Eminem

Encore

Stabbing Out, But Falling Off A Bit

Review Score:

(8/10)
Let me start off by saying, like most people do, about how long I've been a fan of Eminem. This might assumably give me some credibility amongst both the more jaded and the newer of his listeners...or not. Either way, you'll hopefully understand my review a bit better knowing my listener "background" with Eminem.

I started listening to Eminem when all one could buy was the Slim Shady EP on a cassette tape. I was tipped off to it by a friend who enough in the know to get one of the few copies made on CD when it came out '97-'98. The six songs on there were amazing to me...it wasn't like any hip-hop I'd ever heard. I've bought every single one of Eminem's albums since then, and I guess you could label me as part of what one reviewer called the third group - the people who recognize he is a great rapper, maybe not the best of all time, but certainly one possessing formidable skills and creativity. When it comes to popular rap/hip-hop, I'd much rather listen to Eminem than almost anyone else. Yes, I know, he's not rapping about social injustice or the condition of the 'hood, but he's also not rapping about blunts, 40s, bi***es, or big screen TVs. I think it's also important to remember that Eminem takes himself with a grain of salt, and as listeners, we should too. I think that if you don't get that up front, you'll never fully appreciate Eminem.

With Encore, Eminem is trying out a couple of new things (like a different rap delivery), which I give him props for - like one reviewer said, do you want him to keep coming out with the same thing? I don't, and I praise him for branching out a bit, but I also agree with some of the other reviewers in saying that a few of the songs are definitely sub-par for him. This proves that not everything Eminem spits is going to turn into gold, which is not a surprise to me, but maybe it is to some. I think the biggest drops in this album come on his "comedy" songs. In the past, his comedy songs have been very clever, e.g. "Drug Ballad", "I'm Shady", etc. On Encore, the comedy songs are just ridiculous. It's hard to reconcile the Eminem of "The Way I Am", or more relevantly/recently "Like Toy Soldiers" or "Mosh", with "Ass Like That", no doubt, but this is also part of Eminem's album formula, for better or for worse. The other weaknesses I see in this album are the production (although I don't think it's really terrible), some of Eminem's flow delivery (the slurring and sorta singing, sorta rapping nasal voice has to go), and the "in between" songs ("Big Weenie", "Rain Man", et al.) that really have no solid lyrics.

In the past what made Eminem's albums so great to me was their intensity, but on this album he just doesn't seem to have that same sort of urgency in his songs. That could be a product of his fame and the fact that his life has calmed down a bit. After all, Eminem made his career on rapping about his problems, and now he doesn't really have them anymore. Of course he has new problems ("Like Toy Soldiers", "Yellow Brick Road") and other people to flame ("Mosh"), and on these tracks, his flow sounds strongly motivated. The more I listen to "Mosh", the more I appreciate it, and I think Eminem deserves major credit for being one of the only extremely famous people in the spotlight to tackle politics in their music. I know punk bands have been doing it forever (that's what they were founded for, right?), but most people have never heard of NoFx or "Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1", and almost everyone knows who Eminem is. He has the potential to really spread his message if he wants to, and I hope he sticks with it.

Even though it's a joke in comparison to the serious songs, "Just Lose It" comes straight from the same vein as "My Name Is", "The Real Slim Shady", and "Without Me". None of these songs is serious, they were meant to be the pop singles of their albums, and for what they were, they were excellent. "Just Lose It" is no different to me. To the MJ lovers/Eminem haters, Michael Jackson is the one who's made the joke out of himself, which is sad to see, but Eminem pointing out the blatantly obvious shouldn't be raising anyone's ire.

I didn't go through all of the songs on this album, but overall I have to say that (a) it's not Eminem's best...that honor will always fall on Marshall Mathers LP, undoubtedly his most raw and most skillful display, (b) I do like it the more I listen to it, and (c) it's still a good (just not a great) album. In the past, I never had to listen to an Eminem album more than once to be impressed. I think the good material on this album requires a bit more digestion to be appreciated, and you need to learn which songs you should skip unless you just want to listen to some stupid sh** and have a laugh.

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