Eminem - The Eminem Show (2002). butchT Greatest Albums of all Time

The Eminem Show is the fourth studio album by American rapper Eminem, released on May 28, 2002. It was the best-selling album of 2002 in the United States, with sales of 7.6 million copies.[3] At the 2003 Grammy Awards it was nominated for Album of the Year and became Eminem's third LP in four years to win the award for Best Rap Album.

The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling approximately 284,000 units in its first week, which due to a premature release by retailers and street-date violations, counted only a day and a half of sales.[4] The album sold 1,322,000 copies the following week, where it registered a full week of sales.[5][6] The album topped the Billboard 200 for five consecutive weeks.[7][8] The album also spent five consecutive weeks at the top of the UK Albums Chart.[9] It has gone on to sell over ten million copies.[10] On March 7, 2011, the album was certified ten-times-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America,[11] making it Eminem's second album to receive a Diamond certification in the United States.

In 2009, the album was ranked #317 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and was later ranked at #84 on the same magazine's best albums of the 2000s decade. The album received critical praise by most music critics and is often debated as Eminem's most personal and best work. Eminem himself acknowledged during an interview with MTV that was recorded on May 25, 2002, that he felt that The Eminem Show was his "best record so far".[12] The Eminem Show was Eminem's first album to be mainly self-produced.
The Eminem Show was first scheduled for release on June 4, 2002; however, pirated and bootleg copies appeared online on peer-to-peer networks and began surfacing on the streets. Interscope decided to release the album early on May 28 to combat bootlegging. However, many stores in the U.S. began selling it early on Sunday, May 26, and some put the album out as early as Friday.[4] Promotional posters in stores read, "America Couldn't Wait". Due to the premature release by many retailers on a Sunday, the album had only one day of official sales for the chart week and was unavailable in Walmart stores during that period.[4][13] Despite the confusion over the exact release date, the album still managed to have a very successful debut on the charts. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 284,000 copies.[4] This marked the first time an album had topped the charts with such an abbreviated sales week.[13] The album sold 1,322,000 copies in its first full week of sales.[5][6] It sold 809,000 copies in its third week and 529,562 copies in its fourth week, to bring its four-week sales total to just under three million copies.[14][15] The album sold 381,000 copies in its fifth week and topped the Billboard 200 for the fifth consecutive week.[16] The first 2 million copies of the album shipped in the U.S. included a bonus DVD with an exclusive interview and live footage.[13] The Eminem Show was Eminem's first album to include lyrics to all songs inside the CD booklet.[17] It was Eminem's most successful album in terms of charting singles. It spawned two top-ten and four top fifteen singles with "Without Me", "Cleanin' Out My Closet", "Sing for the Moment" and "Superman", which managed to reach the top fifteen without a widely available video counterpart (the video was mostly available on the 8 Mile DVD, rarely being shown on music video channels). In addition, "My Dad's Gone Crazy", "Business", "Hailie's Song", and "White America" were selected airplay singles of the controversial album.
Studio album by Eminem
Released May 28, 2002
Recorded 2001-2002
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
(Encore Studios)
(Marshall Mathers's House)
(54 Sound Studio)
Genre Hip hop, hardcore hip hop, alternative hip hop[1][2]
Length 77:30
Language English
Label Aftermath, Interscope, Shady
Producer Dr. Dre (exec.), Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mr. Porter