Does not Weird AL rock?

[bouv]

I just want to say that Weird Al does rock. I read and resonded to the Beattles thread, and in doing so remebered that in many respects, Weird Al is better than many artists. (preparing to be killed in about five minutes.)
Hear me out. He has had every one of his albums go platinum, with the possible exception of Polka Party, it might only have went gold. He has won two Grammys, been around for over twenty years, had the same band in those twenty years, never had any problems with drugs or alcohol, and even made a movie. He has also directed many of his own videos, as well as many other people's vidoes (Hanson, fo one.)
Many people say that this band or that band is great because they did something new. Ok, I can almost buy that. But Weird Al did something that had already been done to death and becamse enormously successful. To me, that is a bigger acomplishment.
Please don't yell at me. I'm not saying in any means that Weird Al is the best artist out there. I am merely saying that he rocks.

[bdgr]

Originally posted by bouv
I just want to say that Weird Al does rock. I read and resonded to the Beattles thread, and in doing so remebered that in many respects, Weird Al is better than many artists. (preparing to be killed in about five minutes.)
Hear me out. He has had every one of his albums go platinum, with the possible exception of Polka Party, it might only have went gold. He has won two Grammys, been around for over twenty years, had the same band in those twenty years, never had any problems with drugs or alcohol, and even made a movie. He has also directed many of his own videos, as well as many other people's vidoes (Hanson, fo one.)
Many people say that this band or that band is great because they did something new. Ok, I can almost buy that. But Weird Al did something that had already been done to death and becamse enormously successful. To me, that is a bigger acomplishment.
Please don't yell at me. I'm not saying in any means that Weird Al is the best artist out there. I am merely saying that he rocks.

Actually, he made two movies. UHF and the Complete all(it was mostly videos, but there was some other new stuff in there)

[MsRobyn]

Weird Al does rock. He was starting out when I was in HS, and the more-or-less cerebral nature of his lyrics spoke to those of us who refused to fall into the more conventional music. And he's just fun to listen to :)

Robin

[Guinastasia]

He's a rock and roll satirist, (self-described), so he can change with the times. Plus, he's funny, and if I do say so myself, not bad looking without the glasses and the mustache.

(In the Saga Begins video...not bad!)

[Ruffian]

Weird Al not only rocks, he RULES. And he'll be getting an invitation to DeathLlama's and my wedding.

[blur]

I've seen Weird Al 3 times, and every time his show has rocked. I also had the chance to meet him before one of them, and he was one of the nicest performers I have ever met.

[Quadzilla]

Weird Al is wonderful. The revised lyrics are always catchy, and it's not obscure satire, either... full-blown Barenaked Ladies, The Offspring - stuff we've all heard "for real" on the radio. I've even found that I can no longer sing "American Pie" without starting with the chorus "My, my, this here Anakin guy..."

And I'm with Guinastasia - MUCH nicer-looking now without the glasses, but I wish he'd go permanently to the look from "The Saga Begins." Mmmmmm.... ;)

[Togepi no Miko]

He most certainly does rock. the first thing I ever saw by him was his videos for Rocky road and Lucy. I darn near wore out my 45 of Eat It.

any idea when we can expect a new album from him?

do people prefer his parody or nonparody work? being a parodist myself, i vote for parodies, but such things as Gonna Buy me a condo and nature trail to hell in 3D are classics too.

--It's Xmas at ground zero...

[betenoir]

Originally posted by Guinastasia
He's a rock and roll satirist, (self-described

Really? Can anybody help me out and point to any actual satire in his work?

Parody, yes.

[mouthbreather]

I'll step up to the plate and say that I think Weird Al does not rock. I for the most part find him to be pretty annoying. Sure, he's had a couple songs over the years that were mildly amusing the first time you heard them, but I can't imagine sitting through an entire album of his.

I also saw him in concert and met him. A friend of mine got passes. He was a very nice guy, I'll give him that. I just don't think that what he does requires very much talent, and I don't find most of it funny. That's not to say that he isn't talented, when he went into one of his medleys at the concert he was getting pretty busy on that accordion. And his band was tight. I just think that it doesn’t require much talent to “write” the songs that he does. Clever? I guess so, in a drippy kind of way. Just that only (or mostly) writing parodies, seems, I dunno... kinda lame.

OK folks, fire away.

[RealityChuck]

"Weird" Al (and there's absolutely nothing weird about him) is a truly second-rate humorist. Allan Sherman did it better forty years ago. It's pretty sad that he's the best humor in music has to offer these days.

[HeyHomie]

Put me in the "Weird Al DOES Rock" column.

I saw him in concert at Six Flags St. Louis a coupla summers ago and he totally blew the audience away.

My only complaint against him is that he holds to this noble belief that he shouldn't parody an artist without their permission (even though the law supports his right to do so). This means that he won't do Prince. And Prince, of all people, deserves a parody.

*singing* "Been spending most our lives livin' in an Amish Paradise..."

[Phobos]

His songs can seem a bit childish, but there's a keen brain behind it (and we all can enjoy being childish now and then). Plus, he's done wonders for Polka music. :)

Thumbs up.

[mack]

I saw his concert on the telly and was pretty impressed with the way his band effortlessly switches gears, but except for the lyrical changes they're pretty much just a really good cover band.

Video-wise, his best is "Smells Like Nirvana". The marbles thing and mooing cow is classic.

[BoBettie]

Weird Al and I are currently on the outs. I was looking forward to his concert in my town ON MY BIRTHDAY, no less. I talked about it for months, got all excited, listened and re-listened to all my Al cd's, talked about it, etc. I have been a fan since I was a child, and I've turned countless others into Al fans. 1 week before the concert:

CANCELLED
no reason given, as far as I'm aware. All surrounding shows sold out. Zette heartbroken for her 30th birthday. (I was going to stay after the show and see if I could get a picture or something with him, since it was my birthday and all)
I don't know if and when I can forgive him for this, but I know it truely ruined my birthday. I was so disappointed, I felt like a little kid on Christmas who broke her favorite new toy.

Zette
(Wah)

[Alzarian]

Let me be the first to say that I was a huge Weird Al fan back in the 1980's. I pretty much wore out my copies of his first five albums. And when he gets it right, it's tremendous. To this day, I adore "Dare to Be Stupid", "Yoda", "I Think I'm a Clone Now"...

But, there are also a lot of songs he's done which seem only half-baked. I mean, I could come up with better versions to some of his attempts, and I'm no great artist.

Forgettable and lame songs like: "Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch", "Living With a Hernia", "I Wanna New Duck"?

Still, I do tend to love his polka medleys. And his last album has halfway decent, though I thought he missed out on some great songs to satire: "Tubthumping", anything by Backstreet Boys or Nsync, Ricky Martin, Britney Spears, Hanson.

Maybe next time...

[bouv]

Yes, Weird Al does have songs out there that aren't as good as some others. But what artist doesn't? There are not a lot of fans out there who love every song and album done by their favorourite group. It's unavoidable.
Plus, it's all someone's personal opinion, so who's to say, really?

[rjung]

Originally posted by RealityChuck
"Weird" Al (and there's absolutely nothing weird about him) is a truly second-rate humorist. Allan Sherman did it better forty years ago.
Sorry, but if you're putting Allan Sherman (or anyone else) ahead of Tom Lehrer, I'll have to strongly disagree. Lehrer is the leader of musical comedy.

While "Weird Al"'s stuff is not as intellectually deep, he does entertain consistently, and (almost always) in a family-friendly rated-PG way (the only exception being IMO "The Night Santa Went Crazy"). Can't see any reason not to recommend Yankovic. :)

[rjung]

Originally posted by betenoir
Originally posted by Guinastasia
He's a rock and roll satirist
Really? Can anybody help me out and point to any actual satire in his work?
"That's Your Horiscope for Today", from the latest album (Running with Scissors), strikes me as a bull's-eye satire of the entire horoscope/astrology/fortune-telling mindset.

[Guinastasia]

I think he cancelled one concert because the place wasn't big enough to accomodate the arrangements, and he didn't want to have people buy tickets to a show where they wouldn't be able to get into, or hear properly or something.

Did anyone else think Coolio acted like an ass about Amish Paradise? He was like, "Oh, I didn't say yes, they did it anyways!" Weird Al did ask, and was told that Coolio said yes. So he did it, and now he feels really really bad-even wrote Coolio a letter and everything. I think one of his bandmates says that Coolio probably did say yes, but then decided it would look better to deny it.

He was like, "I ain't with that. My song was too serious, blah blah blah..." get a life!

[mouthbreather]

<Coolio's side of the story>

Weird Al asked permission, and Coolio said he would rather Al not do the song, because it had deep meaning for him (well, that's probably a whole other debate. I'll leave alone how deep the meaning runs in 'Gangsta's Paradise'). Al asked, Coolio said no. Then the parody song comes out. If he had just done it, then fine. But since he asked, that's pretty damn rude to go ahead and do it after he told him he didn't want it done.

</Coolio's side of the story>

My point is not to stand up for Coolio here, but we have two people with two different stories, and I'm no inclined to believe one any more than the other.

Anyway, the whole thing is now a moot point. I watched the VH1 behind the music on Weird Al, and Al apologized on that show to Coolio again for the misunderstanding. Classy move on Al's part. I recently heard a radio interview with Coolio and he said that while he was pissed when it happened, that he feels no ill will towards Al and wished him all the best. Classy move on Coolio's part. And end of the story.

[RealityChuck]

Sorry, but if you're putting Allan Sherman (or anyone else) ahead of Tom Lehrer, I'll have to strongly disagree. Lehrer is the leader of musical comedy.

Lehrer and Sherman are in two different categories. Lehrer writes songs; Sherman writes new lyrics to existing songs. Thus Sherman is more like Wierd Al.

Believe me, there's absolutely no way Wierd Al can be compared to Lehrer. The gap in talent can be measured in light years. At least Sherman was doing the same thing as Al. And if you want to find a contemporary example of this sort of songwriting, listen to The Capitol Steps (http://www.capsteps.com).

Lehrer is undoubtedly great, but he's second to the Bonzo Dog Band, who get the edge because of their greater range of musical styles, and the fact that they can make you laugh without lyrics.

[August West]

Originally posted by Guinastasia
Did anyone else think Coolio acted like an ass about Amish Paradise?

I laughed out loud when I saw Coolio bitching about Weird Al "stealing his song".

Uhhh, Coolio? Didn't you steal the song from Stevie Wonder? Has no one ever heard 'Pastime Paradise'?

[Cat Whisperer]

Originally posted by RealityChuck
"Weird" Al (and there's absolutely nothing weird about him)...
Have you seen how flexible he is? It looks pretty weird to me to see a grown man put both legs behind his head. (Oh yeah, my vote is "Rocks".)

[c_goat]

Put me in the "ROCKS".

I just want to say that Weird Al is not ALL parody. In fact at least half of his songs are original (based on looking at my CDs and counting original vs. parody on each one). Only the parodies get any airtime though :(

Satirical songs for betenoir:

The Night Santa Went Crazy - "Ms. Claus is on the phone every night, with the lawyers, negotiating the movie rights". If that's not satire about the media, then I'm an idiot. (Very possible)

The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota - Satire about national landmarks. Not on any CD though...

Callin in Sick - Maybe my definition of satire is wrong, but I think this qualifies.

Grapefruit Diet - Could be considered a satire of weight-loss schemes. (Ok maybe I'm reaching here)

Midnight Star - Again, kind of unsure whether this qualifies, but pokes fun at National Enquirer type magazines.

Those are off the top of my head... feel free to correct me. Also note that most of them are original songs (I'm not sure about midnight star, but grapefruit diet isn't).

[Guinastasia]

"One More Minute" is one of the funniest songs I've ever heard-with one of the BEST lyrics-
"I'd rather clean all the bathrooms at Grand Central Station with my tongue than spend One More Minute, with you."

[Elkman]

No question... ROCKS!!!

I've seen him 3 times. The costume changes he does are amazing, given the time he is offstage. As for his talent, anyone who has listened to his original stuff knows he has more songwriting talent than most. In fact, my 2 favorite songs are "Airline Amy" off of "Off the Deep End", and "Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" off of UHF. As for UHF, I understand that it is available on CD finally. Haven't found it yet, so can't confirm. On the topic of Al, did he ever record "I'm A Nerd" (parody of "Free As A Bird"), or his parody of the "Friends" theme (I'll Repair For You) or are they live tracks only? Any info appreciated.

[rjung]

Originally posted by Elkman
On the topic of Al, did he ever record "I'm A Nerd" (parody of "Free As A Bird"), or his parody of the "Friends" theme (I'll Repair For You) or are they live tracks only?
I think they're live only -- he will put a parody on an album only if he can get permission from the original songwriters. If he doesn't, he'll do snippits in the concerts, but that's as far as he'll take 'em.