Despite being labeled by many as immature and by some as just plain out of his mind, rapper Eminem has managed to top the billboard charts again.
What was anticipated was the crass, yet intelligent lyrical potency that his listeners were accustomed to on some of his previous work, albums like "The Slim Shady LP" and "The Marshall Mathers LP." However, "Encore" only keeps its listeners waiting in anticipation for originality and an actually good song. His last album, "The Eminem Show," provided Slim Shady's fans with a sense of commercialism, something this CD does not even attempt.
The one thing "Encore" has going for it, as had each of his albums, is a ton of hype. Though some songs can eventually grow on the listener, most come off as extremely obnoxious, and for Eminem fans to feel that way requires some doing. The intro to the song "Puke!" is a recording of Eminem puking into a toilet.
The best song on the album, which also comes with a three-track bonus disc, is "Never Enough" featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. On this track all three of the rappers complement each other perfectly, giving the audience a reprieve from recurring thoughts that they had been duped. Eminem shows a flash of the smart rhymes he spit in the past.
"Too bad, you're off the map now/ Radar can't even find you/ We stay on the grind, you slide/ We out-grind you."
Other songs almost are able to make the grade, but wind up falling short. "Mockingbird" may even be his second best on the album, but it's just hard to give it a number two ranking to a lackluster number.
Throughout the song, Eminem uses the beat from the familiar old Chimmy "Mockingbird" and he sings for the most part in melody, which sounds downright corny. In the song, he uses overdone material he has already spoken about in past albums; how much he loves his daughter, how he's had a rough life before he blew up, and how he fought with his wife a lot.
The point is "Encore" is nothing more than a collection of B-sides not good enough for past albums.
