Customer Reviews

Running With Scissors

5 star:		(374)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is another typically solid album by "Weird Al". Shall I go through the whole album?

1. "The Saga Begins" is a hilarious parody of "American Pie", with the lyrics being the plot to Star Wars - Episode I.
2. "My Baby's in Love With Eddie Vedder" is a zydeco style original.
3. "Pretty Fly For a Rabbi" parodies "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)".
4. "The Weird Al Show Theme" is the theme from Al's short-lived kids show. This is a re-recording, not the version used on the actual show.
5. "Jerry Springer" parodies "One Week", in crude but funny fashion.
6. "Germs" is an original song done in the style of Nine Inch Nails.
7. "Polka Power!" is the requisite medley of recent hits done polka style.
8. "Your Horoscope For Today" is a very funny original, mocking the silliness of astrology.
9. "It's All About the Pentiums" is a funny parody of "It's All About the Benjamins", although you have to know a bit about computers to get it.
10. "Truck Driving Song" is a country original, probably the least funny song on the album.
11. "Grapefruit Diet" parodies "Zoot Suit Riot", it's a typical Al song about food.
12. "Albuquerque" is the strangest thing Al ever recorded. It's an eleven minute "shaggy dog story". Very bizarre and very funny.

"Weird Al" fans should love this album. Everyone else will probably find at least some of it funny.

Weird Al Yankovic, the King of Parody, strikes gold with "Running With Scissors," arguably his best album yet, and highlighted by the single best song he's ever done, "The Saga Begins." To the tune of Don McLean's "American Pie," "Saga" captures the story of "Star Wars, Episode I, The Phantom Menace" to perfection; it's all there, and it's brilliant. Pearl Jam fans especially will get a kick out of "My Baby's In Love With Eddie Vedder," but even those not familiar with them will get the drift, and it's hilarious. Then there's a foray into the world of high-tech, computers and the internet in "It's All About The Pentiums," with a great line, "What kinda chip you got in there, a dorito?" Also included in the twelve cuts is the obligatory polka piece, "Polka Power!" And yes, there's one about food, "Grapefruit Diet." Country fans get a taste with"Truck Drivin' Song," and television talk show host "Jerry Springer" gets the treatment in a song about a guy addicted to the show. This is one funny album from beginning to end, and I highly recommend it to anyone just looking for a good time and plenty of laughs.

In the era of late 90's punk and the proliferation of boy bands ad nauseum, Weird Al still proves he can do a good send-up, even though it took three years for a followup to 1996's Bad Hair Day. Running With Scissors is another ace album, and it contains all the hallmarks of a Weird Al album-a polka, send-up of popular songs, humorous originals spoofing genres, and a long epic song a la "Biggest Ball of Twine" from UHF.

Like he used Richard Harris' "MacArthur Park" for the "Jurassic Park" story song, Al uses Don MacLean's "American Pie" to do a story song for Star Wars Episode I, where Al is in the persona of Obi-Wan. I cared not a whit for SWE1, but at least Al was able to use his usual creativity on it.

"My Baby's In Love With Eddie Vedder" is a 50's style rocker done with accordion, and is about the qualities about the lead singer of Pearl Jam that attracts Al's girlfriend, in other words "an unrequited adoration for the frustrated, agitated, designated alienated spokesman for the disaffected grunge generation." There is a punchline to this song on how Al decides to get even.

"Just grab your yarmulke and Hey! Hey! do that Hebrew thing" sings Al in "Pretty Fly For A Rabbi," a parody of the Offspring's "Pretty Fly For A White Guy." This song is a portrait of an up-with-it Jewish guy, who "reads the Torah, does his own accounting too." Lots of Yiddish words and expressions like "meshugga" and "What's not to like?" are sprinkled here to add to the fun.

The quirky "The Weird Al Show Theme" is how Al got his own show and features a weird twangy Jew's harp like instrument before going full out to a theme song-like bombast towards the end.

Another song on how TV clogs the IQ? "Jerry Springer" sends up Barenaked Ladies' "One Week" and the rapid-fire lyrics add to Al's advantage in cramming in so many absurdities in one line. After listing a whole bunch of Jerry's guests, the chorus ends with "Yesterday it occurred to me, that I've been watching' a bit too much Jerry Springer."

"Hey, don't touch that-you don't know where it's been!" "Germs" has a sound, guitar, and voice styled after NIN's "Closer" and is about the "millions upon millions of tiny one-celled organisms living on my skin" and the obsession to get rid of them.

"Polka Power" shows Al keeping up to date on what's been hitting the airwaves. Medley: Spice Girls' "Wannabe", Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta", Pras Michel, Wyclef Jean, Mya's "Ghetto Superstar", Backstreet Boys' "Backstreet's Back" (I cringed when I heard that), Smash Mouth's "Walking On The Sun", the Beastie Boys' "Intergalactic", Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping", Madonna's "Ray Of Light", Matchbox 20's "Push", Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life", Marilyn Manson's "The Dope Show", Hanson's "Mmmbop", Marcy Playground's "Sex and Candy", and Semisonic's "Closing Time."

"Your Horoscope For Today" is a twelve verse song where he goes through the horoscopes for each sign, and they're all good news. Take mine: "GEMINI-Your birthday party will be ruined once again by your explosive flatulence/Your love life will run into trouble when your fiancé hurls a javelin through your chest." Well, so much for my long-term plans.

"It's All About The Pentiums" is one of the best parody songs I've heard, even though it's from a bad rap song, i.e. Puff Daddy's "It's All About The Benjamins." Included in this braggadocio of the king of the computers, is this: "You think your Commodore 64 is neato/what kinda chip you got in there, a Dorito?/You're using a 286? Don't make me laugh/your Windows boots up in what, a day and a half?" and "If I ever meet you, I'll ctrl-alt-delete you."

"Drivin' a truck with my high heels on". Yep, the hilarious country song sung in low C.W. McCall or Hoyt Axton-type register "Truck Drivin' Song" is to truckers what the "Lumberjack Song" is to loggers. With references on running mascaras, pink cashmeres, and little rhinestone pumps that keep slippin' off the mother-lovin' clutch, this is my second favourite song here.

"Grapefruit Diet" parodies "Zoot Suit Riot" and is a tall-tale on obesity like "Fat." "Made sumo wrestlers look like Kate Moss"? Have to grease a door to leave a room? That is big, all right. "Albuquerque" is a 12-minute rambling epic that basically starts out with how he doesn't like sauerkraut and goes into weird adventures that have to be heard to be believed.

The Saga...I mean the magic continues with Running With Scissors, with Mr. Yankovic coming in first place.

My family has all of Al's CDs and records and were recently at one of his concerts. How good is this CD?

1. The Saga Begins- parody of "American Pie" by Don McClean. All about Star Wars Episode One. Very nice. A-

2. My Baby's In Love With Eddie Vedder- Why would Al's wife be in love with the Pearl Jam frontman anyway? C

3. Pretty Fly For A Rabbi- parody of "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" by the Offspring. Expect many odd Jewish words. B+

4. The Weird Al Show Theme- the theme to Al's dearly departed show on CBS or NBC, I forgot. Very stupid! B

5. Jerry Springer- parody of "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies. Extremely raunchy but well-sung. B

6. Germs- very dull at first but gets better at the end. C+

7. Polka Power- includes Al's renditions of songs by Spice Girls, Marcy Playground, Marilyn Manson, Hanson, Beastie Boys and more. Very good! B+

8. Your Horoscope For Today- apparently, I should get ready for an unexpected trip when I fall screaming from an open window. And I should work a little bit harder on improving my low self esteem: I'm a stupid freak. A-

9. It's All About The Pentiums- parody of "It's All About the Benjamins" by Lil Kim and some other bozos. Great work with those computer geek terms, Al! A-

10. Truck Drivin' Song- a kid in my 6th grade class (back in 1999) said this is making fun of Al's wife. Must be a cross-dressing song. Creeeeeepy. C+

11. Grapefruit Diet- parody of "Zoot Suit Riot" by Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Oh boy, get ready for ALL the fat jokes Al left out of his old hit "Fat"! B

12. Albuquerque- Get ready for 12 AND A HALF MINUTES of the sad story of Al's childhood with saurkraut, a plane crash near Albuquerque, a run-in with a huge Albanian hermaphrodite with a Flock of Seagulls haircut and only one nostril and meeting Zelda, a calligraphy entusiast with a slight overbite and hair the color of strained peaches. B

"Weird Al" Yankovic's tenth major studio release finds him in top form. The format is pretty much the same as it's been in the past, with five song parodies, six original numbers, and a polka medley of popular songs. Al also sticks to many of his typical themes, including food, television, and movies. This time, however, there's a more polished sound, enough new ideas to keep fans happy, and, yes, plenty of laughs. Highlights include "Your Horoscope For Today," in which Al takes on ska and astrology; "It's All About The Pentiums," a Puff Daddy parody about a gangsta computer nerd; parodies of The Offspring and Barenaked Ladies; the traditional polka medley, this time entitled "Polka Power!" and including bits of songs by the Spice Girls, the Beastie Boys, Smash Mouth, Third Eye Blind, Marilyn Manson, Hanson, Marcy Playground, and others, all polka-fied; and, of course, the rambling epic "Albuquerque." Other songs, such as the lead track "The Saga Begins" (a parody of "American Pie" about "The Phantom Menace") and the Nine Inch Nails style parody "Germs," aren't exactly laugh-out-loud funny, but they're still clever. In summary, don't expect a radical new sound from Al this time around. If you like what he's been doing in the past, though, this album has him doing it better than ever. And if you only know Al as "that 'Eat It' guy," you might want to give _Running With Scissors_ a try; there's some stuff on here that's much funnier than "Eat It."

Running with Scissors is without a doubt WierdAl's best work to date. From the brilliant opening track "The Saga Begins" (which puts the story of Star Wars Episode 1 to "American Pie"), to the witty "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" (Do I really have to say what it parodies?), and some of Al's best original compositions ever. "Germs" is a humorously paranoid song about... well, germs, and "Your Horroscope fot Today" puts astrology in it's place with Ska. "Albuquerque" is more or less story telling, with the music taking a definite second fiddle. As my Mum put it, "It's 11 minutes of crap!", and she's right, but what crap! "Truck Drivin' Song" is a one-joke-song which suprisingly survives multiple listenings. "Polka Power" is, in my opinion, Al's best polka yet. Hey, anything that combines Hamson, The Spice Girls and Marilyn Manson to polka music has to be good. Trust me.

I've been an Al fan since his early "Another One Rides the Bus" days, and I've consistently kept up with his work. "Running with Scissors" is, technically speaking, one of his best. With every album, Al and the Stupid Band get better at mimicking not just the lyrics, but the overall sound of the originals. "Running with Scissors" shows the fruits of 19 years' worth of "getting the sound just right."

I notice that Al's humour in "Scissors" is more biting than before and less somphomoric. Kind of like graduating from Mad magazine to National Lampoon, if that makes any sense. Another review here likens the change as a departure from the world of mere parody and a foray into the world of satire. I agree. As Al gets older (like we all do), I think he's staying in touch with his core group of long time fans, who are also growing more sophisicated in their choice of humour.

So buy it. It's witty. It sounds good. And best of all, buying it ensures that Al will be back with more for us.

Otherwise, you probably would not be reading this review. I have to say I don't have one song I dislike. "Jerry Springer" is one favorite, but the lyrics that really stick are from "It's All About the Pentiums." "The Saga Begins" definitely shows Al's genius to put an entire screenplay into lyrics. Even if you are not a Weird Al fan, this album would make you crack quite a few smiles. ENJOY!

Al's done it again. This new CD is out of this world hilarious. My favorite song is "Germs", because it reminds of how my mom always to warn me about washing your hands all the time, or else the germs will get you. This album isn't as good as Bad Hair Day or Even Worse, but it still has it where it counts. I'm going to an Al concert in a couple of days, and I can't wait to see him play live. Kudos to Al and the band on another great piece of music. And to you... yeah, I'm talkin' to you Junior... if you haven't bought this CD yet.... BUY IT!!

If you play the cd on your computer and go to the cd drive there will be a secret file with a movie and a readme file in it. read the readme file first, it's funny. then watch the movie. it's funny too!