Reviews (page 14 of 14)
Oof. This was a rough listen. There are just too many un-catchy tracks, during which the only hooks are harsh electronic jingles or some 17-year-old-sounding kid doing a subpar gangster impression. The mannerisms are pretty awful, even for the time; there were frequent slurs, including (among others) the inexcusable n-slur, and the extremely tonedeaf r-d and f-g-t slurs. Considering the artist is very much white, and presumably progressive for his time, these are especially egregious. As a listener, you also receive a lot of references to "sucking my d*ck" and telling people to "f*ck off", which would be pretty irritating by itself - and then, because of Eminem's odd rapping style, it comes across as a young, overconfident dude who mistakenly thinks he's badass. (The track "Under The Influence" is the most obvious offender in this regard, being possibly the worst track on the album.) Honestly, it's kind of sad to listen to. The skits end up being some of the stronger tracks, and they're absolutely filler, no question. Tracks such as Kill You, Who Knew, I'm Back, and Kim are bottom-tier in these regards, and without convincing melody, harmony, or instrumentation to back them up, they end up being worse than throwaway. The out-of-left-field Dre shoutouts, which appear on several tracks, are pointless and dated. The clear standouts are the two biggest hits (by Spotify listens): "Stan" and "The Real Slim Shady". Both are really catchy and capture the smooth intersection between a solid, modern backing instrumental and some great (albeit repetitive) vocal hooks. "Stan" is strongest during Dido's sung vocals, but the rest isn't half-bad either.
Awful, full of profanity
Couldn’t get through it.
No.
Nope
Well, at least it's clear right off with what's in store, with the 25 second "announcement". Coarse and profane, misogynous, homophobic, violent, that's this album. In the song Marshall Mathers, he raps "I think I was put here to annoy the world".. well A for effort, if not execution. I'm not impressed, I'm not outraged either. It just seems so very trite. And long, at over 70 minutes. That said, the song "Stan" has a pretty cool sound / groove. But the lyrics follow the ramblings of a pathetic fan who kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend because Eminem didn't respond to fan letters fast enough. Cheerful, huh? Most of the grooves are tolerable, better than a lot of the Hip Hop I've been fed through this project. But Hip Hop is supposedly about the lyrics, and the lyrics here are pretty much intolerable. Note: Spotify only has 17 of the 19 songs from this album, but you know, I've had enough and won't dig up those other. I was going to give this a 2 since some of the grooves are decent, but sheesh. The crap messaging knocks it down to 1/5. I have to wonder about what kind of person love this stuff. 1/5
I have no idea if this is good rap because I think rap is spelled with a silent C, yet it seems far better musically than much of the crap that I've heard.
too profane
lol?
Awful. When did music die.
Ugh. Do I have to? Yeh, no. This is only good if Natalie Portman is lip-syncing it on late nite. Zero adds to Kaizen (or any) playlist.
🤮🤮🤮
I liked much of the music and arrangement but was put off by the language.
😬 too hardcore for me.
I tried to listen to 3 songs and then I stopped.
First album I did not listen to again. But I have heard it, many times in college. Did not really like it then and can’t imagine I would grow to like it. I’m sure it’s wonderful for angry teens who disparage women and are anti-gay. It’s all satire, yeah right. He’s slim shady so he can be so disgusting and can say anything, strange how he can throw around slurs against gay people and women but doesn’t seem to go the next level to race, wonder why? Anyway, if you want a woman’s perspective on Slim Shady listen to Tori Amos version of “Bonnie & Clyde 97’” and hear the mothers ghost gently comfort her daughter before her body is thrown into the water from the trunk of the car. (I know this song was not on this album)
I liked the beats but not the lyrics. This isn't an album I would ever listen to again. 1 and done.
Why?
Maybe I'd have liked this album if I was still 12, when I thought NWA & 2 Live Crew were hilarious & had no idea how misogynist & homophobic a lot of the Beastie Boys lyrics were. And those were tame compared to this. Another self-important rapper glorifying drugs & graphic violence against women. Shock for shock's sake. I can't even finish this shite.
weeeell, since i'm not a fan of rap... and the ken kaniff skit is not really something i want to listen to on an album :( sorry but that's a 1/5 for me
There's some great lyrics in this album as expected with Eminem's early work, it's undeniable that he's a great rapper. There's some classics on here too, and I appriciate the shock-value. However many tracks on this record are laden with homophobic and misogynistic lyrics, it's not even a case of it being 'a product of it's time' - homophobia and misogyny were never cool. The whole thing just comes across as edgy and cringy.
The machismo, misogyny, vulgarity and anger that fuel this album are palpable and off putting. The verbal skills are impressive, and there are moments of humor in some rhymes, but the interspersed dialogue is overwhelmingly awful.
I found that album extremely difficult to listen to, and I don’t think I can separate the moral aspect from the musical with this one. “Kill you” and “Kim” in particular cross the line. I’ve watched movies that deal with similar heavy themes, but it hits different here because it seems personal to him whereas movies are more abstract. 1 star for being honest, but sometimes you should get some help instead of exploring your problems with music.
Wildly biased because I don’t like Eminem, also hard to listen to considering how often he used homophobic slurs, I made it 5 songs in and gave up
Hard to listen to, very violent and misogynistic
Never liked Eminem. His voice is grating to me
Eminem is good at rapping, but to me, he's just not good at music.
I do not like hiphop/rap. Tried to give it a fair shot but I can't
No interest Not interested at all Listened to this in 2019, thought it sucked then, nothing has changed Positives Stan, The Way I am\ Negatives His voice is unbelievably grating, i think the whole thing sucks\ 1/5
No, just no.
puerile misogynist crap, not for me, maybe for teenage boys...
Fuck no
i fucking hate eminem but stan is okay the first 2 times. after that it's the same boring slop as everything else. truly one of the most overrated "artists" of all time
100% not a fan of rap. I'll admit his cadence and word usage to keep the rhyme going are super unique, just not a fan. I also cannot associate with any of his inner demons so nothing.
Ok
storytelling réussi on y croirait presque
I just can't wait to listen to an album that lasts for over an hour and spends most of the time dwelling on homophobia, misogyny, and violence, especially all three together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!!!!!!! Unpopular opinion: this rapping is not great. I lasted about one minute before switching this tripe off. 1/10. I can't be bothered... but he did have a huge influence. Still, I'll give it a 1/5.
Dumb
No
Omg it was so bad 💀💀💀 (apart from stan i love stan ❤️)
Was crap I cannot stand rap only made it through Stan
I don't like rap and this album was a grind to get through and I couldn't even finish it. That being said, Stan and The Real Slim Shady were the highlights of the album to me. All in all, I'll be happy to never listen to this again.
I just can't. I really don't like Eminem.
Listened to ten and a half tracks. I don't need to hear more.
Skipped much of this homophobic trash and will skip the other album too.
Some impressive lyricism, but it’s not musically interesting enough to keep me engaged for most of the album.
Terrible music!!!
Yuck. No thank you.
I dreaded listening to this one.. Surprisingly melodic at times, but way too much profanity in an effort to be edgy. Random skit in the middle. I almost never pay attention to lyrics on a first listen, which is almost a requirement for rap. Also, I think I listened to a shorter version, and I'm not at all inclined to look up the longer one.
Absolutely hated it.
I did not enjoy it
Even worse than the rampant homophobia is how annoying some of the songs on this album actually sound
Didn't like it, not my kind of music
Not my taste, but appreciate the talent and production values
Nope
Thought the beats and rapping were OK, but couldn't deal with the blatant homophobia. Too bad. 1/5
yeah no
Didn’t like the violent words, felt like an onslaught
jeez this album is 72min - stan is a good song, 1 star because of the effect this album has had on white guys.
Some of the beats and lyrical flow are inspired, but that doesn’t make up for the absolute garbage lyrics. The takeaway is that c. 2000 Eminem was a man child who couldn’t handle criticism and compensated by threatening to rape women.
Boring and edgy
This is the only album I've skipped so far. Yes, Eminem is talented, but then you could say Hitler was a talented politician.
The first 1/3 to 1/2 of the album is ok, I guess. The songs about dealing with his newfound fame have a point but I think young people wouldn't get what he was trying to do (and I'm being generous here), but then it degenerates into misogyny and homophobia.
Not my taste
Apart from Stan, it's terrible.
Tried it at least, definitely wasn’t my scene. But could appreciate the production value.
Booooring. Kjafturinn á þessum gaur gerir ekkert fyrir mig.
I like eminem for the most part, but not this album.
Homophobic and misogynistic.
this album fucking blew. that's my take.
suger actually mer än ja nånsin sku ha kunnat tro... det här var pinsamt att lyssna på. Alla beats utom kanske 4 låter billiga, hans röst då han rappar (utanför Stan) är väldigt irriterande, och en stor del av skivan är tematiskt om exakt samma saker, jag dödar dig, tar piller, fuck you!!! Bryr mig int vad du tycker! Blir snabbt ointressant, speciellt då skivan är långt över en timme lång. Come on man...
Oh dear. Utter tosh.
Not really my thing. Makes me quite uncomfortable listening to it. I guess that might have been the point, but really not for me.
I remember trying to like this album when it came out. There were some catchy songs but the content of those songs made the album unlistenable.
Please make it stop.
When I was younger I dismissed Eminem. Never bothered to listen to him. Now that I have listened to him I am happy to say...I was not wrong. Fucking. Edgelord. Rap.
I have heard a few Eminem songs over the years, and with the exception of "Lose Yourself," a song I like (great beat, cool guitar riff, and good lyrics), I was never interested in listening to his music. I just listened to this album and came to the same conclusion. There's a whole lot of "I don't give a ***" being vocalized, and no matter the source, I find that self-proclamation of individualism to be amongst the more boring messages, artistic or otherwise, one can utter. That, and musically and content-wise, this album does very little for me.
0. Hate.
Interesting