Search - Weird Al Yankovic :: Straight Outta Lynwood

Don't download this song--the record store's where you belon

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 09/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album by Weird Al Yankovic is very funny with clever, creative lyrics and solid musical arrangements. Whether Al is singing a parody of someone else's song (for example, "White And Nerdy" is a parody of "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire) or doing his own thing completely as in the song "Pancreas," Al always makes me laugh. I was never bored while listening to the CD side of this album; and with the "DualDisc" feature the videos and still photos on the DVD side of the disc were equally awesome and very well done.



I especially like "Pancreas;" the funny racial issues song called "White And Nerdy;" "Confessions Part III;" and "Don't Download This Song." The arrangement for "Polkarama," a really funny medley of songs by artists including The Black Eyed Peas, Pussycat Dolls and The Killers, is terrific. "Trapped In The Drive-Thru" is a pretty long song at almost ten minutes; but the musical arrangement and silly lyrics held my attention.



I agree with other reviewers who write that "Don't Download This Song" has that catchy, inspirational musical arrangement that also pokes fun at songs like "We Are The World." "Don't Download This Song" is strategically placed as the last song on the CD side of the album so the album ends with a song that's not just funny--the song packs a punch with its' arrangement and silly, over the top dramatic lyrics that really go after and lampoon "real life" ballads like "We Are The World."



The quality of the sound is excellent; and the liner notes provide full song lyrics, song credits and some great photos of Al and his band. Awesome!



The DVD side of the DualDisc is easy enough to figure out; one side of the disc is clearly marked "to play CD--this side up" and the other side is marked "to play DVD--this side up." The DVD side of the DualDisc features crystal clear, nicely animated videos of six songs including "Don't Download This Song;" "Weasel Stomping Day;" "I'll Sue Ya" and "Pancreas." Of special interest is a roughly nine minute video of Al and his band in the studio. I was very impressed.



Both the CD and the DVD sides played fine in my portable music player as well as on my PC; so I hope you don't encounter any problems with this format. In the past there were occasional problems playing these DualDiscs.



Overall, this is a very funny CD/DVD combo that proves Al Yankovic has a great talent for making people laugh with his music and funny parodies of popular songs by other artists. I highly recommend this for fans of Weird Al Yankovic and anyone who enjoys funny take-offs on popular entertainment!

"

Master of parody strikes again..

Ramsis Lion | Long Island, NY USA | 09/27/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After his brilliant and fun "Poodle Hat" album it was refreshing to see Weird Al deliver once again with the latest on this album.



This won't go down as his greatest album ever, but it definitely holds it's own quite well. And above all else is more proof that the master of parody isn't going away any time soon (unless it's by his own choosing).



Some of the songs are instant classics. "White and Nerdy" a parody of "Riddin(Dirty)" will be one of those songs that will often be mentioned when thinking of Weird Al, for both fans young and old alike. It's a perfect example of how Al can take a song and turn it upside down to make a whole new feel and flow to it. This song will definitely rank up high with other classics such as "Amish Paradise" and "Fat". Especially due to the video that was made to go along with it. While unforutnatly the new video to the song wasn't part of the videos included it is widely available on the internet and you can be assured that Weird Al will release it for home owning soon enough.



Other favorites of mine on this album include: "Polkarama!" which is another Polka style compliation song. "Virus Alert" which is an original by Weird Al about the dangers of computer virus' and all the things they can do if we don't stop them. This song is nice in that it's done in a very traditional old style Al that we haven't heard in awhile on his latest albums. "Canadian Idiot" which is a nice spoof of Green Day's "American Idiot" which mocks the sterotypes Americans have about Canadians for the most part. The Usher Spoof "Confession Part III" is a lot of fun too and a nice play up on how there were two parts to the song and all the ridiculous things that Al lists as more confessions to the listener.



Trapped in the Drive Thru grows on you fast as a song you will really get into. At first it may take awhile as it is on the long side but that too is part of the humor. After a few listenings of it you will see why this is an instant classic. A great spoof of R. Kelly and his Urban Opera done Al style focusing on the troubles of ordering at a drive thru window. Instant classic.



There are some songs that didn't do it for me, but that happens on any music album. "Close But No Cigar" is a song that feels like we have done this before. Some of the love songs Al has done are great. This one though misses the mark a bit in my opinion. Doesn't mean it's not listenable by any means but just not the great humor and fun that we find in his past songs mocking love situations. The Taylor Hicks song spoof "Do I creep You Out?" isn't a favorite of mine but isn't the worst either.



The rest of the album is very middle of the road. Some songs you will love to listen to often but may not get the attention they deserve. While others you will probably not enjoy as much and forget they exist but that too will vary based on opinion and personal taste.



"Don't Download This Song" seems more of a personal message to people than a humor filled song to me, but still well done for what it is. I do see the humor in it but the music style of the song wasn't to my taste but I'm sure others will enjoy it in its "We Are the World" type of set up. Where as a song like "Pancreas" is one of those you will either enjoy it or not songs as its a nice filler about some weird object that comes to Al's mind as he is creating his various songs. While a song like "Weasel Stomping Day" is just fun and amusing as well as being famous for being on Robot Chicken. So there are some songs that will be love or hate with the fans and those feelings will depend on the persons own tastes. But even the weaker songs are still fun to listen to and add to the over all flavor of the latest album.



Overall this is definitely another great Weird Al piece of work. Some songs you have to listen to a few times to get into it but after those few times it fits in like the number 27 does to an Al song, in other words.. very well.



The dual disk is great in that it allows you to have the songs on CD for when you are on the road as well as listen to the songs on your computer via the DVD so you can sing along with the lyrics showing up on the screen. Not to mention 6 videos to some of the songs found here as well as almost 10 minutes of behind the scenes footage of Al recording this album.



Highly recommended. You won't be sorry adding this latest piece by Weird Al to your collections. As Al says in the song "Don't download this.. buy it!!" You will be glad you did."

Straight Into Hilarity

Jeffrey A. Mcginnis | Bowling Green, OH | 09/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"New Weird Al! Whoo! :)



As a long time Weird Al fan, I've been waiting for this album for years, and it's really good. It's not my favorite Al ("Running with Scissors" still holds a strong place in my heart), but there's a lot of really great stuff here. In order...



--The tracks that were previously released on Al's MySpace page are awesome...the CD opens with the Chamillionaire parody "White & Nerdy" and closes with the soon-to-be-classic "Don't Download This Song."



--"Pancreas," a musical tribute to that most comical of organs, didn't really impress me at first, but the more I've listened to it, the more I like it. There's some great musical invention here.



--The Green Day parody "Canadian Idiot" crams every Canada joke into 2 minutes that you can, and is very funny.



--"I'll Sue Ya" may be Al's most hard-rocking tune ever, with a surprisingly catchy baseline over some very funny lines about our lawsuit-happy culture. ("I sued Colorado because it looks a bit too much like Wyoming.")



--"Polkarama," the traditional polka medley, is, as always, more entertaining if you know the songs he's using, and as someone who doesn't listen to much modern pop music, it kinda went over my head. Anyone who does listen to modern pop wanna post their take?



--"Virus Alert" is a very fast-paced tribute to that most annoying of modern computer trends, and very entertaining. Musically, it almost feels like 80's pop, which is an unusual departure for Al.



--"Confessions Part III," an Usher parody, is hysterical, as Al confesses to everything from infidelity to hogging the last of the rice krispies, while noting how rediculous it is to break up your soul-exposures into episodes.



--"Weasel Stomping Day" may be my favorite of the whole album, even at only 1:30 or so...I defy anyone to hear the sound of rodent's getting crushed and not at least chuckle. A light and upbeat tribute to a joyfully masochistic holiday ("It's a tradition, that means it's okay!"), it may be the greatest companion song to "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" ever.



--"Close But No Cigar" is also brilliant, an original about a guy who keeps nit-picking every relationship in beautifully absurd ways. ("She kept using the word 'infer' when I know she meant 'imply.'")



--"Do I Creep You Out" is a bit historic, as Al first takes aim at an American Idol (Taylor Hicks), with great success (though somewhat brief success, as the song itself is short enough as it is). The overblown chorus and climax exactly captures the phony bravado of the Idol crowd, and one must applaud Hicks as well for having the guts to let Al go through with it.



--Then comes "Trapped in the Drive-Thru," a parody of R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet." It runs...get ready...10:50. No typo. Al's done rambling epics before, but usually originals - he's never tackled this big a parody before, especially one with as bizarre a premise: It's nothing more or less than a depiction of a couple heading to get some dinner at a drive thru. That's it, really. I think this is one where its success is truly in the ear of the individual...me, I loved it. The sheer absurdity of spending nearly 11 musical minutes documenting a relatively uneventful trip to grab food is what I find funny. You may think differently.



That's the album...at least, the musical side. Thing is, this here is a dual-disc release, one side musical CD, the other side DVD. The sheer volume of material is where this CD really shines. While I HATE double-sided discs, this one has so much stuff crammed on there that I can forgive it. Side B features:



--The whole album in 5.1 surround sound, an enhanced stereo mix and a karaoke mix. All with on-screen options for the hearing impaired. Tres cool.



--A 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, as we see Al and the band working on the music in the studio.



--And...SIX new music videos of all the album's originals, done by prominent animators from the Academy Award-nominated Bill Plympton to the guys from "Robot Chicken" (which, if you saw the show last Sunday, you've already seen). Just a terrifically packed set of extras which would only be made complete with the inclusion of the "White and Nerdy" video, which sadly was completed after the album was.



All in all, an excellent CD with some truly nifty special features added in. If you're an Al fan at all, it's well worth the buy, and at 14.88 (current Amazon list price) it's uber-cheap, too. Awesome stuff."