Encore is the fifth studio album from legendary Detroit rapper, Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers. I’ve reviewed three Eminem albums so far this year, two of my favorites of his (The Slim Shady LP, Relapse), and his newest album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). While Eminem has made some wonderful records, such as the aforementioned older albums of his that I’ve reviewed, as well as The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show, he’s unfortunately made a lot of music that is mediocre to average. Encore turns 20 years old this November, and it has a very complicated place in his catalog. Here are my thoughts.
Encore was originally intended to be Eminem’s final album, and for four to five years, it was his last album, until Relapse came out. However, while Relapse is easily Marshall’s most depraved and disturbing album, Encore is easily his goofiest and least serious. The production isn’t always the weakest part of the album, as him and Dr. Dre did a pretty good job. However, unfortunately, too often, the weakest part of this album is Eminem’s lackluster performances. If you listen to any of his other albums and then this one, you’ll see the stark contrast in quality and effort. And I think it’s important to know that while Eminem was addicted to benzodiazepines and opioids during the recording of this album, there are still strong tracks, it’s just wildly inconsistent. There’s also a serious lack of features on this record. I really liked the features from 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, and Nate Dogg, but I feel like more features would’ve greatly improved the album’s quality as a whole.
This record features some of Eminem’s weakest choruses for sure, like on “Evil Deeds,” “Puke,” “Big Weenie,” and “My 1st Single.” These aren’t just terrible for the choruses though, the verses from Eminem are just straight up terrible. “Puke,” makes me want to throw up, “Evil Deeds,” “Big Weenie,” and “My 1st Single,” all go on for WAY too long. There are plenty of strong tracks on this record, as few as there are, especially in the first half. “Yellow Brick Road,” has a decent enough vocal performance from Eminem, as he apologized for a song he made when he was in high school called “Foolish Pride,” where he said some racist stuff. He clearly was a kid, and immature, and I know me defending Eminem for being immature as a kid is kinda ironic, because that’s like his whole schtick, but still the track shows him as a human being with flaws. I like the storytelling of that track, and right after that is my favorite track on the entire album, “Like Toy Soldiers.” I honestly think that it’s one of his most underrated tracks of all time, and I love the beat that samples Martika’s song, “Toy Soldiers.” In the track, Eminem talks about the darker side of rap beefs as he offers a truce to rappers he had feuds with. The marching drum beat is so cool to hear in a rap song, and those pianos are dark and melancholy. It’s one of my personal favorites of Em’s, as he does a really good job at being raw and vulnerable on it. Another track that I love on this album is “Mockingbird,” which is a sweet ode to his daughter Hailie, as well as his adopted children Alaina and Stevie. When Eminem gets personal on those tracks it results in some of his best work. However while those are bright spots, they’re overshadowed by overly-long tracks that feel like cheaper versions of his better previous songs. “Mosh,” is a slow, boring political track that pales in comparison to his past anti-Bush anthem, “White America.” Eminem sounds asleep, and while his intentions are good, there were so many better anti-Bush anthems that came out in the year of 2004, such as the entirety of American Idiot by Green Day, “Cinnamon Girl,” by Prince and “Leaving Beirut,” by Roger Waters.
“Just Lose It,” and “Ass Like That,” are weaker versions of earlier tracks like “The Real Slim Shady,” and “Without Me,” as Em’s humor just doesn’t really land, I do like the beats on those tracks though, and they are some of the better tracks on the album. As for the deluxe edition, the only track you really need to listen to on it is “We Are Americans,” which is another one of my favorite tracks of Em’s.
Eminem’s addictions and fatigue from his fame were two major reasons why this album was such a big step down from his previous three albums, you can clearly tell he wasn’t trying on a lot of the tracks on this record, and it’s absolutely insane how long many of these tracks are. I’m glad that this wasn’t his last album, as it would’ve been a really weak way to retire. I feel like a decent amount of the beats on tracks like, “My 1st Single,” “Puke,” and “Big Weenie,” for example, really don’t sound great. A lot of the tracks reuse past concepts that Eminem has done better on previous records. It’s just an incredibly shitty album, so many of the tracks on this thing shouldn’t have made it to the final cut. Imagine how great this album could’ve been had Eminem utilized more features, and actually put in effort in his verses consistently. Eminem even thinks that this is one of his worst albums, and for good reason, he just lacks seriousness and his usual sharp wit and demented humor on this album, I would probably only revisit 4-5 tracks on this record at most.
Overall Score: 3/10
Favorite Tracks: “Like Toy Soldiers,” “Mockingbird,” “Encore/Curtains Down,”
Least Favorite Tracks: “Evil Deeds,” “Puke,” “Big Weenie,” “My 1st Single,”
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koRKTwCn9vw
Genres: Hip Hop/Comedy Hip Hop