Encore by Eminem

Encore, Eminem's fifth studio album, landed on November 12, 2004, through Shady, Aftermath and Interscope, and its title, cover and some of its lyrics were meant to signal a farewell. It's his goofiest record: he mocks Michael Jackson and Christopher Reeve, takes swings at Benzino and Ja Rule, and goes after then-president George W. Bush. "Just Lose It" was the cartoonish single, with "Encore" and "Ass Like That" also released, but the real weight sits in "Like Toy Soldiers" and "Mockingbird", which critics singled out and have ranked among his best.

It topped the charts in the US, the UK and seven other countries and had sold 11 million copies worldwide by August 2005, but reviews were mixed and it lost the Best Rap Album Grammy to Kanye West's Late Registration. Eminem later counted it among his worst: leaks forced him to rush out replacement songs, and he said he was struggling with drug addiction while making it. He then stepped away until Relapse in 2009.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.