Customer Reviews

The Simpsons: The Yellow Album

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I'm as big a Simpsons fan as anyone, but this is hideous.
There are four Simpons-derived albums on the market.
Two are comprised of excerpts from the TV show. Those are
both terrific 4-5 star albums. There is another album of
all original (not from the TV show) material, The Simpsons Sing
The Blues. That album was weak and a major disappointment, but
it did feature a few (and only a few) amusing moments.

This? The best moments on this CD are the bands of silence
that separate the tracks. How anyone thought this was worth
recording is beyond me. Why anyone spent money to release
and promote it is WAY beyond me. It isn't funny and the music
[stinks].

Even if you are a completist, you don't need this. Trust me:
I am a completist. I bought it and wish I hadn't. There is
NOTHING on this album that merits your time or money.

dap

As with many of these reviewers, I am a Simpsons fan... Some even call me obsessed, what with my collection of episodes on tape and all... Unfortunately, when I picked up the ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE CD, I was excited... Little did I know what PAIN I was in for... there are maybe two good songs on the CD... PLEASE DO NOT BUY THIS EVEN IF YOU ARE A HUGE FAN OF THE SHOW!!!

So if you are expecting something like "The Simpsons Sing the Blues", you are getting that, but not at the same time.

This album is the same idea as sing the blues, has that awesome album cover, but musically is pretty weak. The vocals and lyrics are not bad, but the background music is really like bad eighties pop.

If you are a hardcore fan of The Simpsons, I recommend it, but only under that condition.

I take albums made upon the success of a franchise with a grain of salt. At first glance, that is exactly what The Yellow Album appears to be. It was released as a follow-up to the 1990 hit The Simpsons Sing the Blues - oddly, eight years later, when the hype surrounding that had long since died down. I really like SStB, which features a lot of good musical moments as well as funny covers. The Yellow Album is by no means as strong. Give it a chance, though, and you'll discover that it has its charms.

The Yellow Album covers about as many musical styles as a ten-track album can. It has no songs in the reign of "Do the Bartman", but bear with me. It opens with the song "Love?", which turns out to be a surprisingly catchy melody. Other good moments include a cover of "Sisters are Doin' it for Themselves" by Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson (and Lisa Simpson - Yeardley Smith shows once again that she's as good a singer as a voice actress), the funk-fest "She's comin' out Swingin'" and the five-part showdown "Hail to Thee, Kamp Krusty". Unfortunately, there is also some rather sub-par stuff, such as "I Just Can't Help Myself", as well as songs that the label of the Simpsons rather pulls down than supports. Examples of the latter include "Every Summer with You" (the only track with Marge) and Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away".

There are three specific songs, however, which I think justify the purchase and which explain my three star rating. "Twenty-Four Hours a Day" is a funky, lively anthem for Apu, quite insanely catchy. The beautiful "Anyone Else" feels like a heartbreak after Sing the Blues's unifying "Sibling Rivalry". But the highlight in my opinion is "Ten Commandments of Bart", Bart's life's philosophy in his own rap fashion. The track in itself is a truly hypnotic sonic journey; as we spiral backwards through Bart's commandments of anarchy, Greg Haver's musical mindscape rivals the lyrics as the centre of attention, and the result is in my opinion the album's best and most haunting track.

At times the Yellow Album sounds like a pale shadow of Sing the Blues, but at others it stands proud for what it is - a Simpsons tribute album, with some good numbers standing out, as well as nice moments like Patty and Selma Bouvier unexpectedly joining in during the closing moments of "Sisters are Doin' it for Themselves". This is not the album of the century, and don't expect to like it as a whole. Give it a chance, though, and you (like me) could discover something wonderful. "Ten Commandments of Bart" alone is worth the purchase.

Any true fan of the Simpsons will not believe their ears when they hear this pile. This album is filled with sticky sweet love songs, and cheap sounding rap tunes. The thing that sucks the most is that it takes itself so seriously. What happened to all the sarcasam and satire the Simpsons are famous for?? This album feels out of place and VERY dated. Save your money and buy "Songs in the Key of Springfeild" which features very funny music and dialog from the actual show.

The Simpsons first album wasn't that good, but it did manage to turn a profit. So they naturally recorded a follow up album soon afterwards. Apparently the record company wasn't too impressed with the results, because there was a slight delay in the release of the album. And by "slight" I mean approximately six years. To be fair to those record company executives who held back it's release, the album does have a few problems. The main one being that it's not funny. Let me repeat that: IT'S! NOT! FUNNY! At all! The whole album is pretty much a disaster. The first album was merely mediocre, but this one is downright bad. The "highlight" here is probably "She's Coming Out Swinging", where Lisa works with George Clinton's P-Funk All-Stars. That track is not too unbearable. As for the rest of the album, the less said the better. To quote Bart Simpson, "I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows."

I think this album is top class,songs like Love,Twenty-Four hours a day,Ten Commandments Of Bart,Anyone Else and Hail to thee Kamp Krusty are sheer brilliance.If anyone likes previous albulms you just have to get this album.It is so entertaining and funny.

This CD is pure crap as compared to the Songs in the Key of Springfield. I do not recommend this CD at all

I agree with the other reviewer who's waiting for "Songs in the Key of Springfield: II". "Songs" is a great album replete with Matt Groening's and Alf Clausen's touch--biting, sarcastic, witty, and libertarian--like the series (and no wonder, since the songs are taken directly from it); "Yellow" and the blues CD are terrible--they sell only because they carry the Simpsons name. Spend your money on "Songs in the Key of Springfield" instead.

My family loves the Simpsons. We think it is consistently the best-written show on the air. So when Songs in the Key of Springfield was available we grabbed for it. It is a real treat -- 5 stars. We can put it on and listen all day. The Yellow Album, however, is a real disappointment -- ESPECIALLY in comparison to Springfield. The cover is clever and, unfortunately, the best part. This album stops its parody of Sgt Pepper when you open the CD. The songs are forced and amateurish. It's like Andy Rooney time: let's get a tape recorder and make an album and we'll save the school. Thank God the show isn't written like this. Oh, there are one or two good moments (especially in Apu's solo). But it's mostly pretty flat. Rarely worthy of a chuckle. Not worth the $12. However, if you are even mildly a Simpsons fan, the Springfield CD is required listening!