Do I LOVE Weird Al Yet?: "Running with Scissors" (1999)

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: "Running with Scissors"

Release Date: June 29,1999

Record Label: Volcano

Preconceived Notions: We have officially crossed the barrier and I am really into Weird Al's music now. "Bad Hair Day" was a milestone of brilliant satire. I must admit that I enjoy when he releases albums years apart, as it allows the actual content to be stronger and far more interesting. With this being his biggest gap between albums to date, there is only hope that this will be another great record.

Tracks:

1. The Saga Begins
2. My Baby's in Love with Eddie Vedder
3. Pretty Fly for a Rabbi
4. The Weird Al Show Theme
5. Jerry Springer
6. Germs
7. Polka Power!
8. Your Horoscope for Today
9. It's All About the Pentiums
10. Truck Drivin' Song
11. Grapefruit Diet
12. Albuquerque

Best Song: "Albuquerque"

This is the reason that he is called Weird. This is his magnum opus. This 11 minute song all about how much he hates sauerkraut is a surreal journey into the darkest depths of his imagination. He has gone dark and even silly, but never darker or sillier than his comedic take of plane crashes and having the strangest trip imaginable. This is a song that encapsulates his Weird tendencies to their largest extent. Imagine if Weird Al wrote a song about the plot to a David Lynch TV show. This would be even stranger than that.

Worst Song: "Germs"

Up front, I am a fan of Nine Inch Nails and more specifically the "Pretty Hate Machine" album that this song is clearly skewering. I am disappointed in Wikipedia when I discovered that it wasn't a direct parody of "Terrible Lie," which is almost note-for-note. Even then, the song is pretty good, though is a little creepy. I also don't know that the subject really is all that endearing for an entire song's length, considering how dark it goes.

Was That a Parody?: "It's All About the Pentiums"

While I grew up in the 90's, some songs have escaped my grasp. In particular, this Puff Daddy song "It's All About the Benjamins" is one that I haven't heard before. This may be beneficial to my enjoyment of the song, which despite not being entirely sure how Pentiums operate, it does make for a great song that mixes hardcore culture with nerdy references. Highly enjoyable and I doubt that the original will compare at all.

Most Dated Song: "The Saga Begins"

Again, I mostly mention this because it is the entire plot to Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace sprawled out over the Don McLean classic. The song itself is very enjoyable, but much like "Yoda" or "Gump," is about a very specific subject that doesn't hold up under scrutiny. The song does save audiences the time to go out and see the song's film of choice. Even then, does the humor work for those who don't care about Star Wars? I don't really think that it does.

Strangest Song: "Jerry Springer"

For those that grew up in the 90's, there was one feudal talk show that a lot of people were familiar with: The Jerry Springer Show. The dysfunctional exploitation gets its due set to Barenaked Ladies' "One Week" with an excessive amount of references to hermaphrodites. The song is only strange if you have never heard of Springer. Even then, it is probably Weird Al's dirtiest song to date not only for the countless sexual references, but allusions to violence and how it influences the viewer. In terms of songs about watching TV, it is one of the better tracks.

Great Notes: It's the return of Tress MacNeille on "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi."

Final Thoughts: Maybe it is the innocuous nature that listening to all of these albums in order, but I love this album. While I do feel like it is an encapsulation of everything that he was striving towards in the 90's, it also embodies his personality perfectly. He skewers more genres and proves himself as a joke rapper. He is 16 years in and delivers his masterpiece in "Albuquerque" among some of the best crafted songs of his career. Yes, there are the typical tropes of food and TV songs, but he takes them in interesting and different directions. While "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" may just be an alteration of "Amish Paradise," it is very good. Catchy and full of personality, this is so far my favorite of his albums.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Do I LOVE Weird Al Yet?: While I plan to finish out this list with the remaining albums, I simply must put it out there that I indeed have fallen for his charm.

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. "The Alternative Polka" (from "Bad Hair Day" - 1996)
5. "The Hot Rocks Polka" (from "UHF" - 1989)
6. "Bohemian Polka" (from "Alpalooza" - 1993)
7. "Polka Party!" (from "Polka Party! - 1986)

8. "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)

8. UHF (1989)
9. "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (1984)
10. Polka Party! (1986)
11. Peter and the Wolf (1988)


UP NEXT: "Poodle Hat" (2003)