100 Best Albums of the Decade: 1

1: Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2001)

Eminem summed it all up when he said "the love you take is equal to the love you make". Err, sorry that was Paul McCartney. What Slim Shady actually said was "just bend over and take it like a slut okay Ma?".

There was no other artist quite like Eminem this decade. Highly controversial, brutally honest and a pure master of his craft - Marshall Mathers was unique in the colorful spectrum that is pop music. He won critical acclaim, grammys, conquered the charts, sold out arenas, broke sales records, scored a legion of fans, made a long list of enemies, suffered through personal losses and marital struggles in the public eye - and always seemed to come out on top well... at least before this year.

Some artists distance themselves from the drama and complications in their lives (Radiohead). Others embrace them as just a part of living (95 percent of all musicians). A very select few live out those daily issues and through each and every verse of their music and endear themselves to their audience (Bruce Springsteen). And only someone named Eminem could do in such a spectacular fashion.

The Marshall Mathers LP is a perfect storm of unabashed artistic expression wrapped in an accessible pop package. Eminem makes no bones about who or what has pissed him off and he's out for blood. Nothing is off limits and no amount of shock value goes untested. Whether talking about raping his own mother, murdering his ex-wife, consuming every drug imaginable, robbing banks or killing N*Sync - Slim Shady name checks all the things he deems a disposable cockroach and completely vilifies them.

Sure in the rap world it's easy to come off as just another angry wannabe gangster. But Eminem spits rhyme with such conviction that you can't help believe every word he says. When he talks about choking his ex in the woods - you tend to think he already would've done it if he didn't have a studio to vent all his inner desires and frustrations. With Eminem it's almost never music. It's therapy.

But there is more to the surface than just an angry white boy from Detroit. "Stan" is the most important pop single of this decade because of how timely it is even on the brink of a new decade. A deranged fan who wants to literally be Eminem goes off the deep end when his fan mail isn't returned on time. This was before TMZ, celebrity gossip blogs and the worship of celebrity that is so common today. Eminem is the anti-Jonas Brothers. Someone who garners attention that was never wanted in the first place.

But amongst all the violence is a softer side of Slim - if you can call it that. "The Real Slim Shady", "Drug Ballad" and "I'm Back" are the least controversial tunes where he finds a way to win you over with his dry humor and his laid back flow (even if there is still a hint of bitterness sprinkled here and there).

The Marshall Mathers LP is also an autobiography of sorts. Eminem invites you into his world and shoves your face in all the grime and dirt of his past which only makes him more human to you. "Marshall Mathers", "The Way I Am" and "Kim" take you back with how incredibly powerful Em's complete disregard for how a "sane" person might deem his music. He never holds back which makes this record all the more real.

But when all the media attention (for whatever reason) starts to come Slim's way, he simply puts up the finger that "you put up when you won't just put up with the bullshit they pull" on "Who Knew". He claims he never wanted all this attention and stardom. So when George Bush said he was the biggest threat to American youth in 2001, Eminem asked the most important question. "Where were the parents at?"

It's a record of its era that has somehow remained to stay outside of time's ability to make everything seem dated. Em's honesty has to be the biggest reason. When an artist welcomes others into his own living space it's a once in a lifetime opportunity that yields unexpectedly pleasant results - and ten years later something I call it a masterpiece. Top Tunes:(Stan, Criminal, Who Knew)