Encore Hate?

[Notherwise]

I know people are going to flame me for this and go, but Ive been listening to encore a bit now, and its actually not that bad, I was listening to My 1st Single and Even though the snare is kind of annoying the song is mad funny

"If their is anything you need to adress or get off your chest about my lyrics id love to hear it, call 1800 Im a dick sucka I love to suck a dick"

then on Yellow Brick Road he adresses Foolish Pride, some of Benzino Beef aswell.

why hate?

[J.R.]

Am I having Deja Vu or was this thread made like..yesterday?

Yeah, this, I remember seeing it on my ipod anyway, encore gets hate due to the fact that he had filler songs for the leaked ones that were sub- par to say the least. The shitty single just lose it , and the fact it's his worst album. HOWEVER. The high points of the album are enough to get it a 6/10 from me, and even though it's by far it's worst, he's still on point during the majority and encore is decent.

[Master Chief]

I agree with that My 1st Single is funny in parts but Encore is not good, man.

[Mr Change]

Encore is hated because it had sooooooo many trashy, stupid, dimwitted, prank songs on it

And lets face it, even on the good and even greatest moments on the album, it was obvious Eminem wasn't on top of his game...

[M&M59]

Encore is hated because it had sooooooo many trashy, stupid, dimwitted, prank songs on it

And lets face it, even on the good and even greatest moments on the album, it was obvious Eminem wasn't on top of his game...

what about "like toy soldiers", that song was damn good

[JakeBlack]

Encore is hated because it had sooooooo many trashy, stupid, dimwitted, prank songs on it

And lets face it, even on the good and even greatest moments on the album, it was obvious Eminem wasn't on top of his game...

what about "like toy soldiers", that song was damn good

Alot of people hate that song on here for some reason I don't know why.

[Drug.Ballad]

I dont hate it

[DanWS]

Encore > HTS

[whiteamerica]

Encore > HTS

(just wait for masterchief to see this one)

[Innovation]

Encore > HTS

In what aspect?

[whiteamerica]

Encore > HTS

In what aspect?

there are songs with relevant content.

[J.R.]

Encore > HTS

In what aspect?

there are songs with relevant content.

Reunion> Everything that's not Evil deeds on encore.

[EminemBase]

Mainly due to its inconsistency.

Overall, Encore got round about the same critical reception as Recovery. Which is pretty shocking when you consider Encore was a half-ass attempt with him treating a good proportion of the record as a practical joke and Recovery... was him focusing on NOTHING BUT WRITING and quite clearly trying his absolute hardest to be good.

Shows maybe the extent his talent has slumped in comparison to even his Encore days. As Encore was him on say 50% but even golden day Eminem on 50% is received by many about the same as current day Eminem at 100%, fully sober and intensely focused.

If you look at a lot of critics or fans even, most will agree that the first half of the record is pretty stellar. Well, not 'most' but quite a few. A lot of critics even commented it was some of the most compelling music he'd ever made, and I agree, he seemed to take that cinematic mindset quality of music from 8 Mile with him into Encore. Just not quite enough.

Songs like "Yellow Brick Road" and "Mosh" are actually a step of up from The Eminem Show in some regards. Clearly not as good lyrically but musically, there's something about them and the way they're structured, they feel 'bigger'. Which is one thing he always manages to do actually... regardless of quality, he always makes his music feel bigger.

The Marshall Mathers LP felt like The Slim Shady LP XXL on high volume, on steroids. Then The Eminem Show felt like The Marshall Mathers LP's older brother. Wiser, and more confident. Then Encore felt like The Eminem Show's silly younger sibling, who has a knack for being loud and entertaining (sometimes). Then other times, very annoying and pointless.

Relapse is like Encore's druggie cousin, and Recovery is like Relapse's angry stepdad who thinks he's a comedian, but is really just often quite embarrassing.

Again though, Recovery, when you think about it and irrespective of your opinion on the quality of the music or lyricism, the songs do actually feel BIGGER than anything he's done. As much as some may hate "Love the Way You Lie", you can't deny how big it feels. It feels like this kind of... I dunno, like it exists in its own world. Doesn't just feel like Em rapping about love again, feels like a kind of chapter to a movie or something.

As does "Space Bound". I think he always focuses on amplifying his material.

Back to your original question though, Encore gets hate because a lot of it is silliness. If he put half the stuff on a mixtape or as bonus tracks fair enough, but to put songs like "Ass Like That" on an actual album is just ridiculous. Not because it's a comedy track but because it's a Weird Al style goofy, stupid as fuck type track.

Should be absolutely nowhere near an official Eminem album.

Apart from that track and "Just Lose It" (easily the worst track he has ever made), I pretty much like every other track. Yep even "Big Weenie" and "Rain Man". But I agree that they ruin the album. They don't feel out of place in tone, you can tell they're from the same Em period and musical sessions but they feel out of place with the other material. He quite clearly made a lot of serious material then felt he needed to justify his 'silly' fans even though he obviously wasn't in the mood for those antics, which is why the result is forced nonsense.

Trying to please both camps. Which is Em's biggest flaw, trying to pander to his own fans.

[Innovation]

Shows maybe the extent his talent has slumped in comparison to even his Encore days. As Encore was him on say 50%

I'd consider him on Encore to be functioning much less than 50%. I'd go as far as saying he was functioning at around 15-20% of his actual skill on the vast majority of tracks. I mean, just one album before Encore he was producing some of the best material of his career. That's saying something considering the sheer amount of excellent material he had produced prior to The Eminem Show. He was absolutely focused with The Eminem Show and it shows in his work from that era. Just take a look at Sing For The Moment, Till I Collapse, Square Dance etc. They're phenomenal, not many rappers can write to that standard. I consider him at the complete peak of his career during The Eminem Show.

Then, just two years later he's heavily on drugs and produces Encore. Bar the bonus tracks which were obviously written in 2002-2003, there were very few tracks which showcased glimpses of Eminem's lyrical prowess. These tracks were Yellow Brick Road, Spend Some Time (probably written in 2003), parts of Mosh and parts of a few other select few tracks. There's no way you can really consider the writing of tracks such as My First Single, Ass Like That, Just Lose It, Rain Man etc to be half of what he's capable of. It's much, much less. He just couldn't be bothered to write intricate rhyme schemes that we have been used to pre-Encore. I'd actually consider a track such as Yellow Brick Road to be half of what Eminem is capable of. It's one of the few tracks which he actually bothered to write some multi's for and it showcases some decent storytelling capabilities.

Songs like "Yellow Brick Road" and "Mosh" are actually a step of up from The Eminem Show in some regards. Clearly not as good lyrically but musically, there's something about them and the way they're structured, they feel 'bigger'. Which is one thing he always manages to do actually... regardless of quality, he always makes his music feel bigger.

Even so, musically you can't consider them to be better than most of the material on The Eminem Show. Musically, I don't think Mosh or Yellow Brick Road could be considered in the same league as Till I Collapse, Cleaning Out My Closet or Sing For The Moment. I don't think there's many songs in his catalog which feel "bigger" than Till I Collapse. He was in the zone writing that, it's an absolute pleasure to listen to.

[Master Chief]

Encore > HTS

In what aspect?

there are songs with relevant content.

Yeah. My 1st Single, Rain Man, Big Weenie are incredible, heartfelt songs about world peace and global warming. Just Lose It is a very intense storytelling song about how a virgin lost her virginity to a 40 year old rapist in the cold and haunting streets of Detroit. And I'm sure most will agree that Ass Like That is a legendary ode to a donkey with parkinsons that fought his demons and learnt to control it to successfully fulfill his farm duties.

Relevant content.