Title: Encore

Review:
Eminem's fourth album offers few surprises, but still enough pleasures to carry the day. As evinced by Em's pre-election, pro-voting "Mosh," this is not exactly the same Eminem who seemingly crapped on anything and everything. Encore finds a surprisingly mature Eminem waxing reflective about his battle with Benzino ("Like Toy Soldiers") rather than unloading both barrels. However, it's not all elder statesmanship: "Puke" goes after his ex-wife Kim with incredible scorn, and "Big Weenie" brings the familiar juvenile humor that made him famous. If Encore has a clear weakness, it's the bland production--the same plodding sound that he and Dr. Dre cooked up on the previous three albums. The exotic flavor of "Ass Like That" catches the ear, but many others run off the same monotonous minor-key melodies and tempos. Of course, people buy Eminem albums to hear him spit first and foremost, and, in that regard, few fans will be disappointed by Encore; it'd just be nice to see him switch up his sound at some point. --Oliver Wang

Album Description
"ENCORE" is multi-platinum recording artist EMINEM's first full album of new material since 2002's "THE EMINEM SHOW," which spawned the hit singles "Without Me" and "Cleanin' Out My Closet." That album went on the sell over 19 million albums worldwide. He followed up in November 2002 with Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture ‘8 Mile’, which featured the Academy Award winning song "Lose Yourself" and sold almost 9 million copies worldwide. Earlier this year, Eminem’s group D-12 released D-12 World (global sales over 3 million) and scored hits with "My Band" and "How Come".
ENCORE, Executive Produced by DR. DRE, features guest performances by 50 CENT, D-12, NATE DOGG, OBIE TRICE, and STAT QUO.

BONUS DISC: This two disc set includes a bonus CD with three previously unreleased EMINEM songs.

View Point
I think it is inarguable that Eminem is one of the most talented MC's currently putting out material. That is what makes Encore so disappointing. Lazy raps over monotonous, repetitive production ruin what could have been the album of 2004. Some lowlights:
- Just Lose It: unless you live in a cave you have heard this single; a lazy mishmash of his other work where he stops and just babbles for a while. "Stop, pajama time?"
- A$$ Like That: an entire song as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Reread that sentence. Goes over about as well as you would expect, which is terribly.
- Puke: another ode to Kim. What has been funny, disturbing, or at least interesting in the past has been transformed to an amalgamation of body noises.
- My First Single: more body noises. It seems that Em is determined to prove he could s___ on record and people will still buy it.
The rest of the album is largely forgettable, but saves itself from one star status by having a couple of decent songs. Never Enough with a wicked hook by Nate Dogg (and where 50 cent actually outshines Em) bumps, and Toy Soldiers is an interesting take on the recent Aftermath beefs with near everybody. I think a line for that song sums up the album perfectly. Em says that while the battle (with Ja) was won, he felt he lost it because he but so much effort into it. He is right: that effort translated into excellent tracks. This cd could have used some of that effort. It would be easy to say what Eminem needs to do to make a better album (stop producing, TRY), but in reality the answer is nothing: this is going to go multi-platinum and the fans will refuse to hold him accountable for this hot mess. One can only hope his artistic pride will have him work harder on his next endeavor.

Track Listings:
Disc: 1
1. Curtains Up
2. Evil Deeds
3. Never Enough Feat. 50 Cent & Nate Dogg
4. Yellow Brick Road
5. Like Toy Soldiers
6. Mosh
7. Puke
8. My 1st Single
9. Paul (Skit)
10. Rain Man
11. Big Weenie
12. Em Calls Paul (Skit)
13. Just Lose It
14. A** Like That
15. Spend Some Time Feat. Obie Trice, Stat Quo, & 50 Cent
16. Mockingbird
17. Crazy In Love
18. One Shot 2 Shot Feat. D-12
19. Final Thought (Skit)
20. Encore Feat. Dr. Dre & 50 Cent
Disc: 2
1. We As Americans
2. Love You More
3. Ricky Ticky Toc

Overall: 2.5/5

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