I'll definitely give Al credit for marketing this album as an event instead of slowly seeping it through the sieve as with Alpocalypse.
So I understand that this is conceivably the last physical CD Al is going to put out and I can't say I'm all that excited about the notion. I haven't embraced the whole digital download process, and based on my opinion that the music industry has become the equivalent of a barren desert with a few oases here and there, I don't expect I'm ever going to.
I'm not part of the music industry so I can't say with any confidence what the mentality of a record company is today, but based on the cracked.com articles I've read I'm convinced that today's popular music is mass produced by committee. Case in point: the Iggy Azalea song Fancy has SEVEN freaking names credited as writers. How hard of a song was this to write? And it's still stupid. I know it's popular, but that doesn't make it any less stupid. A LOT of stupid things manage to become popular.
I'm certain that people in the music industry who actually know anything about music are in the minority. When I do encounter currents songs, I find them monotonous and devoid of any real melody lines. And I know my decade (the 80's) produced quite a bit of the same aerobic tempo interchangeability, but we also had the good stuff along with it. I'm not seeing much in the way of the good stuff anymore and I don't really understand why that is.
Well anyway, let's look at what the parody king does with the resources he has to work with.
Handy: If it wasn't clear from my intro, I hate the Iggy Azalea song. Knowing that she was going to lead off Al's newest album I listened to it about five times trying to find a way to like it and I just couldn't. So I bought Mandatory Fun this morning and popped the CD in thinking "Let's just get this first track over with" and I don't know what the hell happened but I suddenly loved it. There is absolutely no reason for Al's parody to have worked as well as it did, but I can't deny it's a great way to kick off the album.
Lame Claim to Fame: This is a nice concept even if the song hasn't really stayed with me (you know, after the one time I've heard it). It's a decent enough second track even if it feels like Talk Soup's B-side.
Foil: Another not-quite-there song. I guess Foil has inherited the food parody legacy, but it doesn't quite have the passion of Spam or Addicted to Spuds. I'm predicting that this is going to be my overriding response to this album. Despite his best efforts Al really may have peaked after goin', goin' to the, yes after goin' to the Hardware Store and his music since then has just felt a little on the Al-lite side.
Sports Song: Out of all the songs that I knew were going to appear on this album I was most looking forward to this one. Al said he was going to write a Superbowl stadium song, and in my mind I was imagining a drum heavy jock jam like Pour Some Sugar on Me. Instead we get the full length version of Harvey the Wonder Hamster. Eh...okay? Maybe the song could have been rescued if the content had been an honest satirization of the sports fan's sense of accomplishment when the people on the field accomplish something, but instead Al plays it safe making it Weird Al Show friendly.
Word Crimes: Unlike the Iggy Azalea, this parody didn't make me like the original. The Robin Thicke song is overrated, and the only reason we paid it any mind was because of topless women. As for the parody lyrics, they're good. Not quite the in-your-face spirit of It's All About the Pentiums that I was hoping for, but Al rose to the challenge admirably. I would say this song hits the target, just not the bull's-eye.
My Own Eyes: This would have been a much better second track than Lame Claim to Fame. The jokes work more frequently and it's just a stronger song overall.
NOW That's What I Call Polka!: I'm not hearing what Patton Oswalt is hearing. It's still an early call but this may in fact be my least favorite of the polka medleys. By its nature the polka medley is an espresso shot to its album, and this medley comes across as decaf. It's slower than usual and by the time we reach Get Lucky it feels as though we're just starting the polka instead of concluding it. I suspect that Al is tired of doing the polka medleys, and if the tepidness of Now That's What I Call Polka! is any indication, we're probably witnessing the swansong. Kind of an unsatisfying sendoff to an incredible legacy.
Mission Statement: I've never personally gotten into the style of Crosby, Stills, Nash and sometimes Young but Al does a really solid pastiche. The big problem is this song really needs to go somewhere, like revealing at the end that this is Linus giving a motivational speech to MetLife. Even The Check's in the Mail had a little bit of an implicit story arc. Mission Statement just hovers on this one concept for four and a half minutes.
Inactive: This is the passion regarding nothing that identifies Weird Al. I've never heard of Imagine Dragons before this moment, but Al has introduced me to them. The music just hooked me and Al's lyrics came to life in a really bizarre manner.
First World Problems: Maybe Al is really trying to break his own template with this album, because the final third (ordinarily the dumping ground for the weaker songs) is really packing a punch. Musically this song hasn't had time to blossom with me, but I'm definitely going to grant it as many listens as it needs. As of now I'm giving it full credit.
Tacky: This song is cute. I would never have been interested in the original, but Al's parody puts it on a whole new level. I'm actually surprised this is the final parody as it could just as easily have led the album. And the video? The single tracking shot is incredibly energetic, Aisha Tyler and Jack Black couldn't appear more at home lip-synching a Weird Al song. I'll bet that was a really fun lunch after the shoot.
Jackson Park Express: I'm not sure how I feel about this one and it may take me another month before I figure it out. Unlike Trapped in the Drive-Thru the conclusion to Jackson Park Express feels natural, and at least something is happening on a musical level even if it doesn't really merit nine minutes of attention. My initial reaction is that Al could have shortened this song to the five minute mark and accomplished the same thing. As it stands, I think it's just an okay song, and the length doesn't make it funnier, just longer.
Conclusion:
I'm writing this review the day Mandatory Fun came out, so there's always the potential for some songs to grow on me over time. I may come back and do an update in a few months once the dust has settled, but for now here's how I've decided to score it. Handy, Tacky, First World Problems, My Own Eyes and Inactive each get 3 points. Lame Claim to Fame, Sports Song, Mission Statement, Jackson Park Express and the polka each get 2 points. That leaves me with Word Crimes and Foil which I think I'm going to let both slide with a 2.5 each. 30 out of 36 for a score of 83, a B. Same as Straight Outta Lynwood and Off the Deep End although on both of those albums I think the highs were higher and the lows were lower. ~update on 2/12/2015. While it hasn't affected the overall score, now that the album has had time to settle in my head I've wound up liking Word Crimes a little more and Foil a little less, so 3 points for the former and 2 for the latter. And for the record, Now That's What I Call Polka is in fact my least favorite of the polka medleys.
In fact, just out of curiosity: it turns out that the average score for Weird Al albums based on my biased and completely unfair criteria is 84 which puts this album right there in middle quality-wise and I think that feels about right. Mandatory Fun is new, so naturally it feels fresher than Dare to be Stupid but in reality it's as good as the rest of Weird Al's body of work.
More Conclusion:
It is very sad to me to think that this is the last album. I understand because of who "Weird Al" Yankovic is to music that it makes sense for him to be able to pop up in appearances whenever the muse of comedy commands it, but it already gnaws at me that I don't own a legal copy of Spy Hard, Headline News, or Polkamon (not enough to go get legal copies of them, but it does gripe me a little). I don't want to 'own' a virtual copy of anything, it means more to me to have the physical object in my hands, like a book or Michael Bay's esophagus. It's like getting a birthday present early, it just doesn't have that day-of specialness to it.
But nothing is definite. I know Al is weighing his options. And vinyl is even making a 'there, happy now?' comeback, so we may still get some CD releases just to shut people like me up. I'll tell you what I'm secretly hoping for (promise not to tell anyone, or it won't be a secret) is that somewhere down the road Al will deliberately release an outdated album called Missed Opportunities where he'll go back through the past few decades and grab those groups that just desperately need their songs parodied but never had those moments in the multicolored spotlight. It would be a wonderful way to introduce younger generations to the music of Bon Jovi, the Styx, Pat Benatar, and Edvard Grieg.
And maybe then we can finally get that polka where we hear the opening notes to Sweet Child of Mine re-envisioned by the accordion.
And the score rankings are:
|
Running with Scissors
|
99
|
A
|
1999
|
|
Poodle Hat
|
97
|
A
|
2003
|
|
UHF (SUMO SOAP)
|
95
|
A
|
1989
|
|
Bad Hair Day
|
89
|
B
|
1996
|
|
Dare to Be Stupid
|
87
|
B
|
1985
|
|
Off the Deep End
|
83
|
B
|
1992
|
|
Straight Outta Lynwood
|
83
|
B
|
2006
|
|
Mandatory Fun
|
83
|
B
|
2014
|
|
Even Worse
|
82
|
B
|
1988
|
|
"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D
|
79
|
C
|
1984
|
|
Alpocalypse
|
79
|
C
|
2011
|
|
Polka Party!
|
77
|
C
|
1986
|
|
"Weird Al" Yankovic
|
75
|
C
|
1983
|
|
Alapalooza
|
72
|
C
|
1993
|
Feel free to revisit these five previous blogs for information on how I graded Weird Al's past albums.
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