Review of Eminem: Anger Management Tour

Introduction

The history of white rappers is fairly short and hardly illustrious. My first recollection of `white boys` having a go at this genre was the freak hit Holiday Rap by Dutch boy MC Miker G and DJ Sven in Sept `86. Future bicycle salesman Vanilla Ice managed a number one hit with Ice Ice Baby by sampling Queen and this was followed by Snow`s Informer in 1993. Hardly the stuff of legend or even decent music.

Then something strange happened. A man appeared with a couple of strange names. Marshall Mathers or Slim Shady were the names being bandied about and a song named Stan once more put a white rapper at number one in 2000 and catapulted Dido into the most famous woman artist of the year. I know there`s more to this story than that, but bear with me, it`s not my genre and I`m not here to give a complete history of the man.

Eminem has courted controversy throughout his career with both his lyrics and actions. His initial tour with Jason-style Hockey mask and a chainsaw saw the tabloids up in arms, whilst lyrics dissing his mother, ex-wife, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the US President amongst others have brought the wrath of various groups on him. Despite all this though, it is clear that Eminem enjoys a popularity amongst fans of the rap genre and that the critically acclaimed rap-meister is respected within the industry both as performer and producer.

Here then is footage taken from his 2002 US Anger Management Tour, coinciding with his The Eminem Show album, with eleven out of the twenty tracks included here being from the aforementioned album.

Tracklisting: Square Dance, Business, White America, Kill You, When The Music Stops, Pimp Like Me, Fight Music, Purple Pills, Stan, The Way I Am, Soldier, Cleanin` Out My Closet, Forgot About Dre, Drips, Superman, Drug Ballad, Just Don`t Give A ****, Sing For The Moment, Without Me, My Dad`s Gone Crazy.

Video

This release clearly states a 5.1 Surround track but I never felt immersed in the soundtrack. Maybe it`s because there was no live band, just a DJ, but the soundtrack just felt a bit muted. This may well be ample enough for fans of this artist though. There are no subtitles on this release, although that may well be a blessing in disguise, at the very least for subtitle writers.

Audio

Lighting is a little on the dark side as you may expect from concert footage, lighting is sparse but you always have a clear view of all the participants and also the audience.

Features

On The Road - virtually a musical montage with various behind the scenes footage. There are some soundbites and a quite funny section with a mock rapper with the strangest teeth I`ve seen. For some reason some of the faces of the crew (and the police featured at the very beginning) are all blurred out. This lasts for around 20 minutes and I`d guess has limited repeat viewing appeal.

There is also a four page booklet that contains the credits and some big photo`s of the main man. Pretty superfluous, it must be said, and some personal words wouldn`t have gone amiss here.

Conclusion

There is no disputing that Eminem is a master of his trade. Although not a fan of rap myself, I do really like both Stan and Without Me. Both show a subtle mastery of melody below what appear to rants disguised as raps. Lyrically the man is also quite astute, the imagery and stories he tells a notch above the more mundane guns and ho`s and drugs of a lot of this genre`s artists. That isn`t to say that Eminem doesn`t cover that territory at all, just that there appears to be a bit more to him than just that. I don`t really have a problem with listening to his music on the radio and bought the two aforementioned singles which highlight his ability to recognise a catchy tune and draw in listeners with other tastes.

So no problem on the listening experience, but what about the live experience? Well, clearly Eminem suffers in the same way that other rappers do. The accepted practice is clearly a DJ plus the MC`s, and no band (although he clearly has some semblance of one from the music credits). This means that effectively you have a guy with a record deck and two blokes yelling into microphones. Hardly the greatest spectacle on earth…

It`s clear that he recognises these limitations though as the stage has a giant video screen, a fairground big wheel and various circus performers, including sword swallowers and contortionists, that appear at various stages. The problem is that whilst this may have looked good in the flesh, it looks a little empty on the small screen. Not sure whether this is the fault of the setup or the director, but there doesn`t seem to be enough here to hold your attention for the hour and ten minute running time (which is still quite short for a concert). Other artists also like to go through costume changes to keep the fans attention span, but when your idea of a costume change is a different coloured T-shirt then you`re obviously going to be struggling. I`m also pretty sure that an Eminem concert would last more than an hour ten, so why put out an incomplete setlist?

There is also a lot of swearing on this DVD, justifying the 15 certificate and Parental Advisory sticker on the front. I`m no prude by any means, but I was slightly taken aback not just by the swearing from the performers but also the audience as they are encouraged to yell lyrics back at the stage. I always find swearing for the sake of it to be a bit clichéd and maybe that`s what puts me off this whole genre of music.