If
Eminem
's
Curtain Call: The Hits
really is his final bow and not merely a clever denouement to his series of
Eminem Show
and
Encore
albums, it's a worthy way to retire. And even if he stages a comeback years from now, there's little question that the first five years of his career, spanning four albums plus a
soundtrack
, will be his popular and creative peak, meaning that the time is right for
Curtain Call
-- it has all the songs upon which his legend lies. Which isn't necessarily the same things as all the hits. There are a few odds and ends missing -- most notably one of his first
hip-hop
hits,
"Just Don't Give a F***,"
plus 2003's
"Superman"
and 2005's
"Ass Like That"
-- but all the big songs are here:
"Guilty Conscience,"
"My Name Is,"
"Stan,"
"The Real Slim Shady,"
"The Way I Am,"
"Cleanin' Out My Closet,"
"Lose Yourself,"
"Without Me"
"Just Lose It."
They're not presented in chronological order, which by and large isn't a problem, since the sequencing here not only has a good, logical momentum, alternating between faster and slower tracks, but they're all part of a body of work that's one of the liveliest, most inventive in
pop
music in the 21st century. The only exception to the rule are the three new songs here, all finding
Shady
sounding somewhat thin. There's the closing
"When I'm Gone,"
a sentimental chapter in the
domestic psychodrama that bears the unmistakable suggestion that
Em
is going away for a while. While it's not up to the standard of
"Mockingbird,"
it is more fully realized than the two other new cuts here, both sex songs that find
sounding as if he's drifting along in his own orbit.
"Shake That"
has an incongruous
Nate Dogg
crooning the chorus, while the wildly weird
"Fack"
finds
spending the entire track fighting off an orgasm; it seems tired, a little too close to vulgar
Weird Al
territory, and it doesn't help that his
Jenna Jameson
reference seems a little old. Even if these three cuts suggest why
is, if not retiring, at least taking a long break, that's fine: they're reasonably good and are bolstered by the rest of the songs here, which don't just capture him at his best, but retain their energy, humor, weirdness, and vitality even after they've long become overly familiar. And that means
isn't just a good way to bow out, but it's a great greatest-hits album by any measure. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine