Eminem Discography: Albums by Rapper Eminem

Eminem performs at Coachella Music Festival
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Eminem is a prolific rapper with a rich and diverse discography. He has released some great albums "Marshall Mathers LP," "Slim Shady LP" and a few stinkers "Encore" over the course of his career. Hey, they can't all be daisies, right?

Dive in for an annotated list of Eminem's albums.

Infinite (1996)

Eminem - Infinite
Eminem - Infinite.

 ​ Web Entertainment 

Before the Dr. Dre hits and the Grammy awards, Eminem was just another raw talent with a pipe dream. Infinite captured the Detroit rapper in his essence: hungry, focused, raw. Infinite surely gave Em a launching pad to show and prove. 

  • Top Tracks: "Infinite," "313," "Never Far"

The Slim Shady LP (1999)

The Slim Shady LP
The Slim Shady LP.

Aftermath/Interscope Records

A white MC from Detroit? Unflinching paeans to drugs and violence? The task before Eminem seemed illogical at first, but he turned trials into trophies within one year of arriving on the mainstream scene. Complaints about his "evil" music failed to stifle the album's success, as "The Slim Shady LP" went on to sell over 5 million copies. We have this manic slice of dysfunction to thank for most of Eminem's best songs.

  • Top Tracks: "Role Model," "Guilty Conscience"

The Marshall Mathers LP

The Marshall Mathers LP
The Marshall Mathers LP.

Aftermath/Interscope Records 

A year after he made a big splash in the industry, Eminem returned with yet another masterpiece in "The Marshall Mathers LP." Em's sophomore effort helped cement his status as one of the most exciting artists of the new millennium.

  • Top Tracks: "The Way I Am," "Stan"

The Eminem Show (2002)

The Eminem Show
The Eminem Show.

Aftermath/Interscope Records 

By the time "The Eminem Show" arrived, Em was now splitting time between the recording booth and the boards. Despite this newfound penchant for beat-making, this album showed very little drop off in the lyrics department. Em continued his tradition of throwing darts at detractors, this time taking on Canibus on "Square Dance" and Jermaine Dupri on "Say What You Say."

  • Top Tracks: "White America," "Till I Collapse"

Encore (2004)

Eminem - Encore
Eminem - Encore.

 Aftermath/Interscope Records

While "Encore" generated applause for its political candidness, on one hand, Eminem drew criticism for imbuing that album with his increasingly cartoonish lyrics on the other. Even though it spawned gems like the plodding political punch, "Mosh," and the introspective "Yellow Brick Road," it was still considered a disappointment by Eminem's standards.

  • Top Tracks: "Mosh," "Yellow Brick Road"

Eminem Presents The Re-Up (2006)

Eminem Presents the Re-Up
Eminem Presents the Re-Up.

  Shady/Interscope 

This is the one most Eminem fans would love to forget. On "The Re-Up," Eminem surrounded himself with the budding talent on his Shady Records roster. But the artists are soon relegated to watchdogs, and then, proxies—trying to do what Eminem cannot: appear in control. Eminem experiments with emo-rap for most of the album, screaming and scrambling lyrics with unfounded verve and precise lunacy.

Relapse (2009)

Eminem - Relapse
Eminem - Relapse.

Aftermath/Interscope Records

Eminem finally lifted his 5-year moratorium on solo albums with the release of Relapse. Eminem's narratives are too familiar, but his method of delivering them has evolved. There are fake accents, unique rhyme sequences and vocal cadences here ("Soon as the flow starts, I compose art like the ghost of Mozart").

  • Top Tracks: "Deja Vu," "Medicine Ball"

Recovery (2010)

Recovery
Recovery.

 Nicole Doherty/Flickr CC 2.0 

"Recovery" is unlike any of Eminem's previous studio albums. Lacking the skits, traditional guests, and goofball lead singles that characterized "The Slim Shady LP" through "Relapse, Recovery" is Eminem coming to terms with his own legacy, shedding the tired formulas that marked his previous albums and attempting to reassert his place in the pantheon of the hip-hop elite.

  • Top Tracks: "Not Afraid," "No Love"

The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013)

Marshall Mathers LP 2
Marshall Mathers LP 2.

Shady Records/Interscope

In November 2013, Eminem released a sequel to the widely cherished "Marshall Mathers LP." In the buildup to "MMLP2's" release, Eminem stressed that "MMLP2" wasn't going to be a follow-up to "The Marshall Mathers LP."

"There won't be continuation of songs or anything like that," he told Rolling Stone. "MMLP2," it turns out retained most of the familiar themes from Em's earlier masterpiece.