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Eminem's fourth album offers few surprises, but still enough pleasures to carry the day. As evinced by Em's pre-election, pro-voting "Mosh," this is not exactly the same Eminem who seemingly crapped on anything and everything. Encore finds a surprisingly mature Eminem waxing reflective about his battle with Benzino ("Like Toy Soldiers") rather than unloading both barrels. However, it's not all elder statesmanship: "Puke" goes after his ex-wife Kim with incredible scorn, and "Big Weenie" showcases the familiar juvenile humor that made him famous. If Encore has a clear weakness, it's the bland production--the same plodding sound that he and Dr. Dre cooked up on the previous three albums. The exotic flavor of "Ass Like That" catches the ear, but many others run off the same monotonous minor-key melodies and tempos. Of course, people buy Eminem albums to hear him spit first and foremost, and in that regard few fans will be disappointed by Encore; it'd just be nice to see him switch up his sound at some point. --Oliver Wang
Condition: NEW
TRACK LISTING
1 Curtains Up (Skit)
2 Evil Deeds
3 Never Enough
4 Yellow Brick Road
5 Like Toy Soldiers
6 Mosh
7 Puke
8 My 1st Single
9 Paul (Skit)
10 Rain Man
11 Big Weenie
12 Em Calls Paul (Skit)
13 Just Lose It
14 Ass Like That
15 Spend Some Time
16 Mockingbird
17 Crazy In Love
18 One Shot 2 Shot
19 Final Thought (Skit)
20 Encore (Curtains)
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