When the Slim is no longer Shady, he just Eminem.

The Eminem Case Study (3 of 11):

If The Slim Shady LP made Eminem a star, The Marshall Mathers LP put him on top of the world. Even if critics of the time could not put their biases aside, fans absolutely ate this record up and it became the most sold hip-hop album at the time. He was bigger than ever, but that also meant his gripes about being famous were far from gone. The quality of his work would not matter if his vulgarity was all that he ... read more

Slim Shady walked so Marshall Mathers could run.

The Eminem Case Study (Part 2 of 11):

Despite using a different name in the title and the cover being stylistically different, The Marshall Mathers LP does more of what The Slim Shady LP did before it. Marshall on here hones the same aggressive persona he did last time and continues to deliver some highly provocative lyrics. The response to his major debut release is almost exactly what you would expect it to be if you gave it a short amount of ... read more

Regardless of flaws, this album is proof enough for me that Slim Shady was once a force to be reckoned with.

The Eminem Case Study (Part 1 of 11):

I am aware that Infinite was his first full-length release and not this one, but I am skipping it for the time being. Aside from being his underground release, it is not a big part of his career and it is not easy to listen to in full since it is not on Spotify. I will get to it eventually but now is not the time.

As for The Slim Shady LP, this ... read more

I think I need more time with this one still, but this is amazing. Third is undeniably Portishead's darkest album in their career, but the sound on here is completely different from anything else from before. They previously established themselves as being masters of trip-hop but on this project, they go for a more punk and electronic rock sound. I cannot say what moments stand out to me yet, but the instrumentals help make Beth Gibbon's voice more pronounced and make some of the dark ... read more

It does much of what The Chronic did, but I like the execution here better. I would go as far as to say that 2001 feels like the sequential upgrade to the previous album. The production here is as great as you would expect, the features shine, and there is some nice catchy moments in the beats and lyrics. There are quite a few more tracks on here despite it being a similar length as The Chronic, but for me, it made the project more snappy and kept the momentum going the whole time. All of the ... read more

This one took a bit more getting used to, but it has also grown on me.

Portishead's self-titled is and most likely always will be in the shadow of the album that came before it, but it still accomplishes a great deal. It does not try to be similar to Dummy, but rather something darker and more gothic. There is an atmosphere that feels haunting to listen to like you are taking a peek into a world or someone's lenses that has decayed over the years. This is something I would picture ... read more

This is a delightful old-school hip-hop release. The Chronic prides itself in being good plain and simple fun with bouncy energy and some well-chosen features, especially Snoop Dogg who steals the show. Most importantly, Dr. Dre shines in the production department delivering some amazing beats to every song. It is a bit aged, and there is not any one song that jumps out beyond being a part of the experience, but none of that holds this back from being a very well-made album.

Welp, this grew on me very quickly.

Dummy, more than anything else, is considered by many as the quintessential trip-hop album of all time. Despite this being one of the bigger albums of the 90s, I have not given this a listen until recently. It took me a bit to take it in, but as it stands now this whole thing is a sound that I had no idea that I needed in my life until now. At first I was somewhat disappointed that the rest of the record did not sound like Roads (that track is untouchable), ... read more

The fact that I am able to say that this is one of her weaker projects and have it still be this good almost speaks for itself.

Fossora is Bjork's tenth and most current album to date and she still seems to be in top form despite there being a five year wait from her last album. The aesthetic on here is similar to Utopia in that it is a vivid palette inspired by nature, but it is a lot more than just that here. Unlike before, this record dives into the more wild and unknown parts of ... read more

I seem to be rating it more generously than most, but this is one of my favorite sounds that she has worked with.

With Bjork's ninth album, Utopia, we see her put on arguably her most colorful aesthetic so far. With a mix of low-key electronic sounds and folk instruments like the flute, she builds a surreal nature-like atmosphere that is so easy to visualize in my head. Especially with how soon it came out after Vulnicura, this record feels like the natural next step in the healing ... read more

It has the rawness that Rid of Me had, but it contains more calm and melodic moments. It is for that reason more great moments were able to jump out at me and overall just finding it a better listen. I do not know if I will do so in the near future, but I might have to check out more of PJ Harvey's stuff.

This is, in my memory, the most sonically rich breakup album I have heard.

Vulnicura by all technicality is a breakup album and that should not be denied, but labeling it as simply just that I believe does a disservice to the substance it carries. This is perhaps the most avante garde and inaccessible record in Bjork's whole discography, but it is arguably also the most dark, emotional, and mature record she has put out as well. With being recorded in the span of two years, and the nearly ... read more

I can't do this anymore. Bjork has too many amazing albums.

Biophilia is a fun release for me as it marks the beginning of a chapter where Bjork fully begins to commit to constructing aesthetics in her album based on nature. For this record, in particular, themes of nature, space, and technology are explored here and it all flows so seamlessly. The sound on here is extremely melodic, with it being minimal in a similar way to Vespertine, but executed differently than before. When listening ... read more

I for the love of me cannot get into the singer's voice. All of the instruments were tasty, though.

This is the one Bjork album cover that does not match the vibe of the music, but it is still a good album.

With her sixth album Volta, Bjork shifts back into the back-and-forth sound switch-ups from her earliest days with some of the more complex instrumentation picked up from a couple of her more recent albums up to this point. Her fanbase at large considers this her worst record and it is easy for me to see why. Even compared to Debut, we have a lack of identity for this project as a whole ... read more

It's pretty good.

I have not delved into any other reviews of them yet as of writing this, but I absolutely love the 90s grunge sound. Compared to others that I have heard, this album is extremely raw and in your face in the best ways. I did not connect with all of the themes with my listen, but there were some wonderfully striking and provocative lyrics on songs like Legs. My first impression overall is a very positive one and maybe my thoughts will be more concrete once I have given ... read more

Yknow I was wondering why the voices were louder than usual while listening to this.

Trying to top Vespertine is a near-impossible task that not even Bjork could do but despite that, we got one of the most intriguingly experimental albums I have seen with Medulla. Rather than trying to replicate what came before, this album goes for a more primal feeling with being comprised almost entirely of vocals for its sound. Despite this, the result here is something that sounds fleshed out and captures ... read more

It is moments like this one where I feel like I am caving as a reviewer because everything I have heard from Bjork up to this point has only gotten better.

Bjork's fourth album, Vespertine, is everything I loved about Homogenic but this time it is somehow even more lush, bold, and vunerable than that record. The sound that this album uses to captivate the listener has electronic elements like before, but it has a more lo-fi and ambient feel giving it a different tone. Every track is ... read more

Holy shit I'm floating. This is insane!

Homogenic is Bjork's third album and continues on the musical path she had set beforehand. This time around, perhaps indicated by the album cover, we get something less accessible and more alien-like than before. None of what makes Bjork great is sacrificed with this change, but it is dialed up to a whole new level I did not know was possible thanks to the completely ethereal sound backing it up. Being built with a fine mix of trip-hop and ... read more

When he said "Donkey Kong everyday", I felt that.

Smash is the first Offspring to put the band into popularity with hits like Come out and Play and Self Esteem. Aside from the hits, this is a nice and catchy skate punk record that has some tongue and cheek writing. Self Esteem in particular is a track I have heard quite a few times, but this is the first time I actually caught the majority of the lyrics and I must say DAMN that is some top notch shit. The couple things that hold this ... read more