World of Weird Al Yankovic

[quote]Does lynch have a cd out? I've seen two or three of his standup acts, and I thought they were pretty good.





I know he has at least two, there could be more

I'll have to look into that... Well, sometimes he gets a little too unrealistic and to the point of unfunny, unlike a certain canine-wearing vegetarian I know of...

To achieve this desired effect, listen to "Special Olympics" by Stephen Lynch.

Adrian

Hey, Adrian- You like Stephen Lynch too? Cool! He's got this really soothing singing voice...but then you realize what he singing. hehehe- It's really awful stuff, I but like it.

~Allison

YES! He's cool, his voice *is* oddly soothing, and I actually got to see him live last fall and like him even more after that. You know his Superhero song? After he was done with the verses that are actually in the song, he asked random people in the audience for superhero names and improved a verse for each one--it was great. Yeah, it's awful stuff, but he makes it work so well.



Adrian

It's Elvis's review of Poodle Hat!

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Brought to you by Aloha Al's Hawaiian Shirt Hut. Bring a copy of this review in and receive a free pineapple with every purchase!



A note: I wrote and posted this review before reading anyone else's reviews or comments as not to be tainted. I've also sat on the song portion of the review for a few days to let the initial shock wear off, so I now feel my opinions are unbiased. It's also a bit long as I commented on more than the songs.



First off, this is the most unorthodox way I've ever listened to a CD. I've been following the spoiler thread on World Of Weird Al Yankovic Forum until Friday, so I had known all the song titles, parody targets, and for the most part what each song was about. I had listened to "Couch Potato" and read the lyrics and had been enjoying it for a few days up until the point where I left the Forum temporarily as not to read song lyrics.



On early Sunday morning, I discovered that the tracks had been posted in .MP3 format on alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.comedy and I downloaded them. I listened to the first four tracks in order, took a break while the remaining tracks downloaded, and then listened to the remaining tracks in order, except for "Bob" which I had accidentally forgotten to download. Later that afternoon I downloaded and listened to "Bob." Up until Tuesday I listened to .MP3s in mostly random order so I was familiar with the songs and lyrics when I got the album. I got the album on Tuesday and listened to it fully, and several times since. Today (Wednesday) I viewed the special features for the first time, checking out the lyrics, photo gallery, home video, and bonus mixes in that order.



Having said that, here's my review.



Title:



Poodle Hat - I still don't get it. Can anyone explain it to me? I mean I understand the connection to the dog on the head, but why? Almost anything would have been a better title than that in my opinion. 1/10



Artwork/Liner notes:



Front cover - I like the subway theme. The subway font is really neat too. It's fun to check out the people on the subway. Lots to look at, but I don't get the dog on the head thing. If it weren't for that, I'd give it an 8/10. Add the dog, and 5/10



CD art - Brilliant! Why hasn't anyone thought of this before? My favorite CD art of any of the albums. 10/10



Lyrics - Always nice to have the lyrics too. I haven't read them to see how well that match up with what Al's singing, but they look pretty detailed so that's a good sign. Very tiny font, and the bullets are a little weird. 8/10



Pictures -

- The picture of Al in the purple shirt is slightly less creepy at that size. 4/10

- The picture of the band is a lot of fun, I like the Tom Petty and Michael Jackson thing going there. I'm not sure who Bermuda's supposed to be, if anyone. 10/10

- The leaning picture is really cool with all the song credits around it. I like the detail it goes into song by song on that page. 10/10

- The exiting subway picture looks pretty neat, but I don't get the fading out. Also, Bela would have been decapitated leaving the subway like that. Why do artists thank the companies that provide them with instruments/etc. in this area? There should be a separate sponsor's section of the liner notes and leave the thanks to people who really helped out. 4/10

- The picture under the CD is really neat and fits perfectly there. 9/10



Back cover - Pretty much what I expected. 8/10



Songs:



Couch Potato - When I'm not familiar with the original, I might not like the parody too much at first, but this one I just really like! Might even go check out the original now. A nice snapshot of today's TV scene. Any TV addict would be proud of this. My favorite verse is easily the one with Everybody Tolerates Raymond, jumped the shark, and Mahna Mahna. Great song to use as a leadoff "single." One of the strongest on the album. 10/10



Hardware Store - Al tried this fast singing thing before on and "Jerry Springer" and "Your Horoscope For Today." They weren't funny and this one's not really funny either. Kind of like walking into Home Depot and looking around. I've done that enough times and it's not all that funny. Automatic circumcisers? At a hardware store? Not where I shop. It's out of place on the album, would have fit better on RWS. 4/10



Trash Day - Not familiar with the original. I suppose knowing the original might have helped me get this song? Slobs aren't funny. Kids, clean your room. 2/10



Party At The Leper Colony - I heard a recording of the live version last summer, and thought it was clever but lacking something. The album version is much better than the live version. I'll probably like this one more over time. 7/10



Angry White Boy Polka - For a moment I thought I was listening to "Polkamon" by mistake. I guess there are only so many ways to open a polka, but the opening sounded recycled. I'm usually not familiar with the original songs in the polka and this was the case this time. I knew one song, and maybe vaguely recognized another two or three. On first listen I didn't like it. On subsequent listens, I like it better. I'm glad I listened to it again, because I would have given it 2/10 on first listen and a 5/10 yesterday. Now I give it a 6/10. Expect that to go up with further listens. The doo-wop thing in the middle of the polka is priceless.



Wanna B Ur Lovr - Sounds like a style parody, just can't place who at the moment. And it's pretty funny. Cheesy pick-up lines make me laugh. They just do. It sort of reminded me of a follow-up to "Such A Groovy Guy." Lines sleazy guys like the subject of that song would use. The only line I didn't get was Yugoslavian hands? It's stupid. Even Al says so himself. Love torpedo, hehe. Yep, this one's good and it grows on me each time I listen. My favorite original on the album. The start of the "Classic Al I've known to love" block of songs on the album. 9/10



A Complicated Song - One word, awesome! It was pretty obvious where the first and third verses were going, but to me that made the delivery of the punch line even better. Verse two caught me totally off guard. My most favorite song on the album. I only wish it were longer. 10/10



Why Does This Always Happen To Me - Another "One Of Those Days" type songs, but this didn't really work for me as well as that song. The music is wonderful, but the lyrics need some work. It's a song about someone who just doesn't get the big picture. Poor Robert, hehe. Stabbing the boss might have gone overboard, I think he could have handled that verse a little better, but over all enjoyable song. Not good, not bad either. 6/10



Ode To A Superhero - I initially was a little worried when I found out that Al would be tackling such a well known old song that every kid from here to Timbuktu has sung alternate lyrics to in the past. It was either gonna be hit or miss. HIT! I liked the movie and Al poked some fun at it, but it was right on the money. It pays to see the movie first or you'll miss a few funny references. Favorite line: "But to his surprise, she prefers guys who can kiss upside down in the rain." Classic! 10/10



Bob - Again I was a little worried this one would be hit or miss when I heard it was going to be all palindromes. I think it worked. Instantly recognizable as a Dylan style parody. And bonus points for working Lisa Bonet into the song. After reading the lyrics to it, l like it even better. 7/10



eBay - Everything I expected the song to be once I saw the title and what song it would parody. Just the kind of stuff on eBay you are amazed people are actually getting into bidding wars over, let alone listing in the first place. Last song in the "Classic Al I've known to love" block of songs on the album. The ending made me laugh. 9/10



Genius in France - I just don't get this. "Albuquerque" didn't do much for me, but I don't blame Al for wanting to do another quirky long song after fan reaction to "Albuquerque." Only problem is he picked a style that I don't think many people will pick up on. If I didn't know ahead of time it was supposed to be Zappa, I wouldn't know what he was trying to do. I guess I would like it better if I had heard some Zappa songs in more than passing. Forgetting it was a Zappa style parody, and concentrating on the lyrics only, they aren't funny and it's hard to follow. 3/10



Bonus materials:



Lyrics - This is really neat. Again I didn't view them all to see if they match up with what Al's saying, but I viewed enough to know they are pretty cool. I like how it displays the lyrics as the line in the song comes up. The font's a little hard to read with the black tile background at times, and you can't copy and paste them. 9/10



Photo gallery - I think he used the best pictures in the liner notes, but the ones in the gallery are pretty nice too. I like the orange shirt Al is wearing in a few of the pictures. Hopefully we'll see some more unused pictures on weirdal.com at some point. 9/10



Home video - This was laughing out loud funny. His dad must have taken a lot of footage of him as a kid. My dad's videos of me aren't that entertaining. My favorite line is "but for some reason, I don't know why, I've always been scared to death of.... big Mexican kids." That boy liked to run in circles, didn't he? It's hilarious. It's even funnier when you play it at fast speed. 10/10



Bonus mixes - I was expecting something different. I'm not sure if "mixes" is the right word, maybe "edits" would have been better. They're just the album tracks minus vocals or instruments. With today's computers and someone who knows what they are doing, I bet you could have removed the vocals and made your own instrumental mixes. It contained all originals too, and I liked the parodies better than the originals so I was hoping to hear a few of them as well. The songs themselves aren't bad, I just felt mislead. 5/10



Overall score: I'm very pleased with this album. I had been disappointed with "Running With Scissors" when I first listened to it, so I was hoping that wouldn't be the case this time, and fortunately it wasn't. Al's albums tend to get better the more times you listen to them, so I'm happy this one sits so well with me from the just the first few listens. The parodies are so strong (except for "Trash Day") that it has the potential to become my one of my favorite albums. I would recommend it to a friend or someone who hasn't heard Al music before. 8.5/10



Dave

Wanna B Ur Lovr: I wondered when I first saw the title if OE was going to develop a nervous tic from this one. I think Al did the title that way to tip us off on where he was going with this lovely little ditty. This is Groovy Guy all growed up and spending a little too much time online.

No, actually I'm fine with this, including the subtle innuendoes, although I could have done without the diarrhea line OK. Good observation about "Such A Groovy Guy."

Oh well, maybe it was written for his wife (trying to give him the benefit of the doubt).

Golly, what an idea. I'm going to give him the benefit and assume that, wanting to remain married, he didn't write it for his wife. She appears to be an intelligent woman. Up until I heard his interview and a partial play of the song on KABC the night before the release, before I knew what the lyrics were, I thought this song just might be the one Bermuda said would surprise die-hard fans (and maybe it is, because of the innuendoes). I was only spoiled in patches beforehand. I knew that there was a Dylan homage, and I knew that Dylan had written a song called "I Wanna Be Your Lover." So it seemed just possible that Al might have covered someone else's "straight" love song in an incongruous style, leaving you with "serious" words but a comic effect. But no, after I heard Al on the radio I knew he'd strung together those pickup lines knowing full well how awful they are.

Wow, I have seen quite a few people comment that they don't get "Poodle Hat" and what that means...



I guess this dates me, but back in the 50's a very popular type of clothing was a "Poodle Skirt." I think this is just making a joke on that.

Wow! Sorry I've taken so long to review the album, but I've just been too busy LISTENING TO IT!!! I've probably heard it all the way through about 5 or 6 times, now. I believe I have formed suitable opinions of the songs by now. So let's dive in:



RATING SCALE:



= CLASSIC!!! ONE OF AL'S ALL-TIME

BEST!



= REALLY GREAT! AN ALBUM HIGHLIGHT!



= OKAY, BUT NOTHING TO GET TOO

WORKED UP OVER



= WHAT WAS AL THINKING?!?



1. COUCH POTATO: - Al really nails Eminem's rhyming scheme here, and the vocals alone make it worthy of a place in the Al Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, it's basically an update of "I Can't Watch This", except with the twist being that in ICWT our hero hates the TV shows so much he turns the TV off. . .in CP he complains and complains about the show quality, yet he can't stop watching! Reminds me of the line in "Jerry Springer" about "Don't Wanna Stare/but You Can't Look Away". It's also a tad reminiscent of "Syndicated, Inc.", but it's way better than that song. Overall, a solid effort. Fave Line: "I was plannin' on recordin' The Sopranos/I forgot!"



2. HARDWARE STORE: - I'm not falling all over myself the way some posters are on this one, but I like it well enough. I guess a song about going to a hardware store doesn't exactly make for the funniest subject matter, but the hyperactive pacing of the lyrics makes it fun. I was a little dissappointed though, since as the song first started (with the sawing SFX and clanging metal) I was totally expecting it to be a Tom Waits style parody! TW is a fave of mine, and I've always wanted Al to do his take on him. Oh, well. Maybe next album. Fave Line: That one really long line....



3. TRASH DAY: 1/2 - I don't get all the negative comments for this one! I thought it was really funny! I'm not the biggest fan of the female hook ("Hey, you disgusting slob" etc.), but I like "Rotten Here" vs. "Hot in Here". And again, Al hits a bulls-eye imitating the song's

lyrical and musical patterns. Fave Line: "I wipe my feet before I go outside!"



4. PARTY AT THE LEPER COLONY: 1/2 - While I enjoy the double-meanings that are featured in this one, I can't get into the song itself for some reason. It's admittedly funny, but the "hand-jive" style doesn't thrill me musically. Fave Line: "Wait a minute, it looks like Stu."



5. ANGRY WHITE BOY POLKA: - While I was only familiar with about 3 of the songs here, that's usually the case with ANY Al polka medley! I enjoyed it a lot, although I think his last two polkas were both better. Fave Section: "Chop Suey", of course! ("You wanted to!")



6. WANNA B UR LOVR: - Basically, this song suffers from its length.

There is plenty to laugh at here, and I agree with Scottidog that it seems like "Such a Groovy Guy" revisited (in a good way), but at least SAGG didn't overstay his welcome. Al does such a good job at being smarmy here, that while it's funny at first it's almost too realistic and you want him (well, his character at least) to go away! This one has the highest probability of growing on me, though. Fave Line: (the punchline) "I'd like to take you home right now/So you can meet my mom."



7. A COMPLICATED SONG: - I'm not a big fan of the first verse,

but the last two more than make up for it! Still, there's something that screams "concert-only" about this one. That is, it almost seems like a throwaway, but like most of his other concert-only songs...I like it! That'd be neat if he added new verses to this one when he performs it live. Fave Line: "Can't spit or blow my nose or even read Sports Illustrated!"



8. WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME: - Funny how the song I was least looking forward to turns out to be the standout on the album! I was expecting a rehash of "One of Those Days", but got a song that one-upped it both lyrically and musically! I don't know much about this Ben Folds chap, but he plays a mean piano! And the satire on our tendency to be so spoiled and self-centered was spot-on! It begins with something we've all done: ignore (or even curse) a truly terrible event that DIDN'T affect us directly, other than messing up something really trivial on our end. Then it snowballs into fobbing off the death of a friend because he owed money, to finally senselessly murdering someone

and then complaining about breaking the knife in the process. Dark brilliance, and Al at his very best! Fave Line: "Why'd they have to interrupt The Simpsons just for this?"



9. ODE TO A SUPERHERO: 1/2 - How can you not like this one? "Piano Man" into "SpiderMan". Easy, but fun to sing along to! Doesn't quite achieve the genius of "The Saga Begins", but it's a great one, nonetheless. Fave Line: "But where'd you come up with those tights?"



10. BOB: 1/2 - One of Al's most clever songs. It works beautifully as a spoof of Dylan's style, while firmly securing its place in Nonsense Song history. More fun to sing along to than you might think. Fave Line: "A dog, a panic/in a pagoda!"



11. EBAY: - Just a classic Al parody. This is what we come to expect from him: taking a song that has been mercilessly drilled into our pop culture and fusing it with another cultural phenomenon (that you wouldn't expect a song to be written about) such as eBay. He got everything right here, from the feedback entries ("A++") to the eclectic garbage that's put up for auction. He took the most cloying and ubiquitous song of the past couple of years and made it both listenable and funny. That, and any song that features "Harmonizing Als" gets brownie points from me from the get-go. Fave Line: "A slightly damaged golf bag..."



12. GENIUS IN FRANCE: 1/2 - Incredible imitation of Frank Zappa! What can I say, the lyrics made me chuckle, and the music made me pine for good ol' FZ (may he RIP). What's keeping me from giving this the full 4-Smilies rating? The timing. In a time when I'm hearing cracks like "Lets Bomb France Next" and coming across websites telling me to boycott French goods, to the juvenile and asinine re-naming of French Fries to "Freedom Fries". . .the French have had it bad enough from us, already! Look, poking fun at the French pre-Iraq was a good ol' American tradition, and it was always pretty good-natured. Now, it's just turned ugly. Can't friends have disagreements? Are we this petty and vengeful around here? Nationalism is no excuse for prejudice of any kind, in my opinion. Still, I believe in my heart-of-hearts that Al doesn't have a hateful bone in his body. I think he probably wrote this tongue-in-cheek back when French jokes were still just good fun, and seeing as how complex (and brilliant!) the song is, didn't want to let it go just because of recent events. I hope light is shed on this one way or the other soon, because if I know for sure that it was "nothing personal" I may up the rating to a complete 4. That being said, if it ever comes out that it was written as a direct response to France's recent decisions, then I may bump my rating down a bit. Why? Because I doubt Frank would have approved of such a thing. That's just my opinion, and you are welcome to disagree. Fave Line: "je ne c'est...Quoi-quoi-quoi-quoi-quoi!/Oo-we-oo!"



Overall, POODLE HAT is a great album, and I'll wear out my CD player listening to it. Someone ranked their favorite albums earlier, so I'll do the same:



1. RUNNING WITH SCISSORS

2. POLKA PARTY!

3. WEIRD AL YANKOVIC

4. UHF SOUNDTRACK, & OTHER STUFF

5. IN-3D

6. OFF THE DEEP END

7. POODLE HAT

8. ALAPALOOZA

9. DARE TO BE STUPID

10. BAD HAIR DAY

11. EVEN WORSE



Well, there you have it. Time to start speculating about the next album! At least now we have PH to listen to while we do that!



Later,

Meadows



PS: Didn't mean to get all serious at the end with the GIF review. That's just the way I feel, but it isn't my intention to start any flame wars. Don't take it the wrong way (hey, I basically liked the song! Quite a bit!)

First of all thanks Dave for the review!! I think Dave is lucky to have avoided the original Nelly song somehow. I am a mobile DJ with a weekly show at a local cosmic bowling and I have heard the original way too many times! The Lose Yourself song was the easiest Eminem song to edit for our weekly event.

I am fan from the 1980's and am impressed how Al has continued to be fairly consistent over the years. Yes, I even thought Polka Party was not bad at all....my favorite though is OTDE so far. Read if you have the time- I tried my best at this given this is my first review type post I have ever attempted.....

1. Couch Potato- My wife really likes the original so I was thrilled to see this parody! I really like the Muppet reference along with Spongebob. Just a little to much of a listing type song. Production values are excellent as always. 7/10

2. Hardware Store- Wow! A neat and fun song-- not so much "funny" with the lyrics, but "funny" that he could take this topic and make a whole song out of it. I would like to have heard more sound effects though. 9/10

3. Trash Day- Lyrics a little disappointing...especially the fire hose verse. It is though dead on music wise....not as strong as I was anticipating- 5/10

4. Party at the Leper Colony- Like the studio version much better than the live version (I wasn't at OC concert but had a decent copy). Live, it probably sounded much better to the audience than on the bootleg. 7/10

5. Angry White Boy Polka- second half of this contained all of the songs that I am familiar with starting with My Way. I have heard Papa Roach but none of the others in between. I have heard of most of the groups...7/10

6. Wanna Be Ur Lovr- Great production values but not my favorite kind of jokes.... 5/10

7. Complicated Song- Great parody-- I did count lots of toilet humor on this album but this topic really isn't that bad on this song. Second verse is ok..the third verse really did it for me on this one. The whole breeze idea had me really cracking up. 10/10

8. Why Does This Always Happen to me- Great music! Verse 2 was funny! Still prefer Billy Crystal "I Hate it When this Happens". 7/10

9. Ode to A Superhero-Not a Spidey fan that much but Wow! The band did a great job on the music and Al did a great job taking highlights from the film and making them fit the song. 8/10

10. Bob- fun and a catchy tune. Great Dylan impersonation! Even has a nod (though not probably intentional) to the Dr. Demento fave Polka Dot Undies--Al's version is great!!! 9/10

11. eBay- A lot better than I anticiapated and like everyone else I was caught off guard by this vocals at the end..very clever idea. I am an avid ebay user so I am biased. 8/10

12. GIF- I like the fact that Al has paid an homage to Zappa. I just listened to Dancin Fool.... I think it is a neat idea to pay homage to a Dr. D fave.....what next Al?? I took French in Highschool so I understood the French parts (that is about the extent of my knowledge of the language) 7/10

Overall CD package--10/10. I think the artistic value of the cd package just keeps getting better and better. I would like to have seen a small feature on the making of the album- clips from recording sessions/Al's notes on the making of the album etc etc. But for the money, a fantastic deal.

I had several friends over on Tuesday to give this a listen and everyone was impressed. Two of my friends do not read any kind of postings on the net so they were completely surprised! Really, this album has alot of laughs and the music is fantastic. Thanks to Al and his entire band...

Dustin

The only line I didn't get was Yugoslavian hands?

I didn't get the line about her clothes making a lot of noise in the drier. Am I just stupid? Why can't I understand what he means by that?!?



Meadows

Wow, I have seen quite a few people comment that they don't get "Poodle Hat" and what that means...

I guess this dates me, but back in the 50's a very popular type of clothing was a "Poodle Skirt." I think this is just making a joke on that.

Ok, but how does that relate to this album in any way??? Other than a few doo wop things (beautifully done) there is nothing on this album 50s related.

I also didn't get the faded out picture. I wondered if it parodied something else.

I think that poodle hat refers to Al's hair. I'm sure at some point it's been described as a poodle sitting on his head. Either that or it's pure non-sense.

I didn't get the line about her clothes making a lot of noise in the drier. Am I just stupid? Why can't I understand what he means by that?!?

Because it doesn't mean anything! I don't know. I don't get it either.



I don't know why he wrote the Yugoslavian hands thing. But it cracks me up.



And someone, way back when the picture was posted showing the suit, said it looked like candy-rapper boy. Sorry I don't remember who posted it, but I think you nailed it whoever you are.