OK, after having sat down and listened a few times without distraction, I'm ready to give my rankings. I started with the Internet Leaks, slotted them whereabouts I knew they would go, and adjusted my rankings with the newer songs accordingly.
And these rankings will probably
still change at some point
1. Skipper Dan
2. CNR
When IL came out, it became clear to me these two songs would be very hard to top for me. I liked a lot of the newer songs, mind you, but wasn't particularly moved off this prediction.
3. If That Isn't Love
Wow. Much like Virus Alert, had ZERO expectations for this one going in (And when I heard Hanson style parody, they became less than zero). So catchy and fun and wonderfully written.
4. TMZ
Really knocked it out of the park on this one. Unquestionably my favorite of the direct parodies.
5. Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me
Great, but really ended up being a victim of it's own hype. The Meatloaf/Steinman angle adds a lot to the what could have been just a slightly above average song.
6. Perform This Way
This song has really grown on me, and I expect the video to cement it's place in my playlist. But at the same time, it's probably not Al's best effort in the lead single department (I blame Gaga
)
7. Party In The CIA
Catchy songs are bound to have catchy parodies, and this is no different. It was bound to be fun regardless of the lyrical content, but it was a funny song to boot. Nothing special, but nothing to complain about.
8. Polkarama
Not feeling this polka as much as others, but as it is a "Weird Al" Yankovic polka, it's pretty durned good. It certainly is better as a studio version, though.
9. Another Tattoo
A bit lukewarm on this one, but it's pretty funny. I guess I just like other B.o.B. songs better, so this one's hard to get into from the "song parodied" angle. Probably could grow on me the more I hear it.
10. Whatever You Like
It was a good idea in theory, anyway. Actually, I do like this song quite a bit, but it does lose points for sounding rushed and of course, now being pretty stale.
11. Ringtone
Musically, I think this song is stellar. I originally had it higher than WYL, but yeah, the truth is, this song just isn't that great as far as the lyrics go.
12. CraigsList
I get a lot of crap for being bored with this song, as I'm bored with the Doors. I'll put it this way: I hate Pink Floyd too, but if Al did a Pink Floyd style parody, I'd be more on board with that since there's more places to go there. I just find CraigsList both musically and lyrically uninteresting (Compared to the others...it's still got 4 stars in my iTunes)
Still way too early to tell where this album ranks. I still say SOL is my favorite, and this isn't SOL in my opinion. But it's really good, and the Internet Leaks do fit in quite well instead of sticking out like a sore thumb (With the possible exception of WYL).