Weird Al's new CD ... anyone else disappointed?

[Craptacular]

Weird Al Yankovic's new album "Poodle Hat" came out this week. While there is some funny stuff (such as "Why'd you have to go make me so constipated?"), not even one song jumps out to me as being great. It seems that every one of his previous albums had at least a couple of songs I never got sick of listening to, but I'm not so sure about Poodle Hat.

Usually, his parodies of bad songs / artists are pretty good, but maybe this bunch (M&M, Avril, Backdoor Boys, Nelly) is so pathetic even he can't make good songs out of them. His original songs, and even the polka mix, aren't fantastic either. There are some good parts of songs, but my first impression is that the album is not one of his better ones. Perhaps some of the songs will grow on me.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I like it a lot. I've never even heard the original Eminem song "Lose Yourself" before, but I find the parody quite amusing. The parodies of Avril Lavigne, Nelly, and Billy Joel had parts that made me laugh out loud. I think most of the original songs have good rhythm to them, although I'm not big on "Why Does This Always Happen to Me" or "Genius in France" yet. I admit that the polka is pretty disappointing, with the exception of the "Down With the Sickness" part (which cracked me up).

In short, I don't think there are any instant hits out of this album, but the songs are all pretty polished, and I find the lyrics to most songs hilarious.

I bet the only reason "Poodle Hat" seems weaker than "Running With Scissors" is because it doesn't have a song like "It's All About the Pentiums" to reach out to the geek community. :)

[Draft Dodger]

"I've never even heard the original Eminem song "Lose Yourself" before"

I can't imagine how you could have avoided it.

[Craptacular]

Originally posted by Draft Dodger
"I've never even heard the original Eminem song "Lose Yourself" before"

I can't imagine how you could have avoided it.

I only heard parts of it from those damn movie commercials.

[Craptacular]

Originally posted by Pumpy Tudors

I bet the only reason "Poodle Hat" seems weaker than "Running With Scissors" is because it doesn't have a song like "It's All About the Pentiums" to reach out to the geek community. :)

That is one of his all-time greatest songs! :D

"Your motherboard melts when you try to send a fax."

[Pumpy Tudors]

The only New Orleans radio stations that would play Eminem are the ones that repeat the "hit" songs every 20 minutes or so. I don't have much of an attention span, but I don't need to hear a song on the radio three times every hour. Actually, I haven't listened to the radio much this year. I usually listen to a CD when I'm in the car instead. :)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Dola

My biggest laugh from "Poodle Hat" was the part in "Trash Day" when he says "Hey, I think them rats gettin' big!"

Of all the songs parodied on the album, I've probably heard "Hot in Herre" the most, so maybe that had something to do with it.

[Craptacular]

As mentioned in my original post, I got a good laugh out of the first chorus of the Avril ripoff.

"Tell me, why'd you have to go and make me so constipated.
'Cause right now I'd do anything to just get my bowels evacuated.
In the bathroom
I sit and I wait and I strain and I sweat and I clench and I feel the pain.
Oh, should I take laxatives or have my colon irrigated.
No no no.

[AZSpeechCoach]

I really like "Hardware Store." The harmonies are just amazing. I also happen to frequent Home Depot. On Running With Scissors, there were a few songs that I avoided like the plague (Grapefruit Diet, Horoscope for Today). I haven't run into anything like that with "Poodle Hat."

I was prepared to be disappointed, wondering how Al could turn Eminem into something funny. I think it worked out. I also like the "I think that rat's getting big" line from "Trash Day."

Kevin

[Jets80]

I'm dissapointed that somebody keeps putting out weird Al CD's.

[44Niners]

Originally posted by Draft Dodger
"I've never even heard the original Eminem song "Lose Yourself" before"

I can't imagine how you could have avoided it.

I've never heard any Eminem song before and I really don't think I am missing anything.

I will go ahead and assume he is a bad ass and beats up his ho's and such. and I am sure this is something about popin a cap in someone or something...

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally posted by Jets80
I'm dissapointed that somebody keeps putting out weird Al CD's.

I'm disappointed that they let you out of the house.

They, uh, do let you out of the house, don't they?

[sterlingice]

I was going to get it at Best Buy when I was in Topeka a couple of days ago, but the $14 price tag scared me away. I'll snag it when I find it onsale at the local Target or WalMart.

I was kindof disappointed by Running With Scissors but I think that's because of what was stated before: it was so hit and miss. Then again, most Weird Al CDs are hit and miss- you just can't be great on every parody: there's bound to be some filler. RWS was run of the mill for Al.

SI

[Ksyrup]

Originally posted by 44Niners
I've never heard any Eminem song before and I really don't think I am missing anything.

I will go ahead and assume he is a bad ass and beats up his ho's and such. and I am sure this is something about popin a cap in someone or something...

I've never heard anything of his either, other than bits and pieces of the chorus (is there really a chorus in a rap "song"?) to Slim Shady. If I've heard something else from a commercial, I didn't know it was him.

That's like a whole other world that i don't want to have any part of. And I'm not missing a thing.

[cuervo72]

Originally posted by Craptacular

Usually, his parodies of bad songs / artists are pretty good, but maybe this bunch (M&M, Avril, Backdoor Boys, Nelly)

Hmm...besides the 8-Mile commercials, I don't think I've heard much of anything from ANY of these artists (I'm too curmudgeonly like Bucc, I guess). I don't know if parodies work when you aren't familiar with what's being parodied, so it probably wouldn't work for me.

[KWhit]

Wierd Al is still alive?

[scooper]

Originally posted by Pumpy Tudors
I'm disappointed that they let you out of the house.

They, uh, do let you out of the house, don't they?

Call him a shitweasel, it feels good.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally posted by KWhit
Wierd Al is still alive?

You did so well on the baseball puzzle that Maple Leafs posted, but now I am starting to doubt your existence as a sentient being. How much energy did you expend crawling out of the petri dish?

[MrBug708]

Pumpy, how come your suddenly posting on the board?

[KWhit]

Originally posted by Pumpy Tudors
You did so well on the baseball puzzle that Maple Leafs posted, but now I am starting to doubt your existence as a sentient being. How much energy did you expend crawling out of the petri dish?


Hey, Frumpy Toes:

I can be sentient when I have to. I've got sentience out the wazoo!


By the way, do you know what I said on my way out of the petri dish?

Bye, guys. I gotta split!

They replied, "Amoeba-derci."

[scooper]

Wow, I've learned shitweasel and frumpy toes in the same day. This is going to be a great weekend.

[kcchief19]

I think the new CD is easily his best overall in a decade. The parodies are sharp and well done. Couch Potato, A Complicated Song and Ebay are gold. Trash Day is my least favorite of the parody bunch. Ode To A Superhero is hysterical, easily up there with Yoda and The Saga Begins from RWS.

Wanna B Ur Lovr and Why Does This Always Happen To Me are my favorites from the originals. Genius in France is a little too long for my tastes, especially since I was never a huge Frank Zappa fan.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally posted by MrBug708
Pumpy, how come your suddenly posting on the board?

It beats the hell out of stalking you for another week.

By the way, I left a mayonnaise jar in the back of your refrigerator. Eat lots of sandwiches tonight.

[Craptacular]

After a few listens, I'm not as disappointed. I really like a lot of the songs, but there still isn't one that I would put on my short list of his very best songs. Perhaps that's why I was a little disappointed. It's a solid effort all around, and I don't dislike any of the songs (although "Bob" is pushing it).

[TargetPractice6]

Does anything on the new album top Albuquerque? I swear I had all 11 minutes and 22 seconds of that song memorized by heart...

[Craptacular]

Now that I've had time to really soak it all in:
* Couch Potato - OK, but not as good as his previous rap songs (Pentiums, Amish)
* Hardware Store - Excellent ... automatic circumsisers?? :D
* Trash Day - sort of funny ... I don't think I ever heard the original Nelly song, so it seems like an original Al song to me
* Party at the Leper Colony - the more I listen to it, the more I like it, especially the music
* Angry White Boy Polka - average (again, I'm not so familiar with many of the original songs)
* Wanna B Ur Lover - funny, but it gets old ... cut a couple minutes off of it
* A Complicated Song - I actually listened to Avril's original on the radio the other day ... Al's version is so much better
* Why Does This Always Happen to Me - generally been skipped when I listen to the album
* Ode to a Superhero - least favorite of the spoofs
* Bob - why???
* E-Bay - favorite song on the album
* Genius in France - should have been happy with Albuquerque; has a few funny parts, but I usually skip this one too