Eminem

The Marshall Mathers LP

A Sick, Brilliant, Twisted Work Of Art.

Review Score:

(8/10)
I'm confounded, like so many others. Do I object the seeming viciousness, or do I argue artistic freedom? I'd rather cast aside the debate and revel in the artistic whole. Of his brilliance, there is no question - I'm no hip-hop authority, but I swear his verbal dexterity matches, in skill, Jay-Z and dare I say Rakim. His delivery, poetic, his poetry vile, disturbing, riveting, hilariously funny and mind-numbingly painful, and maybe that's the point, proving no more or less a threat to the psyche as a whole as any latest cinematic insult by the deplorable likes of a Greg Araki or a John Waters. As a gay man, his use of the 'F' word [as in anti-gay rhetoric] is not offensive to me as it is disappointing in his naive explanation for utilizing it...besides, as an equal opportunity offender, he has more despairing ghosts to fry. Is this the disgorging of a homophobic misanthrope? I don't think so. Is this the work of a genius satirist? Perhaps. Is it also a work of artistic triumph? Absolutely. Some hoped that the succubi that fed of his mind were finally purged for a kinder gentler future Marshall. But after 'The Eminem Show,' and '8 Mile' a kinder, gentler Eminem was no where to be found [although he's mellowing with the less than thrilling 'Encore']. But that would have been boring. If he is the end of the world as we know it, we'll be fine. My grade: A

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