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
Stan (song) John. On the clean and explicit versions of "Curtain Call: The Hits," the live track censored only the profanity, unlike the clean version of the studio track version of "Stan". The song was met with generally very complimentary reviews, with praise directed to the song’s epistolary narrative structure, emotional range and lyrical depth. Stephen Thomas Erlewine highlighted the song. "Entertainment Weekly" praised the song, too: "Eminem proves himself a peerless rap poet with a profound understanding of the power of language. "Stan," an epistolary exchange between the artist and a dangerously obsessive fan, may be the most moving song about