Not much has changed for the man that sits atop the entertainment world. Eminem still hates his mom, loves to hate his former wife, and loathes pop stars even though he is one of the biggest. He loves his daughter and is always ready to beef with anyone that tries to step up but fame continues to haunt him.

On his fourth album, “Encore,” Eminem doesn’t stray far from the formula that made him a fixture in pop culture; a few radio friendly tracks with some politically-driven enraged tunes, a couple of skits and a whole lot of help from his people.

The album opens with a familiar crowd chanting Eminem’s name and then breaks into a signature Dr. Dre beat. “Evil Deeds” is a soul-searching look at Eminem’s family tree that starts the album off on the good foot. Dre’s beats aren’t blowing out speakers like they used to but still have an uncanny ability to bottle up whatever makes the neck move the head up and down.

50 Cent and Nate Dogg join on another Dre beat “Never Enough.” Eminem tries a little harder when his crew accompanies him but on most of the album lacks the tongue twisting lyrics that got him this far. 50 Cent flows over the beat like no else can while Nate Dogg adds the smooth hook to one of the best songs on the album.

“Yellow Brick Road” takes a deeper look at what it took for Eminem to get where he is. It’s a safe song that makes you wonder how many times an artist can tell the same story.

When using a sample from the 80s, musicians should use extreme caution. “Like Toy Soldiers” is more annoying than it is moving and “Crazy In Love” gets a quick button press to the next song. Eminem relies to heavily here on samples that should have stayed in the ’80s.

“Mosh” came out as a video on the Internet right before the election and was supposed to be a call to young voters to stomp on down to the polling booth. Incase you missed it; young voters just stayed at home. Eminem looks to lead America’s confused youth “through the Desert Storm” but it only works on the last verse where he calls for the return of our troops. Until then *!&$ Bush.”

A few of the songs on the album have a pop feel to them. “Puke,” a tribute to his ex-wife, shows that Eminem needs to spend some serious time on a psychiatrist’s couch now more than ever. “Puke” is one of the better pop feeling songs on the album and at is amusing.

“My 1st Single” on the other hand is not entertaining at all and is one of the weakest Eminem songs ever recorded. It combines the crude fart and bodily noises type humor to blast R. Kelly and the late Christopher Reed. The kiddies that buy his records might find it funny but it is about time Eminem finds other ways to shock us.

“Just Loose It” is the first single and most radio friendly song on the album. Michael Jackson gets called out here and also on a few skits scattered throughout the album. Even though it is oh so easy to slap Michael Jackson down, the results are pretty funny. Dre adds the album’s most danceable beat on the song that will surely get played out the fastest.

Dre contributes a few more party starting bumps halfway through the album on “Rain Man” and “Big Weenie.” “Rain Man” is a goofy look at one of America’s hot issues, same-sex marriage wedged between rips on Jessica Simpson and more shots at Bush. “Big Weenie” responds to the beefs Eminem has with other rappers and addresses all those who envy him. The song ends up having little direction but still accomplishes more than “@#% Like That,” a steaming pile of a song.

“Mockingbird” slows things down and gives Eminem a chance to express his love for his daughter Haley. He proclaims his love for her, but explains his social life isn’t exactly ideal for any father. It will be interesting to see what will become his daughter, whose mother is called a substance abuser and her father has a grocery list of issues. This song longs for a Dido sample.

The curtain slowly is pulled down towards the end of the album as a few of Eminem’s friends join him back onstage. “Spend Some Time” has a silky flow with the help of Obie Trice, Stat Quo and 50 Cent steal the track, leaving us hanging for another solo album. D12 add some flavor to “One Shot 2 Shot,” a jumpy beat driven song filled with sounds of gunfire and one of D12’s best collaborations to date.

Dre comes out from behind the soundboard on the closing track “Encore/Curtains Down” which ends with a statement that we shouldn’t expect anything new until 2006. Eminem probably has one album left in him before he focuses solely on production. He is ready to “pass the button” back to 50 Cent while he gets some rest for his final leg in the rap relay. Lactic acid is setting in and his lyrical muscles are tightening up.