Review Summary: A few shards of gold hidden in a sewerage treatment plant.
There is a reason Eminem is one of the biggest mainstream rappers. It’s because he’s good, damn good in fact. Some would go so far as to say he’s exceptional, a master at his craft. Very few people can argue against these sentiments. He is the most commercially successful artist of the decade, and ranks amongst Rolling Stones’ top 100 artists of all time. A lot of potential and expectation to live up to, wouldn’t you say? So the question was asked: why on earth did he waste it all by first taking dips in the pool of mediocrity (
The Eminem Show) and then diving headlong in with
Encore?
The answer of course lies in the sales records and the effort put in. This album sold millions, debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Top 200, and spawned numerous hit singles. It earned Eminem huge dollars, took comparatively little energy to complete, and all it cost was his credibility amongst serious music lovers. The mainstream public (the kind of people who don’t care if the song has an official murder confession in it, so long as it has a beat they can dance to, they’re happy) lapped it up and adored him all the more.
“Ass Like That” is a perfect example of what I just described. To us it is one of the worst songs Mr. Mathers has ever written. Horrible lyrics, a generic club beat, pathetic vocals, and disturbingly immature jokes (“Janet, is that a breast, I think I just saw a tit/Psych, I joke, I joke, I kidd, I kidd). The song was only shat on more (if that’s possible) by its unfunny and stupid video. Here’s the kicker though: “Ass Like That” peaked at 10 on the Australian singles charts. Not bad for a song that probably took him half an hour to write.
The album is full of these types of tracks, with a major trench of mediocrity slammed into the middle of the LP. From “Puke” through to “Ass Like That” the listener is treated to, nay subjected to, songs that all fit into the same category. All of them disappoint and all of them disgust. Everything that was said about “Ass Like That” can be said of the 7 songs before it. Take “My First Single” for example. Not only does it include robotic, annoying vocals, but it also adds sampling of Em burping and vomiting to the mix. The beat is hands down the worst on the album. It clatters along horribly, almost drowning out the vocals (oh wait, I forgot that’s not such a bad thing is it) and is one of the few missteps on the production side of the LP.
It’s not all bad though, which is what makes it such a conundrum. “Like Toy Soldiers” is a great example of the respect that Marshall commands as an MC and lyricist. To the ignorant fans it was simply a story about war and the consequences of it, but looking deeper it’s the story of the shooting of Fifty Cent in 2001 and the way the hip-hop scene has been degraded in recent years.
“But I'm so busy being pissed off I don't stop to think
That we just inherited 50's beef with Murder Inc.”
Furthermore, “Mosh” is brilliant. Its perhaps not up to Em’s old standard, but it’s still great nonetheless. Its marching beat and anti-war sentiments (“Stomp, push, shove, mush, f**k Bush, until they bring our troops home”) boldly mirror the strength of “Toy Soldiers”. “Mosh” also references Eminem’s own personal experiences, juxtaposing the crumbling hip-hop scene with his anger at Bush’s leadership. It mashes together to form a powerful and inspiring anthem that is matched by its dark, sharp synthesisers that pierce the mix and put its imagery right in your mind, where it needs to be to achieve its full potential.
The production, unfortunately, is also a mixed bag. Dr. Dre shows his chops on a number of tracks, keeping everything smooth and listenable while adding little pieces that complete a song (if he did anything less I doubt he would be where he is today). On every track that Dre doesn’t produce, however, Eminem takes his place. The results are awkward, with samples that could easily have been wiped from the mix without any undue damage to the song. As well as this, there are two tracks where the volume of the samples and beats is off. The first has been mentioned previously: the clattering, annoying beat on “My First Single”. The other one being “Crazy In Love”, where Eminem is completely eliminated by the sampling of Heart’s “Crazy On You” in the chorus. Both tracks stand out as lazy cuts that were glossed over and not bothered with.
There are some gems on
Encore, songs that deserve to be surrounded by better material than they are. Unfortunately they’re just too few and far between to make the album a decent buy or listen. Whenever I play this I skip quite literally all but about 3 or 4 songs. Some of the others I can stand occasionally, or have grown on me, but a lot of it is just mindless mainstream rap s**t that can be dismissed without a second thought.
