It's that time of our lives again. The parody composer Weird Al Yankovic has released his latest album "Mandatory Fun." Upon listening to it, I was left with one feeling: Why are people obsessed with this guy? He did a lot of good songs, but there's a lot of untapped material that I am unaware of. For the next two weeks, I will be listening and reviewing each day Weird Al's discography from "'Weird Al' Yankovic" to "Mandatory Fun" with thoughts on the highs and lows and answer the eternal question: Do I LOVE Weird Al Yet?
Album: "Peter and the Wolf"
Release Date: October 4, 1988
Record Label: Rock 'n Roll Records, Scotti Brothers
Track Listing:
Preconceived Notions: What is this? Is it a concept album? I will admit up front that I have no idea what "Peter and the Wolf" is. However, after making a bunch of parody records, I'd imagine that the 26 minute title track is going to be some sort of epic skewering of narration. I don't know of what, but considering the way things are going, it probably won't end up all that well.
Track Listing:
- (Peter and the Wolf) Introduction
- Peter and the Wolf
- Introduction (Carnival of Animals - Part 2)
- Aardvark
- Hummingbirds
- Snails
- Alligator
- Amoeba
- Pigeons
- Shark
- Cockroaches
- Iguana
- Vulture
- Unicorn
- Poodle
- Finale
*NOTE: Since this album is essentially not a traditional Weird Al album, I will omit the other sections of this post, as they would grow redundant and don't have that much value.
Final Thoughts: I can appreciate what this album is doing. I admire Weird Al for wanting to do a children's album and for the most part, its production sounds solid. However, it is a genre that I am not all that interested in. Sure, "Peter and the Wolf" is a solid composition with all of the trademark Weird Al tendencies, but the rest definitely plays as filler. The incorporation of other pop culture elements are fine, but I can't help but feel like everything around the long song is inessential. Sure, Weird Al gets to have some clever rhymes, but majority of the instrumentation beyond that is by Wendy Carlos. It isn't bad, but it gets a little redundant for an album and doesn't really compliment the lyrics. I can appreciate it, but not as a Weird Al release.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Do I LOVE Weird Al Yet?: I appreciate his desire to branch out, but this album didn't do much in the way to compel me. It's silly, but sporadic in ways that aren't quite as memorable as his other works.
Polka Ranking (All Albums)
1. "Polkas on 45" (from "'Weird Al' Yankovic in 3-D" - 1984)
2. "Polka Party!" (from "Polka Party! - 1986)
2. "Polka Party!" (from "Polka Party! - 1986)
3. "Hooked on Polkas" (from "Dare to Be Stupid" - 1985)
Ranking (All Albums)
1. Dare to Be Stupid (1985)
2. "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983)
3. Even Worse (1988)
2. "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983)
3. Even Worse (1988)
4. "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (1984)
5. Polka Party! (1986)
6. Peter and the Wolf (1988)
UP NEXT: UHF (1989)
5. Polka Party! (1986)
6. Peter and the Wolf (1988)
UP NEXT: UHF (1989)
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