All didn't end well, though: Dido has a career now. Overplayed as it may sound today, it remains a cultural milestone- throngs of people, fans and not, flipped upon first hearing it, essentially forcing the label to release it as a single. 'Stan', however, still stands out as an exception. 'The Real Slim Shady' made him profitable songs like 'Kim' and 'Kill You' made him interesting.

The songs Curtain Call culls from that album are fine, but had little to do with the outrage he caught from parents, GLAAD, and the conservative right. Dre, also holds up, especially when Em puts his producer on blast as 'somebody who slapped Dee Barnes.' Eminem's strengths- verbal elasticity, the ability to write thunderous hooks, chameleon-ism, being white- have hamstrung him psychologically, but in these early days, before fame, 65 million albums sold, and media persecution, his joy for rapping shone hard.įrom the moment Dre and Interscope CEO Jimmy Iovine forced Eminem back into the booth to record 'The Real Slim Shady', the cake icing on his colossally important second album, his fate was sealed. 'Guilty Conscience', the role-playing jaunt between Eminem and mentor Dr. 'My Name Is' remains blissful and more complex than the novelty it was written off as- it's funny and bizarre, and each punchline could have been a chorus.

Only two songs from that album are included here: the hits. But his 1999 debut The Slim Shady LP marked his creative zenith. For all intents and purposes, Eminem's position as globo-mega-star and intriguing personality began to wane after the release of his second album, The Marshall Mathers LP, a record regarded by most as his masterpiece.

The slim shady lp tracklist