Free Music Notes for Running With Scissors

Weird Al Yankovic - Running With Scissors

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Free Music Notes for Running With Scissors

Free Music Review: 1st place for scissors running, Mr. Al Yankovic!
Hit: 5 Stars

Like he used Richard Harris' "MacArthur Park" for the "Jurassic Park" story song, Al uses Don MacLean's "American Pie" to do a story song for Star Wars Episode I, where Al is in the persona of Obi-Wan. I cared not a whit for SWE1, but at least Al was able to use his usual creativity on it.

"My Baby's In Love With Eddie Vedder" is a 50's style rocker done with accordion, and is about the qualities about the lead singer of Pearl Jam that attracts Al's girlfriend, in other words "an unrequited adoration for the frustrated, agitated, designated alienated spokesman for the disaffected grunge generation." There is a punchline to this song on how Al decides to get even.

"Just grab your yarmulke and Hey! Hey! do that Hebrew thing" sings Al in "Pretty Fly For A Rabbi," a parody of the Offspring's "Pretty Fly For A White Guy." This song is a portrait of an up-with-it Jewish guy, who "reads the Torah, does his own accounting too." Lots of Yiddish words and expressions like "meshugga" and "What's not to like?" are sprinkled here to add to the fun.

The quirky "The Weird Al Show Theme" is how Al got his own show and features a weird twangy Jew's harp like instrument before going full out to a theme song-like bombast towards the end.

Another song on how TV clogs the IQ? "Jerry Springer" sends up Barenaked Ladies' "One Week" and the rapid-fire lyrics add to Al's advantage in cramming in so many absurdities in one line. After listing a whole bunch of Jerry's guests, the chorus ends with "Yesterday it occurred to me, that I've been watching' a bit too much Jerry Springer."

"Hey, don't touch that-you don't know where it's been!" "Germs" has a sound, guitar, and voice styled after NIN's "Closer" and is about the "millions upon millions of tiny one-celled organisms living on my skin" and the obsession to get rid of them.

"Polka Power" shows Al keeping up to date on what's been hitting the airwaves. Medley: Spice Girls' "Wannabe", Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta", Pras Michel, Wyclef Jean, Mya's "Ghetto Superstar", Backstreet Boys' "Backstreet's Back" (I cringed when I heard that), Smash Mouth's "Walking On The Sun", the Beastie Boys' "Intergalactic", Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping", Madonna's "Ray Of Light", Matchbox 20's "Push", Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life", Marilyn Manson's "The Dope Show", Hanson's "Mmmbop", Marcy Playground's "Sex and Candy", and Semisonic's "Closing Time."

"Your Horoscope For Today" is a twelve verse song where he goes through the horoscopes for each sign, and they're all good news. Take mine: "GEMINI-Your birthday party will be ruined once again by your explosive flatulence/Your love life will run into trouble when your fiancé hurls a javelin through your chest." Well, so much for my long-term plans.

"It's All About The Pentiums" is one of the best parody songs I've heard, even though it's from a bad rap song, i.e. Puff Daddy's "It's All About The Benjamins." Included in this braggadocio of the king of the computers, is this: "You think your Commodore 64 is neato/what kinda chip you got in there, a Dorito?/You're using a 286? Don't make me laugh/your Windows boots up in what, a day and a half?" and "If I ever meet you, I'll ctrl-alt-delete you."

"Drivin' a truck with my high heels on". Yep, the hilarious country song sung in low C.W. McCall or Hoyt Axton-type register "Truck Drivin' Song" is to truckers what the "Lumberjack Song" is to loggers. With references on running mascaras, pink cashmeres, and little rhinestone pumps that keep slippin' off the mother-lovin' clutch, this is my second favourite song here.

"Grapefruit Diet" parodies "Zoot Suit Riot" and is a tall-tale on obesity like "Fat." "Made sumo wrestlers look like Kate Moss"? Have to grease a door to leave a room? That is big, all right. "Albuquerque" is a 12-minute rambling epic that basically starts out with how he doesn't like sauerkraut and goes into weird adventures that have to be heard to be believed.

The Saga...I mean the magic continues with Running With Scissors, with Mr. Yankovic coming in first place.

Free Music Review: Oh, Yeah.
Hit: 5 Stars

(Note: I am very critical of music. If I don't like it, I will tell you. Just because I like Al, doesn't mean he never writes stupid songs. I mean, come on. Al does some really funny stuff. But, he also does some really stupid stuff, too. *xxxxxxxx* means "In my top 3" favorite list. Opinion based on a 1-10 scale.)

1. The Saga Begins (9)
Parody of "American Pie"
By Don McClean
New Lyrics By Al Yankovic
Recorded on 4-20-99

This song is about Star Wars "The Phantom Menace."
It isn't funny, but it is really cool. And it shows the creativity of Al.

2. My Baby's In Love With Eddie Vedder (5)
By Al Yankovic
Recorded On 10-15-98

Another one of his sick and twisted love songs. It isn't that funny, but the catch to it is halarious.
He speaks that his wife is chasing and is obsesed with Eddie Vedder. Than he decides to stalk Alannis Morrisette. Interesting, Yes.

3. Pretty Fly (For A Rabbi) (8)
Parody of "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)"
By The Offspring
Recorded On 4-19-99

Don't worry, Al isn't racist. Just funny. This song rocks. He talks about his Rabbi at his church that he doesn't go to, is perfect.

4. The Weird Al Show Theme (2)
By Al Yankovic
Recorded on 6-29-97

The opening song for his TV show. Which, not to offend Al, or anything, had no particular meaning in this world.

5. Jerry Springer (10)
Parody of "One Week"
By The BareNaked Ladies
New Lyrics By Al Yankovic
Recorded on 4-19-99

Yes, contrary to popular beliefe, Al would stoop as low as to watch Jerry Springer for a few weeks. Like Smells Like Nirvana, the way he comes up with his lyrics will absolutely amaze you. Pure genius.

6. Germs (7)
By Al Yankovic
Recorded On 10-7-98

Germs is different. He pretends to be some guy who has Obsesive Compulsive Disorder or something. He is obsesed about germs. This song is like something you'd hear from Creed. \

7. Polka Power! (7)
Medley By Al Yankovic
Recorded on 4-20-99

Awesome.

8. Your Horoscope For Today (6)
By Al Yankovic
Recorded On 10-16-98

Funny. He names all of the horoscopes and defines each one in his Al definition. You'll be surprised. I rated it relatively low, because it goes on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on.

9. *It's All About The Pentiums* (12)
Parody of "It's All About The Benjimin's"
By Sean Puff Combs (Puff Daddy)
New Lyrics By Al Yankovic
Recorded on 4-19-99

My 3rd favorite. Just for anyone dying to know, my first favorite, not surprisingly, is Smells Like Nirvana. My second is Amish Paradise, From Bad Hair Day. Pentiums mixes a surpriseing brew of rap, rock, and punk into this jampacked song. WARNING: If you do not know much about computers, It will not interest you. Since I am a computer nerd, have no friends, and constantly am writing reviews, I think it is funny.

10. Truck Drivin' Song (7)
By Al Yankovic
Recorded On 10-15-98

This song is halarious if you are, or know a truck driver. It is about a transsexual truck driver. Also: This IS AL SINGING. I too thought it was Steve Jay, the guy who usually sings low stuff. But It is Al.

11. Grapefruit Diet (9)
Parody of "Zoot Suit Riot"
By The Cherry Poppin' Daddies
New Lyrics By Al Yankovic
Recorded on 4-19-99

Grapefriut Diet is about this big fat guy who is trying to lay off of junk food. If your the one who loves "your momma" jokes, you can adapt a lot from this song.

12. Albuquerque (10)
By Al Yankovic
Recorded on 10-15-98

11.42 minutes of NON STOP jibber jabber. Awesome.

...
Awsome album.

Free Music Review: Al -- SHAVED?!
Hit: 5 Stars

I was shocked and panic-stricken by Al's appearence on the 'Running With Scissors' album cover. Could he actually be growing up?!! But not to worry... After twenty years in the weird-song-parody business Al is as wild and as silly as ever. In fact, Running With Scissors is one of his finest albums, if not his best (which leaves me anxiously awaiting his next one...) Watching the 'Saga Begins' or 'It's All About The Pentiums' videos (which were actually on MTV a couple of times) is enough to see that though he may not look like the Weird Al we know and love, Al remains Al. And, of course, weird.

Weird Al remains true to the album format which has worked so well for him for the past two decades - several original songs, several parodies, and one polka segment. The originals on Running With Scissors are mostly excellent: Your Horoscope For Today is a good old fashioned rock-pop-polka nonsense song, very much like Everything You Know Is Wrong and Dare To Be Stupid, and is hilerious. The Weird Al Show theme is a short but excellent addition to the album, and slightly unusual for an Al song. Truck Drivin' Song and My Baby's In Love With Eddie Vedder are more standard Al songs, nothing special but quite funny. Germs is probably the closest Al had ever made to being an actual rock song, and might have been quite good if performed by an actual rock band. (correction: the best song, musically, written by Al was UHF. But Germs is good too.)

The parodies are dreadfuly funny. Alhough The Saga Begins, the album's most successful song (parodying McLean's 'American Pie') is a brilliant concept, funnier yet are It's All About The Pentiums (Puff Daddy parody), Jerry Springer (Barenaked Ladies parody) and the hilerious Pretty Fly For A Rabbi, which sent me rolling on the floor the first couple of times I heard it. Grapefruit Diet is my least favorite track on the album, though it does have its moments (but the whole fatness joke is getting a bit old, isn't it?...) The polka segment is also excellent, collecting various recent hits from all genres of popular music. Especially funny are the polka versions of Spice Girls' 'Wannabe', Madonna's 'Ray Of Light' and Merilyn Manson's 'Dope Show'.

The last track, 'Albuquerque', is the best on this album and one of Al's all time greatest (and longest - 11:22 minutes). Hardly a song, but so funny and - well, so Al. By the way, Al was once asked by a fan - 'Do you really hate sauerkraut?' to which he replied - 'No, I don't really hate sauerkraut, but the rest of Albuquerque is absolutely true'. Buy the album to find out why this is so funny.

Of course, if you have no idea who Weird Al is, this review was wasted on you, wasn't it? So if you don't know who Al is, you know a bit of popular music and you want a good laugh - buy it. Running With Scissors is as good an introduction to Al as any, and it is guaranteed to have you hooked (that is, if you have any sort of sense of humor). And if you do know about Al - how come you don't own this yet? Running With Scissors is first class comedy, about as funny as music can get. Also, you can load the CD on your computer and watch a hilerious TV mockumentry about Al (this time with moustache and glasses... whew). This album is incredible. Buy it, now.

Free Music Review: One Of Weird Al's Best
Hit: 5 Stars

Having undergone lasik surgery and shedding the "Weird Al Costume," as he is wont to call it (the glasses, moustache, and Hawaiian shirt are gone now; no doubt this will seem blasphemous to many; I know that it was a bit disconcerting to me), Al has grown up in a sense, but to no loss on our part.

Of the parodies on this album "The Saga Begins" (A retelling of Star Wars: Episode I to the tune of "American Pie;" amazingly, Al fits the entire story into a five minute song), "Jerry Springer" (sung to the tune of The Barenaked Ladies' "Seven Days"), "Pretty Fly For a Rabbi" and "All About The Pentiums" are the high points, and "Polka Power," the album's requisite polka and accordian showcase, is, as always, a blast.

"Germs," however - a loud and uncomfortable Nine Inch Nails parody - doesn't manage to be so much funny as it is annoying (the inclusion of NIN's "Closer" on Bad Hair Day's "Alternative Polka" was much more humorous). Unfortunately Nine Inch Nails' brand of music doesn't lend itself to goofy parody, excepting in small doses.

Of the original pieces on this album, top marks go to "Your Horiscope For Today" and "Albuquerque" - the latter breaking altogether with Weird Al tradition, being a scathing, twelve minute spoken-word rant with musical accompaniment (and one of the funniest things Al has ever done). Also included is "The Weird Al Show Theme," which is cute once and a must for the Al completist, but not really suited to frequent repeat listening.

The remaining tracks, "My Baby's In Love With Eddie Vedder" is largely uninspired, as is the swing-style "Grapefruit Diet" and the countrified "Truck Driving Song." Especially in the latter two, Al seems to be trying too hard, or perhaps not hard enough. While the songs are perhaps humorous enough the first time through, they don't grow on you, and are only mediocre at best. Some artists might be able to get away with this, but we know that Al is capable of much more.

However, every one of Al's albums has it's high points and it's low points, so these three tracks alone are not reason enough to pan "Running With Scissors". This album definitely goes in the plus column, and is one of his best in years.

Free Music Review: "Weird Al" uses his roots
Hit: 5 Stars

The first song, and what could be called a single, is "The Saga Begins". Al uses Don McLean's oldie hit "American Pie" to tell the story of 'Star Wars Episode I' in one beautiful, hilarious 5-minute song. It's one of the best off the CD, as the lyrics focus on Anakin Skywalker (chorus: 'my, my this here Anakin guy/may be Vader some day later/now he's just a small fry) and how he's soon to become the villainous Darth Vader. The next song, "My Baby's In Love With Eddie Vedder" is rather a low point, and the best part of the song is its title. And for those of you who thought you heard The Offspring's "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" one too many times, you were right. Al uses that overplayed hit to give us the funny "Pretty Fly For A Rabbi". The song had good intentions and is pretty funny, but lacks relative lyrics (unless of course you're a Rabbi).

After his not-so-popular TV show's theme song, you'll find a parody of Barenaked Ladies hit "One Week". It's a great parody about the hit TV show Jerry Springer, and is probably Al's most audacious and racy song since "Amish Paradise". "Germs", loosely based on Nine Inch Nail's "Closer" is great; and "Polka Power" is his usual mix of polka and all the recent pop hits. "Your Horoscope For Today" is different and one of the weaker points on the CD. But then we come to "It's All About The Pentiums". As you probably guessed, this is a parody of Puff Daddy's "Benjamins" (the rock remix) song. This is my favorite Al song of all-time. It's so awesome, and if you were lucky enough to see the video for it, you'd have loved it even more.

The next three songs are pretty weird; and Cherry Poppin Daddies' hit "Zoot Suit Riot" is parodied perfectly by Al, who uses food (mostly Grapefruit and sweets) as the basis. And the final song, "Albuquerque", is an 11-minute marathon in which Al never stops singing. It's funny, but as you can imagine, a little annoying by the second minute. In conclusion, if you consider yourself to be a "Weird Al" Yankovic fan, then you'll really love this CD. Or if you've heard those darn overplayed songs from The Offspring and Barenaked Ladies too many times, this is a chance to really let go. Weird Al catches some of the best pop hits of the late 90s, and even heads back to some popular classics in making this CD. As I've said, I think this is Al's best recording yet. I think in time, you'll agree.