POODLE HAT REVIEWS!!!

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The Hawk
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Post by The Hawk »

definitely a classic album by Weird Al again. anyone hear Couch Potato on the radio? I heard it played this week, thought it was odd. I give Poodle Hat 5 Mics...hmm I mean 5 stars =)
Putter333
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Good CD

Post by Putter333 »

I liked this CD very much. But really I only really enjoyed 8 songs.



Couch Potato - I liked this song. Alot of references to television, plus I like Eminem. I think this song is great.



Hardware Store - Greatest verse near the end...hard to say. Good tune and catchy, I like it.



Trash Day - I like the first couple of verses. Decent song.



Party at the Leper Colony - Didn't do much for me. Some may disagree but I never really enjoyed it much. Maybe it'll grow on me.



Angry White Boy Polka - Good song. I really enjoyed the songs I reconized, but besides those parts, it was decent.



Wanna B Ur Lovr - Great song. Gotta like the pick up phrases.



A Complicated Song - This one had me laughing on the floor. The funniest song since Albequerque. The rhyming is brilliant.



Why does this always happen to me - One of my favourites. Classic Al. Sometimes my fav Al songs are the ones he makes up. I love the lyrics.



Ode To A Superhero - It was pretty good. Not a song that I'd listen to over and over like The Saga Begins, but still a good song.



Bob - I'm amazed he made a huge palindrome. But the song was crap. Sorry to say it, but I just didn't like the song.



Ebay - A great song. Smooth rhymes, and since I just started using Ebay, I laughed heartily. I catchy song for sure.



Genious in France - ??? Sorry everyone, but I guess I just can't appriciate this song.
Putter333
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Wow querque

Post by Putter333 »

This is so funny. I swear I never read your review on the CD Querque, but ours turned out exactly the same. I guess we like the same kind of Al music. Thats funny!
uncle_nutsy
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Poodle Hat Review

Post by uncle_nutsy »

I don't post very much and I always strive to stay positive but after reading all the various good reviews I can't stand not speaking my mind. I am a huge "Weird Al" fan and have been since I was 9, so the following is straight from my gut, no sugar coating and no BS:



Couch Potato - Enjoyed it alot, not as sharp as I would have expected. It's missing the attitude I felt on "Pentiums" and "Amish Paradise"



Hardware Store - Great music, absolutely excellent singing but it has an odd song subject, which would be perfect, if it was funny. Again not as sharp as he could be, but in all my favorite "original".



Trash Day - Enjoyed it. Again, great music, Al struts his stuff with his voice and lyrical talent. It's just missing that "attitude".



Party at the Leper Colony - Didn't like it. One bad joke about body parts falling off over and over and over. Lyrical sections to slow compared to the rest of the music. The bumper music in between verses was very well done.



Angry White Boy Polka - He could have had so much fun with these songs, whether you'd heard them or not. I expected him to tear into the "Slim Shady" verse at the end, instead he gave a nice barbershop harmony. He sang more "normal" than "comedic". I hate Hanson but just the way he sung that dumb chorus was great. This polka lacked spark.



Wanna B Ur Lovr - Liked it only because he's never really done a song like this. Closest one I can think of he's done is "If I could make love to a bottle", and that was never released on an album. Props to Al for trying something different. (Gotta try "Butt Chewing" sometime)



A Complicated Song - Spot on funny, very sharp. I don't see why some people don't like this song. Maybe because Al had a hard time writting it, maybe people think it's not really inspired or something like that. It flows even when each chorus and verse have almost nothing to do with each other. You try to write a ONE song about constipation, incest and decapatation.



Why Does This Always Happen to Me - Anologus to "The night santa went crazy" execpt this time the lack of funny just made it creepy. After three verses I felt uncomfortable and almost believed Al didn't mind stabbing people in the face. It lacked things to remind us that Al really isn't a psycopath. Excellent music.



Ode to a Superhero - Excellent. Especially for older "Weird Al" fans who enjoy Billy Joel. Hopefully they've seen "Spider Man". Reminded me alot of "The Saga Begins". Excellent musical paraody also.



Bob - Cute. No plot, story or reason but it had to be hard to find all those palendromes. Technically well done, just not all that funny.



E-Bay - Man I hate the "Back Street Boys", but I really liked this parody. The ending was great, I wish he did more stuff like that in his songs. Very funny.



Genius in France - You must like Frank Zappa to like this song. I don't so: This is the most redundant, pointless, unfunny and insulting song Al has ever made. And the French irritate me. I must be missing something, maybe this song is above me in some way. I'm lost on why he couldn't of wrote funnier lyrics. I felt like I was listening to someone's inside joke. Although I'm sure all the Zappa fans have some good reason for liking it.



Home Videos - Hillarious! Classic Al funny. Nuf said.



Bonus Mixes - They're not mixes they're un-mixes. Except for "Why Does this Always Happen to Me? (Al & Ben Mix)". I was kind of hoping for alternate lyrics, like "A Complicated Song (Alternate Version)"



PLEASE don't fire back too hard at me, this is just one man's opinion. I conside myself to be a hard core "Weird Al" fan and I own more "Weird Al" music than any other band in my collection. I honestly thought this album felt completely different from all the others, and not in a good way. I really don't know why this is but something has changed in the way Al makes music and I can't put my finger on what it is. The magic is missing...



I still bought the CD...

I'm still going to one of his most expensive concerts...

And I still love Al and his band, but...

This is my least favorite ALbum.



:lookround:
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Post by Orthography Enthusiast »

Okay, here's my 27 cents' worth: This album, musically, is just outstanding. The replication of the parody-target melodies is dead-on, as always, but the originals' music is excellent. It will stay listenable for a long time. The exception is Wanna B Ur Lovr, but I suspect that one's supposed to be DJ/scratching/lounge lizard annoying. The cheesiness of the music is deliberate, I think.



COUCH POTATO-- I went & listened to "Lose Yourself" a couple of times beforehand (I decided that I could understand what makes Eminem so magnetic, and I could hear the craftsmanship of his lyrics-- I just can't stand the stuff he fills his mind & heart with and then disgorges onto CD), and Al nailed it. Let me say that I have no problem with Al doing TV songs regularly. TV isn't the subject, really, it's the window through which he's watching the manifestations of our culture sashay by. Yeah, it's the same window, but every year the view outside changes. And, frankly, the view into the contents of Al's heart and mind that's lurking in his commentary on the boob tube suggests that he's in far better shape than M.



HARDWARE STORE-- This one's an early favorite. Very listenable music, an intricate & fun arrangement. And maybe it's because I'm still all thrilled at having learned how to use a miter box, but I find the subject funny. Sounds like Al's been spending WAY too much time at Home Depot. I know I have. :D

TRASH DAY-- What I enjoy most about Al's rap parodies is his knack for stringing together series of the same rhyme sound. But I also laughed out loud there on the Sunset Blvd. sidewalk at the roaches wearin' slippers, and then again in the car at "I got a mop and it's got your name on it-- (What?) I'm just kiddin', doggone it!"

PARTY AT THE LEPER COLONY-- I wince every time at the "dip" line, but it's a fun bouncy tune with legs, so to speak. And the "dance all night to a rotten band" always makes me chuckle.

ANGRY WHITE BOY POLKA-- :biggrin: Is it just me, or did a couple of the verses sort of hint at klezmer music? And there was something about the Slim Shady verse that made me think of "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey." A fitting comeuppance.

WANNA B UR LOVR-- Al at his most subtle, of course. It's hard to imagine why he was single until he was over forty, with savoir faire and elan like that available to him. Not to mention the innuendos. I know some folks aren't liking it, but you gotta love the fact that this song carries on what I can only refer to as "Weird Al's running nose gag." :bomb: And the line about the Yugoslavian hands was really funny-- the sort of pickup line a hopelessly nerdy guy named Yankovic might have used, if the hopelessly nerdy Yankovic were going to try using pickup lines. And so we've been given another chapter in Weird Al's Ongoing Field Guide To Love As It Ain't.

A COMPLICATED SONG-- I actually listened to Avril quite a lot just before PH was released, and I liked it better than I expected to (though I like Sk8er Boi better-- or, as I prefer to think of it, Avril's homage to "That Boy Could Dance). I'm just thankful that Al didn't do more than one verse on bowel trouble. One verse was more than enough for a subject that, IMHO, he already covered adequately in "Traffic Jam." At least he arranged his patchwork of verses in order from weakest to best. Of course, how a fan perceives a given song depends a lot on that fan's life circumstances. "Constipated" might be hilarious if you're twelve. For me, I just find myself hoping that the subject doesn't begin turning up in my birthday-card verses any time soon. :mad:

WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?-- Sometimes I think Al's got a copy of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for mental disorders, and he's steadily working his way through it. The music's not at all similar, but thematically it has a lot in common with "Good Old Days." Tuneful, classy music undergirding the tale of a moral monster. I love it. :P

ODE TO A SUPERHERO-- This title and "A Complicated Song" make me think that when Al's in a hurry, what suffers are the song titles. Both of these are pretty underwhelming. But I like the song. I like it that when Al picks a classic song, he has a chance to showcase his singing. And I really enjoy the line about kissing upside down in the rain.

BOB-- It's amazing that he managed to make this singable, make it rhyme and grouped together the palindromes so that they almost seem to make some sense. And it does turn out sounding like Dylan at his most hermetic cryptic-poet moments. But what does it say about that vintage of Dylan that nonsense sounds so much like him? :nervous:

EBAY-- I AM going to wind up with this stuck in my head. But I'm OK with that. Al has redeemed a catchy tune from insipidity. Yeah, it's a list song, but those are funny things he's listing. And it's kind of a culture-window song like "Couch Potato."

GENIUS IN FRANCE-- I don't know Frank Zappa's music at all, so I'm going to miss the various homages unless I buckle down and do some homework, but even without knowing what Al's tipping his poodle hat to, it's really interesting to listen to. I doubt that Al picked the subject as a commentary on current politics-- it's more likely a nod to Zappa's "In France." (I found that one on a Google search, and boy am I glad Al didn't just cover that particular Zappa song. The mothers of oodles of his fans would never have recovered from the shock) And the mention of the Star Trek convention was another snort-aloud-on-Sunset moment for me. :biggrin:



What fun. Now I gotta go find Quicktime 6 so I can access the extra features.
pickledwiener
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Post by pickledwiener »

Alright, I'm new here but I've been an Al fan since I was 12 years old, and I'm now 19 going on 27. I though I'd give my thoughts on Al's new album. It totally rocks.! I love it. I still don't think it passes up RWS, but it comes close. I'd give it a 9.6, but on to the reviews.



Couch Potato - This song is absolutley great. I don't really find it laugh-out-loud funny, but it's just cool that he was able to put all of those tv references in the song. I love the tivo line.



Hardware Store - One of Al's best originals ever! Words can't describe just how awesome this song is. It's not very funny, but his harmonies are dead on, it's stinkin' fast, and then there that last verse. Hey, does anybody know if Al actually did that whole verse in one breath, or did he mix it together in the studio? I personally think he did it in one breath, because I mean, come on, this is "Weird Al" we're talking about.



Trash Day - This one is pretty good. The parody is dead on, but towards the end of the song it seems to get a little repetitive. I like the rest of the song though.



Party at the Leper Colony - I didn't like this song. I was expecting an upbeat party type song kinda like Trigger Happy, but with a bunch of lepers partying till there limbs fell off. Or something like that.



Angry White Boy Polka - I think this one of his better polkas, especially all of the System of the down songs that was great. But also there were a lot of songs in the middle that I didn't know.



Wanna B Ur Lovr - This song is one of the worst songs Al has ever done. It is so boring. Someone mentioned earlier that it's like a chore sitting through it, that's exactly true - except for the diarrhea part. :P



A Complicated Song - This is probably my favorite song on the album, and I really hated Avril's song. Everytime I listen to it I laugh histarically. I don't know what everyone else is talking about, but the first verse is totally the best. I love when Al talks about poop. It gets me everytime.



Why Does This Always Happen to Me - Another of my favorite songs on the album. At first I was like, "Is Al actually going to do a serious song", then the punch line came in and it was all over. I was on the floor laughing my head off (get it).



Ode to a Superhero - I don't really like Billy Joel. He's a little bit before my time. But this song is really fun to sing along with. When it was over I was like, "Ah, come on! That's it."



Bob - This song was very strange. I know it was in palindrome and that it must have been very difficult to make, but it just wasn't funny and it didn't even have a catchy tune. It may have been better if Al was clearer, but then it wouldn't be a Bob Dylan tribute then, would it.



E-Bay - I actually really like the Backstreet Boys. They are very talented singers. And this song was a little worse then I expected. Al sounded great, but if he's going to parody the Backstreet Boys he's got to make it outrageously funny. It just doesn't have very funny lyrics.



Genius in France - I totally agree with uncle_nutsy. This song is sooooo boring. I didn't even like the tune. I didn't laugh once. Come on, everybody has heard most of the "dumb" jokes before, and this is like 8 or 9 minutes of "dumb" jokes. I've never listened to FZ before, but if he's anything like that I'm gonna pass.



Well there you go. I can't wait to go to his concert.
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Post by JKaudio »

Actually there's some debate that it's more of a Beck style parody, but I hear hints of Prince in there also..

-Shelley
who never listens to either, actually


I listen to both artists that Al is ribbing in this song. I LOVE the funky groove feel and the Beck-esque sound effects (the video game sound is my favorite). This song is another example of how versatile this album is. So many styles captured in one album. So much talent involved in this project. I stand in awe!

-Jeremy
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Post by Bruce the Duck »

Sorry if I repeat things others have said. I haven't read all the reviews yet.



Here goes:



1) Couch Potato - Awesome parody. This is what Syndicated Inc. wanted to be. I've heard Lose Yourself so many times, that it took several listens to really get used to Al's version. Brilliant stuff!



2) Hardware Store - Love the power tools in the background. I wonder if Al wrote this so that his fans wouldn't be able to sing along in concert! The best part is the third verse. It's fun listening for all the things that you wouldn't actually find in a Hardware Store. "Automatic Circumciser!" I love it!



3) Trash Day - Not the strongest parody on the album, but still a lot of fun. Favorite Line "Bring out the fire hose!"



4) Party at the Leper Colony - This song goes in the pile with Callin' In Sick and Germs. Songs that are musically brilliant, but not so special lyrically! Favorite Line - "Wait a minute it looks like Stu"



5) Angry White Boy Polka - I wish I knew more of these songs than I do, but the polka was as good as any other. My favorite part is the Doo-Wop version of "Last Nite" in the middle.



6) Wanna B Ur Lovr - The best original on the album! Brilliant! I never thought Al would ever attempt full out, obvious sexual inuendo, but he did it beautifully!



7) A Complicated Song - My favorite parody on the album! The last verse had be almost soiling myself! Favorite line: "What a bummer!"



8) Why Does This Always Happen To Me? - I thought this was going to be another One of those Days, but it turned out to be a whole lot better. Awesome song. This is almost a sequel to Good Old Days!



9) Ode to a Superhero - My new favorite Al movie inspired song! So perfect! I love the verse about Green Goblin. And Al replaced Billy Joel's piano solo with an accordian solo! Fabulous!



10) Bob - Perfectly ridiculous. Sounds just like Dylan. Complete nonsense, like Dylan. Palindromes are really dumb, but Al made them hilarious.



11) eBay - Much better than I thought! I love it! I want that Alf alarm clock!



12) Genius in France - Okay. I'm not a Frank Zappa fan. So it took me several listens to warm up to this song. At first it seemed to go on for WAY too long and really just say the same thing over and over and over again. I have to admit, I thought it was pretty dumb the first time I heard this, but then again I thought the same thing about Albuquerque. I have since listened to GIF about 6 or 7 times, and I love it! I'm slightly inclined to go buy some Zappa albums so that I can be in on more of the references.



Overall it was the best album I've ever heard from Al. Usually, I don't fully appreciate an album until a couple listens. But this time, I loved almost all of it immediately. I can't believe that Al could outdo OTDE, BHD, and RWS, but he DID! This album beats the crap out of everything Al has ever done.



Okay. Let's officially start the countdown. Just 5 more years until Album number 12!



Jeremy
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Post by Orthography Enthusiast »

Okay. Let's officially start the countdown. Just 5 more years until Album number 12!


Has anybody ever told you that you have a really morbid imagination? :P
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Post by Seva »

Hey OE, I was waiting for your commentary, and I dare say that your posts make me feel like I'm passing my English language exams. :) Still, in a few words - what place in Al's career this album takes and how does it relate with other ALbums?



SEVA.
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