"Weird Al" Yankovic
In 3-D
Dare To Be Stupid
Polka Party!
Even Worse
UHF
Off The Deep End
Alapalooza
Bad Hair Day
Running With Scissors
Poodle Hat
Straight Outta Lynwood
Steve Jay- bass guitar, low vocals
Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz- drums, fan favorite, backing vocals
Ruben Valtierra (since ‘92)- keyboards, backing vocals
Jim West- guitar and other stringed instruments, backing vocals
1983
Al took the high road here with an eponymous debut album, perhaps the very first artist in rock history to make such a move. Ha ha! Just messin’ wit’ ya! But let me just say, this album is not like any other Al has ever done. For much of his musical life up to this point, it was just him and his accordion. He assembled a band by this point, but on this album they’re just complementing his accordion. Every song is based on that instrument, and the parodies don’t try too hard to replicate the original sound.
Many of these parodies here were big on Dr. Demento before 1983. His very first was the awesome “My Bologna,” which is miles ahead of the overrated Knack vehicle “My Sharona.” But no, that lovely burp in the middle was not Al, it was one of Al’s behind-the-scenes guys. Next up was his Queen knock-off “Another One Rides The Bus,” recorded live at Dr. Demento w/only Al and Bermuda. Once again a funny tune, marred by a questionable reference to the Who’s Cincinnati concert deaths. Elsewhere, Al apes Toni Basil in “Ricky” (a semihit), Joan Jett in “I Love Rocky Road” (another semihit), and Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty in “Stop Draggin’ my Car Around” (not a hit, but you gotta love Al’s Stevie and Tom intonations!). All great.
Al didn’t start off as a great lyricist in originals, but he has more winners than losers here. Best is his apocalyptic “Happy Birthday,” which still hasn’t become the worldwide standard like the REAL “Happy Birthday to You.” But not everyone wants to hear about World War III and the Earth crashing into the sun, I guess. “Gotta Boogie” is a disco send-up with a different kind of boogie, if you ‘nose’ what I mean. WAHAHAHA!!!! “The Check’s in the Mail” knocks Hollywood phonies and “I’ll Be Mellow When I’m Dead” knocks yuppies, both in hilarious fashion. The closing “Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung” could have been really crude, but it’s short and inoffensive enough to please. That ‘iron lung’ in the song is the air valve of his accordion.
What doesn’t work is the Chuck and Princess Di tune “Buckingham Blues,” way too generic and outdated for me. I guess Al intended a “Jack and Diane” parody but didn’t get the nod from John Cougar Mellencamp, which is also where all the melons go during the summer (no, I knew that BEFORE I saw Prindle’s page!). And “Such a Groovy Guy” isn’t funny in the least. Those two stinkers, plus the fact that one can only take so much of the squeeze box, lower the rating to an 8. Of course, Al would get his break afterwards?
1984
This is it. This is where Al’s career took off, and he enjoyed a few minutes of mainstream fame, mostly due to a ditty by the name of “Eat It.” As for the rest In 3-D, his fellow bandmates began aiming to sound like the original tune on a given parody, instead of playing second fiddle (rimshot) to Al’s ‘cordion. More importantly, In 3-D pretty much set the standard for the rest of Al’s albums. All of them would comprise of parodies (including one of a huge hit),originals (including one style parody, where Al cops a band’s style instead of a song), and a polka medley. So let’s get to these, shall we?
Why was “Eat it” so big? Not only did it parody Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”, but it came out while America was still in awe of Jacko’s Thriller. It’s a great tune, one of the best food parodies by Al, and helped by Ric Derringer’s Van Halen-style guitar wailings. “Eat It” barely missed the Top Ten (at #12), but stands as his biggest hit ever. The next best is the funny “I Lost on Jeopardy.” Being a parody of Greg Kihn’s “Jeopardy,” it seems a bit obvious for Alfred, right? Wrong. Al’s talking about the Art Fleming/Don Pardo incarnation from the ‘60s, and I believe the Alex Trebek-era Jeopardy! came out in the late ‘80s.
But the rest of the parodies aren’t up to snuff. “Theme From Rocky XIII” is allright except it doesn’t improve too much on the annoying Survivor original. The Police parody “King of Suede” isn’t too funny, and who remembers “King of Pain”? Wasn’t that the same year as “Every Breath you Take”? But the serious clunker was “Brady Bunch” sung in the tune of the quirky anti-nuclear war classic “Safety Dance.” OK, Al spends the first verse naming all the shows he’d much rather watch, then he sings the Brady Bunch theme in the next verse. Huh?? You like it or not??
How about the originals? All are tip-topnotch, save the jokeless “That Boy Could Dance.” Remember when I mentioned style parodies? “Mr. Popeil” is Exhibit A, where Al apes the B-52’s (Motion in the ocean! His air hose broke!) to great results. Oh, there’s something about pocket fisherman too. “Nature Trail to Hell” is even better, as Al knocks both serious metal and lame horror movies at once! Not quite on par with Spinal Tap, but it’s still a hoot. Throw in an upbeat ode to tabloids (“Midnight Star”) and a reggae tune dealing with a Jamaican who betrays his roots for cheesy American tastes (“Buy me a Condo”) and I’m happy.
Don’t forget that polka medley! By the title of “Polkas on 45,” I guess he was poking fun at that embarrassing “Stars on 45” craze. First time around, Al brings together classic rock (Doors, Deep Purple) and new wave (Devo, Talking Heads). Probably his most diverse polka, as the rest from here on focused on hits-of-the-week. All in all, In 3-D is a very solid album that dictated the rest of Al’s career, for better or for worse.
1985
Now that he achieved semi-fame, Yankovic chose the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” school of thought. So the In 3-D formula is running rampant on Dare to be Stupid. The parodies are still spotty and the originals are extreme, they either really work or really not. For the hit single this time around, he took the Madonna tune “Like a Virgin” and transformed it into “Like a Surgeon”. Hilarious single too, about a first-time cutter (‘my patients died/before they could payyy’).
Quite a dropoff from “Like a Surgeon” as far as parodies go. The Huey Lewis knock-off “I Want a New Duck” may have been a riot back when I was six, but it has aged just as well as Lewis. Not in a good way, I mean. But you knew that. “Yoda” took the Kinks’ “Lola” and changed the main character from a gender-bender to the star of Empire Strikes Back. Nice song that is! Except the live version is actually loads better, something completely different, and it’s hard to go back to this version. And “Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch” sucks. Bad. Al was under pressure to include a Cyndi Lauper parody, and this sounds so dang forced it’s painful.
Originals? The strongest on Dare to be Stupid are among Al’s best ever. The title track is an AMAZING Devo style parody only helped by the insane video. “One More Minute” is not only Al’s most bitter breakup song, but it was actually inspired by a recent break-up, proving once again that music is the best therapy out there. Classic stuff. The ‘20s send-up “This is the Life” was the theme to the '20s-style flick Johnny Dangerously, and it probably works better in that context.
Consequently, “Slime Creatures From Outer Space” is not funny in the least. You’d think an ode to ‘50s sci-fi B-movies would be funny, but alas. No jokes either on “Cable TV,” just Al trying to be Billy Joel. I mean, he has to be, he’s working the New Island accent! He does redeem himself with “Hooked on Polkas,” with every hit from 1984 mishmashed together! Dare to be Stupid is a step down from In 3-D, but it does include some of Al’s career highs.
1986
From the TV show King of the Hill:
Bobby Hill: “I want to sing funny words to songs, like Weird Al Yankovich.”
Hank Hill: “Son, Al Yankovich blew his brains out in the late ‘80s when his records stopped selling.”
The above dialogue isn’t entirely inaccurate. But with Polka Party!, Al’s career nearly came to a halt. No hit single emerged, and the album itself was mired in the lower rungs of the Billboard chart. I don’t know why this was back in ‘86, perhaps people thought Al was a flavor-of-the-month, but it doesn’t seem surprising now. Out of all the tunes he parodied, the only one anyone will remember was Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” (because of those models in the video?). James Brown’s “Living in America” isn't really a classic, El Debarge’s “Who’s Johnny” isn’t memorable, and Mick Jagger’s “Ruthless People”? That song was NOT a hit, and I don’t know if the movie was either.
What about the parodies themselves? Imagine this, “Living With a Hernia” is funkier than the original!!! Funny stuff too. Remember, lift with your legs. The OK “Addicted to Spuds” is good for Al to pull out when he comes to Boise, cuz the line ‘you planned a trip to Idaho’ always gets a hearty cheer. “Here’s Johnny” did not age well, since we don’t hear much from Ed McMahon nowadays. And “Toothless People” is fine if you wanna hear Al put on his Mick posturing. Otherwise, it’s uninvolving and unfunny. Maybe if I actually heard the original...but then again it’s probably on par with crap from the Stones’ Dirty Work.
On the original side, Al comes up with another brilliant style parody on “Dog Eat Dog,” this time taking on the paranoid Talking Heads sound. “One of Those Days” is just amazing, as Al mixes awful events (‘a 747 crashed into my den’) with petty annoyances (‘nothing but Tater Tots for dinner again!’) for one hell of a bad day. “Don’t Wear Those Shoes” is the “That Boy Can Dance” of the album, not funny or musically interesting. I do like the country-style “Good Enough For Now,” an ode to low standards. And who can forget his “Christmas at Ground Zero”‘ I don’t know if nuclear fear was still high in ‘86, but Al has a big grin as sings about ‘being nuked on this jolly holiday’ accompanied by air-raid sirens. Sure glad I didn’t live through then.
Finally, the title track is another jolly polka medley, with embarrassing hits of the mid ‘80s brought together as one! ‘Say you! ‘Say me! ‘(wah-wahhh)’ Now I’ll take that over Lionel Richie’s any day. So, although Polka Party! didn’t do too well, Al keeps getting better in his original compositions.
1988
I’m not much of a Michael Jackson fan, but I’m telling you, this guy bailed out Weird Al again. The album cover and title Even Worse are take-offs of MJ’s current smash Bad. More importantly, Al took his “Bad” and made one of his best parodies ever in “Fat,” which got him back in the national radar. So, Jacko helped get Al popular with “Eat It”, and saved him when it looked bleak with “Fat.” What a pal. Too bad he’s now a freak. Jackson I mean. Al’s always been a freak. Right???
“Fat” could very well be better than “Eat It.” They’re both food songs of course, and they both have hilarious videos. The rest of the parodies mock ‘60s classics that were remade in 1987. “La Bamba” was the Ritchie Valens classic that Los Lobos took to #1 thanks to the Valens movie. The biggest oddity was how Tiffany’s lame remake of “I Think We’re Alone Now” was knocked off #1 by Billy Idol’s cover of “Mony Mony,” and BOTH were originally done by ‘60s icons Tommy James and the Shondells! What was next, “Hanky Panky” done by Whitesnake??
Oh yeah, it’s an Al review. “I Think I’m a Clone Now” is mildly amusing and makes me glad I missed the Tiffany mall-rock of the time. Even better is the divorce problems of “Alimony”, so we can hear Al doing Idol. I do like “Lasagna,” even though the Italian themes wear thin on many. The only parody I frown on is “(This Song’s Just) Six Words Long,” Al’s first tune slamming the original. Sure, George Harrison’s “Got My Mind Set on You” is no great shakes, but cut the guy some slack! He didn’t even write the tune! Besides, I prefer my personal misheard title “Wake Up, I Might Sit On You.” Now THAT’s comedy!!!
Originals? Style parodies up the wazoo! “Velvet Elvis” may be a few years late, but the Police stylings are grrrreeeatt!! Better than “King of Suede”! They say “You Make Me” is Oingo Boingo, but only knowing one OB tune, I’ll take “You Make Me” as a great demented love. Guess who Al’s doing on the short commercial “Twister”? That’s right, the Beastie Boys!! But no looking at your notes next time. The stalker ballad “Melanie” is VERY underrated, and Al surprised everyone with when he played at Boise a few years ago. And “Good Old Days” could have been done by James Taylor, except I don’t think he ever tortured rats or set fire to mom-and-pop stores.
Not very many problems, except no polka medley?? Was pop music that bad in ‘87? And “Stuck in a Closet With Vanna White” is a bit ridiculous, with more good bits than “Boy Could Dance” and “Shoes,” but not musically interesting. But that’s all, as Even Worse is Al’s best album since In 3-D.
1989
This here’s the soundtrack to Al’s only movie by the name of UHF. If you’re looking for a detailed plot of the movie, you won’t find it here. I have seen the movie recently, and it is funny, but I don't feel like givin' out no spoilers. Anyways, UHF ultimately flopped, but has gained a tremendous cult following among hardcore Yankovic fans.
Did I say soundtrack?? I meant half-soundtrack. Only 6 of the 13 tracks on here were in the movie. Hilarious bits like the quickie “Let Me Be Your Hog,” the commercial “Spatula City,” and the movie promo “Gandhi II” aren’t quite as funny here as in the movie, but still raise a smile regardless. The upbeat instrumental “Fun Zone” doesn’t hold up on its own, it just makes you want to see that nutty Stanley Spudowski. That was the theme to his show, you know.
The title track reminds me of “State of Shock” for whatever reason, but it is a great movie theme devoted to that channel. “Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies” came in a dream sequence in the movie, with the video staying true to the Dire Straits original. Basically, it’s the Beverly Hillbillies theme sung to “Money For Nothing,” but it works better than “Brady Bunch.” As for the title, Mark Knopfler demanded his original title also be stated, and that he would play his guitar part! Talk about demanding.
The other seven tunes are pieces of CRAP Weird Al had lying around. Nahh, just joshin’ ya. They’re really all good, except the dull Tone-Loc parody “Isle Thing.” I’ve actually heard a better Gilligan’s Island parody (“La Isla Gilligan,” don’t know who it was) on the Dr. Demento show. I enjoy Al’s sole R.E.M. parody “Spam” and his Fine Young Cannibals take-off “She Drives Like Crazy,” even though no one can truly replicate Roland Gift’s unique sound. He caps things off with his best polka medley to date, taking on all Rolling Stones songs in “Hot Rocks Polka”.
But wait, it gets better. All three originals are winners. I much prefer “Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters From a Planet Near Mars” to “Slime Creatures” cuz this is far less generic. Come on, hamsters are cuter than slime creatures! “Generic Blues” is laugh-out-loud funny as Al jabs all the blues cliché from self-loathing lyrics to guitar wailings (‘make it talk!…OK now make it shut up!’). Then there’s the excellent “Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota,” Al’s longest original to date. I’d say he’s going for a Harry Chapin sound, as he describes a family trip to this ball of twine.
So once again, Al delivers with a great album/soundtrack. If you like Al but haven’t seen UHF, go see the movie. You’ll like it. Have I ever lied to you before. Huh? I did? Yeah, well, you were only 6 then. You knew nothing.
1992
Weird Al enters the ‘90s here. But the late ‘80s/early ‘90s pop music scene wasn’t great, with no big artist emerging worthy of Al’s magic touch. Then came Nirvana and the grunge scene. Nirvana came out with “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” which wasn’t upbeat or clearly intelligible. Al took it and ran with “Smells Like Nirvana,” which still cracks me up to this day. I am a Nirvana fan, but this is just crazy! ‘It’s hardle to bargle nawdle zauss with all these marbles in my mouth.’ Not to mention the video is an absolute classic.
Unfortunately, this is another period where pop music was so inessential and crappy it was hardly worth parodying. M.C. Hammer is blasted on “I Can’t Watch This,” probably the best T.V. song Al’s done. However, Al’s NKOTB parody “The White Stuff” sucks. “Taco Grande” is pretty good except I must have missed Gerardo-mania the first time around. “Plumbing Song” manages to swipe two (maybe three) Milli Vanilli tunes in one! Except he should have done an endless repeat of one of the verses, in honor of MV's ‘girl you know it’s girl you know it’s’ debacle on a live performance, which is one of the funniest moments in MTV history. But not on purpose.
On the original side, the punk-ish “I Was Only Kidding” was a gut-buster back in the day, but not now. “Airline Amy” is a throwaway, too straightforward. The grandpa-style rant of “When I Was Your Age” actually got better with time, as it sounds like Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry.” “Trigger Happy” mixes Beach Boys music with NRA sentiment (and a bit of Dirty Harry as well!). But the best one here has to be “You Don’t Love Me Anymore,” a jilted love ballad that gets more and more psycho by the minute.
“Polka Your Eyes Out” has its moments, but serves as another reminder of the pop music wasteland at the time. Off The Deep End was helped by the semi-crossover “Smells Like Nirvana,” but no parody here was as good as that. So I have to give this puppy a 7. OK, I don’t have a dog. Off The Deep End gets a 7.
(Note: Almost forgot the 10-second scream-fest “Bite Me,” which is only found on the CD. Another nod to Nirvana, and their “Endless Nameless” at the tail end of Nevermind.)
1993
Yikes! Al takes a step back here. No big hit parody, and a lot of spotty originals. I mean, rarely has Al written anything BAD. Some aren’t that funny, others are obvious, others are boring, but not often do they flat-out suck, like some songs do on here.
I suppose the closest to a ‘hit’ would be the Red Hot Chili Peppers parody “Bedrock Anthem,” where Al incorporates both “Under the Bridge” and especially “Give it Away.” It still holds up today, with enough Flintstones references to keep Bamm-Bamm happy. “Jurassic Park” more or less established a now-standard Weird Al ploy: describe the plotline of a current box office smash to the tune of a classic rock standard. The movie here is Jurassic Park, and the tune is the laughably awful “MacArthur Park.” It's pretty good, and it probably led people to seek out “MacArthur Park” and roll on the floor upon hearing ‘someone left the cake out in the rain.’ But I digress.
“Achy Breaky Song” is sort of a mixed bag. Around the album’s release, my elementary school found ways to play “Achy Breaky Heart” at every single assembly possible, so I was jolly to hear a tune bashing the life out of it. But nowadays no one plays the Billy Ray tune anymore, so now Al’s bashing is just surprisingly mean-spirited. And the Aerosmith spoof “Living in the Fridge” is too predictable to enjoy. “Bohemian Polka”? WHY? Weren’t we already sick of Queen's crappy “Bohemian Rhapsody”?? I know I was, even then.
But the real trouble starts with the originals. A whopping seven originals are on Alapalooza, and only two are great. That would include “Frank’s 2000 Inch T.V.”, a breezy slice of jangle-pop that isn’t as R.E.M.-inspired as everyone says. How could you not love “Harvey The Wonder Hamster” either” For those who don’t know, Al would sing this to a hamster at every Al-TV special on MTV, and this is the first time it was captured on tape. Unfortunately, our pet hamster died before this album, so we could never sing it to her. *sniff sniff*
Big dropoff from there. The story goes that Prince would never let Al do a parody of any of his songs. So what Al does is he steals “Let’s Go Crazy” and writes some new lyrics and called it “Traffic Jam.” Way to go, Al. And there are TWO Peter Gabriel style parodies on here. TWO!! “Talk Soup” = “Steam” and “Waffle King” = “Sledgehammer.” At least “Talk Soup” (which isn’t the theme to the hit talk show) and “Traffic Jam” have some good lines. “Waffle King” is just plain irritating.
That leaves us with two atypical piles of dog crap. “Young, Dumb and Ugly” not only gives me a headache, but just sounds ignorant. And “She Never Told Me She Was a Mime” has no melody, no jokes, no plotline, NOTHING. The worst Al original ever. Hate to end on a sour note, but Alapalooza was a definite slump for Al.
1996
Thank you Al! He took some time off to refresh his skills, and that results with an improved quality of originals over Alapalooza. Even better, he’s reintroduced the hit single. That would be Coolio spoof “Amish Paradise,” which kicks major booty. Very original too, who else raps about the Amish? Anyways, apparently Coolio wasn’t too pleased and didn’t make amends with Al. But Al’s still recording, and Coolio was last seen on Comedy Central’s Beat the Geeks. You do the math.
Second best is “Gump,” the plotline song of Bad Hair Day. Al enhances the grating “Lump” (by the Presidents of the U.S.A.) by actually giving it a plot, or at least the plot of Forrest Gump. “Cavity Search” isn’t so hot, since no one has heard the U2 original since 1995, and it wasn’t that funny. “Phony Calls” sounded better on paper, but not in practice. Al just shouldn’t try and tackle TLC, and “Waterfalls” outstayed its welcome anyway. Worst of all is “Syndicated Inc.”, a dull T.V. show name-dropping to the tune of some Soul Asylum non-hit. At least I have never heard it before.
Now, the originals grew on me after a while. I remember hating “Everything You Know is Wrong” the first few times I heard it, but what a fool I was. It’s so quirky and stream-of-conscious that it won me over. Likewise with the putdown “I’m So Sick of You,” which I ignored until my recent Elvis Costello fascination. Now I can appreciate the tune’s “Pump It Up”-style bassline and keyboards. I’ve always adored “Since You’ve Been Gone,” a not-quite-lovesick ballad done a capella, just like Rockapella! From the Carmen SanDiego show. Remember?
On the other side of the original coin, “Callin’ In Sick” starts off with the “Come As You Are” lick and just sits there. “I Remember Larry” is too overlong, and not too interesting in the first place. Finally, allow me to bring fan favorite “The Night Santa Went Crazy” down a notch. “Christmas at Ground Zero” was a much better holiday tune, this is just too gory and childish for Al. However, I do like the “White Gold” sound. Soul Asylum again.
How about this time I end on a high note? “Alternative Polka” is Al’s absolute best polka medley. It has a lot of my favorite tunes of the time (“Loser,” “Basket Case,” “Black Hole Sun”) and no weak spots. Good job, Bad Hair Day, You get a shiny 7.
1999
Even better! Best Al album in 10 years! For one thing, Al’s originals are just getting better and better as time wears on and he learns more about the trade. And the parodies are the most consistent since...I don’t know, maybe EVER! Either way, they’re just really good. Good enough for an 8.
Let me just start off with the low points, since there aren’t that many. “Truck Drivin Song” tells of cross-dressing truckers, a pretty funny idea about 25 years ago, or whenever the Monty Python “Lumberjack Song” sketch aired. “Grapefruit Diet” is a by-the-numbers food song to the tune of “Zoot Suit Riot,” part of that swing revival that lasted 6 minutes in ‘98. I actively hated “Polka Power” the first time around, and I still don’t think it’s that hot. It just captures that moment in 1997-98 when popular music just went into an abyss, and hasn’t recovered to this day.
But everything else on Running With Scissors? Good stuff! “The Saga Begins” is Weird Al’s best plotline song since “Yoda,” tackling the Star Wars disappointment Phantom Menace and Don McLean’s annoying “American Pie.” The Offspring spoof “Pretty Fly For a Rabbi” is pretty cool but might wear off you after a while. Then again, the original wore off before you heard it. That means it sucks. The dysfunctional “Jerry Springer” parodies Barenaked Ladies' “One Week” nicely, even if “One Week” wasn’t so serious itself. The absolute best parody here is the Puff Daddy parody “It’s All About the Pentiums,” with hilarious technology-geek vocals that isn’t quite dated yet (except for the Y2K bit).
As for the originals, the theme from Al’s short-lived Saturday morning cartoon is short but sweet. If you never seen it, it was pretty good, if a little tame. “My Baby’s in Love With Eddie Vedder” had already-dated lyrics, but Al brings back the accordion prominently on a non-polka medley for the first time since his debut. The ska send-up “Your Horoscope For Today” mocks horoscopes in a hilarious manner (‘TAURUS! You will never find true happiness/Whatcha gonna do, cry about it?’). “Germs” is more of a dead-on impersonation of the Nine Inch Nails’ industrial sound, so humor isn’t too necessary.
Oh, but I saved the best for last. “Albuquerque” has to be one of the most hilarious, outrageous songs ever penned by Al, period. 11 minutes of complete insanity and jokes all over the place, this is uncharted territory for Al. No samples though, it must be heard to be believed. So do it. Go out and buy Running With Scissors. And listen to “Albuquerque” and the rest. You get to see Al without the glasses and mustache! Don’t worry, it’s not Kenny G.
2003
Another long wait between albums for Al, and he’s been quite busy. In between, he got married and had a daughter. So now he’s a family man. He might want to change his style though. I don’t know what it is about Poodle Hat. Maybe I’ve outgrown Al; this album did come out right around my high school graduation. Maybe popular music is not worth spoofing. I mean, the originals are cool, but no parody stands out from the rest.
You might have heard about “Couch Potato.” Eminem allowed Al to parody the 8 Mile tune “Lose Yourself,” but didn’t allow Al to make a video. Sure, you can argue Eminem is being a hypocrite, how he was doing parodies in the videos for “Real Slim Shady” and “Without Me.” But truthfully, “Couch Potato” does not lend itself to a very good video. Just another list of hit TV shows. Still, for the third straight album, the rap parody is the best one.
Unfortunately, that’s not saying much. The Nelly spoof “Trash Day” is OK but my strongly disliking “Hot in Herre” only hurt Al’s case. “E-Bay” flops by mocking BSB’s “I Want It That Way,” which was a hit 4 YEARS AGO!!! The same year Running With Scissors came out! But I do like the very end, with Al’s carrying out the last note forever. “Ode to a Superhero” proves that the plotline song has to go. This time the movie is Spiderman and the tune is Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.” Not hot. But worst of all is “A Complicated Song,” the (get ready) worst Al parody EVER. I mean, it has NO POINT!!! Just a bunch of unfinished tunes set to Avril’s piece’o crap “Complicated.” I mean, ‘constipated’?!!! Even I woulda thought of that!!! Yeesh.
At least Al saves face in the originals. Only the retro-boogie “Party at the Leper Colony” doesn’t qualify, all those leper jokes get old quick (‘give them a hand’). Elsewhere, the bizarre “Hardware Store” showcases power tools and Al’s speedy delivery (check out that 3rd verse!) “Why Does This Always Happen To Me” ain’t no “One of Those Days,” but Al brings in emo-favorite Ben Folds and his piano skillz. “Wanna B Ur Lover” is devoted to all kinds of bad pickup lines, ranging from obvious to corny to odd to disturbing. Is it a Prince spoof? No! It’s a 2nd-hand Prince spoof! See, Al says he based the sound off Midnite Vultures-era Beck, and it shows. I’d say it’s closest to “Peaches & Cream.”
Ending with a bang, the Dylan send-up “Bob” threw me off at first. Upon first listen, it’s just a “Subterranean Homesick Blues” pastiche, but then I got the joke. Need a hint? Look at the title. That’s all I can say. What about the French-bashing “Genius in France”? Another lengthy joke-filled original, all in the style of the late Frank Zappa. I still prefer “Albuquerque,” because I don’t know enough Zappa to appreciate this one.
Forget “Angry White Boy Polka,” it started off cool with all those neo-garage songs, then turns to nu-metal crap. All I can say about Poodle Hat is thank goodness for originals. Pop music may never be relevant again, so neither will any future parodies. Stick with your family, Al.
2006
Is this a comeback and/or a ‘return to form’ for Al? Could very well be both. The comeback part appears very true; a year after Poodle Hat was released, Al lost both of his parents in a fire accident at their house. This was obviously gut-wrenching for Al, and he took time off from touring and recording to recuperate. Not only is Lynwood his first album since the tragedy, but its his most successful, chart-wise, especially since Poodle Hat sort of flopped. But we’ll get to that later.
By ‘return to form,’ I mean ‘back to funny parodies and spotty originals.’ Poodle Hat had the opposite ratio, as Al’s parodies were weak and his originals were among his best ever. But Al’s parody touch has reappeared! Yes, you can deem his first single “White and Nerdy” as yet another “Amish Paradise” or “Pentiums,” but damnit, this Chamillionaire rap parody is awesome! MySpace and Wikipedia refs! All the more impressive is he rush-recorded this tune this summer after his James Blunt parody (and planned first single) “You’re Pitiful” didn’t get approval from Blunt’s label. Brilliant.
Those other parodies aren’t as great, but miles better than the lot on Poodle Hat. The Usher and Taylor Hicks parodies “Confessions Pt. III” and “Do I Creep You Out” aren’t really funny, save for a few good lines and Al’s Hicks impersonations, but not bad or stupid. “Canadian Idiot” takes the edge off Green Day’s biting political original, replacing it with some good old Candian swipes. Wait, it IS political, listen to the last line!!! Haha! Finally, while I have never heard R. Kelly’s R&B-drama piece “Trapped in the Closet,” Al’s ten-minute “Trapped in the Drive Thru” is a blast. Much like “Albuquerque,” there are too many good lines to quote here. Al sure likes those 10+ minute songs, eh?
As stated before, the originals are back to being sketchy. I have mixed opinions on two of Al’s patented style parodies. “I’ll Sue Ya” apes Rage Against the Machine (in my ears), and has some good lines but a dumb chorus. Al’s take on Cake “Close But No Cigar” is OK, but Al’s wacky brand of humor is very different from Cake’s sarcastic, deadpan brand. Heck, Al SINGS on here! John McRea always half-sang, at best! “Weasel Stomping Day” is a throwaway, it would sound better within the context of UHF. Despite an impeccable Diane Warren-esque melody, “Don’t Download This Song” is preachy and not funny, knowing that Al really is outspokenly against file-sharing. Get off the pulpit.
On the good side, “Virus Alert” sounds like something off Dare to Be Stupid or any other ’80s Al-bum, computer lyrics aside. On “Pancreas,” Al does a faithful and awesome facsimile of Smile-era Beach Boys. I guess he was glad to hear the long-awaited Smile reissue! And “Polkarama” is the usual case: polka medleys live and die by the state of popular music. Meh. But still, Lynwood is a nice effort from Al, shows that he hasn’t lost it. And get this, the album AND “White and Nerdy” made the Top 10! As Al would say, “WOOOOOOW!!!!”