I said most. But yeah, Sing For The Moment totally sucks. I heard it and thought, “my god, he’s invented white hip-hop (as opposed to hip-hop done by white people).”
And on the rest of this thread - I ain’t a huge fan of Eminem, but he’s much better than Weird Al (and I can’t believe that’s under contention). The guy’s skilled - he’s a great MC and a reasonable producer, as opposed to Weird Al, who is basically a joke that was old twenty years ago.
I mean, if you want songs with a bit of comedy, why not listen to They Might Be Giants, who do it much better and have a much longer shelf life?
Weird Al is the musical equivalent of a MAD magazine movie parody. And most people stop reading MAD when they’re 13.
Them’s fightin’ words! Weird Al is a damn talented accordionist, as anyone who’s heard his “polka” songs (esp. Alternative Polka or Polka on 45) can attest. And if you don’t mind the goofiness some of his original tunes aren’t bad- Midnight Star, Nature Trail to Hell, ummmmmm… I’ll think of more…
[sub]and UHF was sooo much better than 8 Mile.[/sub]
Btw, I like Eminem, but I can’t see why he would give a rat’s ass if Weird Al wants to parody a song. It would be so miniscule in the scheme of Eminem’s fame. He’s the genius, not Al.
I know there’s no accounting for taste, but I must ask the tired question: have you ever actually listened to a full Weird Al album? If not, you have no freaking clue what you’re talking about. I mean, I love TMBG too, but if you think Al is about “songs with a bit of comedy” you’re missing the point. TMBG might fit that description, but Al is all about the comedy. More like comedy with a bit of music, if anything.
And once more with feeling, everyone: Weird Al does more than parodies!!!.
Franks 2000" TV, Nature Trail to Hell, Your Horoscope for today, One of those Days, Since you’ve been gone, One more minute, Albuquerque… most of his best work is original.
And as for musical talent, the sheer range that he and his band have is boggling. To go from Polka, to hiphop, to folk, back to polka, to rock, to country… it’s pretty amazing.
(Puts on a hell of a live show, too…)
Eminem is a talented rapper. That’s swell. We’ll see if he has a 20 year career with 5 platinum albums()… maybe, maybe not. I like some of his music, but in this, like most things, he’s an asshat.
() and before anyone says, “yeah, but what has he done lately?” 2 of those were his most recent.
I have to disagree with you. I have done enough reading on the view of Rock and Roll in the fifties to know that a lot of the criticism at the time was pretty similar to what is being said about Eminem. For example, Frank Sinatra said: “His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac…It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people.”, which could be applied equally to Eminem. Steve Allen said “The Fact that someone with so little ability, became the most popular singer in history, says something significant about our cultural standards”, so my comparison to how people see Elvis and Eminem do have a lot in common. Of course that means the only place Eminem will die on the crapper is onscreen during his “Without Me” video.
This even goes to Zenster calling Eminem a “sulking little cretin”, which sounds awfully similar to what Frank Sinatra (yes him again) said about Elvis: “[His] music is made by cretinous goons [singing] sly, lewd, in plain fact, dirty lyrics. It manages to be the martial music of every … delinquent on the face of the Earth. It is the most brutal, ugly, desperate, vicious form of expression it has been my misfortune to hear.”
Therefore it isn’t exactly a huge stretch to say that Eminem is having a lot of similar things said about him today as Elvis was in the fifties.
Enema is a piece of steaming dog crap on the hot sidewalk of life.
Weird Al, even though I do not own any of his stuff, have always admired his ability to put his twist on a someone else’s song and make it funny.
Ummmmm… As I say, I’m a big Weird Al fan. And I love all the songs you mentioned. But ask 100 people on the street what their favorite Weird Al song is, and you won’t hear one of those songs mentioned even once. In fact, ask 100 random people who own a Weird Al album, and you’ll get the same reaction. Only the hard-core Weird Al fan will know about Albuquerque and his lucky, lucky autographed glow-in-the-dark snorkel. People love Weird Al for “Fat”, “Eat It”, “Another One Rides the Bus”, etc. Maybe an occasional fan might mention the original “Dare to be stupid”, but even that is a parody of Devo.
And by the way… when UHF came out, I really was looking forward to seeing it, and it just sucked. I was so bummed. (except for the “Now look at Mr. frying pan” line, but one line does not a movie make). “8 Mile” on the other hand had social commentary, and some depth, and though it was no Laurence of Arabia, it was by far the better movie.
Oh, and I feel the need to correct the poster who said that Eminem uses the word nigger. He doesn’t. He says plenty of offensive things, but that isn’t one of them.
Here I respectfully disagree. His singles have (almost) all been parodies, so that’s what most people have heard, and what sucks people in, but once they’ve bought an album, I would bet a lot of them agree with me that the parodies are great and all, but the originals are where his true talent shows best. And that what was originally being discussed, talent.
(BTW If i were one of the 100 people, I’d say Don’t Wear those Shoes, another original.)
Yes, and that’s what gets them to buy their first album, but I think it’s a combination of the parodies and originals that keeps people coming back for more.
Won’t argue that. I happen to like it, but it is extremely cheesy, so I could understand most people not likeing it.
I love the Roots and Black Star. Mos Def and Talib Kweli are fantastic, but let’s be fair. In sheer lyrical skills, Eminem is fucking good. He can roll lyrics with the very best of them. I hate his “more ghetto than thou” attitude, and I think he probably needs the chip beaten off his shoulder, but the boy is skilled.
I don’t really care that Al’s not going to do the video. At least he got to make the song parody, which is enough for me. Although it really doesn’t make sense to say no to the video but yes to the parody…
I don’t think Eminem is an asshole for not wanting a video done. I don’t like his decision. If he doesn’t want a video done, that’s his opinion, and Al’s cool enough to respect that opinion.
I do hope that Eminem will change his mind though.
Oh, and my favorite Al song is either “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota” or “All About the Pentiums”. Brilliant stuff.
