Encore Songwriting Credits by Eminem

Encore is the fifth studio album by Eminem, released in November 2004 on Aftermath/Interscope Records and produced primarily by Eminem himself with contributions from Dr. Dre and the Bass Brothers. It is widely regarded as the weakest album of his commercial peak and the clearest indication that the intensity driving the first three major-label records was beginning to exhaust itself. Eminem wrote all lyrics; the album features more explicit political content than any previous release, including 'Mosh,' an anti-George W. Bush track released just before the 2004 presidential election, which was accompanied by an animated music video that received millions of views before being widely shared as an actual political statement. The album sold 3.3 million copies in the US in its first year, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and its lead single 'Just Lose It' reached the top five, commercial metrics that masked the critical response, which was more muted than previous releases. Encore would be Eminem's last album for five years; the period that followed included his withdrawal from public life, the death of his friend and collaborator Proof in April 2006, and his subsequent struggles with prescription drug dependency. The album is now most often discussed as the closing document of his first creative period rather than as a standalone artistic statement.