The Slim Shady LP
This is Eminem's second CD (his first CD, according to www.eminem.com, was called "Infinite LP" and is dated 1997). The Slim Shady LP was released in 1998. It went over big; My Name Is, the most popular song on the CD, appeared on TRL for a long stretch in '98. Guilty Conscience and Role Model also saw time on that show and MTV took an interest in Eminem's career. Perhaps the biggest single influence on the success of the CD was big-name rap producer Dr. Dre's endorsement of both the artist and the CD; he makes appearances on Guilty Conscience, Role Model, and My Name Is as a writer or performer. The CD was pressed under Interscope Records' label and picked up by Aftermath Entertainment. It was mixed and recorded at The Mix Room and Dre's House.
The lyrics on this LP are much looser than on his later albums, and his voice and style become angrier in the Marshall Mathers LP and the Eminem Show; the beats are usually faster in these later albums as well. While the other two CDs mentioned have lyrics that mostly focus on Eminem's life in the rise to fame, the Slim Shady LP's raps are a lot more amusing and cover as many imagined scenarios as real ones. In terms of stylistic change, not only is the tempo quicker but the rhymes are less random and more directed; the topic at hand doesn't jump when a new subject flows better. Whether this is a good or a bad thing is up to the listener, but personally I like this CD better than the Marshall Mathers LP and Eminem Show.
Added 10 October 2002:
Track list:
Public Service Announcement (0:33)
My Name Is (4:28)
Guilty Conscience (3:19)
Brain Damage (3:46)
Paul (0:15)
If I Had (4:05)
97' Bonnie & Clyde (5:16)
B**** (0:19)
Role Model (3:25)
Lounge (0:46)
My Fault (4:01)
Ken Kaniff (1:16)
Cum On Everybody (3:39)
Rock Bottom (3:34)
Just Don't Give A (4:02)
Soap (0:34)
As The World Turns (4:25)
I'm Shady (3:31)
Bad Meets Evil (4:13)
Still Don't Give A (4:12)