GatorDeb

I've just gotten hooked on him. White And Nerdy is just an unbelievably awesome culture piece. Look on the Internet for rewriteable media, edit Wikipedia, got people begging for my 8 top places. Just brilliant.

Who else here likes him? I only have The Permanent Record and White and Nerdy (by itself not the album) but I've been listening to other albums on Yahoo Music. Is there a site that lists what each song is supposed to parody? Wasn't there an Eminem one? (found it, "Couch Potato" in the album "Poodle Hat").

chino77

his parodies are usually funny. his non parodies 99% of the time suck. "omish paradise" is fuckin brilliant in my eyes. "dont download this song" or whatever its called is fucking stupid in my eyes. i saw him open for the monkeys in the 80's when i was a little kid and he kicked ass. we waited out back for him and he ran 2 feet from me to his tour bus....good times.

UAIOE

"Albuquerque" is the most pointless and brilliant song ever recorded.


Weird Al does some songs that aren't a parody of a particular song so much as done in a similar style of a popular group.

"I'll sue ya" - Rage Against the Machine-ish
"Germs" was NIN-ish
"Dare to be Stupid" - Devo-ish
And there is a song on "Even Worse" that is Talking Heads-ish in style.

nickdawgy

Wrong, his originals are alot better then you think.

DVD Josh

Someone's opinion can only be wrong when they are uninformed. So no, he's right, and you are right. It's dichotomous.

I have every album of his and a custom MP3 collection of my personal favs. I have a current limit of 75 on the GH collection. When this album came out, there were some tough cuts.

darkside

Hadn't listened to Weird Al in awhile, but finally picked up the new CD and its pretty damn good. Canadian Idiot for some reason is my favorite track.

GatorDeb

American Idiot is the one track that I consistently listen to from that Green Day CD (I enjoy Blvd of Broken Dreams (I believe it's called) also but for some reason AI gets more airplay), so Canadian Idiot is a favorite also. Love the eBay song also.

Adam Tyner

I do have to wonder how many of his originals the OP has heard, though. I would tend to think that someone who actively dislikes at least half of an artist's material probably doesn't follow him that closely.

I wonder if age has a lot to do with it too, and I don't mean that in a condescending way. People who grew up in a time when Devo and The Talking Heads were just fodder for some pop-culture retrospective on VH-1 might not appreciate "Mr. Popeil", "Dare to be Stupid", or "Dog Eat Dog" in that same way.

Personally, I find that his originals have a much longer shelf life. When I pop on "Running with Scissors" and "Bad Hair Day", f'r instance, I find myself skipping past most of the parodies.

Graftenberg

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I love this song!!

Hiro11

I have all of his albums including Permanent Record (he says somewhat sheepishly).
Personal favorites:
You're Pitiful (playing right now)
Virus Alert! (I'm a big Sparks fan)
Jurassic Park (particularly good if you've heard the original)
I Lost on Jeopardy (ditto)
King of Suede (That's my size up there...)
Trapped in the Drive Through (I don't even like liver!)
Taco Grande (might be my favorite, always put me in a good mood)
Midnight Star (You can use ESP to learn to play guitar! (solo))

His newest album may be his best. It's hilarious all the way through.

ViewAskewbian

Excellent Original Al:
Nature Trail To Hell
Midnight Star
One More Minute
This Is The Life
Dare To Be Stupid
Dog Eat Dog
Good Enough For Now
Christmas At Ground Zero
Melanie
Good Old Days
The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota
When I Was Your Age
You Don't Love Me Anymore
Frank's 2000" TV
Everything You Know Is Wrong
I Remember Larry
The Night Santa Went Crazy
Your Horoscope For Today
Truck Drivin' Song
Albuquerque
Hardware Store
Genius In France
Bob (thought closely sounding, it is an original)
I'll Sue Ya
Virus Alert
Don't Download This Song (somebody above mentioned they didn't enjoy but I think it is a perfect homage to those 80s We Are The World tunes)

Lee Harvey Oswald

I like his older stuff alot. The stuff over the past 10 years or so I am not as crazy about. Since he parodies popular music and I don't really like todays popular music his songs don't have the funny catchy feel to me. Although, White and Nerdy was pretty good and I'm going to download (legally) the R Kelly parody. I prefer his 80's parodies since I like some of the original songs as well.

My favorite Al Songs:
Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch
Another one rides the bus
I Lost on Jeopardy
Jerry Springer (Overall an ok song, but I love the "hermaphodite, slut and the crack ho" line)
Eat It
This is the Life
UHF (I like the guitar)
The Brady Bunch
Yoda
Ricky

And since its a Weird Al Appreciation thread I have to mention that UHF is one of my all time favorite comedies and probably the movie I've seen most in my life.

UAIOE

I just love that line "Put down your chainsaw and listen to me."

I was really happy that he played this song when i saw in 2003.


"Nature Trail to Hell" is also a really funny song.


And even if "Trash Day" was a parody, it was still funny as hell.

JP5683

I saw Al in July 2000 and it was fantastic.

Favs of mine:

Parodies:

Ricky
Theme From Rocky XIII
I Think I'm A Clone Now
The White Stuff
Amish Paradise
The Saga Begins
It's All About The Pentiums
A Complicated Song
eBay
White & Nerdy
Confessions Part III
Trapped In The Drive-Thru

Originals:

Nature Trail To Hell
One More Minute
One Of Those Days
Melanie
Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota
Trigger Happy
When I Was Your Age
You Don't Love Me Anymore
Everything You Know Is Wrong
I Remember Larry
Truck Drivin' Song
Albequerque
Hardware Store
Wanna B Ur Lovr
Bob
I'll Sue Ya
Virus Alert

and of all the polka mixes I like Polka Your Eyes Out the best, probably because I remember seeing it on the Dr Demento 20th anniversary special.

grundle

For me it's mostly the stuff on his first 3 albums. My favorite album of his is "Dare To Be Stupid." I also love "Christmas At Ground Zero" from his 4th album.

I think it's hilarious that Coolio got mad at Weird Al because Weird Al did a parody of a song that Collio ripped off from Stevie Wonder. (Weird Al's "Amish Paradise" parodies Coolio's "Gangster's Paradise" which rips off Stevie Wonder's "Past Time Paradise.")

Weird Al is a genius with a great sense of humor. And from what I hear in real life he's just as nice as a person can be.

chino77

i assume by OP you meant me. anyways i grew up with the guy (im 29) and i found him funny when i was a kid. now i only think he is funny in his parodies. his non parodies arent funny to me and they sound cheesy musically. i do like some of his non parody stuff from the 80's mostly for nostolgic value. maybe i just have to much good music or im not 9 yrs old anymore so i dont want to waste time on crap like "dont download this song".

Nabalab

My Weird AL story which I feel the need to share -

When I saw him in concert in May 1996, I happened to get the setlist after the show. A few months later, when he was doing an autograph signing at a nearby mall, I brought it with me - along with Permanent Record for him to sign. When I showed him the setlist, he said (without missing a beat) "OH YOU'RE the one that took it!!!! We had no idea what to play after that!!!"

I've seen him about 7 or 8 times now, and he never fails to disappoint.

For someone to do what he's been doing for 20+ years is remarkable.

Adam Tyner

With the same band, to boot. The only line-up change in a couple of decades (aside from some occasional filling in at a few shows) has been adding a keyboardist. How many other bands can say the same?

SonOfAStu

Huh, I guess he grew up between the 80's and 96 becuase when I saw him that summer they set up a chair outside the back door and he sat there after the show and signed everything and took a picure with anyone who wanted one and had a camera ready. And they didn't even think about leaving until the line was through.

emanon

Make up your mind - do you like him or not?!?

chino77

thats pretty cool. i wish he would have when i saw him. the monkeys signed a few but were gone within a few minutes.

bssc

I have been listening to him for ages. In addition to his al-bums, I recommend his DVDs, especially his collection of music video parodies. I Lost on Jeapardy is quite amusing.

And he has outlasted most of the people he has parodied, what has Madonna or Michael Jackson done recently musically.

I played Canadian Idiot for a group of people at work last week, just so they could appreciate his latest efforts.

So, yes, I like him.

Lipid

Dare To Be Stupid will forever remind me of Transformers: The Movie.

orderandlaw

Just stumbled across this and got a kick out of it. Al's first tv appearance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNlOL8tBVL8

and my current fave song is an oldie... Good old Days

C-Mart

I love Weird Al. I don't think I'll ever grow out of his music. I think he's a genius just to be able to write, not just random lyrics that go with any music, but funny lyrics that still make sense. And his band is amazing because they can play ANYTHING!

When I got Running With Scissors, my friend and I laughed all the way through Albequerque the first time we heard it... then played it many times more for the rest of the day. I've also tried on several occaisions to memorize "Hardware Store" off of Poodle Hat (just by listening to it - not reading the CD book).

I got to see him just last year at the OC County Fair and it was an amazing show! He did Albequerque live, and had a bunch of stormtroopers on stage, and a Vader as well during the Star Wars Songs.

I'm not as fond of his original stuff as of his parodies... but they are still good. I got really sick of another of my friends always saying "I think that one is a parody" for one of his originals, which, many times take the style of a band, as someone mentioned earlier "Germs" had the style of NIN.

I also like the fact that he was going to be an architect and went to my alma matter's sister school, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo... which is what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go... alas I went to Cal Poly Pomona and became a civil engineer instead.