I think I might have talked about this before but "The 2nd Law" is probably my least favourite Muse album. It felt like the "jumping of the shark" moment for the band where they took their appreciation of Queen across the line towards openly copying them. They've taken a slight backtrack from this in their most recent album "Drones". But there were times on "The 2nd Law" where Muse went into "taking the piss" territory when it comes to their "inspiration" from Queen.
However with "Panic Station" Muse didn't do that. They went in a completely different type of homage. They went into the Eighties and paid their respects to INXS. So if you're thinking I'm hypocritical of the fact that I'm "cool" with the fact that they "copied" INXS but am not "cool" with them "copying" Queen then I'd understand that to a certain extent. But the reason why I love "Panic Station" is because it's so different. It's fun. It's very very cool. And in the end, Muse going in a different direction, away from Queen is a welcome inspiration in my eyes. And it's not like INXS are a band that people talk about enough nowadays.
What I love about "Panic Station" nearly as much as the track is the video. It's just Muse having a heck of a time in Japan wearing wacky outfits. And you can tell they genuinely had fun making this video. It makes the song that much better seeing the band have fun. Because at times it's always felt that Muse took themselves far too seriously and think far too much of themselves. Check the video out if you haven't before.
Royal Blood's debut single was a bit of a slowburner. It didn't catch fire as quickly as a few of the other songs, but for longevity, I think it's arguably outlasted the other songs. You may or may not be a wrestling fan, but it was the theme song for a WWE pay-per-view called Roadblock only last month, which suggests that the song got a good amount of airplay in America only recently.
For me, what I love so much about "Out of the Black" is that it really, REALLY reminds me of Muse. And I don't mean arena-rock-trying-to-rip-Queen Muse, but earlier days of Muse, circa-2002. In particular the song "Dead Star". You may or may not hear the influence I hear in "Out of the Black" from this song, but either way these two songs sound very similar in certain ways to me. And I just love that. Royal Blood ooze potential, and there's a reason why they're one of the most exciting British rock bands around at the moment, and they're just getting started.
Five years ago I revealed my 100 favourite songs between the years 2000 and 2009. If I were to do the list again I'm sure certain entries would change but it got me thinking, what were my favourite songs from the last half decade? I could wait another five years and do the full decade but I thought, well, simply that five years is a long time so I can do both lists can't I! If you want to know what my 100 favourite songs were from the last decade click here. Like my other list, there's a couple of rules. The first one is that the songs are singles only. There's no album tracks on here that weren't released as a single. And secondly, I've once again set a cap of three songs per artist, with the exception of if it's a duet or something special like that. Another thing that's different this time round is that I'm not setting limits on any genres. Last time I tried to stick with mainly rock and metal, but this time round I've put whatever songs I like in the list. Put it this way, there's a lot more RnB, rap, pop and dance in here than I'd expect from myself but that's no matter! But without further ado, for the next 100 days, here's my favourite songs from the last half decade! Enjoy!
#100. “Madness” – Muse
Released: 20/8/12
Album: The 2nd Law
The last two or three Muse albums have been underwhelming in my opinion. That's not to say they're bad but just... inferior to their earlier stuff. But one thing that's consistent is that there's always some very good singles. "Madness", even if there's a not-so subtle homage/ripoff of Queen in there, is still a very enjoyable single. It got decent airplay as well, but then again, Muse haven't exactly lost their popularity over the years, even if I don't fancy their music as much as I used to.
Here's the music video if you want to hear it!
To go to #99 go here, or to go straight to #1 go here!
For the latest updates on my work, including all my latest radio shows, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!
Hey everyone, we're half way there. Thanks for keeping upto date with this list. It's been 50 days... here's to the next 50! If you want to see a recap, or have missed the list so far, here's from #100 to #51...
#100: "House of Fun" - Madness
#99: "Cosmic Love" - Florence and the Machine
#98: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
#97: "Keine Lust" - Rammstein
#96: "Bassline Junkie" - Dizzee Rascal
#95: "The Salmon Dance" - The Chemical Brothers
#94: "stevie" - Kasabian
#93: "The Hardest Button to Button " - The White Stripes
#92: "If I Had a Tail" - The Queens of the Stone Age
#91: "Lullaby" - The Cure
#90: "Dance" - Saul Williams
#89: "Pork and Beans" - Weezer
#88: "Pure Morning" - Placebo
#87: "Rockstar" - Nickelback
#86: "Smooth Criminal" - Michael Jackson
#85: "Life on Mars" - David Bowie
#84: "I'm on a Boat" - The Lonely Island
#83: "Virtual Insanity" - Jamiroquai
#82: "Just a Day" - Feeder
#81: "Poison" - Alice Cooper
#80: "There There" - Radiohead
#79: "Dancing in the Street" - David Bowie and Mick Jagger
#78: "Psychosis Safari" - The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
#77: "Common People" - Pulp
#76: "Forgot About Dre" - Dr Dre and Eminem
#75: "Fat" - Weird Al Yankovic
#74: "Links 2-3-4" - Rammstein
#73: "Cars" - Gary Numan
#72: "Dragula" - Rob Zombie
#71: "Here it Goes Again" - OK Go
#70: "Gangnam Style" - PSY
#69: "Wake Me Up When September Ends" - Green Day
#68: "Smack My Bitch Up" - The Prodigy
#67: "Leave Before the Lights Come On" - Arctic Monkeys
#66: "Scream" - Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson
#65: "Clint Eastwood" - Gorillaz
#64: "Sweating Bullets" - Megadeth
#63: "Fell in Love With a Girl" - The White Stripes
#62: "Sledgehammer" - Peter Gabriel
#61: "I Want You So Hard (Boys Bad News)" - Eagles of Death Metal
#60: "In the Air Tonight" - Phil Collins
#59: "Twisted Transistor" - KoRn
#58: "I Just Had Sex" - The Lonely Island
#57: "Girls and Boys" - Good Charlotte
#56: "Lonely Boy" - The Black Keys
#55: "Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes
#54: "Ashes to Ashes" - David Bowie
#53: "My Band" - D12
#52: "Coma White" - Marilyn Manson
#51: Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades - Brand New
#50: Firestarter - The Prodigy
#49: United States of Whatever - Liam Lynch
#48: Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins
#47: Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm
#46: Enter Sandman - Metallica
#45: Tribute - Tenacious D
#44: Bad - Michael Jackson
#43: Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve
#42: Without Me - Eminem
#41: Man That You Fear - Marilyn Manson
#40: Fat Lip/Pain for Pleasure - Sum 41
#39: Stay - Shakespears Sister
#38: Slam - Pendulum
#37: Cradle of Love - Billy Idol
#36: Jack Sparrow - The Lonely Island
#35: Hey Ya! - The Outkast
#34: Paranoid Android - Radiohead
#33: All the Small Things - Blink 182
#32: Amish Paradise - Weird Al Yankovic
#31: Only - Nine Inch Nails
#30: Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads
#29: The Beautiful People - Marilyn Manson
#28: White Limo - Foo Fighters
#27: Buddy Holly - Weezer
#26: Walk This Way - Aerosmith and Run DMC
#25: In Bloom - Nirvana
#24: Fight for Your Right - Beastie Boys
#23: Knights of Cydonia - Muse
#22: Low Hangin' Fruit - Tenacious D
#21: Starfuckers Inc. - Nine Inch Nails
#20: Prince Charming - Adam and the Ants
#19: Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
#18: Underground - David Bowie
#17: Everlong - Foo Fighters
#16: Telegram Sam - Bauhaus
#15: Freak on a Leash - KoRn
#14: Shut Me Up - Mindless Self Indulgence
#13: Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.
#12: Hurt - Johnny Cash
#11: I Want to Break Free - Queen
#10: Closer - Nine Inch Nails
#9: White and Nerdy - Weird Al Yankovic
#8: I'm Afraid of Americans - David Bowie and Trent Reznor
#7: Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim
#6: Thriller - Michael Jackson
#5: Coffee and TV - Blur
#4: Low - Foo Fighters
#3: Rabbit in Your Headlights - UNKLE and Thom Yorke
#2: Take on Me - A-ha
So my favourite music video of all time is...
#1: "Just" - Radiohead Release Date: 1995 Director:Jamie Thraves Fun Fact: To this day, no one knows what the secret message is in the video, Radiohead won't reveal anything!!
So it's all over now. Sorry if you're disappointed at all. Obviously I'm not. And I'm sure there are those who do agree that this is one of the best music videos of all time. What can I say about this video? It's simple and incredibly effective. A man lies in the street for no reason at all and gets a lot of people concerned. Why is he lying on the floor? Why won't he say why? Why can't we touch him? That's the beauty of this video. It's using the power of psychology, the power of the unknown. We have no idea what the hidden message is in this video. Professionals have tried and failed to work it out. And twenty years later after this video comes out, the secret in the video is only known to Radiohead, presumably the director, and... that's about it? We'll never know. If you haven't seen this video, please watch it. It's just such a simple yet crazy idea that riles me up big time. WHY IS HE ON THE FLOOR?! So yeah. This is my favourite music video of all time and I just love it. And hate it. But love it far more than hate it, for sure! Note: This is the third and last video from the year 1995 in this list.
Here is the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to go back to #100 on the list or here for #2! So that's the end! Thanks so much for joining me in revealing my 100 favourite music videos of all time. It's been a long 101 days but I've enjoyed it. It's been a lot more well received than I ever imagined and it's made me think of doing a Top 100 list of different varieties more often. I may do one list per year. So stay tuned for the next one! Before I love you and leave you I want to share some statistics, like I always do, that may interest you! Multiple Music Directors Akiva Schaffer - 4 videos (#36 Jack Sparrow - Lonely Island, #58 I Just Had Sex - Lonely Island, #61 I Want You So Hard - Eagles of Death Metal, #84 I'm on a Boat - Lonely Island) Mark Romanek - 3 videos (#10 Closer - Nine Inch Nails, #12 Hurt - Johnny Cash, #66 Scream - Michael and Janet Jackson) David Mallet - 3 videos (#11 I Want to Break Free - Queen, #54 Ashes to Ashes - David Bowie, #79 Dancing in the Street - David Bowie and Mick Jagger) Michel Gondry - 3 videos (#17 Everlong - Foo Fighters, #63 Fell in Love With a Girl - White Stripes, #93 The Hardest Button to Button - White Stripes) Liam Lynch - 3 videos (#22 Low Hangin' Fruit - Tenacious D, #45 Tribute - Tenacious D, #49 United States of Whatever - Liam Lynch [unconfirmed]) Samuel Bayer - 3 videos (#52 Coma White - Marilyn Manson, #69 Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day, #98 Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana) Steve Barron - 2 videos (#2 Take on Me - A-ha, #18 Underground - David Bowie) Jonathan Glazer - 2 videos (#3 Rabbit in Your Headlights - UNKLE, #83 Virtual Insanity - Jamiroquai) Spike Jonze - 2 videos (#7 Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim, #27 Buddy Holly - Weezer) Dom and Nic - 2 videos (#8 I'm Afraid of Americans - David Bowie, #95 The Salmon Dance - The Chemical Brothers) Weird Al Yankovic - 2 videos (#9 White and Nerdy - Weird Al Yankovic, #32 Amish Paradise - Weird Al Yankovic) Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris - 2 videos (#15 Freak on a Leash - KoRn, #48 Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins) Joseph Kahn - 2 videos (#23 Knights of Cydonia - Muse, #42 Without Me - Eminem) David Fincher - 2 videos (#31 Only - Nine Inch Nails, #37 Cradle of Love - Billy Idol) Marc Klasfield - 2 videos (#40 Fat Lip - Sum 41, #47 Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm) Walter Stern - 2 videos (#43 Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve, #50 Firestarter - The Prodigy) Wayne Isham - 2 videos (#46 Enter Sandman - Metallica, #64 Sweating Bullets - Megadeth) Jay Levey - 2 videos (#75 Fat - Weird Al Yankovic, #81 Poison - Alice Cooper) Multiple Music Artists Radiohead - 3 videos (#1 Just, #34 Paranoid Android, #80 There, There) David Bowie - 3 videos (#18 Underground, #54 Ashes to Ashes, #85 Life on Mars) [also #8 I'm Afraid of Americans with Trent Reznor, and #79 Dancing in the Street with Mick Jagger] Foo Fighters - 3 videos (#4 Low, #17 Everlong, #28 White Limo) Michael Jackson - 3 videos (#6 Thriller, #44 Bad, #86 Smooth Criminal) [also #66 Scream with Janet Jackson) Weird Al Yankovic - 3 videos (#9 White and Nerdy, #32 Amish Paradise, #75 Fat) Nine Inch Nails - 3 videos (#10 Closer, #21 Starfuckers Inc, #31 Only) [also #8 I'm Afraid of Americans with David Bowie) Marilyn Manson - 3 videos (#29 The Beautiful People, #41 Man That You Fear, #52 Coma White) The Lonely Island - 3 videos (#36 Jack Sparrow, #58 I Just Had Sex, #84 I'm on a Boat) The White Stripes - 3 videos (#55 Seven Nation Army, #63 Fell in Love With a Girl, #93 The Hardest Button to Button) Queen - 2 videos (#11 I Want to Break Free - Queen, #19 Bohemian Rhapsody) KoRn - 2 videos (#15 Freak on a Leash, #59 Twisted Transistor) Tenacious D - 2 videos (#22 Low Hangin' Fruit, #45 Tribute) Nirvana - 2 videos (#25 In Bloom, #98 Smells Like Teen Spirit) The Prodigy - 2 videos (#50 Firestarter, #68 Smack My Bitch Up) Rammstein - 2 videos (#74 Links 2-3-4, #97 Keine Lust) I was going to do some charts but I haven't got Microsoft Excel anymore and the online one sucks when it comes to doing graphs. Ah well. That's all from me today and once again I thank you for joining me. Until next time, take care!
#11: "I Want to Break Free" - Queen Release Date: 1984 Director:David Mallet Fun Fact: The cross-dressing part of the video was highly inspired by "Coronation Street"!
Well? Did you really think this video would be excluded from my list? If you did you clearly don't appreciate how damn great this video is! Queen, before the Foo Fighters took the crown (in my opinion obviously), were the kings of the music video. The thing was, before this video, most of Queen's videos were very serious. They wanted to go completely against the grain and do something unexpected. And cross-dressing was the answer! What's so brilliant about the cross-dressing in this video is how concerningly good they all look in drag. Every single member of Queen look fantastic. Roger Taylor's legs - what on earth?! And of course, Queen do have a serious side to the video, the beautiful ballet section is equally as amazing, in a completely different way. The body paint and the art direction are flawless, and Freddy Mercury shaved his moustache off purely for this part of the music video. What else can I say? It's just one of the best music videos of all time, and it marginally misses out on my Top 10. Note: This is the first and last video from the year 1984 in this list.
Here is the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #10 on the list or here for #12!
#19: "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen Release Date: 1975 Director:Bruce Gowers Fun Fact: The reason why Queen decided to do this "promotional video", (which has been considered to be the video that started making it a regular thing now known as the "music video") is because Brian May thought the song would be difficult to mime on Top of the Pops!
I said at the start of this list that only two videos before the year 1979 have made the list. Earlier I posted "Life on Mars" by David Bowie, that got to #85. This is obviously the other one. I don't really have to explain much about why this video is featured so high on my list. It's probably featured high on many peoples lists. It's featured amongst the best music videos of all time. Sure, it looks a little farfetched by todays standards, but this video is considered to be THE video that made music videos a "thing". Sure, other bands did promo videos before, that David Bowie video is one of the first, but this is the one that made it a great promotional tool. Only four years after this video was made, was music videos becoming a very strong force in music. Six years after this video, MTV was born. The video is more memorable than it is fantastic. But, like many videos in this list, the song and video always bring me back to my childhood. And it's still fantastic, if not dated, watching it back fourty years later.
Here is the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #18 on the list or here for #20!
Why hello there and I'm back with more details on my newest DJ show. It's my first two hour show (well, the first that I've announced online) and I'm quite proud of it. It's a big improvement on last week's show, or at least, I think so. Any feedback is appreciated if you listen to it. The Rock and Metal Double Feature Show: 30/11/13 Track listing: The Rock Hour Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody Led Zeppelin - In the Evening Kings of Leon - Use Somebody The Fall - I'm a Mummy The Quireboys - 7 O'Clock P.R.O.U.D. - Tur Kue Kwam Fun (Music Box) Suede - Filmstar David Bowie - Boys Keep Swinging The Fratellis - Henrietta Nickelback - Burn it to the Ground Foo Fighters - The One The Offspring - All I Want Sisters of Mercy - This Corrosion The Metal Show White Zombie - Electric Head Pt. 1 (The Agony) KoRn - Never Never Marilyn Manson - The Reflecting God 36 Crazyfists - Slit Wrist Theory Nine Inch Nails - Last Skindred - Kill the Power Primus - Lacquer Head Devildriver - Clouds Over California Machine Head - Now I Lay Thee Down Turmion Kätilöt - Verta Ja Lihaa Rammstein - Rammstein Slayer - Raining Blood Total show running time: 02:00:00 On info on how to listen, email me! Other entries you might want to read:
Hi there, first and foremost, I'm not dead. I haven't updated this site in seven months and in those seven months I've moved house, twice, got a job permanently and, quite frankly, put freelance journalism on the back burner. I'm not saying I won't be doing any more articles or listings ever again, not at all. I'm just mentally in a different place than where I was when I put this site together three years ago. But I've been mainly updating this site sparsely because I felt I had to, but it's just not the case. I'll have a passion for writing again in a few months or years, for sure, but not at the moment. Which brings me to where I am at, at the moment. For the past year I've bee umming and ahhing over the idea of trying to give radio DJing a shot. Now, I'm a very tentative person when it comes to trying new things and work at a very slow pace. I wanted to wet my feet in the water, so to speak, before announcing anything. I've worked on only my fourth ever show on Thursday and publically announced this on my Facebook and Twitter pages. I did a requests show in which people could request songs for me to play, and messed about a bit. My microphone is terrible at present and I'm still learning the ropes, but the reception of the show has been mixed to positive so far. Thanks for the support. Any feedback and constructive criticism is welcome. So, any DJing projects I do now, I'll be promoting on this website, and if you want to listen to the show, email me, or contact me on Facebook or Twitter and I'll tell you how you can listen to it. Please though, bear with me though, I'm not going to turn into some DJing wizard genius overnight. I'm learning how to do things and putting up with a shit microphone, I also know that I blow on the microphone at times but I'm working on it, so don't give me any shit about that okay?! Cool. So, if you've come here for any new articles, I'm really sorry to disappoint. You're more than welcome to look around and see any of my previous work over the last 10 years but at the moment, I'm moving in a different direction. If you're interested, please support me. I appreciate it. Until next time, take care. The Selection Show: 21/11/13 Track listing: Jermaine Stewart - We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off D-Train - You're the One For Me (Paul Hardcastle '85 Mix) Ellie Goulding - How Long Will I Love You Chris Isaak - Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing Foo Fighters - The Pretender Nine Inch Nails - Closer Tom Jones and the Stereophonics - Mama Told Me Not to Come Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) Queen - Bicycle Race Aerosmith - Back in the Saddle Spinal Tap - Christmas with the Devil Total show running time: 00:53:23 On info on how to listen, email me! Other entries you might want to read:
Yesterday I posted my favourite UK #1 hits between the years 1952 and 1981. Why? Because the UK #1 is now sixty years old. We've had sixty years of popular music, and the charting of the popularity of it. So I decided I wanted to celebrate the past sixty years of music by revealing my favourite #1 hits. Because sixty years is such a long time I've made two lists, and this is the second one.
This Mixtape celebrates my favourite #1 hits from 1982 to 2012. This list of songs isn't as good as the list I put up yesterday, in my opinion anyway, because my favourite songs from the past 30 years hardly chart, nevermind get to #1. But there are some great tracks here, I'm sure you'll appreciate.
Don't know much about Mixtapes? Here are the rules.
A Mixtape is a playlist of a certain genre, band or era. The
list is generally 80 minutes long, the same length of a blank CD, with further
recommendations if some of the songs aren't to your taste. Remember kids,
downloading is wrong!
So here we go! Here's a list of my favourite #1 hits from 1982 to 2012, with the date it got to the #1 spot! Enjoy!
This
Mixtape is now available to listen to fully on YouTube so subscribe to me if you want to listen to it properly. Enjoy!
So that's it! I hope you enjoyed both of these playlists, or Mixtapes as I call them. Sure, I complain about the lack of quality songs getting up the charts nowadays, but that's obviously my opinion, an unpopular one based on the fact that in the end, it's a popularity contest for musicians. But we have had some great songs get up to the top, and I used to really love listening to the chart show when I was younger, so this was a trip down memory lane in a certain way. I hope it was for you too. This will be my last piece of work before Christmas. As you have probably noticed, I don't write much at the moment. I would like to see if I can address that properly in the New Year, but we'll see. Either way, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas if you celebrate it, and a Happy New Year. Take care!
Last month was the sixty year anniversary of the first #1 hit single in this country. Our first ever #1 in this country went to Al Martino with "Here in My Heart". Since then we've had over 1000 songs get to the #1 spot, the spot all music artists aspire to get to in this country. It means that for at least one week, their song is the most popular and most requested. It's like being king for a week I suppose.
Now the problem with #1 hits for me is that it usually goes to pop stars. The word pop comes from popular obviously, so if, like me, you like your rock and metal, chances are it makes it THAT much harder for your favourite tracks to actually perform well in the charts, nevermind get the #1 spot. Over time for me, less of my favourite tracks are getting to the top, which is a damn shame. But that's life!
Either way, I want to celebrate the last sixty years in music, with my favourite #1 hits through the years. Because sixty years is such a long time, and there were so many great songs through the years (especially over the course of the sixties) I've divided the Mixtapes into two, meaning today you'll get the first 30 years of #1s, and tomorrow you'll get the last 30 years of #1s. Remember this is a biased list.
Don't know much about Mixtapes? Here are the rules.
A Mixtape is a playlist of a certain genre, band or era. The
list is generally 80 minutes long, the same length of a blank CD, with further
recommendations if some of the songs aren't to your taste. Remember kids,
downloading is wrong!
So here we go! Here's a list of my favourite #1 hits from 1952 to 1981, with the date it got to the #1 spot! Enjoy!
This
Mixtape is now available to listen to fully on YouTube so subscribe to me if you want to listen to it properly. Enjoy!
So those are my favourite #1 hits from 1952 to 1981. It was an amazing time to be listening to music, as at the time truly great songs were getting to #1 on a regular basis. I can't say the same for today unfortunately. Anyway I'll bring you 1982 - 2012 tomorrow. Join me then!
For the latest updates on my work, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!
It's disappointing that nearly half of "Alpocalypse" is rehashed material, but even so, it's a decent but underwhelming effort.
“Alpocalypse” is Weird Al Yankovic’s thirteenth album, and
was released just over four months ago. That’s quite a statement, thirteen
albums in twenty-eight years; Alfred has had a heck of a career. I wouldn’t say
his career has been the greatest, or the easiest, or the most successful, but
he’s a legend at the craft he performs and deserves the respect of every
musician regardless of age or genre.
Just in case you’ve never heard of Weird Al Yankovic, and
trust me, there are those who haven’t, Weird Al is now 52 years old. He is a
parody artist, one of the first, and now probably the most famous worldwide. He
takes a song that was popular and changes the lyrics for comedy value. He has
had many ‘booms’ in his career, his first being the early eighties when he
started off, back in 1984 he had a very famous parody called “Eat It”, a
version of “Beat It” by Michael Jackson. “Eat It” took the music of “Beat It”
and changed the lyrics, and made a song about someone who was fussy with his
food “just eat it!”. It was with this track Weird Al started to find he was
onto something with his songs. In 1988 he found more success with a second
Michael Jackson track, this one was “Bad”, which he turned into “Fat”, a song
naturally about a man being overweight. In 1992 another decent hit was “Smells
Like Nirvana”, a parody of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and this song
took the mickey out of the fact that Kurt Cobain’s famous vocals were hard to
understand sometimes. Weird Al Yankovic found it difficult in the nineties when
many of his songs barely got airplay, but of those tracks, the most famous was
in 1996 when he parodied Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” and turned it into
“Amish Paradise” a song celebrating the lifestyle of the Amish.
But it wasn’t really until 2006, five years ago, when Weird
Al had finally got the major recognition he arguably deserves. He released
“White and Nerdy” a parody of Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’”. The original was about
‘riding dirty’; gangsters riding in cars with drugs, and Weird Al changed the
lyrics dramatically into a song about white nerds who want to be cool and hang
out with the cultured black population. It was a brilliant parody, no, a
brilliant song, and was the platform Weird Al needed to finally start to get
the recognition of the younger population. The album that came out with that
hit, “Straight Outta Lynwood”, Weird Al’s twelfth effort, was a huge hit and
was fantastic. I reviewed it around five years ago but that review has
disappeared into the obscurities of the internet. I gave it ****1/4 stars and
touch on its greatness in my Top 10 Albums of the Noughties here.
So this is Weird Al’s thirteenth major effort and his first
since the fantastic album that was “Straight Outta Lynwood”, released five
years ago. So what has Weird Al got up his sleeve this time? Well, if I say
that the material on this album is new I’d by lying. Yes, this is Weird Al’s
first major album in five years but three years ago Weird Al released “Internet
Leaks”, a five track EP, and five of the songs on this album are actually those
songs. Keep in mind this album is twelve tracks long, that means nearly half
the album is re-released material. Now, Weird Al hasn’t been criticised for
this by many people but I personally wasn’t approving of this move. For the
fans who bought “Internet Leaks”, the hardcore Weird Al fans, it probably feels like
being a little ripped off I’m sure. The songs that were on Internet Leaks are "CNR", "Skipper Dan", "Craigslist", "Ringtone" and "Whatever You Like".
The album starts with "Perform This Way" a parody of "Born This Way" by mega star of the moment Lady Gaga. Now this song has a story of its own; Weird Al approached Lady Gaga's management for permission to use her song, not that he has to, by law he can do parodys but out of respect he always asks the original artists. He bent over backwards for her management, something he doesn't do, he gave them ideas of what the song will be about, made all the proceedings to go to charity, and even, make the song for them to listen to before it was released. That also, was created on the spot as he was busy doing an Australian tour. The management rejected the idea, and it was a complete waste of Al's time. As a consolation he released it for nothing on Youtube. Lady Gaga was hounded about this on Twitter for the next 24 hours, and it turns out she had no idea about Weird Al trying to contact her, and that she was a fan and definitely approved his version of her song.
Now onto my review of the track itself. Well, I don't really think it's that good to be honest. It's okay, but it lacks the invention that other parody's Al has done in the past. I need to give credit where it's due, Weird Al didn't have much time to produce this track, but surely, after he got full and proper permission from Gaga herself, surely he should have reworked the song and made it sound richer, and more crisp? Based on how the song came about, you can feel that the song was rushed and not done as finely as it could have been. Another problem personally I have with this song is that it's aimed directly at Gaga and her lifestyle rather than a complete parody lyrically. Most of my favourite Weird Al tracks are where he takes the music from a song and changes the lyrics dramatically into a completely different topic, rather than talk about the artist. One of the reasons "White and Nerdy" was so good was that the song had nothing to do with gangsters driving fast and taking drugs. It was about white nerds doing nerdy things. It makes the song stand out on its own while being funny at the same time.
Track two is a style parody. Once again if you're not familiar with Weird Al's work, as well as do direct parodies to artist's tracks, Al also does style parody, where he takes an artist's general sound and makes a song in that style. He doesn't often release style parodies as singles but he usually has a few on each album. Track two is one of my favourite style parodies on any Weird Al album. It's called "CNR" and it's done in the style of The White Stripes, and it sounds fantastic. The guitars and the drums are great and sound just like the original band, and the lyrics are pretty damn good too. "CNR" tells the story of Charles Nelson Reilly, a real life actor and comedian, most famous for his work a game show called "Match Game". He died a few years ago, and Weird Al pays overdramatic homage to the guy, talking about his superhuman capabilities, in a very similar vein to the internet meme Chuck Norris Facts. It's a great song on its own and even funnier with all the silly 'facts' about CNR.
"TMZ" is the third track and like the website itself, it has loads of 'oh my god!' celebrity stories in its lyrics and just mocks the stupid obsession that many people have with celebrity status. The song it's parodying is "You Belong To Me" by Taylor Swift. Track four is "Skipper Dan" and is a style parody of alternative rock band Weezer. The lyrics are about a man who despite having a degree has to resort to working as a tour guide. These two songs are okay, they're a step below the quality from the previous album "Straight Outta Lynwood".
Next on the album is the polka. Again, if you're not too familiar with Yankovic's work in nearly every album there's a polka styled medley, that incorporates many famous songs all wrapped up in a polka track. They're fan favourites and are often always fun to listen to. In this track, appropriately called "Polka Face" mixes a lot of the more modern pop and RnB tracks like "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga, "Womanizer" by Britney Spears, "So What" by Pink, "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry and "Tik Tok" by Kesha. Comparing this to the other polkas on the other albums, it's pretty good, not the best, but it's difficult to rate polkas as Weird Al has to work with what's popular today.
One of the best highlights of the album for me is "Craiglist", another style parody, this one paying homage to The Doors and even the original keyboard player from the original band plays in this track. "Craiglist" sounds fantastic, once again the music is close to perfection in comparison to the originals. The song itself is about the website Craiglist, which specialises in online advertising for pretty much anything and everything. The lyrics are great and it's just one of the best songs on the album.
I personally find the album gets better as it goes on, with further highlights being track eight "Ringtone", a style parody of Queen and talks about how annoying personal mobile ringtones are. While the quality of the Queen parody is not as good as the previous ones on The Doors and The White Stripes, the lyrics make up for that by being very funny. In terms of direct parodies my favourite is track nine, "Another Tattoo" which is a parody of "Nothin' On You" by B.o.B. and naturally talks about a guy getting many many tattoos. As I said previously, my favourite parodies tend to be the ones that change the lyrical subject completely, and this is a great example of that, the lyrics work so well with the beat and style of the original song.
Weird Al likes to have a song of great magnitude either near the end of the album or as the last track. He follows this trend by having "Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me" as the final track. The song is not as long as similar songs on other albums, but is very similar in style to "Don't Download This Song", the final track from "Straight Outta Lynwood". In fact, it almost sounds exactly the same but the lyrics have changed. I don't know if it's just me that feels this way but because the songs sound so similar I can't help but feel that it's a bit lacklustre in effort by Yankovic.
All in all "Alpocalypse" is a decent but disappointing effort. "Straight Outta Lynwood" was such a great album and all the pieces in the jigsaw fit perfectly, where as this album feels disjointed. There are some very good tracks on here and some songs that are just below par. Having nearly half the album full of rehashed material was a bad move in my opinion and definitely has a direct impact on the quality of the album. If you like Weird Al Yankovic then I think you'll like this album overall, but if you're new to his work then I'd avoid starting your interest here, and get "Straight Outta Lynwood" instead, that album has great quality all over from start to finish where as this album lacks in certain areas.
Rating: ***3/4 stars
Stand out tracks: "CNR", "Craigslist", "Another Tattoo"
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