The "Weird Al" Yankovic Topic

[DocAzure]

 

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, musician, parodist, record producer, satirist, music video director, film producer, actor, and author. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts. Since his first-aired comedy song in 1976, he has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2007), recorded more than 150 parody and original songs, and has performed more than 1,000 live shows. His works have earned him three Grammy Awards and a further 11 nominations, four gold records, and six platinum records in the United States.

 

Now, I'm sure that you are all well aware of Al and his works, because not only are they genius parodies, but they go above an beyond that sometimes, and his original works have a habit of standing on their own. You probably most likely know him for his Michael Jackson parodies, "Fat", a parody of "Bad", and "Eat it" a parody of "Beat it". These parodies are what made Al, launching his career, allowing him to continue giving us genius parodies, such as "Smells Like Nirvana", "Amish Paradise", and "The Saga Begins", just to name a few.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcJjMnHoIBI

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FklUAoZ6KxY

 

Regardless of how you know him, I'm going to guess you at least enjoy one of the tracks he's came out with. I'm certainly quite a fan of his, and even now he comes out with genius parodies of current songs, something that is really pretty neat, as it somehow makes stuff I usually class as intolerable, like Miley Cyrus, much more tolerable, because of the humorous, often satirical lyrics added.

 

Sooooo, Weird Al, what do you guys think of him?

[Spin Attaxx]

He's pretty good, I like his stuff. But holy shit this thing will never get out of my goddamned head:

 

 

WHY IS IT SO GODDAMNED CATCHY?! ;A;

[Junko]

The song I know Weird Al for the most:

[no one]

The big question is...

 

Classic Al or Modern Al??

 

 

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

The big question is...

 

Classic Al or Modern Al??

 

 

I'll go for WRECK GAR AL

Dare to be Stupid! (I mean who cannot like a song that is both a parody, AND was in the Transformers movie XD

[Celestia]

The big question is...

 

Classic Al or Modern Al??

If you ask me, all Al is best Al. Though if we're talking strictly which of his goofy appearances I prefer, it's classic Al, if only because I miss the glasses a little.

[TCB]

I don't know about ya'll, but these two songs are some of the best Weird Al has done in the past decade. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qYF9DZPdw

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otGO0a7OPtg

 

 

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

Love this guy. So many subpar songs salvaged, so many great songs made hilarious. One of the few comedy acts in the music scene I still give respect for, even excusing the toilet humor

 

 

WHY IS IT SO GODDAMNED CATCHY?! ;A;

 

Parodying They Might Be Giants will do that.

[iDEATH]

I used to be obsessed with Al when I was about 15, had quite a few of his albums and listened to him nearly everyday, had his music video collection on DVD and his movie...these days though....I dunno I still like him, I just don't love him...

 

I've always preferred his original songs over his parodies, songs like Dare to be Stupid, Everything You Know is Wrong or Albuquerque....while I still enjoy the odd parody I don't think they hold up half as well as the originals.

 

EDIT: Here's some proof of my younger self's Weird Al obsession....I have fan art on Weird Al's website.

http://weirdal.com/fanart334.htm

 

[Tara]

I love Weird Al with the burning passion of a thousand suns.  Even though I know I was exposed to him much earlier, the first song I heard ABOUT him was his parody of Avril Lavigne's Complicated.  ("A Complicated Story.")  However, because the person who introduced me to the song (without actually showing me it because it was before YouTube) was... well, into some weird stuff let's just say.  I wanted to avoid anything relating to him.

 

But then I saw the song he did for the movie Spy Hard.  (By the way, if you came in late, allow me to reiterate.  The name of the movie is Spy Hard.  They called it Spy Hard.  It's the theme from Spy Hard.)  And then it went from that to "ebay" (parody of Backstreet Boys' I Want it That Way), then to Trapped in the Drive-Thru, then to I'll Sue Ya, then I just became an addict and now I'm selling all my organs to get whatever monstrosity he comes out with next.

 

Someone please help me.

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

Someone please help me.

 

Nothing's gonna save you from right-minded sanity, 'kito.

[no one]

This one was a childhood favorite of mine.

 

[LordMetallix]

I used to listen to Weird Al's stuff all the time back in middle school, but sort of lost interest in his work for whatever reason. My two favorite songs by him back in the day had to be White and Nerdy and The Saga Begins.

 

Thought about getting back into his music, anyone have any recommendations as to where I should start?

[Tara]

Thought about getting back into his music, anyone have any recommendations as to where I should start?

Not much has really started since then, so you shouldn't be too baffled by any of his more recent creations.  His latest album, Alpocalypse, is really good, so if you want something with lots of currently relevant and also hilarious parodies and really funny original songs, I'd give that a try. ^^

[Axl.EXE]

Alpolkalypse is pretty good. 'Perform This Way' and 'Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me' are my personal favorites from it. 'TMZ' and 'Party in the CIA' are great as well.

[Applejack1973]

Here is the literal version of the Goof Off.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_uLhv7KfGg