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: "Poodle Hat"
Release Date: May 20, 2003
Record Label: Volcano
Preconceived Notions:
Tracks: The 90's was probably Weird Al's most successful decade with majority of his work proving to be undefined hits. I began to understand his appeal and his craft was forming into something wholly satisfying. It got me excited for whatever came next. With his magnum opus "Albuquerque," he finished a decade almost with a brag of where the strangeness would go. Also, with a four year gap, who knows what brilliant material he would come up with. This was going to be exciting.
Tracks:
Tracks: The 90's was probably Weird Al's most successful decade with majority of his work proving to be undefined hits. I began to understand his appeal and his craft was forming into something wholly satisfying. It got me excited for whatever came next. With his magnum opus "Albuquerque," he finished a decade almost with a brag of where the strangeness would go. Also, with a four year gap, who knows what brilliant material he would come up with. This was going to be exciting.
Tracks:
- Couch Potato
- Hardware Store
- Trash Day
- Party at the Leper Colony
- Angry White Boy Polka
- Wanna B Ur Lovr
- A Complicated Song
- Why Does This Always Happen to Me?
- Ode to a Superhero
- Bob
- eBay
- Genius in France
Best Song: "Hardware Store"
While he has played around with the goofy rap thing for awhile now, it does feel like this is his pinnacle. Taking obsession to a new place, he discusses the opening of a new hardware store. Listing a series of items at a quick pace, it takes the lunacy and excitement to a fascinating place. The chorus in particular has great harmonies and it reflects his strengths to make great original songs. However, it did create one of the best misleads of his career, as the majority of the rest of the album never lived up to it.
Worst Song: "A Complicated Song"
It is a tough call in an album full of clunkers, but I chose this one because it captures a lot of aspects of Weird Al that I just do not care for. He talks about constipation, strange relations, and getting decapitated. These are all fine concepts, but they feel tacked together for no other reason than to find a way to turn Avril Lavigne's "Complicated" into a satirical song. It isn't all that interesting and I find a lot of it sad. He is clearly trying to capture the heights of "Albuquerque" on most of this album, but it isn't clicking.
Was That a Parody?: "I Wanna B Ur Lovr"
It is supposedly a parody of Beck's album "Midnite Vultures." I can honestly say that while I am familiar with a lot of Beck's work, I am not all that confident that I can recall any songs from that album. It may help to actually make the song funnier, because what is present is another self-deprecating song about romance mixed with deformations and yet another song where disabilities is the joke. Usually Weird Al is better than this and can spread out the subject matter more adversely, but the first portion of this album is in particular a drag.
Most Dated Song: "eBay"
Yes, there is probably a resounding cry of why I didn't go with "Couch Potato." I want to say that besides redundant cries of "his TV songs are predictable," I wanted to focus on a parody that I feel is actually one of the few strong songs here. Set to The Backstreet Boys' "I Want it That Way," the song about online bidding and obsession to junk takes on a new romanticism that is kind of endearing. It captures the charm of internet culture and predates his savvy ability to become relevant through this output. Also, it's just a very good song among duds.
Strangest Song: "Why Does This Always Happen to Me?"
Another gem on the album is this song that manages to subvert expectations of self-pity songs by focusing on a man who is so self-involved that he cannot care about anyone else's problems. With a catchy chorus, it is a brilliant take on familiar territory and while has the same format as "A Complicated Song," actually manages to have thematic elements and a structure. The jokes are obvious, but a lot of the appeal is in the delivery, which is what this album is missing in a lot of places.
Great Notes: There are two parody songs on here that feature connection to their source materials. "Why Does This Always Happen to Me?" is a Ben Folds Five parody that features lead singer Ben Folds on piano. "Genius in France" is a Frank Zappa parody that features guitar solos from his son Dweezil Zappa.
Final Thoughts: After a strong run of albums, we finally hit a snag. I will admit that it is a little hard in some ways to fully discredit his music. He has been in the game 20 years as of this album. However, his material feels rather dated and focuses on a lot of familiar subjects that don't do his comedy any justice. I can hear the jokes, but they are too silly and forced compared to "Running with Scissors" or "Off the Deep End" or "Dare to Be Stupid," which were more coy about them. Also, he seems to have a dark streak here that is a little unnerving. I don't want to say that this is him trying to top "Albuquerque" and its weird poetry, but a lot of it plays that way. Yes, there are some great songs here, but a lot of it feels like the worst stuff that I have heard from him in this experiment.
Rating: Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Do I LOVE Weird Al Yet?: Let's just say that I am glad that I didn't start here. This is probably the definition of what people think when they think of Weird Al and his novelty style.
Polka Ranking (All Albums)
1. "Polka Power!" (from "Running with Scissors" - 1999)
2. "Polka Your Eyes Out" (from "Off the Deep End" - 1992)
3. "Polkas on 45" (from "'Weird Al' Yankovic in 3-D" - 1984)
4. "Angry White Boy Polka" (from "Poodle Hat" - 2003)
5. "The Alternative Polka" (from "Bad Hair Day" - 1996)
6. "The Hot Rocks Polka" (from "UHF" - 1989)
7. "Bohemian Polka" (from "Alpalooza" - 1993)
8. "Polka Party!" (from "Polka Party! - 1986)
2. "Polka Your Eyes Out" (from "Off the Deep End" - 1992)
3. "Polkas on 45" (from "'Weird Al' Yankovic in 3-D" - 1984)
4. "Angry White Boy Polka" (from "Poodle Hat" - 2003)
5. "The Alternative Polka" (from "Bad Hair Day" - 1996)
6. "The Hot Rocks Polka" (from "UHF" - 1989)
7. "Bohemian Polka" (from "Alpalooza" - 1993)
8. "Polka Party!" (from "Polka Party! - 1986)
9. "Hooked on Polkas" (from "Dare to Be Stupid" - 1985)
Ranking (All Albums)
1. Running with Scissors (1999)
2. Dare to Be Stupid (1985)
3. Off the Deep End (1992)
4. Bad Hair Day (1996)
5. "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983)
6. Alapalooza (1993)
7. Even Worse (1988)
2. Dare to Be Stupid (1985)
3. Off the Deep End (1992)
4. Bad Hair Day (1996)
5. "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983)
6. Alapalooza (1993)
7. Even Worse (1988)
8. UHF (1989)
9. "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (1984)
10. Polka Party! (1986)
11. Poodle Hat (2003)
12. Peter and the Wolf (1988)
UP NEXT: "Straight Outta Lynwood" (2006)
9. "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (1984)
10. Polka Party! (1986)
11. Poodle Hat (2003)
12. Peter and the Wolf (1988)
UP NEXT: "Straight Outta Lynwood" (2006)
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