Album: D12

Devils Night, Shady/Interscope

D12 are Eminem's posse, his own version of the support group of rapper/minders without which no hip hop star's ego can survive. "It's not that they don't have creativity or some shit like that," claims one Jeff Bass in the intro skit, unwittingly putting his finger on the problem: Devils Night is rather closer to shit like that than it is to creativity. For though some of the group are not without verbal skills, or even a distinctive delivery style, it's a shame they haven't found something more interesting to tell us about, something that doesn't simply boil down to generic gangsta attitudinising. As if we're all dead impressed by their all-too-familiar claims of pimphood ("Pimp Like Me"), homicidal urges ("American Psycho"), drug intake ("Purple Pills", "Blow My Buzz") and disregard for others ("Shit on You", "Shit Can Happen"). After all, what kind of meek pussies baulk at spelling out words such as "shit", "pimp", "pills" and even "purple" in their track-listing? Their doing so makes a mockery of their expletive-related "Public Service Announcement". Even Eminem seems underpowered here, until he finally plugs back into his reservoir of spite for "Girls", throwing down the gauntlet in fine style to Limp Bizkit's DJ Lethal and Fred Durst. The threats acquire a focus and intensity that hoists the track on to a different level from the rest of the album, as well as holding out the promise of drastically reducing his country's whinge output. Go to it, Marshall!