The Eminem Show

Maybe they’re calling Slim Shady’s third album The Eminem Show because it’s all starting to feel scripted. In just three years Eminem developed a repertoire of dysfunction that catapulted him to stardom—the celebrity bashing, the family instability, the questionable social behavior—and his repetitive themes are making for less compelling music. On “Cleaning Out My Closet” alone, he laments his absentee father, threatens a guy who made out with his ex-wife, and complains of suffering from Munchausen syndrome (look it up). With no envelopes left to push, Eminem’s got some saving graces: When he experiments with delivery (“Square Dance,” “Superman”), he’s better than anyone in the game. And he still packs lyrical punch—on “Business” he jokes about playing “career Russian roulette” with Elton John, while on “White America” he swipes at the pop hegemony: “I go to TRL, look how many hugs I get.” Not bad for a scrawny white kid from Detroit, but is that all there is?