Customer Reviews

Chef Aid: The South Park Album (Television Compilation) [Extreme Version]

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Not all of the tracks involve the South Park characters, but the ones that do are gold. The others each have a different audience.

I know nothing about rap, so I don't feel right about reviewing the rap tracks. I thought "Nowhere to Run" was pretty good because it seemed so dark. It's not funny, though.

The non-South-Park rock tracks range from meager to great. "[...] Rainbow" is pretty good, and sounds strangely reminiscent of music from the sixties.

But the best parts of the CD, obviously, are the South Park ones. Chef's tracks are mostly good, but a few of them do get old after awhile. This is a problem that is easily solved by NOT listening to the CD many times in a row. "Mephisto and Kevin" has some good music mixed with very entertaining lyrics that give the back story behind the crazy scientist and his little pet/son-thing. One of my favorite moments on the CD is when the four children join in, one at a time, to sing with Wyclef Jean in "Bubblegoose."

But in my opinion, the greatest song is actually "Horny," because of the conversation between Sid and Trey Parker/Matt Stone while the song is going on.

On a technical aspect, though, this CD screwed up (Unless it's just my copy, but I don't think so). Each song actually starts (As in, "has an intro") on the previous track. This was a clever trick, because it means that you have to listen to the ENTIRE CD to get the full effect, but since there is such a mix of songs, you are bound to not like one or two, and if you skip them, then you will miss out on stuff that may interest you. This problem hurts no other song like it does "Horny," as the conversation I mentioned goes on for about thirty seconds on the previous track before the song begins, so if you want to listen to it, you have to sit through "Wake Up, Wendy," which isn't too great.

Chef Aid: The South Park Album, clocking in at an amazing one hour and seventeen minutes, is fantastic which ever way you look at it. South Park fanatics like me can't get enough of the tracks featuring South Park characters, but there is plenty of great stuff here that even the most anti-South Park individual out there can enjoy. Several big-name stars add their talent to the album; some of yesterday's coolest performers turn up to entertain us one more time; the variety of song styles is incredibly diverse; and there are some of the oddest yet most effective collaborations you can ever imagine. Rap meets hard rock in a song guaranteed to rock the house, as Ozzy Osbourne, DMX, and Old Dirty Bastard team up on the supercharged Nowhere to Run. While I'm on the subject of collaborative efforts, take a listen at Will They Die 4 You featuring Mase, Puffy, Lil' Kim, and System of a Down; it's a cool and funky nougat wrapped inside a hard-edged shell of rock and roll.

Of course, the South Park characters steal the show time and time again. Any Chef Aid album has to have cuts from the man in the big white hat himself, and Chef gives us three of his classic performances, songs which we had only been able to hear snippets of on the show: fan favorite Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You), Simultaneous, and No Substitute. Then Chef teams up with Meatloaf to record a quite memorable version of his classic love song Tonight is Right For Love, and he makes uncredited appearances on a number of other songs, including the rather hilarious entry from the larynx-challenged Ned Gerblansky. Two other Chef tracks are included here, but they appear in the form of covers by other artists. Perry Farrell and D.V.D.A. team up for Hot Lava, while Love Gravy is performed by the dynamic duo of funk-meister Rick James and Ike Turner.

Of course, there's no way you are going to keep my main man Eric Cartman off an album such as this. As all fans of the show know, his favorite song, one he has to sing through in its entirety whenever he hears just a snippet of it, is Come Sail Away; the full version a la Cartman is a great treat, especially toward the end when Chef tries to jump in and hijack the song. Cartman's not through yet, though, as he, along with Stan, Kyle, and Kenny, teams up with Wyclef Jean on the hugely entertaining song Bubblegoose. Most likely you are expecting to hear Cartman's famous Kyle's Mom's a Big Fat B**** on here; don't despair, as it does indeed eventually arrive to close the album out on a perfect note.

Master P's smooth delivery of Kenny's Dead is great, the contributions of Rancid, Ween, Joe Strummer, and 70s icon Devo are unusual yet a lot of fun, and even Elton John manages to rock out pretty impressively. The undeniably catchy song Horny is presented in a very unusual way, with Matt and Trey explaining throughout the course of it just how much they hate the song and do not want it on the album. There is really only one bad song on the album. Mephisto and Kevin, Primus' non-theme song contribution, is not even what I would call a song and succeeds only in becoming a sad mockery of itself.

As a South Park fan, I love this album. Perhaps the best thing about it, though, is its inclusion of artists I was not previously familiar with; I may never have heard of the likes of Wyclef Jean, for example, had I not purchased this album, and that is the reason I believe that South Park opponents can enjoy this album almost as much as us hard-core South Park fans.

This magnificent live in-concert CD opens with the South Park Theme by Primus, assisted by the lovable urchins (is that the ill-fated Kenny's muffled voice?) and concludes with a distinctive sound associated with the Canadian superstars Terrance and Phillip. The artists are charmingly introduced by Chef, from Crystal Method, Ozzy Osborne, DMX and Dirty Ol' Bastard doing Nowhere To Run after a rather rude introduction. This is followed by a stunning solo performance by Chef on the soulful Chocolate Salty Balls.

A highlight of the album is Eric Cartman's stirring rendition of Come Sail Away, performed with a maturity that belies his age. This is really gorgeous. Brad Logan by Rancid is a passionate slab of angry rock as is Hot Lava by Perry Farrell. The South Park urchins appear with Wyclef Jean on the tuneful ballad Bubblegoose. Wake Up Wendy sees Elton John in a rocking mood on this great love song with its rollicking keyboards, whilst Huboon Stomp by Devo represents a welcome return by these 1980s new wavers and Love Gravy is a surprisingly soulful duet by the legendary Ike Turner and Rick James.

Feel Like Makin' Love by Ned Gerblansky sounds like something by The Residents, and another highlight is H°m0 Rainbow by Ween, sensitively introduced by Chef, and what a beautiful rock ballad it is! Speaking of which, Meat Loaf puts in a sparkling, if somewhat over-energized, performance on his duet with Chef, Tonight Is Right For Love. The chef manages to restrain him, and they conclude the song in soulful harmony to rapturous applause.

Next up is Joe Strummer with It's A Rockin' World, an impressive old-style rock song. Mentally Dull by Vitro and the South Park Cast concludes this riveting live album and here one can hear not only the urchins but their wonderful mothers too, on a fabulous grand finale. Chef Aid is remarkable in its diversity, with shlt hot rock, hip-hop, funk and smooth soul by the lovable Chef himself; it's the best live album in my collection. Sure it's a bit rude here and there but so is popular culture nowadays.

The SouthPark album is very good, running at a wopping 1H17M, it's crammbed full of songs. There are maybe 3 songs I don't really like, but all the others range from pretty good to great. "Huboon Stomp" by Devo is a really good song, as well as "Nowhere to Run" performed by Ozzy, DMX, and Ol' Dirty Bastard with music by Crystal Method with Fuzzbubble, which is a pretty awesome tune. "Brad Logan" by Rancid is awesome, and "Hot Lava" performed by Perry Farrell and D.V.D.A. is, in my opinion, the best song on the album. So, awesome album, if you're a fan of SouthPark take a look and see what you think, it's quite worth it.

I'm a fan of all types of music. You name a genre, and I probably have a song or two that I really like in that genre. But I wasn't expecting such variety when I bought this CD several years ago. I recognized the South Park tracks, like Chef's hilarious love ballads like "Salty Chocolate Balls" and "Tonight is Right For Love", but some tracks were completely foreign to me, with artists I had never heard of before. After a while, I began to love these non-South Park related tracks just as much as I already knew from the show.
This CD has something for everyone. Rap fans will get a kick out of "Nowhere to Run", "Kenny's Dead", and "Will They Die 4 You?". Rock fans will bang their heads to "Brad Logan". Every song is bound to win some music lover over.
Here are some of my favorites.

"Nowhere To Run"-8/10
One of my favorites, love the Ozzy Osbourne and Ole Dirty Bastard parts. Crazy song. Love it.

"Chocolate Salty Balls"-9/10
Hilarious. Isaac Hayes is simply hilarious, especially when his... um, balls... "start burning". Classic.

"Bubblegoose"-10/10
The catchiest song on the album. It would still be great if the kids didn't sing along, but they just make it even better. Love when Cartman thinks he's singing with Mack 10.

"Come Sail Away"-10/10
Oh yeah... even though Cartman sings this song, its a powerful track, and hilarious, and epic, and... I can't describe it, you have to listen to it.

"Huboon Stomp"-9/10
A crazy little ditty by Devo. I love the lyrics in this song, my favorite part being the "Somebody's gonna be sorry..." part.

"Tonight is Right for Love"-10/10
Chef and Meatloaf tear it up in this song. Extremely tender and mellow until Meatloaf goes crazy in the middle... and Chef has to calm him down by giving him a taco. Funny as hell, but extremely singable.

"Mephisto and Kevin"-10/10
Les Claypool's trademark fast-talkin' storytellin' shines here. Chef even appears in the chorus. May take a couple of listens to catch everything he says, but try to keep up, its brilliant. The last few seconds are almost eerie.

I love every song on this album, but not everyone will have that same comment. There might be some songs you won't like, but try and really give the non-South Park tracks a chance. They are really good songs, and they may even turn you onto completely new kinds of music. Trey and Matt gave us something that THEY would like listening to, I guess I just share their tastes. Buy this album. It may suprise you.

The first thing you should know about "Chef Aid" if you're thinking of buying it, is that half the songs are "normal" songs, and not parodies or songs form the show. They're mainly hard rock or rap and seemingly have nothing to do with South Park. The songs are okay, but if you're expecting the CD to be filled with south park parodies and songs, don't.

The other songs are all great and are pretty familiar from the show, especially "Chef's Salty Balls," which sounds much better on a studio album than from the show.

The Album also features original south park-related songs from Ween, Elton John, and Meatloaf. The Elton John and Ween songs are about Wendy and gay people, but really have nothing to do with South Park at all.

Wyclef's "Bubblegoose" is a decent song but is ruined by the accompaniment of the kids singing along, which sounds okay the first time you hear it, but loses it's novelty after that. On the other hand, the commentary on "Horny" works well and doesn't ruin the song.

If you're looking for a good CD of South Park songs, you're better off with the sound track of "Bigger, Longer" or "Mr. Hankey's Christmas." But if you already have those and want to complete your collection, Chef Aid is a decent buy.

This cd is hilarious. Only a few of the songs are serious,but the funny ones never get old and make you laugh till you drop dead on the floor. If your parents watch what you listen to then you can get the edited version which is equally as funny just without the cussing. I recomend this to anyone who likes south park and anyone who wants a good laugh.

the songs were funny and made us laugh continuously over and over. the lyrics were a little explicit but...i recommend this CD to all South Park fans.

Since I must own all things related to South Park, I found this to be a good addition to my collection. If you are a big South Park Fan, you will definitely enjoy this CD. My favorite tracks are Rancid and of course, Eric Cartman singing his very favorite song. I also enjoyed Ween and Devo.

I love come sail away by cartman it was so cute, and bubblegoose THAT WAS TOOO CUTE! I was singing along the whole album