Your BOTTOM 5 Albums!

[Good Enough For Now]

I'm not sure I can come up with 5, nor be as articulate as The Mollusk, but I gave it a shot in my mind. One title that came up that I haven't seen mentioned is "Running With Scissors", which would probably be on my list. The only parodies that excite me are "Pentiums" and "Jerry Springer". It has some good originals and the polka is great, but I would have to put it below all of the albums that came after it.

"Bad Hair Day" is a tough one for me...it was the first album that I didn't buy when it came out, thinking I was "too cool" at that age, and being slightly annoyed that his lead single was a rap song because I was still flying the grunge flag a few years too late. However, earlier this year I gave it another chance and it is REALLY solid. The production is kinda soggy and that one parody is dreadful but the originals are all fantastic (well...except for "Calling in Sick", which I just don't think is a successful Nirvana style parody if that was the intent beyond the intro - nor a very good song - my grunge flag stopped flying a while back).

"Alapalooza", yikes...I knew it was weak when I was a kid but listening to it now...it's definitely still weak, but I'm finding that I actually like some of the originals more than I remember. "Talk Soup" and "Traffic Jam" are more appealing now. As somebody else mentioned, having jokes rhyming "trouble" with "stubble" in tracks 2 and 3 is probably a sign that quality control is not working at its peak level. (btw, I was such a cool, nerdy kid that I already had the SLN cassingle with "Waffle King", and was actually annoyed it was on "Alapalooza!"). Also...since we haven't gotten there yet in the timeline thread...if "Frank's 2000" TV" is supposed to be an R.E.M. style parody, it fails just as bad as "Calling in Sick", except that "Frank's" is still a really good song. But an R.E.M. style parody it is not - the Matthew Sweet song somebody posted is way, way closer to the vibe...I'm not entirely sure how to explain it, but R.E.M. never had the "wimpy" sound that "Frank's" does. I assume it's supposed to sound like "Out of Time" era R.E.M., and I hear tiny elements (the mandolin breakdown from "Losing My Religion" under the "hey, now!" part) but overall, it barely hits the target.

I'm freestyling (aka babbling) here, so I'm not sure what's next. It SHOCKS me to see people suggest "Dare to be Stupid", but I think that may be my nostalgic childhood subjectivity. Hell, I even love "Polka Party!". I still laugh at "Here's Johnny" and yes, even "Toothless People". If "When Spuds Fry" was seriously the intended lead parody, I'm kinda glad Prince said no.

The first album is an easy target but it still stands the test of time. It's not like he didn't know how to write jokes yet. I can even listen to "Mr Frump" now without being creeped out (that song weirded me out so much as a kid). "UHF" is great...yeah...I probably shouldn't have tried to contribute to this thread.

I'll end with "Even Worse", because I understand why people might think less of it, but I actually enjoy it more now than when I was a kid. I didn't used to appreciate the originals on this album as much as a I do now (honestly, the sinister vibe of "Good Old Days" also creeped me out as a kid!). I think all of the parodies are hilarious (yes, I laugh hard at "Six Words Long" and "I Think I'm a Clone Now"!) except maybe "Lasagna". But we all know what really makes this album suffer: the absence of "Polka (In the Name of Love)".

[Bruce the Duck]

My bottom 5 albums from best to worst.

#10 - "Dare to be Stupid" - Doesn't hold up over time. A few weak songs on here - Cable TV, Slime Creatures, I Want a New Duck. An average polka medley. There are some gems on the album as well, but not enough to escape the bottom five.

#11 - "UHF" - Honestly, this used to be in my top five not too long ago. But it's really deteriorated over time for me, compared to what's come since. "Twine Ball" is still my favorite of the "long songs." "Isle Thing" and "She Drives Like Crazy" are really solid parodies. "UHF" has a great tune, despite not being very remarkable lyrically. And the polka is one of the best. The rest of the album is mostly filler and below average songs. There are only four parodies and only four real originals (Fun Zone and movie clips don't count). The movie clips were a complete waste of space on the album. And it has one of the lamest lead parodies in his catalogue.

#12 - "Alapalooza" - The most recent album in the bottom 5 for me. The parodies here were all strong. Unfortunately, there were only four of them. And most of the originals on the album were average. And what's with two style parodies of the same artist on the same album?? Really? "Bohemian Polka" is awesome though.

#13 - "Weird Al" Yankovic - Yeah, it was the first album and it was before Al really polished his style, but because of that, most of the album doesn't really hold up. Even Al admits that some of these parodies aren't that clever. On the other hand, there were some really good originals on here - SaGG, HB, TCitM.

#14 - "Polka Party" - Without a doubt the worst album. It has only two really strong originals (DED & C@GZ) and only one strong parody (LwaH). The others are mostly average-poor in quality. And it has the absolute worst choice for a parody subject of all time.

[Good Enough For Now]

I must know whether you're referring to hernias, potatoes, Ed McMahon, or people with no teeth. Because those all sound like terrible parody subjects.

Oh, unless you just meant the original song itself was terrible?

[Bruce the Duck]

I must know whether you're referring to hernias, potatoes, Ed McMahon, or people with no teeth. Because those all sound like terrible parody subjects.

Oh, unless you just meant the original song itself was terrible?

I'm sorry. That was unclear - I should have said parody "targets." And by that I mean, of course "Ruthless People."