Best Last Tracks

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TMBJon
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Best Last Tracks

Post by TMBJon »

This brilliant list was created by my old pal, Bruce the Duck, who I've been so glad to see back on the forum lately!
Bruce the Duck wrote:Here's how I would rank the album closers from best to worst. To me, the last song on an Al album can't just be a good song. It should stand out above the others on the album in some way. So with that in mind, here's how I'd rank them.

1. The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota - The original epic, and still the best. Al doesn't do enough of the storytelling in his songs.

2. Good Old Days - Of all the subtle humor songs he's done, this is easily my favorite. And I can't get enough of the beautiful tune.

3. You Don't Love Me Anymore - Still Al's best and most beautiful love song, IMO. Nothing else needs to be said about how great this is.

4. The Night Santa Went Crazy - Al managed to take a mediocre Soul Asylum tune and turn it into one of the greatest, and most deranged Christmas songs ever. Pure brilliance.

5. Christmas at Ground Zero - A masterful style parody of Christmas rock songs like Jingle Bell Rock. If it wasn't about nuclear devastation, I could easily see this on any Christmas music collection.

6. Don't Download This Song - Al expertly captured the feeling of "We Are the World" and "Hands Across America". I only wish he would have reached out to other artists and got some collaboration on this one. I have no doubt he could have gotten some big names to sing a line on the song if he had tried.

7. Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me - As epic and beautiful as "Don't Download". I can really relate to this because I know someone who constantly forwards crap to me.

8. Nature Trail to Hell - His first real big closing song. Absolutely beautiful medley. I wish there were more to the lyrics in this one though, but it's still a wonderful song. I love the fake out ending.

9. Bohemian Polka - The first time he ended an album with a polka, it didn't work out too well. But with the epic scale of "Bohemian Rhapsody," it worked beautifully.

10. Albuquerque - The song is great and riddled with great jokes. But it's gotten a bit old. I don't skip very many songs, but this is one that I often do just because it's so long and I'm not always in the mood to listen to it. Same goes for "Trapped in the Drive Thru" and "Genius in France."

11. Genius in France - I loved this the first time I heard it, and got a kick out of it for a while after the initial listen. But after a while, it just didn't hold up. The novelty of the Zappa sound and the repetitive nature of the jokes just got old really fast.

12. Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung - For the debut album, it was a great closer. Just doesn't hold up to the others.

13. Hooked on Polkas - It's fine as far as polka medleys go, but there's nothing special enough about it to be the closer. This spot should have been "One More Minute." Or even better - "Yoda".
I think this is a great list and worthy of general discussion outside of a tangent inside the Games & Polls section of the forum (:tumbleweed:)

I would arrange this list similarly but would have to disagree on a few.

1. The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota - This one is pretty close to unbeatable in my opinion. Easily one of my top five favorite Weird Al songs.
2. You Don't Love Me Anymore - The best love song and one of the top few originals overall.
3. Albuquerque - Bruce is right that it doesn't really hold up and you sometimes have to skip it, but as Al said in the recent AV Club interview, the song was originally meant to annoy listeners for how long it was and he never expected it to gain its own cult following among the fans. I was 13 when Running With Scissors came out so maybe I have an affinity for that album, but I still think Albuquerque judged on its own is a really funny song and was a blast to see live a few years ago.
4. The Night Santa Went Crazy - Anything that destroys the spirit of Christmas as thoroughly as this is fine by me. :amish:
5. Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me - This one may still have the week-old sheen to it, but I really love this song. It's a good style parody, an overall funny concept, has many laugh out loud parts, and stays musically interesting throughout.
6. Christmas At Ground Zero - The video really sells this one for me, especially the clip of Reagan. I wish he'd sampled that into the actual song.
7. Nature Trail To Hell - I don't know if I've ever heard a song that this sounds like, but it's a great original. Very funny and predates the movie "Bushwhacked" by nearly ten years. Bonus points for the line "in 3D."
8. Good Old Days - I was pleasantly surprised to see this song make a sudden comeback after 20 years of obscurity. The performance with The Roots is one of my all time favorite collabojams in music history, and I've seen several Grammy telecasts!
9. Genius In France - I didn't get into Zappa until after I first heard this song and the more I've heard the more I appreciate what Al has done here. I really enjoy listening to this one. Al's lyrics plus Zappa's music: it's classically demented. You can tell this style parody was personal for him.
10. Bohemian Polka - Doing one epic song as its own polka is the sort of thing Al should only do once, and this is obviously the right target. On another album, this might have been fit for the usual track 5 slot, but given the other songs on Alapalooza it clearly belonged at the end.
11. Don't Download This Song - Again, a lot of funny, topical jokes that satirized many sides of the issue. It's not ranked higher only because the style is not particularly enjoyable to listen to, and the video wasn't that compelling.
12. Mr. Frump In The Iron Lung - A cute little ditty but... well, Al has gotten a lot better over the years.
13. Hooked On Polkas - What was this doing as the last track? Big mistake, it's not even one of the better polkas. I agree with Bruce, the last song should have been Yoda.
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Killingsworth
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Re: Best Last Tracks

Post by Killingsworth »

Here are my quick rankings of these songs from best to worst (in terms of closing an album, of course).

1. Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota
2. Nature Trail To Hell
3. Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me
4. You Don't Love Me Anymore
5. Good Old Days
6. Genius In France
7. Don't Download This Song
8. Albuquerque
9. Bohemian Polka
10. Christmas At Ground Zero
11. The Night Santa Went Crazy
12. Mr. Frump In The Iron Lung
13. Hooked On Polkas
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minnick27
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Re: Best Last Tracks

Post by minnick27 »

Damn this is a tough one. Being a HUUUUUUUUGE Zappa fan, I have to go with GiF as number 1. Twine Ball is probably two, and the rest will have to be worked on.
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Bruce the Duck
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Re: Best Last Tracks

Post by Bruce the Duck »

7. Nature Trail To Hell - I don't know if I've ever heard a song that this sounds like, but it's a great original. Very funny and predates the movie "Bushwhacked" by nearly ten years.
I always thought it was inspired by Michael Jackson's "Thriller". It makes sense seeing that it's from the same album as his "Beat It" parody. The tune doesn't sound anything like "Thriller" of course, but the Halloween noises at the beginning and the whole horror movie vibe are similar to "Thriller".

Oh, and I forgot to say about that song, that the instrumental interlude is perhaps my favorite of any of the musical interludes.
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HappyGilmore
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Re: Best Last Tracks

Post by HappyGilmore »

Genius in France and Ball of Twine are the two best album closers. Ever. No question.
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Iamabrawler
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Re: Best Last Tracks

Post by Iamabrawler »

I agree for the GiF, but I have never been a fan of Ball of Twine. Beats me why. You know when we sometimes say the music may kill good lyrics? Okay, the song is funny (that`s why I do my best to listen it entirely), but I can`t stand seven minutes of country music.
"So I went in my garaage, got in my care
And I drived, talking with my blue teeth
My boyfreind told me don't cree
Come to my houss, don't worraye,
we'll talk about this togeedurr."
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RyanHippFTW
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Re: Best Last Tracks

Post by RyanHippFTW »

TMBJon wrote:4. The Night Santa Went Crazy - Anything that destroys the spirit of Christmas as thoroughly as this is fine by me. :amish:
Oh, I get it! 'Cause you're Jewish, and the Jewish are out to destroy Christmas, right? :up:
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Iamabrawler
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Re: Best Last Tracks

Post by Iamabrawler »

RyanHippFTW wrote:
TMBJon wrote:4. The Night Santa Went Crazy - Anything that destroys the spirit of Christmas as thoroughly as this is fine by me. :amish:
Oh, I get it! 'Cause you're Jewish, and the Jewish are out to destroy Christmas, right? :up:
What does it have to do with this anyway? I also like anti-Christmas songs, because when December comes by, I get very rapidly fed up of all those dumb Christmas songs that we hear 5 times per day. When December comes, I usually listen to CAGZ and TNSWC.
"So I went in my garaage, got in my care
And I drived, talking with my blue teeth
My boyfreind told me don't cree
Come to my houss, don't worraye,
we'll talk about this togeedurr."
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Bruce the Duck
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Re: Best Last Tracks

Post by Bruce the Duck »

I really don't see "The Night Santa Went Crazy" as an "anti-Christmas" song at all. If it's making any kind of commentary whatsoever, it is on the "disgruntled postal worker" meme that was going around in the nineties. If anything, "Weasel Stomping Day" could be considered "anti-Christmas" moreso than either of his actual Christmas songs, in that it mocks the idea of doing ridiculous things just because of tradition.
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Iamabrawler
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Re: Best Last Tracks

Post by Iamabrawler »

Well, I don`t see what`s so pro-Christmas in Santa snapping and killing all his reindeers, as well as getting real close to murdering all his employees.
"So I went in my garaage, got in my care
And I drived, talking with my blue teeth
My boyfreind told me don't cree
Come to my houss, don't worraye,
we'll talk about this togeedurr."
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