Track Listing

1. Public Service Announcement - Eminem, Jeff Bass
2. My Name Is - Dr. Dre, Eminem, Richard "Segal" Huredia
3. Guilty Conscience - Dr. Dre, Eminem, Marshall Mathers, Richard "Segal" Huredia, Mark Avery
4. Brain Damage - Alan Mason, Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Marky Bass, Mr. B
5. Paul - Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Paul "Bunyan" Rosenberg, Paul "Bunyan" Rosenburg
6. If I Had - Alan Mason, Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Marky Bass, Mr. B
7. '97 Bonnie & Clyde - DJ Head, Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Marky Bass, Mr. B, Slim
8. Bitch - Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Zoe Winkler
9. Role Model - Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mel-Man, Richard "Segal" Huredia
10. Lounge - Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass
11. My Fault - Alan Mason, Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Marky Bass, Mr. B
12. Ken Kaniff - Eminem, Jeff Bass, Aristotle, Mark Bass
13. Cum On Everybody - Alan Mason, Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Marky Bass, Mr. B
14. Rock Bottom - Dr. Dre, Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Markey Bass, Richard "Segal" Huredia
15. Just Don't Give A F** - Aaron Lepley, Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Marky Bass, Mr. B
16. Soap - Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Royce Da 5-9
17. As The World Turns - Aaron Lepley, Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Marky Bass, Mr. B
18. I'm Shady - Alan Mason, Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Marky Bass, Mr. B
19. Bad Meets Evil - Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Marky Bass, Marshall Mathers, Mr. B, R. Montgomery, Royce Da 5-9
20. Still Don't Give a F*** - Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass, Marky Bass, Marshall Mathers, Mr. B

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2723 in Music
• Released on: 2003-03-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 60 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
On The Slim Shady LP, Eminem wants it all. He is conflicted, you see; the world has treated him badly, and he wants to respond in kind. But he isn't a straight-up gangsta--this is, after all, the first release on Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records, his post-Death Row-era venture--and Eminem (born Marshall Mathers) doesn't really want anyone to follow in his footsteps, which leads to some interesting contradictions on this album. In the first single, "My Name Is", he's self-deprecating, rapping about his poor upbringing and his hairy palms. But on the very next song, "Guilty Conscience", he plays the devil to Dr. Dre's angel--that is, until Eminem brings up an incident from Dre's devilish past, rapping, "You gonna take advice from someone who slapped Dee Barnes?" Later, on "'97 Bonnie & Clyde", he turns Will Smith's "Just the Two of Us" on its ear, making it a tale of murder; but on "My Fault", he actually feels bad--though whether it's for the girl he overdosed or for himself is tough to figure out. With his nasal Midwestern tone, Mathers has a clean, clear flow, and the production--by Dr. Dre, Marky, and Jeff Bass--is crisp but consistently fun. Eminem has some serious skills, and he makes for some great tunes--but the lyrics are as morally reprehensible as they get. --Randy Silver

CD Description
1999 saw Eminem emerge as one of the most controversial rappers with his major label debut album 'The Slim Shady LP'. Eminem delivers powerful messages which often blurs the linesbetween reality and parody, fusing cartoon like violence with his acerbic lyrics. Includes his number one breakthrough single 'My Name Is', alongside 'Guilty Conscience' and '97 Bonnie & Clyde'.

Customer Reviews

A musical genius is born, and music will never be the same
I am for the most part a very conservative person, and those who know me would probably never imagine that I am a devoted Eminem fan. When The Slim Shady LP came out in 1999, I heard a lot about it, but I had almost no exposure to the music itself. The only song I really heard at the time was the radio version of My Name Is, and that little ditty seemed to have "gimmick" written all over it. I expected Eminem to disappear from the music scene after a few months. I, like many people, was uninformed and wrongly dismissed this artist out of hand. Then, I actually listened to the man's music, and I soon realized that Eminem was in fact a musical genius. This first album is a little more bare-bones and gritty than The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show, but it is nonetheless nothing short of amazing. I am not exactly a big fan of rap or hip-hop, although I have wandered down those lanes a few times in my past, but Eminem actually transcends rap, creating a musical genre all his own that reaches out to even the most unlikeliest of places to win fans like me. Sure, the lyrics are explicit, but what I have come to realize is this: Eminem does not use the explicit lyrics to attract notoriety and sell albums; he uses explicit lyrics because he is expressing himself in a shockingly honest way, and what he gives us is his own version of truth and reality. He really does have something to say, and he says it in a way that speaks not only to the culture of the streets but also to boring conservative individuals like me.

I can't find a bad song on this album, although I'm not that fond of the Ken Kaniff sketch. Eminem does things with beats and rhymes that I have never heard anyone else do, using the very rhythm of his music as a further means of communicating his ideas and feelings. 97 Bonnie and Clyde is rightfully well-known, a song which addresses real issues that many people deal with every day; it's much more than a song about someone killing his wife. Guilty Conscience is a notable track, with Eminem and Dr. Dre playing devil and angel to folks encountering real, albeit, extreme situations. One of the greatest things about Emimen is his denial of himself as some kind of role model or superman; you can't pin him down to anything, as he shifts back and forth between a "don't do like I do" message (such as can be found in Role Model) and a celebration of the parents' nightmares he is creating. His life hasn't been easy, as he relates in Rock Bottom and further expounds upon in Brain Damage. As the World Turns is a great song with pop appeal, but my favorite has to be My Fault. Lounge, the preamble of My Fault, is just amazing because its Beach Boys-esque sound is quite unexpected and a perfect lead-in to what has to be the funniest song on the album. There's all kinds of variety here, including the designated "dance track" [Come] on Everybody. "Still Don't Give a" is the perfect ending to this emotionally complex diatribe of an album, summing up in the introductory words the very essence of Eminem.

There are many individuals who would never agree with me, but I truly think there is a little Eminem in all of us. As an introvert who tries to avoid conflict, I can't help but idolize Eminem for his fearlessness, boldness, and complete dedication to individualism. His reputation guarantees a legion of men and women who will never even consider listening to his music or consider him anything more than a moral cancer on the younger generations, but I think Eminem has already proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is a talented musician capable of influencing the music of today and tomorrow in ways that many people will probably never even realize. While I enjoy his next two albums a little bit more than this one, The Slim Shady LP serves as an absolutely crucial piece to the fascinating puzzle that is Eminem.

Just buy it. Right now.
I have an eclectic music taste but I have never really got past Will Smith when it comes to rap. However, I had heard a lot about Eminem and decided to see what all the fuss was about. I wasn't disapointed. He brilliantly manages to combine the funny tracks (e.g. Guilty Conscience and 97' Bonnie and Clyde) with the hard-hitting stuff (e.g. Role Model, Rock Bottom and Still Don't Give a F**k). He even manages to mix it up in the same track, My Fault and My Name Is being perfect examples. Of course, you could get caught up in just the lyrics and forget about the music. Fortunately, most of the tracks have a brilliant rhythm and tune to go with the words, although If I Had and My Fault fall down slightly on this front.

An essential purchase not just for the rap fan but for any music fan who wants to broaden their horizons. The best album of 1999.

If Only He Had Stayed Like This
I still say that this is Eminem's masterpiece, his darkest album, and the soundtrack of his darkest hour. It also ploughs the sinister and disturbing recesses of Marshall Mathers' mind, spilling them all out with a lack of reservation which is stunning.

As is so often the case, Dr. Dre's production is impeccable, and what he can do with electronic sound is akin to what some artists can do with paint. Instantly recognisable 'My Name Is' often gets a panning by the artist himself, but it's his signature tune with good reason, being an expert masterclass in uncompromising lyrics, an assault of bad taste and shocking statements, one after the other: BANG, BANG, BANG!

And then Marshall gives us a sad and truly heartbreaking insight into his past in 'Brain Damage', all the while giving us clues as to why he ended up being one of the most aggressive, angry men in the history of music. 'If I Had' is also sober and thought-provoking, giving us more of an insight into the psyche of Marshall Mathers than most of his recent output. Drugs, frustration, anger, sorrow and boredom are all there, as well as poverty and a sense of humour, making this a classic of modern times, easily one of the best and most honest post-modern rap albums.

But key to this fantastic honesty and unflinching realism was the fact that this was recorded whilst Eminem was still relatively unknown, living a life of abject hardship with only a dream of something better to keep him warm - in fact that tone is all over this album.

Dark humour adorns 'Role Model', whilst heart-rending despair paints 'Rock Bottom' a murky grey, and in one of the finest moments of his career, Eminem gives us empathy and truly highlights the plight of the USA's underclass. Rap just doesn't come any better than this.

Eminem's trademark nonchalance and defiance are all over 'I Just Don't Give A F**k', whilst 'Still Don't Give A F**k' amuses with it's gobbiness, and 'Bad Meets Evil', featuring Royce Da 59 shows yet more dark humour and smart-assed rapping. The most disturbing song on the album is '97 Bonnie and Clyde', a grim fantasy of separation from his other half, of the permanent kind. It shows at least how willing Eminem is to voice the thoughts which most of us never would. People accuse Eminem of misogyny but never bother to dig beneath the surface - of course a man whose mother didn't raise him properly has issues with women, just as a women who has a bad father would have issues with men... makes sense, really. But above all that, Eminem's love for his daughter shines through.

This is an incredlbly important album, and around album three, the grit and realism of it looked further and further away. Eminem is capable of genius, in the form of this album, and I am certain that at some point in his career, if he wants to, he can return to it.