How close was Encore to being the "PERFECT Bad Album?"

[EminemInsider]

I had this discussion with someone several months ago, and thought about it again last night while staring at my ceiling after the power went out.

Eminem was close to having an album that was SO unbelievably bad, it was actually GOOD. It was so BAD that it was nearly so GOOD...very nearly could've been the greatest thing he ever had.

It was very nearly the PERFECT "bad album." This album had everything:

-A horrible lead single that made every Eminem fan want to commit suicide in "Just Lose It." Putrid and nauseating both musically and lyrically, this song even took a giant shit on one of his great works (Lose Yourself) in the 3rd verse.

-Rambling, unbelievably bad lyrics rapped over the worst beat ever made (My First Single). This song was revolutionary in that it's the first time a rapper has ever incorporated the sound of a door stop being slapped around into the beat.

-A horrible "political" song spouting anti-Bush cliches and revealing a complete ignorance of any political intricacies. Yet like most Americans, Ambienem felt the need to open his mouth, anyway.

-Ambienem then decided to pull back and get emotional, with a sappy, atrociously-written ode to his daughter that sounded like prose being forced over a corny, contrived, "emotionalz" beat. It felt like he had undone the brilliance of Hailie's Song and taken another giant shit on a great work from his REAL career. By now, we semi-intelligent Eminem fans are cringing in our seats, in fear of any family and friends who know we are fans of Eminem coming across this album and lowering their opinions of us as a result, thinking this is what we enjoy listening to.

-On this album, Ambienem, despite being in his gangsta phase, revealed how paranoid and pussified he was with "Like Toy Soldiers," worrying that his beef with Ja Rule was gonna get somebody killed, because it was the next Tupac and Biggie and stuff. What if 50 Cent died? NOOOoooooooOOOOoooo! Can't have THAT!!!

-Plenty of joke songs that aren't funny, just to make the album super-awkward. Ass Like That and Rain Man, for example.

-A song that you don't even want to listen to (and know will suck) before you even play it. No, I'm not even talking about Ass Like That, though that also fits the bill...isn't that funny? "Big Weenie" is that song.

-"Puke"...it's in a league of its own. This is the "I AM TRYING TO SUCK!!!" song...yet he doth protest too much. This is a self-conscious song, trying to lead the semi-intelligent listeners to the conclusion he's intentionally making a joke album...trying to hide his problems. Give him credit, though: He goes ALL IN. This song seemingly justifies everything the "undaground > mainstream gawbage" fans said about the genius SSLP-MMLP-TES Eminem ("He makes songs for teenage girls to wet their panties to").

-He can't NOT put the group nobody ever gave a flying fuck about, D12, on this album. They helped kill the excitement of 1-2 tracks per prime Ambienem album before. But Ambienem needed to find a way to incorporate them on a horrible track this time...and he did just that with "One Shot 2 Shot." This is gangsta-Eminem, the same man who just licked Ja Rule's feet on "Like Toy Soldiers," talking about how he's gonna shoot up muh-fuckas at da club...or something. I've listened to it twice in my life. He sings in the shot, high-pitched, slurred, annoying, "drug" voice...then breaks out his slurred gangsta voice for the rapping. The D12 guys also rap on there, but I couldn't tell you a single word they said. Without even listening, I guarantee even Bizarre murdered Eminem.

-He has the most awkward sample in the history of rap music (from "Heart") in "Crazy In Love." As an Eminem fan, your jaw was already dropped to the floor with tears flowing down your cheeks by this point in the album. When you hear THIS song, you sit up and just scream at the top of your lungs, "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?!?!?!?!" Think the character on Royce's "Part Of Me"...that's what we sounded like during this song.

-Forgot to mention, he begins the album with the awkward, "Huh...WTF is he doing? Did he drop the microphone during the chorus?!" Evil Deeds, with misaligned multis. Despite how poorly done and shitty it is, it doesn't completely tip his hand...you're still wondering if there's going to be something good on this album, and this song "just isn't for you." So you keep playing. Well done, Ambienem.


So what prevents "Encore" from achieving the status of being a 5-star Master-Piece-Of-Shit? A few minor things, and one major thing.

Minor:

-Eminem has some slightly impressive multis in the third verse of "Yellow Brick Road." The verse is barely (if at all) intelligible, but we're forced to concede we never would have thought of those rhyme schemes. ~SIGH~

-There's a verse Eminem ghost-wrote for Dre in "Encore/Curtains Down," along with a couple other areas, that have cool multis (best cut last/fresh cut grass...rockin off the hinges/popular consensus). This song just isn't as bad as it could have been.

-Eminem's verse on "Spend Some Time" seems to accidentally work. First of all, he has multis...albeit misaligned. Secondly, his "I've got a fever of 107 and am about to check into a hospital to die after passing out a few times on a hardwood floor" voice and flow actually seem to fit what he's saying in his verse. It's an accidentally good artistic "decision."


Major:

Eminem was on drugs and wasn't doing this intentionally. He was so out of it that he thought the "seriouzzz" songs were good, and instead of laughing with the audience, he was being laughed at.

Instead of being able to listen to Encore in awe, and appreciate it as the parody of itself that it should be, there's a dark undertone there. "This was almost the last we heard from the greatest lyricist of all-time...THIS. During the time he made THIS song, he was popping his 14th valium. During the making of THIS song, he shit himself before taking another sip of NyQuil."

It's good that Eminem can laugh at this, though. It makes me feel a little better about putting on an Encore song every now and then (such as Puke) just for a laugh...and to remind me to be thankful we at least got "Relapse," and an acknowledgment of why Eminem had seemingly been abducted and replaced with a robot by aliens from 2004-2007.

[Atone]

Same story, different thread

[BILI]

[momentsgolden]

Same story, different thread

... interesting angle and funny as fuck nonetheless

(still love Mockinbird and Toy Soldiers )

[djdixie]

Nah gotta say, I LOVE playing My 1st Single full blast in the car. Love the beat, Lyrics are meh but listenable.

[Devil'sAdvocate]

I say we sticky this masterpeice.

[Norway kills]

And that's why you never should wear a sombrero while swimming.

[Trimss]

Nah gotta say, I LOVE playing My 1st Single full blast in the car. Love the beat, Lyrics are meh but listenable.

[Trimss]

tl;dr version?

Encore sucks big fucking cocks except Spend Some Time, Encore second verse and Yellow brick road which are average.

[Innovation]

This song was revolutionary in that it's the first time a rapper has ever incorporated the sound of a door stop being slapped around into the beat.

Ah man, that made me laugh. I never thought of that but it's so true lmao.

You did put some good points across in here though, I really did enjoy reading it.

encore is underrated, he set the standards for his albums so high that when it came out it just looked like shit..

Eh, I used to argue that point. It has its highs which are decent but it has many lows. We're talking about the same dude who crafted the masterpiece that is The Eminem Show just a few years before Encore.

[Mr Change]

OMG



classic 'funny' thread.

What you said about D12 on One Shot 2 Shot, Encore/Curtains Down, and Spend Some Time literally had me dying.

[WakeUpShow]

During the making of THIS song, he shit himself before taking another sip of NyQuil."

couldn't stop laughing at this! Great thread, and I agree I think we're lucky that we got the amazing Relapse and decently good Recovery.

[SliK]

By now, we semi-intelligent Eminem fans are cringing in our seats, in fear of any family and friends who know we are fans of Eminem coming across this album and lowering their opinions of us as a result, thinking this is what we enjoy listening to.

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

[EminemBase]

"Crazy In Love" is awesome.

[RKOunion]

LOL. Making fun of drugged up and current Eminem never gets old.