Stan (song) in the push-and-pull world of a superstar. The song's poignancy never fades, even almost five years later it's still potent." "Slant Magazine" was mixed: "'Stan' is an interesting look into the mind of a fanatic (albeit through the eyes of an equally disturbed individual), but it's structured entirely around someone else's work (Dido's 'Thank You')." "Stan" is perhaps Eminem's most critically acclaimed song, after "Lose Yourself", and has been called a "cultural milestone", referred to as "Eminem's best song" by About.com. Analyzing "Stan" in "The Guardian", writer and literary critic Giles Foden compared Eminem to Robert Browning. At the 2001
Encore (Eminem song) hit song." "NME" was negative: "‘Encore/Curtains Down’ is the archetypal ‘gang’s all here’ show-closer, only with much more swearing and ‘the gang’ in this case being Dr Dre and 50 Cent, who are really the only two of Eminem’s collaborators who deserve to share his applause. A round of applause which, by the way, hidden-significance-spotters, ends with Eminem blowing his brains out." RapReviews was positive: "the album finally closes with a sure shot banger 'Encore/Curtains Down.' The Doctor lays the beat, Eminem drops the hook, and Eminem and Dre foray flames back and forth: [Dr. Dre] 'The buzz is tremendous,