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Funny, catchy, clever, and irreverent past his allotted time.
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UncutThe standard is so consistently high, sides so conclusively split, even after six years' familiarity with his schtick, that genius is the word. [Jan 2005, p.116]
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His verses sound lazy and unfocused... Nevertheless, "Encore" does prove one thing: that even half-trying, Eminem is still better than most of the rappers beside him with plenty of personality to spare.
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Encore isn't as astonishing as The Marshall Mathers LP. Few albums by anyone ever will be. But in the time-honored manner of mature work, it showcases a phenomenally gifted musician and lyricist doing all the things he does best.
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BlenderWith Encore, Eminem rediscovers his sense of play and lets it run naked and screaming across the stage. [Jan/Feb 2005, p.100]
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His scattershot approach at taking on everyone and everything gets a wee tiresome after a while.
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Los Angeles TimesThe album has a familiar shortcoming: Once again, Eminem is guilty of not knowing when to stop in the studio. [8 Nov 2004]
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SpinIt includes some of the most thoughtful music of Eminem's career, and some of the butt-stupidest, and while there's a lot to like about both, the album feels transitional and muddled. [Jan 2005, p.95]
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For the most part, Encore's strained, vaguely sad, regressive wackiness makes a lucid and compelling argument that Eminem should retire Slim Shady and let the real, serious Marshall Mathers stand up and be heard.
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New Musical Express (NME)The pedestrian half of 'Encore' only serves to underline how awesome the other half is. [20 Nov 2004, p.53]
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It's true that Encore represents a drop-off in lyrical attention to detail from Mathers, and even 2002's The Eminem Show. But Mr. Shady is still the best MC on the planet, and Encore is still a lyrical tour de force, even if there's not as much de force as on previous records.
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Encore is a fourth fascinating record from Eminem, but it's also easily his weakest and, in many ways, tamest album to date.
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Encore never resonates the way his first three endlessly fascinating albums do.
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MojoAn awkward faceoff between Mathers the prankster and Mathers the cultural and would-be political agitator. [Jan 2005, p.96]
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Q MagazineSo, does it match expectations? No. [Jan 2005, p.122]
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While the best of it is good enough to promise a fruitful and substantive future, the worst of it suggests that in a few years time, Mr. Mathers may be little beyond a slightly intimidating class clown.
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"Encore" is almost willfully uneven: it includes some of the most exhilarating songs Eminem has ever recorded, alongside some of the most inert. [15 Nov 2004]
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Often, he sounds bored, as if he's going through the motions. The flat and repetitive music follows suit - even Dr Dre's production lacks its usual inventive spark.
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Here, there are moments when he entertains us and other times when he doesn't.
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You’d believe this was a “Weird Al” Jankovic record had you tuned in halfway through.
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Entertainment WeeklyOn an album that sags with filler and trite rehashes, he sacrifices the rich, multi-textured productions of The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show for thug-life monotony, cultural zingers for petty music-biz score-settling, and probing self-analysis for juvenile humor. [19 Nov 2004, p.80]
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The real Slim Shady is officially in real danger of becoming clichéd. His free pass expires here.
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There is too much focus (or carelessness, perhaps) on his herky-jerky flows that match drum for drum, and the simple rhymes and tired messages are pathetic.
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It's not simply the weakest album of his otherwise impressive career; it's one of the poorest performances from such a high-profile talent in recent memory.
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It’s trite rehash after trite rehash followed by pointless filler.
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His beefs have become so infinitesimal that he’s started to unconsciously parody our LiveJournal culture, a minor event or misunderstanding generating reams of dialogue, running commentary and painstaking minutiae. In short, he’s no more compelling than one of those non-famous drama queens in your life you already find insufferable, just another loser who blows up non-events, and it’s transformed the long-running Eminem Show into the most myopic, hand-wringing, self-reflexive stuck-in-the-mud soap opera of our time.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 595 out of 828
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Mixed: 139 out of 828
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Negative: 94 out of 828
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Nov 1, 2018
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wiggettyw.Aug 29, 2007Keeps getting better and better. Second only to The Eminem Show.
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JimmyBMar 8, 2005