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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Marshall Mathers has always delighted in confounding expectations, so we should have guessed he'd respond to the title Most Important Artist Of His Generation with Encore – an album peppered with puerile humour, myriad references to his past career, and plenty of farts, burps and vomiting. Thankfully, even Slim Shady on a bad day can be a fairly mighty proposition: the seething "Mosh" is a rare moment of high seriousness--a trudging anti-Bush epic in the vein of "White America" that positively vibrates with bile – while the skittery "My 1st Single" proves that Mathers can be engaging even when he's rapping about basically nothing.
The key to understanding Encore is through its pursuit of sheer offensiveness for offence's sake, be it the comic accent on "Ass Like That", or the relentless gay jibes of "Rain Man" – all of which seem to be more about prodding the hornet's nest of controversy that any genuine prejudice. Still, it's occasionally hard to escape that there's a certain weariness to Em's delivery, an impression that sometimes extends to the arrangements – see "Like Toy Soldiers", a jaundiced account of rap feuding, rendered unnecessarily corny by a sample of "Toy Soldiers" by '80s two-hit wonder Martika. --Louis Pattison
Review
Encore finds Marshall Mathers at something of a crossroads in his career. 31-years-old, rich and successful -he's played the belligerent poor white trash outsider for five years now. Kicking back in his big executive Shady Records chair, you've got to wonder if he's still got the stomach to become Eminem.
Having cleared out the closet of his private life, what does the man whos given us five years of rants against his mother and his ex-wife (not to mention 8 Mile) have left to say about his favorite subject: himself?
The result, ultimately, is not a lot. Encore starts fantastically but ends abominably. Actually, it's worse than that.Twothirdsof this record could be Weird Al Yankovic, such is its woefulness.
This is particularly frustrating when opener "Evil Deeds" suggests it could have been his In Utero - "The shows over, you can all go home now", he spits wearily, "but the curtain don't close for me".
Sidestepping the soap opera of his personal life, this is Eminem at his most thrilling -holding his outsider status up to the light while untangling the bullshit world of corporate hip-hop. "Like Toy Soldiers" is a cutting indictment on the machismo world of the beef (against a giddily addictive Martika sample) and "Mosh" directs some well-aimed anger at the current US administration.
But, from that moment on, he bottles it. To the sound of retching and a flushing toilet we're straight into "Puke". It's an appropriate metaphor for an album that degenerates into nothing more than an extended fart joke.
The lowpoints? There's too many to mention - although the desperate misogyny of "Spend Some Time" should probably be singled out. That's saying something on a track listing that includes "Big Weenie" and "Ass Like That"; this is bottom feeder stuff.
The woeful D-12 appear , Anthill Mob-like, at the end to pop a few caps, but by then it's too late. Encore is an album for the downloaders -afew great songs tacked onto an hour of dicking about. --Adam Webb
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The much anticipated return album, is a mixed bag of Eminem at his best and at his worst. Tracks like "Mosh" seething with righteous rage, the stirring/disturbing "Spend some time" and truly moving "Mockingbird" really shine through. Even the marching beat between the chorus refrain of "Like toy soiders" works well, even though on first listen it sounds like it shouldn't! People can knock "Just lose it", but it has a great melody and although Jackson is too easy a target, how can you wacth the video and not smirk?! However, "Puke", "Rain man" and "Big Weenie" are adolscent lyrical nonsense that fail to excite , let alone offend, accompanied by possibly the worst melodies Em has ever committed to disc! Thankfully they are sandwiched in the middle of the CD so you can neatly skip forward!The thing is Eminem has not made a truly consistent album since "the Slim Shady LP", although the excellent "Eminem Show" came very close. However, his albums are always worth getting for the truly great stuff that makes the bulk. This CD is no exception!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album can be summed up quickly and efficiently. As one of the top 3 rappers in history, Eminem always brings a nice flow alongside complex structures and multi's. However, since Infinite, The Slim Shady and Marshal Mathers LP's (his best albums to date in that order), his style has become pop both musically and (unfortunatley) often lyrically. On Encore this is the problem, the beats are predominantly weak, mostly fitting for children who tend to listen to the pop charts. His rapping, though still highly adequate and far better than the majority of other rappers, switches between too serious and too childish. I cannot help but think that if he applied himself properly to a set of strong hip-hop beats he could return to the form of Infinite, but he is consistently failing to do so and therefore has fallen off. There are so few genuinely talented rappers in the charts that Eminem is something of an enigma. On Encore he only manages to demonstrate a tiny sample of what he could have been if he hadn't turned so absurdly pop.
The reason that I give this album 3 stars is that Eminem still has amazing talent as a rapper, and if you can see past the beats and the subject matter then this is still very listenable to a fan of true lyricism.
The reason that I give this album 3 stars is that Eminem still has amazing talent as a rapper, and if you can see past the beats and the subject matter then this is still very listenable to a fan of true lyricism.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
i love most of this album because generally the songs are comical,political and fresh,but em has let the world down on certain songs with stupid voices,i am a true em and 2pac fan and i am worried that 2pac's new album loyal to the game will have poorly produced songs by eminem.buy the album because there are good songs,just don't expect another eminem show
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great purchase
This cd was purchased for my daughter, the cd quality was excellent and the price was great. I would purchase Here again.
Published 7 months ago by L. Dinsmore
Genius!!!
Eminem at his very best, this album is fantastic from start to finish. Spend some time is a really good track and crazy in love is so honest its untrue.
Published 8 months ago by stormski
It ain't THAT bad to be honest but...
I heard that this was supposed to be a really bad album but I suppose it ain't THAT bad. The second track on the album, Evil Deeds is kind of crappy but then the rest of the first... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Asim
A Brilliant Album
I find this to be a very varied album, from melancholy tracks such as Like Toy Soldiers and Mockingbird, through serious songs such as Mosh and Yellow Brick Road, to amusing and... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mr. Lawrence Schofield
encore eminem album
my sister has been bugging everyone to get her this great album, so i got her it for christmas to get her off our backs, and as she doesnt have much music taste she needs it.
Published on 2 Jan 2010 by jaimes moran
Encore
I dont think people should think this album is bad. Although it is not as good as the eminem show which is easly his best whats bad about not being as good maybe we expect a high... Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2009 by Robert E. Foran
Encore? - Not again please!
One of the greatest fell off. That's what the sound of this offering tells us. 'Mosh' is reasonable and 'Never Enough' is quite good and that's it, seriously that's it. Read more
Published on 20 May 2009 by A. J. Tsintas
It's OK.... Nothing special
This isn't really a bad album it's just not that good. Overly silly and not really edgy enough to MEAN anything. Read more
Published on 18 May 2009 by A. Dunn
Where did it go so wrong?!
I cannot, nor will I ever manage to comprehend how an artist of Eminem's supreme quality manage to create an album as poor as this. Read more
Published on 1 May 2009 by K. Mccrae
damn!
i only just ordered this album mainly because of a song i heard called rain man it had me in stiches so i listened to the rest of the album and it is one of the best albums ever
Published on 3 July 2008 by S. R. Smith
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