OK, it’s time to admit it…we love Weird Al! I think his 3-D album is the best, but I’m no expert. All songs are excellent…hard to pick a favorite! Even his home-made songs are funny. I could do without the polkas, though, Al. I hate to harp on it, but we may just have to harpoon your accordion if you don’t stop!
The radio played “Eat It” in memory of Weird Al’s parent. Weird was quoted as saying how his fans found his music uplifting and funny. So, Weird’s still touring despite the tragedy in his life.
My all time favorite WA song is “One More Minute”, I have always preferred the originals and the songs “inspired by” over the “straight” parodies (but the polka medley’s are fantastic!!).
Jinx: UHF is the movie that Weird Al made. It’s available for pretty cheap on DVD, and it also has some great bonus features. Plus, I do believe it’s where Michael Richards (Kramer) got his start. It’s an insanely great movie, and I’ve rarely seen it selling for over 10 bucks.
The polkas are definitely great. My favorite, however, is “Hardware Store” off his new album, Poodle Hat. I don’t think it’s a parody, and I’m not really sure what style it’s a parody of, but I like it a lot.
The soundtrack for UHF is available on CD. It includes Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies, Spam (parody of “Stand” by REM), Isle Thing (parody of “Wild Thing” by Tone Loc), and a polka medley of Rolling Stones songs, among other tracks and clips from the movie.
“eBay”, “Who’s Johnny”, and “I Think I’m A Clone Now” are some of my favorite parodies. As for the originals, the first one I think of is “Frank’s 2000 Inch TV”.
I love the polkas too… I heard so many pop songs for the first time through those medleys that every time I hear the real song, I can’t follow it, I just skip right to the next one in the medley. (“Yeah mama, this surely is a dream, dig it / yeah mama, this surely is / closing time, one last call for alcohol, so finish your whiskey or beer…”)
“Fat”, “I Think I’m a Clone Now”, “Smells like Nirvana” (the music video is awesome!), “Amish Paradise”
My brother was on a System of a Down/Linkin Park/etc. kick for a while, so every time I listen to “Angry White Boy Polka” I find myself singing along. (o/ When Angels deserve to die die die die die die die die die! HEY! o/ :D)
“I’d rather clean all the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with my tounge”
“…jump naked into a huge pile of thumbtacks”
“…glue my nostrils together with crazy glue”
The UHF disc has some of the coolest Easter Eggs ever, I love the “bonus features” one, when you go to the “features” on the menu AL comes on and tells you to turn the disc over, try again to play it and he comes back a little irritated, it just continues to escalate.
Amen, Garfield226. Hardware Store is great - it always makes me smile, whenever I hear it. You can’t not: his happiness about being able to go to the hardware store is so infectuous. I was gonna post it in the “What song makes you happy” thread going on, but haven’t yet.
I think that Bob is one of the cleverest songs I’ve heard in years.
And don’t you go dissin’ the polkas. They’re the best part. Angry White Boy Polka is genious.
“Hardware Store” is an instant classic. I can listen to it on repeat forever.
Favorite Parodies: “Jerry Springer” “Ebay” “Yoda”
Favorite style parodies: “Germs” “Everything you know is wrong” “Dare to be stupid” (it’s amazing how he can make a song that sounds exactly like it should be by Nine Inch Nails or TMBG, or Devo, but it isn’t.)
Favorite Album: Poodle Hat or maybe Dare to be Stupid. It’s hard to say, [since I listened to all the old albums so much they kinda blend together.
Favorite Originals: “Hardware Store” “Stuck in a closet with Vanna White” “Frank’s 2000” TV" “Nature Trail to Hell, in 3D” “Biggest Ball of twine in Minnesota” “Albuquerque”
Man, I love Weird Al. darn shame about his parents.
“Albuquerque” is definatly one of my favourites. Some friends and I did a skit (air band) to go along with it, and turned out to be quite hilarious. We won the contest. The song just keeps going on and on, and gets funnier and funnier.
Also, the “Alternative Polka” is a masterpiece. He blends all the most popular rock and alternative song from the radio into one piece! I’m surprised no-one else has mentioned this one. Even the people who hate polka have got to like this one.
I’m fond of Dare To Be Stupid, since it was the first Weird Al album I bought, and since it has “One More Minute,” the earliest definitive proof that Al could be just as brilliant with originals as with parodies.
I must admit, my Inner Third-grader likes “Gotta Boogie.”
Weird Al is too inconsistent for me to say that I favor entire albums, but there are a few songs throughout his career that are really inspired. One of the several in this category is My Baby’s in Love with Eddie Vedder. I love the way it mocks the pretension of an anti-establishment superstar ("…yeah, he’s her very favorite slacker multi-millionaire"). I also love the way he can shift the tone in his language, rhyming “sullen demeanor” with “some kind of weiner.” Also, doing a song in a Zydeco style is one of the few that suits his accordian musicianship.
As I sit and type, I can’t believe I’m offering a thoughtful critique of “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Ohhhhh, lots of fun “Weird Al” songs to choose from, but if I had to pick one out of the field, it’d have to be UHF (the theme song to the movie). No, it’s not a parody, but it’s just really fun to sing along with, and the celebration of mindless TV boob-tube surfing is just so appropriate for Al. Runners-up would include Christmas at Ground Zero,Frank’s 2000" TV,Isle Thing,SLime Creatures from Outer Space, and Dare to be Stupid.
Favorite album? Urgh, tougher call; I don’t think there’s an Al album that didn’t let me down somewhere.
Is the album (CD) called UHF? Is that what you mean to say?