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It's hard to know what to make of Eminem, even if you know that half of what he says is sincere and half is a put-on; the trick is realizing that there's truth in the joke, and vice versa. Many dismissed his considerable skills as a rapper and social satirist because the vulgarity and gross-out humor on The Slim Shady LP were too detailed for some to believe that it was anything but real. To Eminem's credit, he decided to exploit that confusion on his masterful second record, The Marshall Mathers LP. Eminem is all about blurring the distinction between reality and fiction, humor and horror, satire and documentary, so it makes perfect sense that The Marshall Mathers LP is no more or no less "real" than The Slim Shady LP. It is, however, a fairly brilliant expansion of his debut, turning his spare, menacing hip-hop into a hyper-surreal, wittily disturbing thrill ride. It's both funnier and darker than his debut, and Eminem's writing is so sharp and clever that the jokes cut as deeply as the explorations of his ruptured psyche. The production is nearly as evocative as the raps, with liquid basslines, stuttering rhythms, slight sound effects, and spacious soundscapes. There may not be overpowering hooks on every track, but the album works as a whole, always drawing the listener in.
Condition:NEW. Brand New Factory Sealed
TRACK LISTINGS
1 Public Service Announcement 2000 / Jeff Bass 0:25
2 Kill You 4:24
3 Stan / D12 6:43
4 Paul (Skit) / Paul "Bunyan" Rosenberg 0:10
5 Who Knew 3:47
6 Steve Berman 0:53
7 The Way I Am 4:44
8 The Real Slim Shady 4:50
9 Remember Me? / Sticky Fingaz 3:38
10 I'm Back 5:10
11 Marshall Mathers 5:20
12 Ken Kaniff (Skit) 1:01
13 Drug Ballad 5:00
14 Amityville / Bizarre 4:14
15 B**** Please II 4:48
16 Kim 6:17
17 Under the Influence 5:22
18 Criminal 5:19
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