Alpocalypse by 'Weird' Al Yankovic
'Weird' Al Yankovic has made a career out of parodying pop culture and after almost 30 years, he still manages to be relevant. This is Weird Al's 13th studio album, the aptly named Alpocalypse in honor of all the end of the world predictions that have been going on these last few years and I have to say that I liked this album. I've always been a fan of Weird Al but the last few albums seemed to be missing something that the earlier albums had in spades.
The big thing about this album was supposed to be the parody of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" called "Perform This Way". After some drama during the process of getting Gaga's permission to do the parody. As has always been Yankovic's MO, he sought to get Gaga's OK to do the song and was turned away supposedly by her manager. After it became public, Gaga came out and said that she never said no. Whoever you may want to believe, the song is done, the video is done and the album is done and this song is pretty damned hilarious. The video is even more hilarious.
See? The whole song just works. The lyrics are funny and I have to admit that it feels weird to see that hot woman's body with Al's face. The first time you see it, you sort of have to do a double take.
There are some other really nice songs, like "Craigslist" which is a style parody of The Doors with former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek making a nice appearance and making the song really seem like a Doors song. "Another Tattoo" is a parody of "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B. is also a pretty interesting parody and a nice song in and of itself.
There are some minor let downs for me, like "Ringtone". It's a style parody of Queen, but the song annoys me more than any song by Weird Al should. The same goes for the style parody of Weezer called "Skipper Dan". Both songs aren't bad, but they just don't seem up to par with the rest of the album. Maybe with a few more listens they will grow on me.
The real highlights of this album are the Whites Stripes inspired "CNR" and its video.
The song is basically using the idea of the Chuck Norris' facts and using it to describe deceased actor, director and game show host Charles Nelson Reilly. The song is catchy and really does well to apply that White Stripes style that so many people seem to enjoy. The video is freaking awesome. The animation and use of green screens by JibJab studios is really cool (check out their website and their end of year reviews). The song is incredibly catchy.
One of the constants in Weird Al's albums has always been the Polka song. A compilation of different songs that have been played and played ad nauseam during the time period of the release of the album. This specific polka "Polka Face" seems to be mostly female pop songs. The polka includes artists like Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Lady Antebellum, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber etc etc. This one might not be on par with "Angry White Boy Polka", "The Alternative Polka" or "Polka Power!", but its still pretty good.
Another thing I was looking forward to that Weird Al has been doing since Running With Scissors, was what I call the epic song. "Albuquerque", "Genius in France" and "Trapped in the Drive-Thru" are long ass songs that are just really cool and this album was missing a song like those. I was just a bit disappointed.
In the end, this is a pretty cool album. Probably has two of my favorite Weird Al Yankovic videos and probably "CNR" is one of my new favorite songs. It has hit and miss stuff, but its mostly good. Check it out.
7 out of 10
The big thing about this album was supposed to be the parody of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" called "Perform This Way". After some drama during the process of getting Gaga's permission to do the parody. As has always been Yankovic's MO, he sought to get Gaga's OK to do the song and was turned away supposedly by her manager. After it became public, Gaga came out and said that she never said no. Whoever you may want to believe, the song is done, the video is done and the album is done and this song is pretty damned hilarious. The video is even more hilarious.
See? The whole song just works. The lyrics are funny and I have to admit that it feels weird to see that hot woman's body with Al's face. The first time you see it, you sort of have to do a double take.
There are some other really nice songs, like "Craigslist" which is a style parody of The Doors with former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek making a nice appearance and making the song really seem like a Doors song. "Another Tattoo" is a parody of "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B. is also a pretty interesting parody and a nice song in and of itself.
There are some minor let downs for me, like "Ringtone". It's a style parody of Queen, but the song annoys me more than any song by Weird Al should. The same goes for the style parody of Weezer called "Skipper Dan". Both songs aren't bad, but they just don't seem up to par with the rest of the album. Maybe with a few more listens they will grow on me.
The real highlights of this album are the Whites Stripes inspired "CNR" and its video.
The song is basically using the idea of the Chuck Norris' facts and using it to describe deceased actor, director and game show host Charles Nelson Reilly. The song is catchy and really does well to apply that White Stripes style that so many people seem to enjoy. The video is freaking awesome. The animation and use of green screens by JibJab studios is really cool (check out their website and their end of year reviews). The song is incredibly catchy.
One of the constants in Weird Al's albums has always been the Polka song. A compilation of different songs that have been played and played ad nauseam during the time period of the release of the album. This specific polka "Polka Face" seems to be mostly female pop songs. The polka includes artists like Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Lady Antebellum, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber etc etc. This one might not be on par with "Angry White Boy Polka", "The Alternative Polka" or "Polka Power!", but its still pretty good.
Another thing I was looking forward to that Weird Al has been doing since Running With Scissors, was what I call the epic song. "Albuquerque", "Genius in France" and "Trapped in the Drive-Thru" are long ass songs that are just really cool and this album was missing a song like those. I was just a bit disappointed.
In the end, this is a pretty cool album. Probably has two of my favorite Weird Al Yankovic videos and probably "CNR" is one of my new favorite songs. It has hit and miss stuff, but its mostly good. Check it out.
7 out of 10
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