Straight Outta Lynwood Full Album Reviews

[nedseagoon]

It's Brian Wilson. Man, you really don't know his stuff do you.

Argh! :^)

[Insane Ian]

Okay, so i'm throwing my hat into the ring here...i actually received a full retail copy of the album (and the single and a DVD of the video) to review for my column over at www.quickstopentertainment.com where this review will appear this weekend (once they fix the crash that happened yesterday). For the record, it's not my favorite album, but it's quite good. I enjoy the originals far more than the parodies, but that's only because i don't know the songs being parodied that well. Still, didn't stop me from enjoying them. Also, in the liner notes, Al actually thanks the artists who INSPIRED THE STYLE PARODIES. So, yes "I'll Sue Ya" is a RATM style parody. As for "Virus Alert" (a song I love) it's apes the style of a band called Sparks from the 70s. Al thanks "Ron and Russel Mael" in the liner notes...a quick google search will bring up Sparks, and some hunting will lead you to what Ron looks like. Confirming the band as the style is the animated video on the disc...the keyboard player in the video has the same bizarre moustache as Ron Mael.

Anyway, the videos are awesome (my favorite being "Close but No Cigar" and 'Weasel Stomping Day") and the album as a total is musically just as strong as POODLE HAT, but not as well known, pop-culturally for me. This is my least favorite polka, if only because i don't know the songs in it that well (but i must agree with Elvis that WSD reminded me of the New Main Street Singers from A MIGHTY WIND).

So, here's my review as it appears in my column, Game On! at http://www.quickstopentertainment.com :

<h2>ALBUM REVIEW – ‘WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC: “STRAIGHT OUTTA LYNWOOD”</h2>

Alright, you’ll have to indulge me here for a second. When the opportunity arose for me to check out and review the newest CD from the prince of parodies, I couldn’t turn it down. I’ve been a ‘Weird Al” fan for almost 20 years, and every new CD from him is an event in my household. This time around, the polka master has found himself with a newest batch of parodies and originals, spanning many different musical styles. While many of the parodies are going for a decidedly more “urban” feel than previous albums, the comedy still hits head on, and there’s lots for fans of all types of music to enjoy here.<P>

The original single was to be a parody of James Blunt’s sappy ballad “You’re Beautiful”, to which Blunt gave permission for Al to do (Al always asks, despite it no longer being copyright infringement for an artist to parody another’s song). However, Atlantic Records (Blunt’s label) stepped in, claiming Al would have to pay royalties to THEM as well as Blunt in order to do the parody. Seeing as they weren’t entitled (only Al and Blunt were as the original and parody songwriters) and not wanting to strain the relationship between Blunt and his record label, Al instead took it off the album and placed it on his <a href=http://www.weirdal.com>website</a> as a free download. This set the album’s release back from July to next week (September 26th) as Al now had to find a new hot song to parody. (In the meantime, sine the song wasn’t to be featured on an upcoming album, and therefore wouldn’t have a video, I took matters into my own hands)<P>

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Now, Al’s album is completed and set to be unleashed upon the world with dead-on parodies of artists like Usher, <i>American Idol’s</i> Taylor Hicks, Green Day, and a lead single parodying Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’” as “White and Nerdy”, a song that I’m sure at least half of my readership can identify with. Al’s rhymes match the original artist’s with such skill and flow that one is amazed that he’s as white as he claims. The video is even better, featuring Al looking much the same way he did in high school, offering cameos with Seth Green, Donny Osmond and Chamillionaire himself. The standout parody, however, would have to be ‘Trapped in the Drive-Thru”, a rip on R. Kelly’s unintentionally funny epic “Trapped In The Closet”. Not to spoil anything, but I hope this 10 minute epic is broken into at least three videos to match R. Kelly’s video opus. It is probably the single funniest song I’ve ever heard, and even if you’ve only heard snippets of the original, you’ll find it quite hilarious. <P>

Actually, that was one thing I was worried about with this release. Many of the artists that Al is parodying this time around, I’m not familiar with their singles. This is no fault of Al’s but rather a fault of mine, as I don’t keep up with pop music the way he does, selecting the most popular songs of the day to satire. Still, despite having never heard of Chamillionaire, or Usher’s “Confessions Part II”, Al’s versions still elicit a chuckle, and are just as catchy as the original, while still containing his trademark outlandish humor.<P>

The originals are no slouch either. Many folks forget that Al and his band are extremely talented musicians, tackling many style of music in each album. Sometimes, while a song may not be a direct parody of an artist’s song, it will ape the style of that artist’s catalogue. These are called ‘style parodies” and in the past Al has managed to sound like Nine Inch Nails, Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, The Beastie Boys, Elvis Costello and more. This time around, the focus of his emulation ranges from the mainstream like Rage Against the Machine (“I’ll Sue Ya”) to obscure 70’s pop band Sparks (“Virus Alert”). My favorite original, however, would have to be the love song “Close, But No Cigar”, done in the style of the band Cake. Not only does Al and his band (Steve Jay on bass, Jim West on Guitar, Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz on drums) perfectly capture the sound and feel of a Cake song, but they do it with such ease that you’d almost think Al was performing WITH Cake. Copying John McCrea’s vocal nuances perfectly, he even does that thing where he agrees and disagrees with himself in a song (“aw yeah…oh, no”).<P>

The album is actually being offered as a dual disc, with one side of the disc being the album on CD, and the flipside offering DVD features. For this release, Al has gone all out, including animated music video for all 6 original songs on the album, as well as the entire album in 5.1 digital surround sound and even karaoke mixes of the entire CD. The animated videos feature some of the best talent around, from Bill Plympton (“I Married A Strange Person”), John Kricfalusi (of “Ren & Stimpy” fame) and the crew of the Cartoon Network Adult Swim show “Robot Chicken” (who will feature their video for “Weasel Stomping Day’ on their show this weekend). <P>

While this may not be my favorite Al album, it certainly offers a great deal of stuff for fans to enjoy, and newcomers to get into. The parodies may not be instantly recognizable if you don’t spend 24 hours watching MTV or listening to the Top 40 stations, but the comedy is where the action is and the satire is dead on. Listening to the album (and watching the brief “making of the album” video on the DVD side) will show folks that Al isn’t just a comedian with a band, but a talented musician himself, a dedicated producer, and a man with a group of talented individuals with him. Al and his band have been together and performing for almost 27 years, way longer than any of the artists he’s emulated or parodied. It’s that kind of longevity that showcases what an amazing talent he is, only amplified by the quality of his writing and his music.<P>

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Hopefully, this will give Al some good press on the release! And, if it doesn't happen, i'm SO doing a video for "Trapped in the Drive-Thru".

-Insane Ian

[Kevbo1987]

That's a very good review, Insane Ian! Thanks for writing it and for posting it!

[Teh Dingo]

Fantastic review Ian, thanks for sharing


But I should point out after some initial confusion, that's not Chamillionaire in the video. I just don't want you getting some confusion from your readers

[Insane Ian]

really? Because i was told that he was...isn't that him at the bowling alley? I mean, i sure looks like him...

[Teh Dingo]

Yep, it does

But Schuler, one of the extras from the video pointed out it's just a guy named Courtney.

[Cheap Bastard]

AllMusicGuide Review

They rate it 3.5 stars, his best since Off The Deep End.

[Bruce the Duck]

A decent review, but he got some of the facts surrounding the "You're Pitiful" ordeal messed up. He made it sound like the song was circulating around the Net BEFORE Atlantic denied permission. Then, he said that Atlantic DID give permission and then retracted it. That's not what happened at all. Oh well!

One confusing bit of that whole thing. Look at the tracklistings. For "Trapped in the Drive Thru," they've apparently credited Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. I've listened to "Trapped in the Closet" countless times over the past couple months in preparation for the album, and I haven't noticed any Led Zepplin sampling. Am I missing something?

[weirdojace]

Heh heh... you'll see...

[Mystik Tomato]

I think I read somewhere tha Al samples a Led Zepplin song in TiTDT.

I'm not sure, though.