Jump to content
  • entries
    945
  • comments
    4,956
  • views
    1,220,846

Alpo Cow Lips


Nathan Strum

3,480 views

"Weird Famine" Yankovic doesn't quite have the ring to it that "Weird Al" does, but with his latest album, the Alpocalypse is upon us:

 

alpocalypse-cd.jpg

 

Alpocalypse is Al's first album in five years (his longest break). He had quite the challenge in following up Straight Outta Lynwood, which was one of his strongest and most successful albums in his 30+ year career. (Yes... "Weird Al's" been around that long.)

 

There are no apocalyptic-themed parodies on the album. Rather, according to a recent interview*, the title "Alpocalypse" is just an idea that he'd been kicking around for awhile and decided to use it now. Probably trying to beat the rush.

 

The album took a few days to grow on me, because fully half of the tracks had already been released online. "Whatever You Like", "Craigslist", "Skipper Dan", "CNR" and "Ringtone" were all part of his Internet Leaks EP, and had been available starting as far back as October 2008, initially for free. Also, because of the recent mix-up with Lady Gaga, the lead single for the album - "Perform This Way" - was also released early, online, for free. So my initial listening to the album was diminished considerably, since it was like getting half an album of old material. And even though I'd only listened to the early releases only once or twice, the jokes/themes of those songs were effectively ruined as far as any surprises were concerned. (Consequently, I've decided any time other artists that I follow do that in the future, I'm just going to skip any previews and hold off until the album comes out.) Still, I understand the appeal of doing that from the artist's perspective, since 1) it generates some income and 2) it lets people know that they're actively working on something, and keeps them somewhat in the minds of the public.

 

Fortunately, after the initial listening, the album has really grown on me, and like Al's best albums, it's very re-listenable. There aren't any tracks on the album that I'd call weak, and many of them rank among his best work lyrically, spinning entertaining stories and creating fun characters. What took me a little by surprise this time, despite having followed his career for so long and being familiar with his versatility, is how good of a singer he really is. His work on "Another Tattoo" is especially impressive, and really shows a range and control over his voice that many "serious" pop stars severely lack. His band is right on point throughout the whole album, effortlessly switching styles as each song dictates. It's not just funny music, but it's good music as well. The production throughout the album is first rate. Very professional stuff, especially from someone once dismissed as a "novelty act". Apparently, he wasn't listening to them.

 

If I had to pick a favorite track, I'd have to go with "If That Isn't Love". "Weird Al" has done similar faux-romantic songs before ("Since You've Been Gone", "One More Minute", "Wanna B Ur Lover", etc.) but this one tops his previous efforts since it reflects a different sort of relationship in the song and the writing is more clever (I can almost picture him singing this to his wife while writing it, trying to crack her up). I'll also admit to liking "Party In The CIA" more than I probably should (I've never heard the Miley Cyrus original), because it's a great juxtaposition of lyrical content and musical style.

 

Overall - an excellent album, and highly recommended to fans of "Weird Al", new and old alike.

 

That said - besides the polka medley - it could still use more accordion**. ;)

 

8.5/10

 

Track listing:

 

1. Perform This Way (Parody of "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga)

2. CNR (White Stripes-style original)

3. TMZ (Parody of "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift)

4. Skipper Dan

5. Polka Face (medley): Liechtensteiner Polka, Poker Face, Womanizer, Right Round, Day 'N' Nite, Need You Now, Baby, So What, I Kissed A Girl, Fireflies, Blame It, Replay, Down, Break Your Heart, Tick Tolk Polka, Tik Tok, Whatever's Left Over Polka

6. Craigslist (Doors-style original)

7. Party In The CIA (Parody of "Party In The U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus)

8. Ringtone (Queen-style original)

9. Another Tattoo (Parody of "Nothin' On You" by B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars)

10. If That Isn't Love (Hanson-style original)

11. Whatever You Like (Parody of "Whatever You Like" by T.I.)

12. Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me

 

*There's an excellent interview with Al on (of all places) ESPN Radio.

**If you're looking for more accordion, you can check out Al sitting in with the band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Music Videos

 

I bought the Deluxe version of Alpocalypse, which includes 10 music videos on a DVD. (

wasn't finished until after the disc was pressed, and a "Polka Face" video will be released later.) I didn't include the videos in the score since I consider them bonus material, and you can buy them individually on iTunes or wherever. I've attached a few comments and screen grabs below.

 

CNR

One of the best of the bunch. Uses a cut-and-paste approach (similar to Terry Gilliam's Monty Python work), and is very funny.

cnr.jpg

 

TMZ

A rare misstep by the usually excellent animator Bill Plympton. The video doesn't particularly match the song, and isn't very funny visually. It looks like about an afternoon's work for him, with very limited animation and a lot of repeated material.

tmz.jpg

 

Skipper Dan

Pretty good. A fairly straightforward adaptation of the song. Limited animation, but stylistically it works and tells the story well.

skipper-dan.jpg

 

Craigslist

A live action video of Al doing his best Jim Morrison, intercut with some psychedelia and stock footage. There's not much funny going on in the video, and it really doesn't illustrate the song, but it's the only live action piece in the bunch.

craigslist.jpg

 

Party In The CIA

Probably my favorite, and well worth having. Tells the story well, has a wonderful visual style, and also some genuinely funny moments in it.

party-in-the-cia.jpg

 

Ringtone

Another excellent video, with some MAD Magazine quality caricatures in it. Fun to watch.

ringtone.jpg

 

Another Tattoo

Well, it tries. The animation is poor, the caricature of Al is pretty bad, but it illustrates the song adequately.

another-tattoo.jpg

 

If That Isn't Love

A pretty good video, although the song paints a better picture by itself than the video does. I was disappointed they didn't even attempt to caricature Al.

if-that-isnt-love.jpg

 

Whatever You Like

Actually annoying to watch. Similar in approach to CNR with cut-and-paste photos, but not nearly as skillfully done (especially when Al is singing - it makes my eyes hurt). However, there are some funny background jokes if you frequently pause the video.

whatever-you-like.jpg

 

Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me

Cleverly animated text, but really wears out its welcome after the first minute or so. Probably a style better suited for 30 second commercials.

stop-forwarding.jpg

7 Comments


Recommended Comments

There's a really good interview with Al at A.V. Club, in which he talks in-depth about a bunch of his songs, past and present. It gives an interesting insight into how he went about writing those songs, and what he thinks of them now.

Link to comment
Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...