Having done a bit more research on this song reveals that... it wasn't actually a music single. But I'm going to keep it in the list for two reasons, firstly, I've already compiled this Top 100 and can't be bothered finding out what I put as #101, and secondly, in fairness, the song did so well that it charted in the US Top 40, and that's without a mainstream music single release, so in effect it became a single anyway, just without the official "title" of music single. You've gotta love Weird Al Yankovic, I've said it on this website before and I'll say it again. The man is the king of parody. There's no one even close to him on top of that pedestal. For four decades he's took popular songs, twisted them round and made them into highly hilarious alternatives. His longevity is incredible. And it's not that he's just funny as well, as "Word Crimes" demonstrates, he's just so clever with his comedy. Making a very controversial song like "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke into a tasteful, insightful, intelligent and educational song like "Word Crimes", which mocks and helps those who have problems with grammar and spelling is just amazing. Honestly, if you've not seen "Word Crimes" before, watch the video below. It's very funny but also very very clever.
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!
#9 "White and Nerdy" - Weird Al Yankovic Release Date: 2006 Director:Weird Al Yankovic Fun Fact: The song video is CRAMMED full of references and subtle scenes, some more nerdy than others! Some examples below!
This is the third and last video by Weird Al on this, and it's also the second video he directed himself, the other being "Amish Paradise" which got to #32. This is just one of the funniest videos of all time. Seriously. The video and song is so good it gave Weird Al a surge in his career he had never really seen before. It made Weird Al Yankovic seem cool... for the first time in his career. Sure, he's had his hardcore fans over the years, but he was always considered to be a fad, especially of the eighties. But his three (at the time, now four) decades of hard word and persistence of being the king of the parady had finally paid off. What to say about the video? You may have seen some of these things but maybe not at all. Notice above? That's Seth Green of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. And below, the more obvious, is Donny Osmond. Now if you watch Donny Osmond throughout the video, if you've not done it before, you'll realise how fucking fantastic he is in the video. And what's best? Weird Al had the space in the music video and wanted a celebrity to fill it. So he thought of the "whitest guy he could think of", and called Donny Osmond. And Donny makes this whole video ten times better than how damn good it was before. He's absolutely hilarious. Check out the amazing out-takes! Other things in this video of note that are great for me are the black guys locking their open convertible car, the editing of Wikipedia to say Atlantic Records "SUCK!", the reference to Star Wars Kid, editing his MySpace page (yes it's that old now this video), and his reaction to receiving the Star Wars Holiday Special on VHS. It's just one amazing video and I love it so much. Note: This is the seventh and last video from the year 2006 in this list.
#32: "Amish Paradise" - Weird Al Yankovic Release Date: 1996 Director:Weird Al Yankovic Fun Fact: The second last scene in the video is completely done backwards; Weird Al had to mime his own lyrics backwards to fit with the setting!
Man I love this video. And this parady for that matter. I've often on this website and on my Facebook talked about how I've always loved Weird Al and appreciated all the amazing effort he puts into his parodys and the music videos that accompany them. I was so happy when he finally got a #1 album last year, and was the first person to get a comedy album to the top of the American charts in around half a century. He was incredibly humble about the whole thing as well. The man is just untouchable in the art of parody. He really is. And this video is one of his finest. The lyrics and song itself is just a piece of art of course; the way he stripped the original "Gangsters Paradise" by Coolio to make it a song about the Amish people was just incredible. But the video is also just brilliant. He copies certain scenes from the Coolio original to perfection sometimes, while making all the Amish references come out in full colour from his lyrics. It truly is just one of the funniest videos and one of the best parodies ever, and you really need to hear and watch this if you haven't before.
Here is the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #31 on the list or here for #33!
#75: "Fat" - Weird Al Yankovic Release Date: 1988 Director: Jay Levey Fun Fact: This is the second and last video directed by Jay Levey on this list, the other one was "Poison" by Alice Cooper!
There's so many Weird Al videos to choose from to feature in my Top 100 but, as the rules I've set state in the first post in this list, I'm only choosing a maximum of three per artist (bar collaborations etc).
"Fat" was the best video by Weird Al in the Eighties. I don't mind telling you I've chosen one song from each decade (apart from this current one) for the Polka Parody Legend. This video is just hilarious from start to finish. I love the opening lines (my favourite being "ding dong man, ding dong, ding dong y'all"), I love the fat suits, I love the close-up of his face (that Michael Jackson also does in the original) and how it turns into Weird Al somehow floating mid-air handing onto the actual camera itself. I love the running across the parking lot, only for the cameraman to be too fast for the fat dudes to catch up (also, loving the shouting of "HO!", only for a garden hoe to be placed in Al's hand). It's just one of the best funny videos ever and I love putting it on once in a while, and it always seems fresh whenever I watch it infrequently.
Note: This is the second and last video from the year 1988 in this list.
Here's the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #74 on the list or here for #76!
Hi everyone, this is my first post in nearly eight months. For the last two years I've been calculating all my play counts on my personal media player, to see what songs I listen to the most. And then at the start of the year I reveal what 100 songs I've listened to the most. Last year I revealed The Mercyside 100 2013, which was done in seven parts in great detail on this website and as seven DJ shows on my Mixcloud account.
This year I did The Mercyside 100 2014. Instead of 7 parts, I decided to cut it to four parts. So each of the four parts revealed 25 different songs, in reverse order of how often I played them. You can listen to these four DJ shows on the links below: Part 1: #100 to #76 Part 2: #75 to #51 Part 3: #50 to #26 Part 4: #25 to #1 I'm not going to go into great detail on this website, like I did last year. But what I will do is reveal to you what the 100 songs were, in reverse order. So if you don't want to find out this way, listen to the shows linked above! So, in reverse order, here are is The Mercyside 100 2014! These are 100 songs I played more than anything else last year.
So, what was the most played song of the year for me? Here it is...
#1: Snap Out of It - Arctic Monkeys ("AM", 2013)
So there we go! I hope you choose to listen to the shows because they are much better to listen to rather than just see them as words on a screen. Music is for the ears after all! But if not, I hope you find some interesting entries in here, and if so, check them out on Youtube if you would rather do it that way than to listen to the actual shows! If there's something on this list you've not heard before and you end up really liking, let me know, comment below! I'd be happy to have gotten you into a song or an artist you've not heard before!
"Blue text" Just in case you haven't listened to the shows, the songs in "blue" were "Songs of the Month". Basically, those tracks where played more than any other track, on a particular month of 2014. Here's the list in order, with Youtube links attached: January 2014:Talk Dirty (feat. 2 Chainz) - Jason Derulo February 2014:Royals - Lorde March 2014:Bad Blood - Beck April 2014: Snap Out of it - Arctic Monkeys May 2014:Rap God - Eminem June 2014:Energia - Russkaja July 2014:Jungle (Remix feat. X Ambassadors and Jay-Z) - Jamie N Commons August 2014:Handy - Weird Al Yankovic September 2014:I Will Survive - Cake October 2014:Howlin' For You - The Black Keys November 2014: Something from Nothing - Foo Fighters December 2014:Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson (feat. Bruno Mars) Multiple Artist Entries
Here's a list of artists with more than one entry in The Mercyside 100 2014: 4 Entries - Eminem, Nine Inch Nails, The Queens of the Stone Age, Weird Al Yankovic 3 Entries - Arctic Monkeys, The Beards, Foo Fighters, Imagine Dragons, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Kasabian, KoRn, Rob Zombie 2 Entries - Beck, Disturbed, Justin Timberlake, Ministry, Muse, Skrillex, Slipknot, Trent Reznor Multiple Album Entries
Here's a list of albums with more than one entry in The Mercyside 100 2014:
4 Entries - "...Like Clockwork" by The Queens of the Stone Age 3 Entries - "AM" by the Arctic Monkeys; "Mandatory Fun" by Weird Al Yankovic; "The Marshall Mathers LP2" by Eminem; "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" by Rob Zombie 2 Entries - "48:13" by Kasabian; "The Beards" by The Beards, "Night Visions" by Imagine Dragons; "The 2nd Law" by Muse
Here's some charts showing you how often songs appeared by the year, or decade...
Also, FYI, 43 songs on this list were not singles, which means that 57 of them were!
So that's the end! I'll be doing a huge website project very soon so stay tuned for that, to keep upto date with what I'm doing it's best to follow me on Facebook, link is below! Take care!
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"
For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!
Hey there, I've got no time to cover the football today unfortunately, and I'm away next week, so there's no Live Thoughts for two weeks. But I do have enough time today to quickly post the new Q&A, part 5, for your reading enjoyment if you want to get to know me a little more. These come from my Formspring account, which you can find here. These were answered a while ago, and I've changed the answers if the situation has changed since then. Enjoy.
Q: Exactly how ginger are you?
A: I am ginger by beard only, no where else. It's annoying that people call me ginger, because it is the only place I have ginger hair.
Q: Would you rather be a famous musician or a famous actor?
A: A famous musician, it was always something I wanted to do but never had any talent with.
Q: What do you wear in bed?
A: I usually wear some boxers and a pair of socks. I don't like having cold feet.
Q: Milk, white or dark chocolate?
A: I like all three, however milk is the best by some distance.
Q: Who's your favorite musician?
A: Trent Reznor, the guy is ridiculously talented. A second would probably Josh Homme, he also, is ridiculously talented.
Q: If you could instantly become fluent in another language, which language would you pick?
A: Spanish, it would be very useful to learn Spanish. It's quite a nice sounding language as well.
Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: You see, I never really knew what to be when I grew up, I always said an astronaut but I never really cared to be one really.
Q: Sneakers or sandals?
A: Trainers, or sneakers as the question says.
Q: Who's the most underrated musician?
A: Saul Williams, a great hip hop industrial political musician. Very serious, but very good.
Q: What household chore do you hate to do the most?
A: I hate them all, but probably the basic picking up crap off the floor, cleaning sides stuff.
Q: What one thing are you exceptionally bad at?
A: Getting out of bed.
Q: What's the best place near you to get a pizza?
A: I'm not as high on local pizzas as Pizza Hut or Dominos, and I'm a Pizza Hut guy, so I'd go with that.
Q: What's one food you'll never eat again?
A: Parsnips, ergh, they make me gag.
Q: If you could be invited to one person's birthday party, whose would it be?
A: Dave Grohl, I bet he has good birthday parties.
Q: If you could instantly become an expert at one style of dance, what style would you pick?
A: Breakdancing, I'm not huge on rap but I have respect for breakdancers.
Q: If you could attend any concert, what would it be?
A: Well number 1 on my list at the moment is The Queens of the Stone Age, who are great live from what I've seen and heard.
Q: Have you ever dreamt something that's stuck with you?
A: Good question, I've once mentioned about the dream I had as a boy that I woke up in, went to school and did normal things. It's a nothing dream really, but when I woke up as a little boy it was weird, I thought I was still dreaming. And to this day I contemplate if my life is a dream, and if I will wake up anytime being that little boy again. Very weird and possibly stupid, but that dream will stick with me until I, wake up.
Q: If you could change one thing about the world today what would it be and why?
A: Change, I'd probably go with the media, they influence so much, and make the world be percieved in such an incorrect way it's unbelievable. They also get involved in so much that doesn't concern them, or the public.
Q: Name one thing you couldn't live without.
A: It's difficult because I see things realistically, so I can't really say. I'd say my daughter, but losing her would make my life incredibally miserable, but I could still live.
Q: If you could date any celebrity, who would it be?
A: Zooey Deschanel, she seems like such a lovely lady, and she is so cute as well.
And that's it from me again today. I'll hopefully be back on Monday or Tuesday and either talk about the pending wrestling of Monday or to review "Alpocalypse" by Weird Al Yankovic. Just in case you missed it earlier you can follow
me and ask me questions on my Formspring here. Have a good day.
For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!
Hey there, welcome to another edition of Bitesize. Just in
case you're not too familiar, my bitesize posts are there to talk about a group
of things in one go, either because a lot has happened or I haven't the time to
touch on all of it in great detail. I also use Bitesize to announce site news.
Let’s start with site news. I’ve done a few Mixtapes here,
paying homage to the soundtracks of two of my favourite game series, GuitarHero and Final Fantasy.
Video game music is important and it was good to pay attention to the detail in
which video game developers have put into their content. I don’t know how many
video game related Mixtapes I’m going to do, I can’t see any happening for a
while now, but it was good to do two in the last few weeks.
I haven’t been writing as much this week for two reasons,
firstly as I have my sister down for the whole week, and secondly it was my
daughter’s third birthday. My daughter is named Vivi by the way, after the
video game character. Call me a nerd, I don’t care, I think it’s a lovely name
and she suits it very well But that’s why I haven’t been writing much. I’ll be
covering Liverpool vs Manchester United this weekend, so at least that’s one
big piece. I also have plans to review Resident Evil 4 HD. Why? Because it’s
one of my favourite games of all time, and the fact that they have ported it to
the Xbox 360 in HD gives me a reason to review it.
Speaking of reviews, I am going to review older games and
albums in the future. Since I’ve made this site over a year ago I’ve been
trying to avoid going down that route of reviewing old material. But why not?
Some of my favourite games and albums are over ten years old. And in the end, I
want to draw attention to these games and these albums, just in case you
haven’t played them. I hope to encourage people to give a chance on these
things if they haven’t already. And if you have played them, then hopefully
you’ll like the homage I pay to these great pieces of entertainment.
Wrestling now. I’ve heard overwhelmingly negative things
about Monday Night Raw. I understand exactly where people are coming from. Only
last week I was praising the booking team.
Now it makes me look like a fool as they fucked everything up bad this week.
There were plot holes everywhere, from the fact that Triple H is still COO of
the company yet he has no power on Raw or from what we can tell, Smackdown!.
John Laurinaitis is now running Raw while Teddy Long is still the GM of
Smackdown!. But Triple H is the COO that can’t make any decisions on either
show? Backwards. Also the question of who raised the cage to let The Miz and
R-Truth in and then lowered it so no one else could at Hell in a Cell remains a
mystery, a mystery that doesn’t look like it’s even attempted at being solved
at all. In terms of matches, Raw’s main event is John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio
but they barely got on TV this week. Yes I’m complaining over a lack of John
Cena. But only because he’s the champ and he’s supposed to be on. Cena/Del Rio
should be the main focus but it isn’t. The writing team is shoving the Triple H
angle down our throats and in the end, who runs the show shouldn’t matter as
much as it apparently does. What should matter is Cena vs Del Rio. It’s stupid.
That being said, I’m not going to be as critical as some
people are. There is hope in this believe it or not. Yes there are plot holes,
but let’s give the creative writing team the chance to fill in those holes for
next week. Apparently the WWE are preparing long term now more than ever
before. They are planning feuds and storylines for the future more now than
before. So with that being said, let’s see what happens next week, before
slamming them down to the ground completely. The Raw rating drop from the start
to finish of the show is a big slap in the face of the WWE and they’ll
definitely attempt to redeem themselves next week.
In music I have a few albums still lined up ready to review.
I need to listen to these albums a bit more before getting to the nitty gritty.
First is “Alpocalypse” by Weird Al Yankovic, and that should be up in the next
fortnight I hope. After that is “Gold Cobra” by Limp Bizkit. So that’s just a
taster of what albums I’ll be reviewing on the site in the next few weeks, but
there won’t be anything for the moment. Also long term I will be doing my
pretty big homage to Marilyn Manson that should hopefully ready before
Christmas. That’s my plan anyway, but if it has to be delayed yet again that’s
not a problem, the idea was for it to fit around the release of his new album,
but with his plans to release the album in early 2012 the delay of that homage
might be a good idea afterall.
Football now, and England qualified for Euro 2012 and
Ireland made the playoffs. It was announced yesterday that Ireland will go
against Estonia in the playoff finals, which is the best they could have hoped
for. I’m English and support England but I want all the British Isles and
Ireland to do well. I love Ireland, it’s a fantastic country and it’s one I
have minor connections with in my family, and I have good friends there. So to
hope that Ireland go through and join England in the Euros would be fantastic,
and it would be sweet justice for their cruel exit to the World Cup two years
ago when they controversially got kicked out in a similar fashion against France.
As for England, I have a poll to your right asking how far
they’ll go in the Euros. My opinion? I reckon we’ll get through our group stage
but advance no further. We’re not as good some fans think we are, and I don’t
think we’re good enough to take on the likes of Spain, Germany and Holland. But
you never know, if we beat one of the elite European sides we might gain a lot
of confidence and become a big threat that way. I do believe that England’s
main confidence is confidence on the pitch. We’re too afraid to lose so end up
screwing up. The media influence is responsible for this, they just can’t let
England play their game of football. Everything is under scrutiny, and the
players don’t want to lose the match because they hate the bad press. So they screw
up due to nerves. But if we work that round, and get a good result against a
great team, that should hopefully put the creative spark into our play, and
make us dangerous. Let’s hope so, as I would like to see England as a national
football team put back on the map as one of the best sides in the world.
Well that’s me done for today. I’ll be covering the
Liverpool/Manchester United match tomorrow and then I’ll be back on Monday or
Tuesday with something else. Thanks for your time.
For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!
To view part 2, click here. To view part 3, click here.
Here we go, Part 4, counting down my favourite tracks of the last decade. Here’s from #70 to #61, I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. Let’s go.
#70. “White and Nerdy” – Weird Al Yankovic
Released: 12/9/06
Album: Straight Outta Lynwood
Listings: Best Videos
Man, this song was a huge hit for Weird Al. It’s really put him back on the map, because as he had a cult fan base in the late eighties and nineties, he never really hit the mainstream music scene in around 20 years. Yet this song is his biggest hit to date, he’s been making music for around 30 years, so he’s been around. I’m happy for him as he’s a great artist, he’s a funny guy, he does funny parodies, he’s child friendly too, and the best thing, is that he is humble and respectful to the artists he does parodies about. He always asks if he is allowed to do parodies, and if they say no, he doesn’t touch their music. He’s a great human being, a very talented and funny man, and thoroughly deserves the respect he finally has, and more. Good luck in the future Al!
#69. “Diamonds and Guns” – Transplants
Released: 22/10/02
Album: Transplants
For the record, I don’t like Rancid. I don’t rate Tim Armstrong. I’m not really even that interested in the Transplants. But this song really was a cracker. It had a great piano hook, and I like the guitars. I also love the “Woo! Woo!” vocals. The rapping is decent too. It’s a really good track, and has been used in a few commercials for hair products, which is a bit odd, but it works really well.
#68. “Conquest” – The White Stripes
Released: 18/12/07
Album: Icky Thump
The White Stripes’ version of “Conquest” was a fantastic track. I never knew it was a cover version until recently mind. It’s my favourite single off “Icky Thump”, I like it more than the self titled track, and it just sounds really good. I don’t know what else to say really!
#67. “Dead Star” – Muse
Released: 17/6/02
Album: Hullabaloo Soundtack
This is one of the heaviest songs Muse have produced, musically. It’s a great, noisy track, and it’s a big favourite amongst Muse fans. I thoroughly enjoy it, despite its shortness. It’s got a great riff, but then again what do you expect when it’s Matt Bellamy?
#66. “Feel Good Hit of the Summer” – The Queens of the Stone Age
Released: 6/6/00
Album: Rated R
Listings: My Favourite Riffs
As I said in the riffs listing, this is just a brilliant track, guitar-wise. I love the main riff, I love the amazing yet short guitar solo roughly a third into the track. Even though it’s a very short track, and the lyrics are repetitive, the song is just amazing. I love it so much.
#65. “Shoot the Runner” – Kasabian
Released: 6/11/06
Album: Empire
When I heard “Empire”, the first single off the album with the same name, I wasn’t immensely impressed with the effort to be honest. It’s not one of my favourite Kasabian songs. However when this came out all concerns for the quality of Kasabian’s work decreasing went down the drain. This is a great track, very David Bowie/Marc Bolan inspired, he even references a David Bowie song in the track “I’m the king and, she’s my Queen Bitch”. It sounds great, and mixes the glam rock with Tom’s Leicester accented vocals, which is an odd yet successful experiment.
#64. “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” – Jet
Released: 25/8/03
Album: Get Born
Jet’s debut track has never been bettered by the band, but that’s not to say they are a bad band whatsoever. I like Jet. But this song is easily their biggest hit, and it’s one of the biggest songs of the decade (but more on that in the unbiased listing, yes it’s featured in that). I just think the song sounds great, it’s a proper modern Motown track, and it just gets you moving. It’s a proper feet tapper, and full credit to Jet for making this song.
#63. “Blood Sugar” – Pendulum
Released: 28/5/07
Album: Hold Your Colour
“Ladies and Gentlemen, we understand that you have come tonight to bare witness to the sound of drum and bass. We regret to announce that this is not the case as instead we come tonight to bring you the solid recreation of the end of the world… Okay, fuck it, I lied it is drum and bass, what you gonna do!?”
Great stuff. It’s one of the best introductions to a song you’ll ever hear I say. You’re like “What? No drum and bass? No wai!” and then it’s “they lied, thank fuck for that!”. I’m only kidding, but still, it’s a brilliant dance track, one of my favourite by Pendulum, and the introduction makes the song in honesty.
#62. “Weapon of Choice” – Fatboy Slim
Released: 23/4/01
Album: Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars
Listings: Best Videos
From one dance track to another now, with the more popular of the two being called in. Weapon of Choice was a very big hit, primarily for its phenomenal video. But the song very good too, it’s just a cool song, using many samples from different songs. I thoroughly enjoy listening to it, it’s by far Fatboy’s best track.
#61. “She Wants to Move” – N.E.R.D.
Released: 9/3/04
Album: Fly or Die
This is definitely a brilliant track. it’s a real funk/rap treat, I thoroughly enjoy listening to it, and Alesha Dixon is pretty damn hot in the video too. Pharell’s rock/rap band tend to have mixed results, but you have to give him credit for doing something not many people in RnB do, which is experiment with instruments, experiment with Rock. This is one of those experiments that were most certainly successful and it’s a great song.
And that’s a wrap for today. You want more? Well come back tomorrow and I’ll give you 10 more hard-hitting, songs of real quality (in my brilliant, and humble opinion, just joking). See you then I hope!
