The Slim Shady LP

by

Eminem

Edit

'The Slim Shady' LP is one of those albums that you have to let grow on you. It took quite a few listens before this sunk in with me. This album isn't as catchy, or bouncy or as fun as his other stuff. Some of the tracks on this CD just get downright depressing. And that's the beauty of it. This album was written and produced before anyone knew who Eminem was (hard to believe there was such a time) and touches on some pretty heavy stuff and explores Em's very disturbed imagination. Listening to this, it is easy to see why most people hate Eminem. In the span of the album, not only does he take responsibility for the O.J. Simpson murders, but on '97 Bonnie & Clyde,' he also murders his wife with the help of his infant daughter. So yes, it's pretty sick. But that's what makes Eminem so great. He's skilled in theatrics and at times creates what can only be described as audio-horror (Note the loop used for "Just Don't Give A F..." which sounds like something straight out of the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'). Of course, not everything on here is meant to be shocking. Eminem comes across as extremely genuine on the self-describing 'Rock Bottom' and gives a little humor to a bad situation on 'If I Had.' Oddly enough, Dr. Dre only produced the three main singles off this album and they really stick out like a sore thumb. As much as I love Dr. Dre's music, you can't help but feel that this album would almost be better off without those three tracks. As it stands, this is definetly one of the best rap albums I own. It proves that rap doesn't have to be about strippers and money. Too bad most people view this as a pop album and see Eminem as some kind of comedian. Anyone who gets past the third track on this CD will see a whole new side of Eminem they never saw before.

This review is specifically directed towards the edited version of the album. Now I'm not gonna start on some rant about free speech, or censorship, or whatever. That would just waste my time and yours, since you've already decided that you have an interest in this edited CD.

So here's the lowdown. This clean version of "The Slim Shady LP" does a lot of things wrong. The most obvious problem is the editing method used. Instead of dubbing words out, which is the least one ought to expect, they simply scramble/reverse the audio. Not just the vocals, either - the ENTIRE audio section gets altered. Taking out words is one thing, but when the entire beat and instrumental track gets scrambled, it kills the flow of the song. In "Guity Conscience" they also use this awful "scratching" effect on top of the audio - and I don't mean hip-hoppy turntable scratching, I mean a literal, unpleasant SCRATCHING noise that would make you think you had a defective CD or something. At other points on the album, the production gets even lazier as portions of the songs are actually SILENCED. As in no vocals, no backing instremental, no audio. Nothing but a blank space.

The second problem comes with the language they choose to edit. In most cases, edited versions are produced in order to remove curse words. On this disc, it's only the "F-word" that gets taken out, so you'll still be hearing "sh--" quite a bit. I'm not gonna get into a debate about appropriate language, but making an edited CD that you still wouldn't be able to play on radio seems rather pointless.

Most annoying of all, however, is what DOES get edited on this CD. Every drug reference gets scrambled, which is somewhat understandable, but still frustrating in many cases. But then they go and remove "violent" lyrics, and this is where things get out of hand. Words like "die," "kill," and "shoot" are all removed. Case in point - in "Brain Damage," there's a line about schoolyard bullies roughing up Eminem as a child. Eminem quotes these bullies as saying "You're gonna die!" but the word "die" is scrambled. Elsewhere on the disc, a narrator describes "the legend of Slim Shady" in a parody of Westerns, and relates the tale of how Slim was "shot in the back." The word "shot" is edited. Half of these edits are things you can say in G-rated movies. Taking out curse words is one thing, but what they do to this disc insults the basic intelligence of the listener. It's especially silly in a song like "Role Model," where the message of the entire song is how Eminem is NOT a role model, and how no one with a brain should do anything he describes.

You can see the irony here; "sh-t" is left in while "shoot" gets scrambled. Only "Just Don't Give" has been resonably edited, and that's only because the song had previously been edited when it was released as a single. This CD is un unlistenable mess; and even if you're willing to tolerate some "choppiness" in order to get a "clean" version, you'll be disappointed on that front as well. If you're looking for a relatively clean Eminem CD, I'd recommend the edited version of "The Eminem Show." All the edits on THAT album are of professional quality, and they succeed in bringing all the language to a TV-PG level, while leaving most of Eminem's wit intact.