This album is meant to be dedicated to all of the best moments of Em's career, with a few new songs thrown in. Due to the fact that it contains a lot of songs I've already reviewed, I won't be spending too much time speaking about a lot of the songs. However, the songs that I haven't reviewed will definitely be getting their own discussions.
Track 1. Intro (Skit)
The intro to this song is pretty funny. I wish that Encore's intro was more like this. The way that he yells at the audience to shut up is hilarious.
Track 2. FACK (Produced by Eminem and Resto)
Now this is probably the most infamous Eminem song of all time. I can't believe that he actually made this. He even admitted in the Genius lyrics that he was heavy on drugs when he made this track. This thing is just hilariously bad. This is easily the worst song that Eminem's ever made. It's just gross and fucking retarded. I'll still listen to this occasionally for a laugh, but it's just so awful. 1/5
Track 3. The Way I Am (Produced by Eminem)
This is one of my favourite songs from the Marshall Mathers LP, it has an amazing beat, and nothing but great lyrics all throughout. Em's aggressive delivery is fantastic.
I sit back with this pack of Zig-Zag's and this bag Of this weed, it gives me the shit needed to be The most meanest MC on this on this earth And since birth I've been cursed with this curse to just curse And just blurt this berserk and bizarre shit that works And it sells and it helps in itself to relieve all this tension Dispensing these sentences, getting this stress That's been eating me recently off of this chest
This song feels like it just gets better and better as the verses progress. It's amazing. 5/5
Track 4. My Name Is (Produced by Dr Dre)
This is a classic Eminem song. I think anybody who's even a small fan of Eminem has probably at least heard a few seconds of this track. This beat is pretty simple but it just perfectly suits Em. I swear everything he says on this track is just gold.
"Hi, kids! Do you like violence?
Wanna see me stick nine inch nails through each one of my eyelids?
Wanna copy me and do exactly like I did?
Try 'cid and get fucked up worse than my life is?"
I love how intentionally offensive he is this entire song, he was just hilarious back in the day, he did not give a fuck about anything.
"Got pissed off and ripped Pamela Lee's tits off,and smacked her so hard I knocked her clothes backwards like Kris Kross"
Everything about this song is great, it's catchy, easy to listen to, offensive and hilarious. This song is fantastic 5/5
Track 5. Stan (featuring Dido) (Produced by The 45 King and Co-Produced by Eminem)
This is one of the most iconic songs in Eminem's entire career. It's amazing, this is one of my favourite songs of all time by any artist. This has some fantastic storytelling, the chorus by Dido is haunting, and the production is just incredible. It also has one of the best twist endings I've ever heard in any storytelling song. Some people don't see the replay value in this song after they've listened once, but I don't have that issue at all. I love this song every time I listen to it. It's a nice song to just kick back and listen to. If you couldn't already tell, I love this song. 5/5
Track 6. Lose Yourself (Produced by Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto)
Well if there is one Eminem song that's Iconic, it's this one. This is what many people consider to be Eminem's best song. If it isn't his best, it's definitely his most popular by a long shot. This song never fails to get me hype, the message is all about reaching for your goals and achieving them. The storytelling on the song is fantastic, plus the rhyme schemes are incredible. This song is everything that is great about Eminem, without need for offensive lyrics. This song manages to be catchy as hell, lyrical and have fantastic storytelling with passionate delivery all in one package. This song is a classic. 5/5
Track 7. Shake That (feat. Nate Dogg) (Produced by Eminem, Luis Resto, Steve King and Nathaniel Hale)
I'm not sure how Em's general fanbase feels about this song, but I've personally always loved it. The energy of the song is just crazy. Nate's rapping and hook is fantastic and catchy as hell. Em has great flow and charisma, plus the production is perfect for the club. This is a classic party song that I'll always love. This song is fantastic. 5/5
Track 8: Sing for The Moment (Produced by Eminem and Jeff Bass)
I love the guitars in the background of the track. This song is all about taking the time to not overthink everything, to just make something genuine, sing for the moment, just do it now because you can. Em speaks about the influence he has on kids and how his image in his music taints people's overall perception of him. The hook is sampled from an Aerosmith song and it sounds really good. It perfectly matches the overall feel of the song. The atmosphere and lyrics of this song are absolutely fantastic. I love this. 5/5
Track 9: Without Me (Produced by Eminem Co Produced by Jeff Bass, and DJ Head)
I love this song. The production is really cool, I think a saxophone is in the background, and I love actual instruments being used in songs. Amazing production aside, Em has some of his most quotable lines on this song. Whether it's the "two trailer park girls go round the outside", the diss to Moby, the crazy rhymes or the chorus, everything on this song is amazing to me.The whole track is really catchy and is just packed full of rhymes. This is one of those Em songs I'll never get bored of. There's not a lot to say otherwise. He has a fantastic flow, ridiculous rhyme schemes, dynamic delivery and captivating charisma. 5/5
Track 10. Like Toy Soldiers (Produced by Eminem and Resto)
This was the only track from Encore that is collectively loved by Em fans. I like the beat of this song a lot. The singing during the chorus is really beautiful too. This song is all about how rappers should put their beefs behind them before someone end's up being killed. This song is just beautifully written, sung and produced. It's incredible, and definitely the best song to come from encore. 5/5
Track 11. The Real Slim Shady (Produced by Dr Dre and Mel-Man)
Here's another classic Eminem song. I really like this song. It still has a lot of replay value for me, even though it has been overplayed like hell. It's just too catchy and it has really great lyrics.
Y'all act like you never seen a white person before Jaws all on the floor like Pam like Tommy just burst in the door And started whoopin' her ass worse than before They first were divorced, throwin' her over furniture {Aww!}
The chorus is really memorable as well.
I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up Please stand up, please stand up? 'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up Please stand up, please stand up?
Yeah, this is a great song. Not much else to say. 5/5
Track 12. Mockingbird (Produced by Eminem and Resto)
Now, this song's instrumental is definitely it's strongest quality by far. This is a very heartfelt and honest track, with a few really great lines, but it isn't a great song lyrically. The hook really ruins the song honestly. The verses aren't that bad at all, but the delivery is just stilted and awkward at times. I do like how the hook is written, and I do find it really catchy, but Em's singing is awful. Despite all that, I still like this song. It'll always hold a special place in my heart because it was a big part of my childhood, but If someone said this song wasn't good I wouldn't disagree. 3.5/5
Track 13. Guilty Conscience (Produced by Dr Dre and Eminem)
This is a really great song as well. It's basically Dr Dre and Eminem rapping against each other as the good and evil sides of conscience when different people are doing fucked up shit. It starts off with a guy named Eddie going to rob a store. Eminem is being a piece of shit as usual, telling him to kill everyone, while Dre is trying to get him to think of everyone else and not do anything crazy. It then moves on to Stan, this guy at a party that's about to have sex with this chick, but she's underage. Of course Eminem is just saying to do it anyway and roofie her, it's a pretty funny but fucked up conversation. The final story is this guy Brady that comes home to find his wife cheating on him. Eminem is obviously saying to kill her, and he's being pretty fucking hilarious.
"Alright, calm down, relax, start breathin'
(Fuck that shit, you just caught this bitch cheatin'
While you at work she's with some dude tryin' to get off
Fuck slittin' her throat, cut this bitch's head off!)
Wait, what if there's an explanation for this shit?
(What, she tripped, fell, landed on his dick?)"
Eminem then turns on Dre and makes fun of the things he's done in the past, like him slapping Dee Barnes and being in N.W.A. In the end Dre just gives up and agrees with Em, leading to Brady killing the cheating wife and the other guy. This song is amazing, it's creative, hilarious and has a dope ass beat. I love this shit. 5/5
Track 14: Cleaning Out My Closet (Produced by Eminem and Jeff Bass)
Eminem actually mentioned something about a missing snare on this song in Revival somewhere, I think it was Believe or Offended. The story is apparently Em literally couldn't hear the snares on the song in his headphones because they were accidentally muted, but he left it and just kept on going. If that's true that's dope as hell, and Em's genius annotation says it's true, so I doubt he'd be lying about it. Anyway, this song is about Em leaving his feelings in the past towards his mother. At the time, he had a lot of resentment towards her because of how she treated him horribly growing up, and unfortunately even after he found fame. The production is really great on the song and Em's lyrics are great as to be expected. This song lived up to the hype, even if it was different stylistically to what I originally expected when I first heard it. I was expecting him to be rapping his ass off over a crazy ass hype beat, but instead he was rapping his ass off over a well-crafted beat with an intense atmosphere. This is a fantastic song. 5/5
Track 15. Just Lose It (Produced by Dr Dre and Elizondo)
A much hated song. But also much loved. I liked this song back when I first listened to it, but in the context of the Encore album it's even worse than it was before. The song is just dumb. It's kinda funny at times, but I just really don't like it. I can't believe I used to enjoy listening to this shit. I still like the beat, but everything else is trash. 2/5
Track 16: When I'm Gone (Produced by Eminem and Resto)
I really like the production on this song. I'd never heard this song before until I did the review for this album, so it caught me totally off guard when I saw it on here. This is another song dedicated to Hailie. This is everything that Mockingbird should have been. It's heartfelt, catchy, has great production and isn't stilted or awkward at all. This song has great storytelling about a lot of his memories with Hailie as he speaks about how he doesn't want her to be sad when he's gone. This is a wonderful song. I love it. The fact that he speaks about his insecurities about his family hating him since he's never home is great too. This song is really personal and beautiful. 5/5
Track 17: Stan (Live) (feat. Elton John) (Produced by The Recording Academy)
This song is just a live performance of Stan where Elton John sings the chorus instead of Dido. Em censors his lyrics too, but the production is even better than the original. The piano is fantastic. Elton John sounds fantastic as you'd expect. This song is a great way to close off the album. I think it's so interesting that this collaboration ended up happening considering all the offensive things Em has said in the past, especially to the homosexual community. Regardless, this song turned out beautifully, I wouldn't say I prefer either version over the other, they're both great in their own way. 5/5
Final Thoughts (Original Version)
Well obviously since this is a compilation of Em's biggest hits, there's bound to be a mix of good and bad songs, but this is definitely a great album. This has a great mix of songs from Em's last three albums, with a wide variety of sounds. My only problems with this album are the songs from Encore (not Toy Soldiers).... and FACK. Otherwise this shit is perfect to me.
Overall Rating: 89/100
Favourite Tracks: Everything Except for the Worst Tracks
Least Favourite: FACK, Mockingbird, Just Lose It
Bonus Tracks
18. Dead Wrong (Remix) (Performed by The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Eminem) (Produced by Chucky Thompson, Mario Winans and Diddy)
This song is absolutely dope as fuck. Biggie delivers some killer verses over a really great beat, and the way that Em comes in is awesome. I wish that Biggie was still alive, he was such an incredible rapper. He just sounded amazing no matter what he said, but he was already fantastic to begin with. I have no problems whatsoever with this song. 5/5
19. Role Model (Produced by Dr Dre and Mel-Man)
This song is one of my favourite Eminem tracks I've ever heard. The beat is absolutely amazing, and he's just fucking murdering shit for the entire track. Plus the way he starts it off is pretty damn funny. He has so many witty lines on this song;
"I'm cancerous
So when I diss, you wouldn't wanna answer this
If you responded back with a battle rap you wrote for Canibus"
"You beef with me, I'ma even the score equally
Take you on Jerry Springer and beat your ass legally"
"Some people only see that I'm white, ignorin' skill‘
Cause I stand out like a green hat with a orange bill"
This line always cracks me the fuck up whenever I hear it too.
"How the fuck can I be white? I don't even exist"
You could interpret the line as him saying that he's white light, so he's not visible, he's too unknown to exist to anyone in the hip hop game, or he's just being an idiot and saying he doesn't even exist, which would be the funniest option by far. I fucking love this song,
"I'm 'bout as normal as Norman Bates with deformative traits
A premature birth that was four minutes late"
Yeah, this shit is amazing. 5/5
20. Kill You (Produced by Dr Dre and Mel-Man)
This beat is really dope. Eminem's singing at the start of this song is cool. I love his flow at the start.
I'm triple platinum and tragedies happened in two states
I invented violence, you vile venomous volatile vicious
Vain Vicodin, vrin vrin vrin!
Texas Chainsaw, left his brains all
Danglin' from his neck while his head barely hangs on
It's so obvious that he's on drugs in this song man, he sounds legitimately insane. It's fucking dope as hell though. This is an amazing song. 5/5
21. Shit On You (Performed by D12) (Produced by DJ Head and Eminem)
This hook is pretty average. I can just never get 100% behind D12 most of the time. I don't know why, but they always seem a little corny sometimes. They all do well on this song though, unfortunately Proof isn't on here, he would've killed this. Swifty murdered his verse, Bizarre's verse was cool, but he said some fucked up shit. Em's verses were both really great. Kon Artis murdered his verse as well. Kuniva had my favourite verse from the D12 members though. Overall this is pretty cool, I just wish the hook was better. 3.5/5
22. Criminal (Produced by Bass Brothers and Eminem)
Em is spazzing on this song. This beat is pretty great, but Em is making it sound even better. I'm pretty sure he uses part of the skit in this song in MMLP2.
TELLER: Don't kill me!
EMINEM: Hurry the fuck up! {*Gunshot*}
Thank you! Go, go, go!
I really have nothing bad to say about this song whatsoever. It's just really enjoyable to listen to. Those first few lines are really fucked up, but oh well, it's Em. 5/5
23. Renegade (Performed by Jay-Z feat. Eminem) (Produced by Eminem)
Jay-Z definitely didn't get murdered on this song like most people say he did. He spit some dope ass verses as well. Em was just in his prime when he did the feature on this song, so of course he was going to spazz. Plus this production style was absolutely perfect for Em, since he produced it. This song is just two dope ass rappers spitting some fantastic verses. 5/5
24. Just Don't Give A Fuck (Produced by Bass Brothers and Co Produced by Eminem)
This beat sounds crazy. I love it. This song is just really capturing my attention. Em just raps his ass off on this song. He's so damn witty.
"You wacker than the motherfucker you bit your style from
You ain't gon' sell two copies if you press a double album"
This is Eminem in top form, plus this beat is fucking amazing. I have nothing negative to say about this song, it's just really interesting to listen to. His flow really fits on this sometimes, but other times it sounds really strange, but it's not a bad thing at all. This is really unique and fantastic. 5/5
Overall Rating: 92/100
Favourite Tracks: Everything Except The Worst Tracks
Least Favourite: FACK, Just Lose It, Mockingbird