Oct 9, 2021

Tl:dr

 

Oct 9, 2021

Encore is probably better than anything after his hiatus, tbh

 

Oct 9, 2021

Here's the thing with Encore. At that time we didn't really know Eminem's sense of humor outside of violent imagery. We weren't ready for Puke, My First Single, Rain Man, Big Weenie, a--- Like That and Just Lose It.

But this is what relaxed, not-angry Eminem is like. He's goofy, playful, silly and doesn't take himself too seriously. He was so relaxed on Encore and already got all the bad things out of his system in previous albums that on he could just take it easy and have fun.

All the songs listed above are actually great if you can understand that sense of humor. He's like a goofy friend who makes everyone at ease just for being silly and makes everyone forget their problems for a moment.

Puke is a better version of Kim. Kim is an annoying, unlistenable song now. Puke spins it into comedy and it's enjoyable at least. Classic Eminem here with "I go and get another one, now I got two", and the lines at the beginning of each verse.

My First Single is lyrically pure Eminem. The beat is bad, but the actual lyrics are fun and on point.

Rain Man is one of my top Eminem songs, and here the beat is also great. You find me offensive, I find you offensive...in the Bible it says...you find me offensive, s---, same verse...
and the way he sounds on it, I don't think he's been more confident.

Big Weenie is often in Eminem's worst song lists, but this is wrong. It's a great concept at that point of his career and that "munch a bunch of crunch'n'munch part alone is enough.

a--- Like That is pure comedy. Everyone I know who just casually knows about Eminem loves this song.

Just Lose It is a goofy Without Me, first single so it's light and catchy. I miss these kind of singles from Eminem.

These are the commonly considered bad songs. They're pure fun and I love them. Eminem showed a side here that we didn't know about because he couldn't get to it previously. He's actually a lighthearted comedian who happened to have big issues to take out in a rhyming form, but outside of that he just wants to have fun (proved again with Relapse).

Even if you cannot allow yourself to enjoy goofy humor because you're oh so serious, that's 6 songs out of the way. The rest of the album, other than One Shot Two Shot, is Eminem Show level material. Some of his best verses are on these songs.

You've all been pressured into considering this album as bad and didn't give it an honest listen. Most of you here probably weren't even born when this album came out. It's now just something people say on autopilot "Encore is bad" without ever being open to it. I know, I've been a victim of this too. Snap out of it!

Now I enjoy this album more than anything after Relapse and even more than SSLP. I'm tempted to say I enjoy it more than MMLP too simply because he's just so angry on MMLP, it takes a toll on the listener. After Relapse he's never really been as confident as he is here. Here he knows he's the best and you can take it or leave it, he's here to enjoy himself.

And it's refreshing to hear this kind of Eminem, not obsessed with bars, fast flows and proving he's the best. MTBMB Side B might be considered a spiritual successor to Encore because he's finally back to being goofy and funny in this kind of way (plus denser lyrics and wordplay).

Forget what you're supposed to think due to almost two decades of inertia and give Encore a proper chance. Relax, don't be afraid to be silly and enjoy.

 

Oct 9, 2021

No privileges to post. Someone out there is protecting Marsh at the very top. Conspiracy.

 

Oct 9, 2021

Banned from Em thread. Carry the good fight against Marsh without me boys @Carnifex @Ricky
@BIGFOOT

 

Oct 9, 2021

Encore is light years worse than his first 3 though, that's not even debatable

But I do agree it's refreshing to listen to him on songs like Toy Soldiers and Mosh, can you imagine him trying to flow over the beat like that today? He's literally incapable, he'd have an aneurysm

 

Oct 11, 2021

Recovery is one of best Eminem's albums

 

Oct 10, 2021

Swear to god this topic resurfaces every 6 months.

On the real though: Encore isn't THAT bad.
It actually still SOUNDS like a vintage eminem album, and you can easily get into it because of that.

There are two problems though: the bad songs, and the fact that Em was burned the f--- out. He did way too much during 2002-2004 and you can hear it.

The album didn't even had to be a classic, it could've been the one that "just wasn't on the same level as the others".
But Em chose to goof off.

 

Oct 9, 2021

Spend Some Time and Yellow Brick Road are some of the best songs he ever made. Still listen to those till this day

 

Oct 9, 2021

Encore is a certified classic in my book. I know I'm pretty alone with this...

 

Oct 9, 2021

Ehhh I disagree. I think he was far from relaxed or happy. I'm pretty sure he's even said he was furious about the album leaking and when he went in the studio to finish the album he just got the songs over with as fast as he could.

 

Oct 10, 2021

Exactly this… his little bro accidentally got half the album leaked (all classic songs) and Eminem was pissed so he just freestyled half the album on some DRE beats. I’m shocked DRE allowed this to happen. Tragic really that this happened - I remember thinking when Encore leaked that it was a fake album to fight album leaks and they were on some genius level s---.. but no it was the album

 

Oct 10, 2021

I love encore. It got way too much hate

 

Oct 9, 2021

Smh @Marsh sucking the right d-ck

 

Oct 9, 2021

Spend Some Time is literally Eminem's best Hook ever

 

Oct 9, 2021

Love the analysis. Enjoyed encore as well....maybe it’s because I was in high school and brings me back good memories...never understood all the hate but to each their own....def some great tracks on there

it would be interesting to see my perspective or all of our perspectives if he put out that exact album now or 10years after the initial release lol

 

Oct 11, 2021

Going Through Changes, Talkin 2 Myself, Seduction, No Love and Space Bound are better than 95% of the material he's released since.

Not Afraid and Love The Way You Lie are also massive hits and decent songs imo. Then you have tracks like 25 To Life, Almost Famous, So Bad and Cold Wind Blows that are better than most of his more recent filler tracks.

Recovery gets hate for the yelling and pop features which are definitely jarring but if we look at the album in isolation it's far better than it gets credit for. People talk about Revival being his "mature" album but it wasn't, its Recovery. Its the album we needed from him at that time and he found a nice balance in terms of his content which I think he has majorly struggled with since