2006-12-31
There is a very definite method approaching "Weird" Al's new cd's.
First you'll be forwarding songs figuring out which songs are the parodies, after that works out, you move to the polka medley, laughing at all those songs you've heard on the radio so many times you wanted to put your own life in a jar and beat it. Now, you can pass on the originals, there you can find some style parodies, and some entirely self influence good old Weird Al songs.
The new album was treated the same, though worldwide it was received in a larger extant then any of his previous albums did. For example, the first single released – "White and Nerdy" – entered immediately VH1 video clip rotation and charted number 5 in the top 20 videos.
Step by step, the parodies:
You can find "Canadian idiot" (does a great job for me, laughing at
Green Day and Canadians at the same time, no one wonder this album entered the Billboard charts so easily). "Confessions (part 3)", a parody of Usher's "confessions – part 2", in which Weird Al adds a few more confessions left out of part 1 and 2. "Do I creep you out" is Al's hand on the pulse, mocking the latest American idol Tyler Hicks's "Do I make you proud", telling about a nerdy weird stocker who falls in love with a girl and has a bizarre way of showing it. And R Kelly's epic "Trapped in a closet" finally becomes a tolerantable song when it is transformed in a song debating about dinner and where to have it in the minuets epic "Trapped in the drive thru", has some great highlights no doubt about it.
The medley is called "Polkarama" and by order of appearances: The chicken dance, Black eyed peas, Franz Ferdinand, Weezer, Coldplay, Modest mouse, Gorillaz, Pussycat dulls,
The Killers,
Valvet Revolver, 50 Cent, Snoop dogg, Rihanna and Kanye West. Figure it out on your own.
You can also find the Brian Wilson tribute with "Pancreas", or "I'll sue ya", with a good
Rage Against The Machine feel to it, and "Don't download this song", a tribute to every 80's all-star charity song.
Weird Al's humor is as always funny to some, idiotic to others, and basically lyrics that will easily could be attached to a 13 years old boy with farting jokes going to the extreme, though as always he has his twists that make him the king of music parody he is.
To his credit, I'm always amazed all over again from his style parodies, I genuinely believe that writing songs in so many different styles and still sound true to the style your imitating Is truly a gift of a few, I mean Brian Wilson has a pretty big shoe to fill, and I will always remember fondly the great
NIN tribute with "germs" on the Running with scissors album.
The album comes with an additional DVD with some animated video clips for most of the songs on the record, and a great behind the scenes video, showing us that even being funny, takes long time and hard work, fortunately Weird Al dedicates himself, to both.
Roy Povarchik
