Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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102 of 114 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't download this song--the record store's where you belong--to get the DUALDISC!, September 26, 2006
This album by Weird Al Yankovic is very funny with clever, creative lyrics and solid musical arrangements. Whether Al is singing a parody of someone else's song (for example, "White And Nerdy" is a parody of "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire) or doing his own thing completely as in the song "Pancreas," Al always makes me laugh. I was never bored while listening to the CD side of this album; and with the "DualDisc" feature the videos and still photos on the DVD side of the disc were equally awesome and very well done.
I especially like "Pancreas;" the funny racial issues song called "White And Nerdy;" "Confessions Part III;" and "Don't Download This Song." The arrangement for "Polkarama," a really funny medley of songs by artists including The Black Eyed Peas, Pussycat Dolls and The Killers, is terrific. "Trapped In The Drive-Thru" is a pretty long song at almost ten minutes; but the musical arrangement and silly lyrics held my attention.
I agree with other reviewers who write that "Don't Download This Song" has that catchy, inspirational musical arrangement that also pokes fun at songs like "We Are The World." "Don't Download This Song" is strategically placed as the last song on the CD side of the album so the album ends with a song that's not just funny--the song packs a punch with its' arrangement and silly, over the top dramatic lyrics that really go after and lampoon "real life" ballads like "We Are The World."
The quality of the sound is excellent; and the liner notes provide full song lyrics, song credits and some great photos of Al and his band. Awesome!
The DVD side of the DualDisc is easy enough to figure out; one side of the disc is clearly marked "to play CD--this side up" and the other side is marked "to play DVD--this side up." The DVD side of the DualDisc features crystal clear, nicely animated videos of six songs including "Don't Download This Song;" "Weasel Stomping Day;" "I'll Sue Ya" and "Pancreas." Of special interest is a roughly nine minute video of Al and his band in the studio. I was very impressed.
Both the CD and the DVD sides played fine in my portable music player as well as on my PC; so I hope you don't encounter any problems with this format. In the past there were occasional problems playing these DualDiscs.
Overall, this is a very funny CD/DVD combo that proves Al Yankovic has a great talent for making people laugh with his music and funny parodies of popular songs by other artists. I highly recommend this for fans of Weird Al Yankovic and anyone who enjoys funny take-offs on popular entertainment!
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Straight Into Hilarity, September 26, 2006
New Weird Al! Whoo! :)
As a long time Weird Al fan, I've been waiting for this album for years, and it's really good. It's not my favorite Al ("Running with Scissors" still holds a strong place in my heart), but there's a lot of really great stuff here. In order...
--The tracks that were previously released on Al's MySpace page are awesome...the CD opens with the Chamillionaire parody "White & Nerdy" and closes with the soon-to-be-classic "Don't Download This Song."
--"Pancreas," a musical tribute to that most comical of organs, didn't really impress me at first, but the more I've listened to it, the more I like it. There's some great musical invention here.
--The Green Day parody "Canadian Idiot" crams every Canada joke into 2 minutes that you can, and is very funny.
--"I'll Sue Ya" may be Al's most hard-rocking tune ever, with a surprisingly catchy baseline over some very funny lines about our lawsuit-happy culture. ("I sued Colorado because it looks a bit too much like Wyoming.")
--"Polkarama," the traditional polka medley, is, as always, more entertaining if you know the songs he's using, and as someone who doesn't listen to much modern pop music, it kinda went over my head. Anyone who does listen to modern pop wanna post their take?
--"Virus Alert" is a very fast-paced tribute to that most annoying of modern computer trends, and very entertaining. Musically, it almost feels like 80's pop, which is an unusual departure for Al.
--"Confessions Part III," an Usher parody, is hysterical, as Al confesses to everything from infidelity to hogging the last of the rice krispies, while noting how rediculous it is to break up your soul-exposures into episodes.
--"Weasel Stomping Day" may be my favorite of the whole album, even at only 1:30 or so...I defy anyone to hear the sound of rodent's getting crushed and not at least chuckle. A light and upbeat tribute to a joyfully masochistic holiday ("It's a tradition, that means it's okay!"), it may be the greatest companion song to "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" ever.
--"Close But No Cigar" is also brilliant, an original about a guy who keeps nit-picking every relationship in beautifully absurd ways. ("She kept using the word 'infer' when I know she meant 'imply.'")
--"Do I Creep You Out" is a bit historic, as Al first takes aim at an American Idol (Taylor Hicks), with great success (though somewhat brief success, as the song itself is short enough as it is). The overblown chorus and climax exactly captures the phony bravado of the Idol crowd, and one must applaud Hicks as well for having the guts to let Al go through with it.
--Then comes "Trapped in the Drive-Thru," a parody of R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet." It runs...get ready...10:50. No typo. Al's done rambling epics before, but usually originals - he's never tackled this big a parody before, especially one with as bizarre a premise: It's nothing more or less than a depiction of a couple heading to get some dinner at a drive thru. That's it, really. I think this is one where its success is truly in the ear of the individual...me, I loved it. The sheer absurdity of spending nearly 11 musical minutes documenting a relatively uneventful trip to grab food is what I find funny. You may think differently.
That's the album...at least, the musical side. Thing is, this here is a dual-disc release, one side musical CD, the other side DVD. The sheer volume of material is where this CD really shines. While I HATE double-sided discs, this one has so much stuff crammed on there that I can forgive it. Side B features:
--The whole album in 5.1 surround sound, an enhanced stereo mix and a karaoke mix. All with on-screen options for the hearing impaired. Tres cool.
--A 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, as we see Al and the band working on the music in the studio.
--And...SIX new music videos of all the album's originals, done by prominent animators from the Academy Award-nominated Bill Plympton to the guys from "Robot Chicken" (which, if you saw the show last Sunday, you've already seen). Just a terrifically packed set of extras which would only be made complete with the inclusion of the "White and Nerdy" video, which sadly was completed after the album was.
All in all, an excellent CD with some truly nifty special features added in. If you're an Al fan at all, it's well worth the buy, and at 14.88 (current Amazon list price) it's uber-cheap, too. Awesome stuff.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
King Of Parody Is Back!, September 26, 2006
I've been a Weird Al fan forever. Weird Al Yankovic has been releasing parody music for 25 years. Parody victims have been anything from Michael Jackson to Madonna to Nirvana and it has always been hilarious listening to him poking fun of popular music and contemporary culture. His 80's albums sold well and you could frequently see him on MTV but lately his albums have been less successful. Al's last album "Poodle Hat" was a let down commercially, it stalled after only one single and little was heard of it. One reason was personal, Al's parents both killed in their home from carbon monoxide poisoning while sleeping and Al stopped promoting the album and releasing new singles. Only 1 single was released from that album also, his own "Bob", initially he was suppost to release "Couch Potato" a ripp off of Eminem, but ironically Eminem didn't approve the suggestion to make a video. Another problem with "Couch Potato" was that many of the parodized song were getting old and hadn't been on the charts for years, Al had also become predictable and his attempts to poke fun of popular culture wasn't as fresh as it had been in the glory days. What kind of expectations could we have of "Straight Outta Lynwood" then?
This is Weird Al's best album in ages. The parody songs are right on spot and it feels like he has catched up with the contemporary culture again, most of the subjects he deal with are still very much present and feel fresh. On "White And Nerdy" (a parody of Chamillionaire "Ridin Dirrty") we'll find Al playing the nerd again, lyrics like "I'll ace any trivia quiz you bring on, I'm fluent in JavaScript as well as Klingon" and "Shoppin' online for deals on some writable media, I've edit Wikipedia/ I memorized "Holy Grail" really well,I can recite it right now and have you ROTFLOL" There is even a video for this, it's hilarious. On "Canadian Idiot" (Parody of Green Day) it's time to make fun of the Canadians. "Well maple syrup and snow's what they export/ they treat curling just like it's a real sport". Also right on the spot, after 25 years it beyond me why the Canucks never were parodized before. "Confessions Part 3" a parody of Usher and "Do I Creep You Out" of Taylor Hicks, are also fun and "Trapped in the Drive Through" a parody of R. Kelly, and just like Kelly's song this song is sang in the same way and feels like a 11 minutes long narrated soap opera. Only diffrence that Al song deals with fast food and is 10 minutes of completely pointless nonsense. Ofcourse there is the usual "Polka" song, now called "Polkarama" and samples artists like Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Rihanna, Pussycat Dolls, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and Kanye West.
The peronal songs are ofcourse less interesting, but not bad. "Don't Download This Song" also released on video, is Al's version of a "We Are The World" and deals what happens to "criminals" that download music. "Pancreas", a Brian Wilson tribute. "Ill Sue Ya" a Rage Against the Machine sounding rocker deals with lawsuits. "Virus Alerts" is hilarious and deals with the technologic problem with the computers these days. It reminds me a little of a song he made in the 80's called "Cable Tv". "Weasel Stomping Day" - cheerfully describes an apparantly traditional holiday, silly but fun, kind of "Christmas at Ground Zero". "Close But No Cigar" perhaps a tribute to Jerry Seinfeld. It's about a guy that dumps his girlfriends for the tiniest flaws. There's also a bonus song, a parody on James Blunt, now called "You're Pitiful".
Overall, Weird Al's best album since "Off The Deep End" and that sais quite alot. It seems like he's really enjoying himself again and he's been coping up with the contemporary cultures also. The subjects he deals with are fresh (Listen to White And Nerdy for example) and also very fun. This is a must buy from the funniest parody musician around. 4'5 stars.
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