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: "Weird Al" Yankovic
Release Date: May 3, 1983
Record Label: Rock 'n Roll Records, Scotti Brothers
Preconceived Notions: The man with the accordion who plays parody songs back when he had a mustache and appeared regularly with Dr. Demento. While I am familiar with the music, my assumption is that the production values are very dated and with prominent use of accordion, the music lacks the spark of his later music.
Track List:
Track List:
- Ricky
- Gotta Boogie
- I Love Rocky Road
- Buckingham Blues
- Happy Birthday
- Stop Draggin' My Car Around
- My Bologna
- The Check's In the Mail
- Another One Rides the Bus
- I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead
- Such a Groovy Guy
- Mr. Frump In the Iron Lung
Best Song: "I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead"
A song that tears apart hippie culture and feels just as relevant to today's health-conscious society than one would expect a 30 year old cut to be. It is fierce and exciting in ways that I wasn't expecting in an already impressive array of vintage Weird Al tunes.
Worst Song: "Such a Groovy Guy"
While the enthusiasm is appreciated, the overall music has the feel of being too ironic. It wears thin pretty quickly and the generic sound doesn't help to give it authenticity in album that surprisingly has plenty of budding personalities.
Was That a Parody?: After checking Wikipedia, I found out that "Stop Dragging My Car Around" was a parody of Stevie Nicks' "Stop Dragging My Heart Around." The song is particularly unmemorable without me knowing the original source material. Also, does anyone these days remember that particular Nicks song?
Most Dated Song: "The Check's in the Mail"
A song about yuppies that has all of the right lingo and manages to pull it off with some goofy charm. However, the terminology and a lot of the context feels dated in ways only appreciative of fans of Bret Easton Ellis' "American Psycho." The joke of this corporate mockery is clear, but like many cuts on this, suffers from too much attempts subversive wit.
Strangest Song: "Mr. Frump's Iron Lung"
Quite possibly the most absurd song in an album that already alludes to death and disease quite frequently. It plays everything straight and with the sound of an iron lung going off, it is a surprisingly stark and beautiful way to end the album.
Great Notes: Voice actress Tress MacNeille contributed vocals on the opening track "Ricky" as the Lucy character. For those unaware, MacNeille went on to a prominent career in animation that included appearances in Animaniacs, Futurama, and The Simpsons.
Great Notes: Voice actress Tress MacNeille contributed vocals on the opening track "Ricky" as the Lucy character. For those unaware, MacNeille went on to a prominent career in animation that included appearances in Animaniacs, Futurama, and The Simpsons.
Final Thoughts: For a debut album that features an awful lot of accordion, I actually found it a rather effective album. A lot of Weird Al's trademark techniques are present. The musicianship in particular, while occasionally dated, has a lot of strong mixing. While the idea of novelty sounds being dropped arbitrarily in may be a dated appeal, everything else is sort of fascinatingly strange. He is a novelty artist, but I come away loving his original songs a little bit more. Maybe I am just too familiar with the vintage hits like "Another One Rides the Bus," but the songs work amazingly well beyond their satirized material. Yes, there are some duds, but then you get the bleak style like "Happy Birthday" and the dark contrast and you understand his beauty of playing tortured artist of enthusiasm. It is a little dated, but I think that he came out of the gate strong. It takes courage to end an album with something as audacious as "Mr. Frump's Iron Lung."
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Do I LOVE Weird Al Yet?: Well, I really, really like how surprised I was by his debut. It is really effective. It isn't love yet, but I am excited for the next one.
Ranking (All Albums)
1. "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983)
UP NEXT: "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (1984)
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