Deshaun Holton better known as Proof was fatally shot. While Eminem now renounces this album, showing he did learn from his mistakes, it was still a disappointing as an Eminem album and felt more like a crowd pleaser than anything else. 7. 2009's Relapse For any other Eminem fans, this will probably be surprising to see this above Encore. While I did put this as the 2nd worst Eminem album, I believe this is the most underrated Eminem album. The theme of the album was that he had gotten over his drug addiction, which he had. But was going back to his old ways of the evil Slim Shady. This resulted in him often putting on the persona of a drug addicted serial killer. This resulted in him using accents that got annoying after awhile. Also, he tended to go overboard with the serial killer act and just come off as goofy. However, on some tracks it was used in a way that actually came off as creepy an unsettling. Overall, this album is good. I think many fans dislike this album solely because he later goes back to express how much he hates it along with Encore. However, I believe any Eminem fan will enjoy this album and I definitely recommend you listen to it. 6. 1996's Infinite Not many are aware of this album's existence. Which isn't very surprising as it had little success in Detroit and even less elsewhere. This was his very first album, and is quite obvious. The album lacks any humor which, Eminem later admitted, criticism he got from this album resulted in him becoming angrier and angrier and eventually creating Slim Shady. However, lyrically this is one of his best albums. Overall, I would recommend this album only if you are a fellow Eminem fan. It will show you how much he has evolved as an artist and you will probably get at least some enjoyment out of it. 5. 2010's Recovery Before Eminem fans and non Eminem fans alike attack me for putting this album lower on the list. I am not putting it here because I think it's "mainstream" or I don't like Rihanna or Lil Wayne being on it. I quite like this album and many of the tracks on it. However, I have always felt Eminem succeeds at balancing being serious, funny, and motivational. Humor has always been a major part of Eminem's MO. Which this album had very little of. The theme of this album was that he was recovering from both his drug addiction, and writer's block. And did it work? Yes, I believe it did. He successfully showed everyone he was readjusted and had returned and I think this album is also very good for anyone just starting to get into Eminem and his music. 4. 1999's The Slim Shady LP This album was Eminem's first major album, with help from Dr. Dre the young rapper successfully broke out of the underground and into the mainstream. It's quite a funny and lighthearted album as the majority of the album was Eminem going around on many adventures in the Slim Shady character. But, on 3 of the tracks the tone is completely different. In If I Had he voices his frustration at his lack of money and that he has to turn to crime to provide for his wife and young daughter. In Rock Bottom he continues to talk about his lack of money. However, unlike If I Had, where he sounded frustrated and angry; he sounds depressed and sad. (It was later revealed he attempted suicide after writing this song, making it even more unsettling.) Lastly, '97 Bonnie and Clyde he tells a story of taking his wife's dead body and dumping it in Lake Michigan while accompanied by his daughter. While all other murders depicted in the album are clearly in a joking manner, he expresses it completely differently in this song. Overall, this album is extremely entertaining, and moreover does an amazing job of introducing Eminem to the world. 3. 2013's The Marshall Mathers LP 2 This album is simply amazing. Eminem's goal was to revive his Slim Shady character in his sequel to 2000's The Marshall Mathers LP. It contains fun and comedic songs such as Rap God. Which is an unbelievably clever and an amazing song. To Bezerk, where he revived his trend of putting one song on each of his albums making fun of other current pop stars. However, it did have many mature songs; including Bad Guy, a sequel to Stan. But my favorite song on this album has to be Headlights. Any Eminem fan will know Eminem's deep hatred of his single, poor, drug addicted mother he expressed in previous albums. In this song he apologizes and even gives his mother credit for being a single parent and doing her best for providing for him and his half brother. This song made me cry the first time listening to it, and is probably one of my favorite Eminem songs. Overall, this album succeeded where his previous two albums failed. He successfully balances maturity with humor. I recommend it to non Eminem fans and Eminem fans alike. 2. 2002's The Eminem Show After The Marshall Mather's LP and The Slim Shady LP the next obvious step was an Eminem LP. However, Slim decided to name his next album The Eminem Show. Because he felt his life had become something for the world just to watch and be entertained by, so a 'show' in a way. It was clear he was still just as crazy and funny. However, he did express more mature themes. Such as his love for his daughter in Hailie's Song and his hatred for his mother came to a peak in Cleanin' out my closet. Overall, this album is perfect in every way. And it was a very close call putting it at #2. 1. 2000's The Marshall Mathers LP The Slim Shady LP was amazing, so no one knew what the white rapper would do next. There was a lot of pressure to make a good album since his first LP was so successful. And I believe he succeeds to the fullest. Other than The Real Slim Shady this album was void of all lighthearted humor and comedy. In The Way I Am he lashes out at overzealous fans, his label putting too much pressure on him, and the media as a whole. In Stan he tells a story of an obsessive fan who ended up dying due to his obsession with Eminem. Throughout the album he continuously mocks his mother, father, wife, and many others. The album caused extreme controversy due to extremely misogynistic and homophobic lyrics. The album, in my opinion, showcases Eminem as the best artist in all of music and should it be no surprise that I highly recommend it. My favorite songs... 10. Without Me 9. Cleanin' Out My Closet 8. Headlights 7. Role Model 6. When I'm Gone 5. Rock Bottom 4. Stan 3. Lose Yourself 2. Till I Collapse 1. The Way I Am I was going to explain each of these songs and give an overall review on them like I did with the albums. But I thought it would be much more fun to listen to them yourself rather than me tell you about them. Well, thank you for reading that all if you did. I just wanted to give my thoughts on him as an artist and feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments as well. Have a great day :p
The "Discussion" section deals with discussions about the server. Meanwhile, off-topic is to place threads that have no connection with the server. On-topic; I used to listen to Eminem and I'm glad that 7 songs that you mentioned were my favorites as well.
Without Me, Cleanin' Out My Closet, Role Model, When I'm Gone, Stan, Lose Yourself, Till I Collapse and The Way I Am. I have more, but I am too lazy. xd
