Do I LOVE Weird Al Yet?: The Retrospective

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?

Preconceived Notions: I have always respected Weird Al, but to say that I loved him would be a stretch. Sure, his satire was occasionally considered something tangible. In fact, it is even weirder than being the most popular guy named Weird for him to still be relevant after starting out with Dr. Demento and parodying Michael Jackson in oh so many ways. I got the inspiration for this series after hearing "Mandatory Fun" and feeling greatly disconnected from the appeal of it. I tried. Then, I decided to explore to understand him better and why all of my friends respect him a whole lot more than I do. 

This Retrospective will highlight all of the highs and lows of the project, specifically of the music that stood out to me. There will be a list of 31 (in honor of his years on his record label) of my favorites and 15 (in honor of his number of albums). It will be listed in Al-phabetical order. There will also be the official ranking of every album and polka to follow the lists. Please feel free to leave your comments on things I got right and wrong with this series as well as if you would like to see me do another coverage of music in this format.

The Greatest Songs

1. "Albuquerque" ("Running with Scissors" - 1999)
2. "Amish Paradise" ("Bad Hair Day" - 1996)
3. "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" ("UHF" - 1989)
4. "Bedrock Anthem" ("Alapalooza" - 1993)
5. "Bob" ("Poodle Hat" - 2003)
6. "Christmas at Ground Zero" ("Polka Party!" - 1986)
7. "Dare to Be Stupid" ("Dare to Be Stupid" - 1985)
8. "Don't Download This Song" ("Straight Outta Lynwood" - 2006)
9. "eBay" ("Poodle Hat" - 2003)
10. "Everything You Know Is Wrong" ("Bad Hair Day" - 1996)
11. "Hardware Store" ("Poodle Hat" - 2003)
12. "I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead" ("'Weird Al' Yankovic" - 1983)
13. "I Lost on Jeopardy" ("'Weird Al' Yankovic in 3-D" - 1984)
14. "I Think I'm a Clone Now" ("Even Worse" - 1986)
15. "I Want a New Duck" ("Dare to Be Stupid"  1985)
16. "Jackson Park Express" ("Mandatory Fun" - 2014)
17. "Jurassic Park" ("Alapalooza" - 1993)
18. "Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung" ("'Weird Al' Yankovic" - 1983)
19. "The Night Santa Went Crazy" ("Bad Hair Day" - 1996)
20. "One More Minute" ("Dare to Be Stupid" - 1985)
21. "Ricky" ("'Weird Al' Yankovic" - 1983)
22. "Skipper Dan" ("Alpocalypse" - 2011)
23. "Theme from Rocky XIII (The Rye or the Kaiser)" ("'Weird Al' Yankovic in 3-D" - 1984)
24. "The Saga Begins" ("Running with Scissors" - 1999)
25. "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long" ("Even Worse" - 1988)
26. "Trapped in the Drive-Thru" ("Straight Outta Lynwood" - 2006)
27. "Trigger Happy" ("Off the Deep End" - 1992)
28. "Truck Drivin' Song" ("Running with Scissors" - 1999)
29. "White & Nerdy" ("Straight Outta Lynwood" - 2006)
30. "Word Crimes" ("Mandatory Fun" - 2014)
31. "Yoda" ("Dare to Be Stupid" - 1985)

The Worst Songs

1. "Achy Breaky Song" ("Alapalooza" - 1993)
2. "A Complicated Song" ("Poodle Hat" - 2003)
3. "The Brady Bunch" ("'Weird Al Yankovic in 3-D" - 1984)
4. "Fat" ("Even Worse" - 1986)
5. "Genius in France" ("Poodle Hat" - 2003)
6. "Gotta Boogie" ("'Weird Al' Yankovic" - 1983)
7. "Inactive" ("Mandatory Fun" - 2014)
8. "Isle Thing" ("UHF" - 1989)
9. "Livin' in the Fridge" ("Alapalooza" - 1993)
10. "Mission Statement" ("Mandatory Fun" - 2014)
11. "Toothless People" ("Polka Party!" - 1985)
12. "Trash Day" ("Poodle Hat" - 2003)
13. "Spam" ("UHF" - 1989)
14. "Velvet Elvis" ("Even Worse" - 1986)
15. "Wanna B Ur Lovr" ("Poodle Hat" - 2003)

Final Thoughts: I am glad that I did this series and I have discovered a lot of great music from one of the most eclectic figures in pop culture. While I do feel like his work post-"Running with Scissors" has been very spotty, I think that he knows his craft and I admire his ability to change with the times. Yes, "Mandatory Fun" reflects a sort of strange desperation to everything, but what is present here is something surreal and interesting. He not only skewered pop culture, he became part of it in an important way. Very few satirists can say that. Even then, I don't necessarily know if I love him based on "Mandatory Fun" or his recent work. It is okay, but as my lists will show, he peaked in the 90's for sure. He's still interesting and worth investing in, but not in the immediate way that he used to be.

Do I LOVE Weird Al Yet?: Yes

Polka Ranking (All Albums)

1. "Polka Power!" (from "Running with Scissors" - 1999)
2. "Polkarama!" (from "Straight Outta Lynwood" - 2006)
3. "Now That's What I Call Polka!" (from "Mandatory Fun" - 2014)
4. "Polka Your Eyes Out" (from "Off the Deep End" - 1992)
5. "Polka Face" (from "Alpocalypse" - 2011)
6. "Polkas on 45" (from "'Weird Al' Yankovic in 3-D" - 1984)
7. "Angry White Boy Polka" (from "Poodle Hat" - 2003)
8. "The Alternative Polka" (from "Bad Hair Day" - 1996)
9. "The Hot Rocks Polka" (from "UHF" - 1989)
10. "Bohemian Polka" (from "Alpalooza" - 1993)
11. "Polka Party!" (from "Polka Party! - 1986)

12. "Hooked on Polkas" (from "Dare to Be Stupid" - 1985)

Ranking (All Albums)

1. Running with Scissors (1999)
2. Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)
3. Dare to Be Stupid (1985)
4. Off the Deep End (1992)
5. Bad Hair Day (1996)
6. "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983)
7. Alapalooza (1993)
8. Even Worse (1988)

9. Alpocalypse (2011)
10. Mandatory Fun (2014)
11. UHF (1989)
12. "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (1984)
13. Polka Party! (1986)
14. Poodle Hat (2003)
15. Peter and the Wolf (1988)


UP NEXT: I say goodbye and tell you to leave some feedback. Since I did that, I will take this time to say that the show is over.