It’s also the day to pick up “Weird Al” Yankovic’s new CD, “Straight Outta Lynwood.” You’ll want to hurry.
It’s been three years since his last CD, and he hasn’t slowed down any. 12 songs, including parodies of Chamillioniare, Green Day, The Beach Boys, Usher, Cake, Taylor Hicks, R. Kelly, and more. After this you’ll wonder why 50 Cent doesn’t record all of his work with polka-style accordion. My favorites were “White and Nerdy” (a parody of Chamillionaire’s “Ridin'”), “Virus Alert,” which has a sort of 80’s rock opera feel (Queenish, Styxish), “I’ll Sue Ya” (a Rage Against the Machine style parody) (Why the Affleck hate, Al? You ripped on him twice this album…), “Confessions Part III” (a parody of Usher’s “Confessions Part II” that will make it impossible to ever take the original seriously again, assuming you could) and “Don’t Download This Song,” a We-Are-The-World type parody that slams music pirates, the RIAA, and the artists more or less equally. That one, interestingly enough, is available for free download from his MySpace page or from www.dontdownloadthissong.com .
Even if you do pirate “Lynwood” you’ll still need to buy the dual-disc CD for the 6 music videos –all animated pieces by some of today’s best animators including Bill Plympton, John Krickalusi, Thomas Lee, and the folks at Robot Chicken. There’s also a “making of” feature that shows how Al’s songs get made, and a karoake version of every song so you can try and keep up with him. And good luck with that. Besides, you need to see the band photo of Al and his stable. His live-action video for “White and Nerdy” didn’t make it in time, I guess, but you can see it here.
(Don’t miss the missing track, “You’re Pitiful,” a parody of James Blunt’s unavoidable hit. It was made with permission but dropped after Blunt’s label protested, so Al released it for free on his site. The CD is not complete without it.)
Making up for that is Chamillionaire’s refreshing attitude towards Al’s parody of their hit. “The Weird Al parody definitely gives ‘Ridin’ the mega-record status,” Chamillionaire told AllHipHop.com. “Weird Al has done parodies for the biggest mega-stars in the game, and to put me in that category is crazy when you think about the fact that, less than a year ago, I was a new artist to the mainstream.”
Overall a very strong album that displays his incredible range and attention to detail, as well as his continuing immersion into the latest music sounds. As with all of his CDs, Al rescues several songs for me I had dismissed because I liked the tunes but didn’t like the lyrics. I probably missed some of the impact that fans of the originals will feel — his 11-minute parody of R. Kelly’s “Trapped in the Closet” is funnier if you know the source — but the new lyrics make them worth it anyway. More than usual, this time, in fact. And I can’t wait to hear this in concert. You know he’ll come out in full nerd regalia, possibly on a Segway…
I’ve been listening to “Lynwood” for a couple of days now, determined to memorize the thing. It takes longer now that he’s doing so much rhyme-heavy gangsta rap, but it’ll help me look less nerdy when I’m pounding that bass in my Tercel. Won’t it?
WEIRD AL IS A MUSICAL GENIUS!!
Just a heads-up: the video for “White and Nerdy” is NOT on the Dual Disc of Straight Outta Lynwood. There are indeed 6 videos, five fully-animated. The sixth one is live “found footage” with the addition of dancing-pancreas animations. Although it wasn’t Al who did the “Pancreas” video, it’s kind of like Al’s video for “Christmas At Ground Zero” only without that whole nuclear-annihilation aspect. I thought it was pretty darn funny.
Eek! You’re right, I missed that. Duly noted and changed, thanks!
Great review! I had to laugh at the idea of Al on a segway in concert! Can’t wait to get my own White and Nerdy hoodie and wear it to his show.
HEEEEEEEY I LOVE WEASEL STOMPING DAY!!!