Customer Reviews

UHF: Weird Al Yankovic

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After the middle-of-the-road Even Worse, Al made a movie, UHF, now a cult 80's film, and the soundtrack to it shows him back in form. How many hours did Mr. Yankovic lie awake thinking about how to incorporate the lyrics to the Beverly Hillbillies song to Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing". Mark Knopfler was generous enough, as he also did the guitar for this song!

"Gandhi II" is a TV trailer from the UHF movie. "Next week, on U62, he's back, and this time he's mad. No more Mr. Passive Resistance" and it's done to the melody from Shaft by Isaac Hayes.

"Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters from A Planet Near Mars." Yes, sounds like the title of a bad 1950's UFO movie and if you ever heard "Slime Creatures From Outer Space" from Dare To Be Stupid, you get the idea what kind of song it is. I wonder if Al had a pet hamster and was staring at intently enough to come up with a wacky song. Hamsters the size of a blimp, who play electric guitars, and "think the whole stinkin' world is their exercise wheel"... wow!

"Isle Thing" incorporates a TV song with Tone-Loc's "Wild Thing" and Al's mimicking Mr. Loc's voice is simply funny. "I'm watching that Gilligan's Isle Thing" is the tag line to the chorus. His commentary on the various characters is great, as he says that Ginger and Maryann could've used some funky cold medina. And on the Professor, "If he's so fly, then tell me why he couldn't build a lousy raft?" Hasta la vista, little buddy!

Polka time, and this time it's all Rolling Stones song. "The Hot Rocks Polka" consists of a medley of "It's Only Rock And Roll", "Brown Sugar", "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "Honky Tonky Women", "Under My Thumb", "Ruby Tuesday", "Miss You", "Sympathy For The Devil", "Get Off Of My Cloud", "Shattered", "Let's Spend The Night Together", and "I Can't Get No Satisfaction."

The title track is another TV song and invites the listener to become a couch potato because "we got it all on UHF." However, don't watch too much, as Al sings "You can sit around and stare at the picture tube/'til your brain turns into cottage cheese."

"Let Me Be Your Hog" is a brief bluesy-rocker that gets cut off and segues into his parody of Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy", which is "She Drives Like Crazy." The driving-challenged girl here does "eighty...in second gear" and "got [her] license from Cracker Jacks." Auto sound effects are used here.

"Generic Blues" is a George Thorogood-like blues rock parody of the usual subjects of blues songs and even mixes things up around: "My daddy was a waitress/my mama sold bathroom tile/my brothers and sisters all hated me/'cause I was an only child." Funniest line: "I'd flush myself right down the toilet/but I'd just clog up the drain."

"Spatula City" is a commercial for spatulas of every shape, size, and colour, "Fun Zone" is a skippy instrumental--was it used in the movie as a prelude for a TV show?

"Spam" is a send-up of R.E.M.'s "Stand", much more developed than Monty Python's spam song to be sure.

The country-ish "The Biggest Ball OF Twine in Minnesota" starts another Al tradition--meandering marathon goofy story songs. Well, that's where the protagonists' kids want to go. It does indeed make one wonder, "Ohhh, what on earth would make a man decide to do that sort of thing/Ohhh, windin' up 21,140 pounds of string/What was he tryin' to prove?/Who was he tryin' to impress?" and other such questions.

After a slight dip that lowered with Even Worse, UHF is Even Better, as it shows Al back in silly form. Maybe doing the movie helped. Al's second wind would continue with his next album, and brother, was he really off the deep end.

"Weird Al Yankovic is the most succesful recording comedian in history, and this album prooves it. I recently saw the movie "UHF", and while I have to live with the fact that critics called it a flop, I call it a cult classic. So far, off the soundtrack, I've heard "Spam", "Money For Nothing/The Beverly Hillbillies", and of course "UHF", and I consider them all my favorites. I want to get the soundtrack, as well as the new album, Running with Scissors, and I would like to wish Al a n early happy birthday. 40 years old. Un-b-lieve-able.

UHF was a great movie, and Al topped it off by putting out a great soundtrack. It was great to hear the songs from the movie, such as Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies and UHF, but Al also brought in new parodies and originals to complete this album. He's at his best in the originals. Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters from a Planet Near Mars has a lot of funny moments, as do Generic Blues and The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota. For parodies, Al is seldom funnier than he is in Spam. It is truly an indicator of Al's awesome abilites. This album, just like its corresponding movie, is sadly underrated.

This was my favorite Al-bum, well, until "Poodle Hat" came along, but anyway, it's got one ultra-awesome song, eight great songs, one good song, and three mediocre/bad songs.

1. Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies - 3/5. Gets a little old after a while, but still good.
2. Gandhi II - 5/5. Hilarious clip from the "UHF" film.
3. Attack Of The Radioactive Hamsters From A Planet Near Mars - 5/5. Cute little song. Also notable for the longest title of a Weird Al song.
4. Isle Thing - 3/5. Good lyrics, but I never liked the original.
5. The Hot Rocks Polka - 5/5. One of his best polkas. You'd really appreciate this if you were a Stones fan.
6. UHF - 5/5. Very funny song with a great tune. The music video is one of his most complex and funny.
7. Let Me Be Your Hog - 5/5. The shortest Weird Al song, only 0:17 seconds. It's also one of his stupid.
8. She Drives Like Crazy - 2/5. His voice is a little annoying on this one.
9. Generic Blues - 5/5. One of his best songs. Hilarious suicidal blues number with some witty lyrics.
10. Spatula City - 5/5. Another great clip from the film.
11. Fun Zone - 4/5. Al's only instrumental (if you pretend the "heys" and "yeahs" aren't there).
12. Spam - 5/5. Great REM parody about everyone's favorite lunch meat.
13. The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota - 6/5. Al's seven-minute-long epic tale of a tourist family going out to see the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota. One of my top three Weird Al songs. Pure genius. You are bound to love this awesome song!

So, UHF is worth buying for "Gandhi II", "Attack Of The Radioactive Hamsters From A Planet Near Mars", "The Hot Rocks Polka", "UHF", "Let Me Be Your Hog", "Generic Blues", "Spatula City", "Spam", and "The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota".

This thirteen track album is one of "Weird Al's greatest masterpieces. For those of you who haven't seen the film you get a few hilarious short sound bites in the form of tracks Gandhi II, Fun Zone (music from Stanley Spadowski's funhouse) and Spatula City. Beverly Hillbillies (parody of Money for Nothing) film clip from the movie along with Let Me Be Your Hog and the UHF song from the credits are the only other tracks actually from the UHF movie. They are all songs you will want to here over and over again.

Other great parodies on this album are Isle Thing (parody of Wild Thing) a song about getting addicted to Gilligan's Island, She Drive's Like Crazy (parody of She Drive's Me Crazy) which sounds just like the Fine Young Cannibals and the ode to manufactured meat entitled Spam (parody of REM's Stand).

Non parodies by Al are also brilliant with the classic tale of American travel track entitled The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota giving you six minutes and forty-eight seconds of a family's three day journey to the glorious huge majestic sphere. Directions to the Twine Ball aren't entirely accurate if like many you decide to make a pilgrimage to the Twine Ball in Darwin but you'll laugh all the way there if playing this album.

Buy this album. You won't be disappointed.

As others before me have said, this cd is awesome. Its humor is infectious for those who have seen the movie and those that haven't alike. Songs from the movie include UHF and Money For Nothing, while the other tracks are pure Al hilarity. Fan of the Stones? You'll love Hot Rocks Polka. Or into Tone Loc? Try Isle Thing. And for the true Harry Chappen fan's out there.. remember 30,000 lbs of Bananas? Weird Al perfectly mimics the rhythm of that infamous voyage with his own Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota. True fun for all types.

UHF was a bust at the box office, but went on to achieve cult status. This soundtrack is good for anyone who enjoyed the humor of "UHF," and the music of Mr. Yankovic. Look and see:

1. Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies: 4/5 From the movie.
2. Gandhi II: 5/5 A funny sound clip from the film.
3. AOFRHFAPLM: 2/5 What?
4. Isle Thing: 3/5 Kind of a Dumb Parody
5. The Hot Rocks Polka: 5/5 Rolling Stones fans will love this one!
6. UHF: 4/5 "We got it all on UHF."
7. Let Me Be Your Hog: 2/5 Was featured breiefly in the film.
8. She Drives Like Crazy: 3/5 Funny parody.
9. Generic Blues: 0/5 I didn't care for this one.
10. Spatula City: 5/5 Just like #2.
11. Fun Zone: 2/5 Semi-amusing instrumental music.
12. Spam: 3/5 Funny parody of Stand by R.E.M.
13. The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota: 5/5 Weird Al has always saved the best for last, from "Nature Trail to Hell" to "Albuquerque." This is no exception.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review and feel free to leave me a helpful/not helpful feedback.

This album was released in 1989, and is in part the soundtrack to "Weird Al" Yankovic's movie UHF, but most of its contents is not included in the movie. On this album, included in the movie, is the song "Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies," the movie's theme "UHF," two clips from the movie, and an instrumental called "Fun Zone." All of those are quite good.

However, there's also a lot of great stuff on this album that is not included in the movie, such as "The Hot Rocks Polka," which is a polka medley of Rolling Stones songs. There are also some great parodies, along with some great originals. My favourite song on here is an original called "Generic Blues." Now, that one can sure crack listeners up!

A must-have for all "Al-oholics!"

"Weird Al" Yankovic has always been one of pop music's guilty pleasures, and his 1989 release UHF/Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff is no exception. As the title suggests, this album not only commemorates UHF's soundtrack highlights but also additional material recorded between 1988 and 1989. Under returning producer and veteran rock guitarist Rick Derringer, UHF's parodies sound increasingly similar to their originals (i.e., "Isle Thing" and "She Drives Like Crazy"), while a handful of original compositions deliver the beefiest guitars ever heard on a Weird Al release (i.e., the title track, "Let Me Be Your Hog," and "Generic Blues"). Despite this evolving creativity, UHF demonstrates a slump in Weird Al's songwriting abilities as popular music's premier comedian, notably endorsed by his deplorable original "Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters From a Planet Near Mars." Possibly worse, the Fine Young Cannibals' irritating "She Drives Me Crazy" sadly resurfaces via Weird Al's equally irritating "She Drives Like Crazy," which tries the patience of even the most devoted Weird Al fan. Nevertheless, Weird Al rescues listeners' tormented ears and vindicates his artistic credibility with "Gandhi II" (à la "Theme From Shaft") and "Spatula City," two remarkable commercial parodies that prove why he's still America's favorite musical satirist. In addition, UHF's remaining parodies - "Isle Thing," "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies," and "Spam" - genuinely highlight Weird Al's renowned fixation with food and television, the undisputed formula behind his well-deserved reputation. All things considered, UHF endures artistically as a transitional album between his '80s heyday and the imminent artistic makeover revealed on 1991's Off the Deep End. Recommended for both moderate and genuine Weird Al aficionados, UHF remains nearly as accessible as subsequent compilations Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, The TV Album, and The Food Album, which together incorporate only three of this album's 13 selections.

I got this for my birthday after I'd watched the movie so many times my eyeballs fell out. I liked the fillers like "Let Me Be Your Hog" which I often play while driving with my windows down. People snarl at me and I don't know why. Oh, yeah, and "Spatula City" and "Ghandi II" are all hilarious. There're a bunch of track that aren't in the movie, hence the "and other stuff," which inclde "Spam," a parody of REM's "Stand," "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota," which is terribly hilarious (and long, 7 or 8 minutes), and, my favourite (next to the twineball) "Isle Thing," a parody of "Wild Thing," which begins "Met this fine young thing/at the local Circle K/She made a date for half-past eight/So I said what the hey . . ." Of course there's the title theme, the "Beverly Hillbillies/Money for Nothing" parody, and I think a couple of others. I don't remember. All that Tang I drank for breakfast inhibits my memory. Anyway, buy this album. It's funny.