If you're an Eminem fan you have all of these songs already-- but the CD is worth buying simply for the single "When I'm Gone" alone. Eminem is known for riding the thin line between telling stories and telling HIS story, and he is never more introspective than in "When I'm Gone." Personally, I wish this CD consisted of more of those songs-- of the songs Eminem says he likes but not many else do (like "Rock Bottom" which never made it to a single). Instead he delivers an even mix of those ("Mockingbird," "Lose Yourself," "Like Toy Soldiers," "Cleanin Out My Closet," and "Way I Am") with his commercial "dance" hits like "My Name Is," "Real Slim Shady," "Without Me," and "Just Lose It." "Shake That" is one of the new songs that falls into that category, as is "Fack"...sort of..."Fack" is more like "Drips" than anything else, and I wonder what the clean version of the CD will have to compensate. Anyway, this dual disc version is the CD to get because Stan's Mixtape includes "Renagade--" the Eminem/Jay-Z song previously released only on Jay's "The Black Album." While all of the songs on Stan's Mixtape can be easily found on any downloading system on the net, it's just nice to have the tracklist all together. "Curtain Call" also includes the live Elton John performance of "Stan" as a Bonus Track, in addition to Dido's version so you can compare the two. Unfortunately, the live version is taken straight from the CBS telecast of the Grammys, and though the cheering and live audience has been removed from the track, it is still the "broadcast suitable" version and therefore bleeped. Eminem is a powerhous in hiphop, and "Curtain Call" is yet another chart topper for him. Hopefully he'll be back in the near future with new fresh tracks that sound a lot like "When I'm Gone" because that is definitely the stand-out of this CD, if not of his career in general.

Alright. Something I will never understnad is why people who hate Eminem must insist on writing negative reviews as if they are going to convince fans. Look, just because you rate an album one or two stars, doesn't mean that you are magically going to change someone's opinion about music. The whole point of reviewing is to provide someone else who has similar interests to see if the CD is worthwhile. That being said, I'm sure that anyone browsing this CD already owns some of Eminem's previous CDs or has heard his songs on the radio. This is a greatest hits package, so every song that was on the radio or talked about in the media is on here. New songs are included as well, like "When I'm Gone", which is a great song. If you are a casual fan and dont want to buy every album and end up with a lot of filler, this is a good buy. Sure it's not ground-breaking hip-hop or even really "music", but its fun and different. Thank You...

1 Intro (?/5) - its an intro, who cares

2 Fack (0/5) - What is this crap even suppose to be??

3 The Way I Am (5/5) - Classic (nuff said)

4 My Name Is (4.5/5) - my intro to eminem, i never looked back.

5 Stan feat. Dido (5/5) - Classic (maybe his best ever)

6 Lose Yourself (5/5) - Classic

7 Shake That by Nate Dogg (2/5) - isnt this suppose to be an em song, why have nate dogg singing for 4 of the 5 minutes.

8 Sing For The Moment (5/5) - Classic

9 Without Me (4.5/5) - Classic

10 Like Toy Soldiers (5/5) - used to think this song was awesome, then i found out Em has timed his words perfectly so that each word is spoken over a beat of the snare drum...now it is jus WAY TOOO GOOD!!!...top 5 slim joints all time

11 The Real Slim Shady (4/5) - not my personal fave, but its em, so its still great

12 Mockingbird (5/5) - Classic

13 Guilty Conscience feat. Dre (5/5) - Classic

14 Cleanin' Out My Closet (5/5) - Classic

15 Just Lose It (2/5) - just lose this song...please

16 When I'm Gone (5/5) - Instant Classic

17 Stan (Live) w/ elton (4/5) - better quality and unedited would be a 5.

Stan's Mix Tape

1 Dead Wrong w/ Biggie (5/5) - CLASSIC!!

2 Role Model (4.5/5) - almost perfect

3 Kill You (5/5) - Classic

4 $#!* On You (4/5) - Off Devil's Night...not bad

5 Criminal (5/5) - Why this wasnt on "the hits" cd is beyond me

6 Renegade w/ Jay-z (5/5) - some of em's best lyrics, "eminem murdered you on your own ****"-nas

7 Just don't give a... (4.5/5) - haha i love em.

all in all....say goodbye to Fack, Shake That and Just Lose It....add Superman, Encore and/or Criminal...and ur set......oh...and they forgot the BEST song of all time (Forgot about dre)...but its not really em's song, so i'll forgive him....

4 stars, 5 if he had left off all those dumpy songs

Curtain Call is a greatest hits collection from Eminem that shows why he is one of the biggest selling artists of the last few years. Eminem's albums have always been stuffed with some goofy filler, but this album distills down his best moments and shows his artistic greatness. "Stan" is one of the most haunting songs in the past twenty years and stands as his crowning achievement. "Lose Yourself" has anthem like qualities with it beat that pulsates to the breaking point and it won an unlikely, but well-deserved Academy Award for best song. "My Name Is" shows off the class clown persona that would become his trademark. The album has three new songs the best of which is "When I'm Gone" which is an exercise in the psychodrama that is his other trademark. Eminem has suggested that he is leaving the music business for good ("When I'm Gone" suggests this as well) and if he does, the music he left will definitely leave its mark on the musical landscape.

A collection of his Greatest Hits, however I feel a few others could have made it on here like "Superman" and "Drug Ballad", but ah well.

Still a nice CD to have and the guy deserved to have one after his years of strong work. I would have to say though you'll never get the full effect he has without getting an actual album cuz to be honest, some of his hits can't hold a CANDLE to songs like "Who Knew" and "Still Don't Give a F***". Either way, nice to have except nowadays most people already have these songs and can put them on their iPod which defeats the purpose.

Oh and there are 3 new songs. "Shake That" feat Nate Dogg (who ironically is on it more than Eminem), "When I'm Gone", and "Fack". "Shake that" is bomb as hell Em and Nate do they thing, "When I'm Gone" is good, deep...but a bit depressing/emo to really bump a lot, and "Fack" is just....ridiculous, sounds like some bad Encore cut. Also interesting enough they feature a live version of "Stan" with Elton John, nice to have too but really makes no difference because the original is on there too.

Overall, nice if you don't have an iPod, if you do I'd still download "Shake That" on iTunes if you haven't already.