I have been a die hard fan of Eminem since he jumped on the scene in 1999 with his crazy "my name is" and have followed him through to the current days of his most recent album Recovery. I have seen him live and to be quite honest the man is nothing short of sheer genius, and as amazing as ALL his albums are, they fade into the abyss in comparison to his live gigs, but none the less, this album is one of my favourites.

Sprung into the spotlight after a whirlwhind meeting with Dr Dre and shooting to fame with his witty and controversial lyrics, this LP is actually second mainstream released album after first one named after his alias Slim Shady LP. It describes in fantastic detail this trials and tribulations he has been through, how he feels, often in a comedic manner referring to drugs and women (mother, ex wife etc) but it shows his serious side, his stark shock at the aspects of fame (The Way I am) and the brutal but raw and gritty Kim the prequel to 97 Bonnie & Clyde off the previous album.

I have captioned the title of this review as 'not for the faint hearted' as I am sure most critics and other music sceptics would (and probably did) have a heart attack at the song Kim. However, people forget what rap is. It is rhythm and poetry, and all Eminem does on this track, is explain (perhaps in a graphic and explicit manner) in a poetic expression the way he feels about his ex wife (at the time anyway). Everyone in some point has some aggressive anger or feeling towards another person they are passionate about, and for Eminem his music is his avenue to spill his feelings to the world in a coherent way, and paint such a vivid picture, through his lyrics, that you actually feel embroiled in the situation, can feel his pain, his heartbreak, and even the love he has for his daughter all at the same time.

There are of course the released (and unreleased) upbeat, tracks which make fun at everyone such as The real slim shady, kill you (excuse such a threatening song title) and criminal which are simply his songs to write completely random lyrics, but are so catchy you will undoubtedly find yourself rapping along to it anyway.

There are a few skits jotted in between the tracks, which is common on all of his albums (except Recovery) where Eminem pokes fun at his label predominantly, and they are all clever insights on how he is open, and adverse to other rappers on the market, as usually the skits are condemning the type of material he raps about, yet he goes and releases it anyway.

All in all, my advice to anyone is that if you take things just too personally, don't see music for it's artistic value then this album definitely isn't for you. It's got it's anthem (The way I am) for inspiring people to be who they want to be, it has it's comedy, it has it's passion and it has Eminem's personality all the way through. If people aren't already a fan, I don't think this album will convert them to be, but it will certainly help a lot of people comprehend the man behind the mask...