So much has been written about Marshall Mathers a.k.a Slimy Shady a.k.a Eminem. Most of it has not been helpful or measured. Most either think he is the greatest thing to happen to Rap Music or they think he is evil and a danger to our society. As with most extreme views the truth is probably somewhere in the middle .So what statement is Eninem making now.

Making a statement
I guess that you can only rage against the system for so long before you have to put you head on the line and begin to stand for something. In his third album Eminem is beginning to do so and it is not quite what we might expect.

He is still very bitter against his mum who he believes has caused him so many problems throughout his life and even more since he achieved fame. In 'Cleaning Out The Closet' he sings of how she treated him and says that he is dead to her now. Contained within that song is, I guess, the root of many of his problems. While he is prepared to sing these words with such anger then it is hard to see anything changing in their relationship.

His daughter
Yet Eminem is changing and he seems to have found emotional strength in his relationship with his daughter Hailie. His sings in Hailie's song that he thinks that he is crazy, has nothing to live for and that his insecurities eat him alive. But when he sees his baby daughter eyes it makes sense. The song expresses clearly the confusion that Eminem feels. He is experiencing giving and receiving unconditional love within his relationship with his daughter and it is changing him. When all your life this has not been the case it can be so disabling and the need for the Father's unconditional love is screaming throughout the whole album.

Musically it is a mix of many influences and together provides a pleasing enough album. The problem is that other then the few outstanding tracks such as 'Without Me' t(he first single )there are too many average tracks to make it more than just a good album.

Rage and pain
The album is still full of rage, and the language causes a need for the parental advisory - explicit content sticker. The problem is that we no longer know who Marshall Mathers is and throughout the record is it clear that neither does he. At times he is so self-aware saying, 'If I was black I would have sold half' then he continues to fuel his critics by expressing his anger at his mum, ex-wife, well just about everyone.

If this is Eminem expressing what he believes, then we still don't really know him. Every time I listen I hear a men screaming while drowning, how he needs to be rescued and then one day, the real Slim Shady will stand up.