Straight Outta Lynwood Full Album Reviews

Post by **R. Wappin** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:26 am

I don't really understand how you can think this album is any less 'edgy' than any of his other albums. Has he ever released anything Ned Flanders wouldn't approve of? You talk as if he's used vulgar humor before, and now he's wimping out or something. He's always been relitively family friendy though.

spmahn · Post by **spmahn** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:49 am

R. Wappin @ Sep 15 2006, 06:26 AM wrote: I don't really understand how you can think this album is any less 'edgy' than any of his other albums. Has he ever released anything Ned Flanders wouldn't approve of? You talk as if he's used vulgar humor before, and now he's wimping out or something. He's always been relitively family friendy though.

I like to think of Al's music in the same way that I think of a film like Shrek. It's a family friendly film that childrne will enjoy, but it doesn't necessarily speak down to them, and it also contains enough double entendre's and pop culture references that adults will enjoy as well, without having to worry about anything getting offensive. What I find in this album is none of that, I see 12 tracks that would probably be more suited next to the "Kidz Bop" albums then the "Rodney Dangerfield" ones.

Nearly every every album of Al's contains at least one or two tracks which one might consider to be a bit off color. Complicated Song, Why Does this Always Happen to Me, Jerry Springer, Everything You Know is Wrong, Santa Went Crazy, Headline News, Talk Soup, etc. etc. etc. These are often amongst the best tracks on their respective album, and do a much better job of breaking up tracks which may not be quite so outlandish, but still providing them with an extra punch. The closest thing to any of this on the album is "Weasel Stomping Day", and quite frankly, there's really not a whole lot funny about Weasel's or Stomping. All 12 of these are fine on their own, but all together, they just seem to lack something, and I really think that it's that one or two over the top ridiculous songs that just make you laugh uncontrollably. That, along with what I feel are overall weak parodies, makes the album a disappointment for me.

Post by **gtrmu** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:34 pm

I heard the album, and I'm not going to give a track by track review, but I will say I think it's his best work since Running With Scissors. Poodle Hat was good, but I never got that into it, always thought it let me down just a little. But SOL is great, I give it 9.7 out of 10.

mikelgb · Post by **mikelgb** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 5:41 pm

spmahn @ Sep 14 2006, 10:03 PM wrote: In fact, maybe it's because I don't listen to Hip Hop and R&B Stations, but outside of American Idiot, and Ridin', I didn't recognize any of the other songs parodied on this CD. Couldn't Al have picked songs that were perhaps a bit more universally known? Why Taylor Hicks? Certainly "Invisible" or "Since You've Been Gone" were both far more popular songs by artists from American Idol. What about The Darkness? Bon Jovi's last album was pretty popular. Who though, outside of fans of that genre know anything about Charmillionaire, Usher, or R. Kelly (At least his recent work)

Hey don't blame Al for your lack of knowledge on his pop-culture refernces. I love how when people don't know one of the parodied songs they assume the song was not big enough for them to hear.

I think every song Al Parodied or polkafied is in the Billboard top 100 for 2005.

Broaden your musical horizons.

spmahn · Post by **spmahn** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:21 pm

mikelgb @ Sep 15 2006, 04:41 PM wrote: Hey don't blame Al for your lack of knowledge on his pop-culture refernces. I love how when people don't know one of the parodied songs they assume the song was not big enough for them to hear.

I think every song Al Parodied or polkafied is in the Billboard top 100 for 2005.

Broaden your musical horizons.

Look, the fact is that Hip Hop and R&B is a much more polarizing genre of music then Pop music. People in general seem to either hate the entire genre or like it, therefore the appeal is not as broad as Pop music in which most people can agree that they like certain artists or songs, but they dislike others. When Three of the Five parodies on this album are of a genre of music that many people don't like, myself included, well then that's going to affect how much you like the album. Perhaps a bit more variety would have made this a better album, but as it stands, I do not like it.

Dagorn24 · Post by **Dagorn24** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:01 pm

spmahn @ Sep 15 2006, 05:21 PM wrote: Look, the fact is that Hip Hop and R&B is a much more polarizing genre of music then Pop music. People in general seem to either hate the entire genre or like it, therefore the appeal is not as broad as Pop music in which most people can agree that they like certain artists or songs, but they dislike others. When Three of the Five parodies on this album are of a genre of music that many people don't like, myself included, well then that's going to affect how much you like the album. Perhaps a bit more variety would have made this a better album, but as it stands, I do not like it.

A lot of people don't like Rap and R&B? Maybe you and your friends don't, but those two genres, especially Hip Hop are the biggest genres of music in the country today and have been for the past several years. And Rap music, whether you like it or not is a huge part of pop culture. For what I know of the album so far, it appears that there is only one rap song on the cd, which originally wasn't even going to be on it. With the exception of Alapalooza, Al has had at least one rap song on every album since Even Worse. Reading the tracklist, the songs that Al is spoofing this time around, I have heard over and over and over again on the radio and MTV, at bars and clubs. These songs are extremely popular and are played to death. Maybe some of you should add a few more artists to your music library. If you've heard the album and just don't like it, that's fine. You are entitled to your opinion. But don't make up stupid nonsense like, most people don't like Rap and R&B, just to justify it. Also you're theory on Rap and R&B being a hate it or love it situation. The same is true with pop music. (Are you a fan of Backstreet Boys?) Also if you hate R&B and Rap, then you should love hearing Al bash on it. Maybe you and a few other cats on here took the song White and Nerdy a bit personally.

Seth

spmahn · Post by **spmahn** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:22 pm

Dagorn24 @ Sep 15 2006, 06:01 PM wrote: Well, I guess since you illegally downloaded it, you got what you paid for. A lot of people don't like Rap and R&B? Maybe you and your friends don't, but those two genres, especially Hip Hop are the biggest genres of music in the country today and have been for the past several years. And Rap music, whether you like it or not is a huge part of pop culture. For what I know of the album so far, it appears that there is only one rap song on the cd, which originally wasn't even going to be on it. With the exception of Alapalooza, Al has had at least one rap song on every album since Even Worse. Reading the tracklist, the songs that Al is spoofing this time around, I have heard over and over and over again on the radio and MTV, at bars and clubs. These songs are extremely popular and are played to death. Maybe some of you should add a few more artists to your music library. If you've heard the album and just don't like it, that's fine. You are entitled to your opinion. But don't make up stupid nonsense like, most people don't like Rap and R&B, just to justify it. Also you're theory on Rap and R&B being a hate it or love it situation. The same is true with pop music. (Are you a fan of Backstreet Boys?) Also if you hate R&B and Rap, then you should love hearing Al bash on it. Maybe you and a few other cats on here took the song White and Nerdy a bit personally.

Seth

See, this is why I hate trying to express an opinion on this board, all you do is get bashed and antagonized. You know what, the majority of people that are going to buy this album, listen to it regularly, and attend Al's concerts probably don't listen to Charmillionaire or R. Kelly on a regular basis, and probably don't care to either. If Al is trying to expand his musical horizons, then that's great, but it's probably not going to help him much. This album is too urban for the fans of pop music, but not urban enough for him to find any sort of fan base within the R&B Community.

And I fail to see anywhere where he bashed R&B and Rap ANYWHERE on this album. The parodies on this album are some of the weakest yet, having little to no connection to their original songs. He's not so much bashing the genre as he is writing silly songs based on the melodies of some of their recent hits.

Now as for these songs popularity. Again, maybe it's different out in more urban areas of the country, but here int he sticks of Connecticut, every station has it's own format. You have the country station, the Top 40 Pop Station, The R&B Station, The Hard Rock / Metal Station, The Oldies Station, etc. There is very little variety within these stations. You're not going to hear R. Kelly on the Pop Station, nor will you hear Kelly Clarkson on the R&B Station. If you don't turn the dial on the radio over to the Hip Hop station, Artists like Usher, R. Kelly, and Charmillionaire will be completely foreign to you.

Dagorn24 · Post by **Dagorn24** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:12 pm

One of the reasons why Al has lasted so long is that he evolves with what ever musical phenomenon is going on at the time. Bad Hair Day was mostly sloppy alternative rock because that stuff was really popular in 1996. Running With Scissors had sort of a cheery pop/ska kind of style to it. And Poodle Hat saw the Punk Rock/New Age of Hip Hop genre. It was only a matter of time before a more urban style album was released. I wouldn't be surprised if the next album is nothing but Gangster Rap and R&B. Al said in the NPR interview that a lot of times he does parodies of songs that he doesn't even particularly like. But personal interest in music can't affect his job. And true, most of the people who are die hard Al fans, probably don't listen to Gangster Rap and R&B. But those people are going to buy the album reguardless of what Al parodies. But by staying fresh with what is popular in the mainstream, Al gets new listeners and fans with every album that comes out. So people who have never heard of Weird Al but are fans of Chamillionaire and they hear White and Nerdy and like it, they will become fans of Al. That's how Al has made a career out of this for nearly 25 years. Al doesn't make music for his fans. He makes music for himself and people who aren't his fans. That's how he gets new, and younger, listeners with every album. When you go to a Weird Al show, you see people of all different ages, not just a bunch of people who remember when Eat It came out. I never heard of Al until Bad Hair Day. Someone loaned me the album because I was a big fan of Soul Asylum back then, and U2 as well. That Album got me hooked. So I didn't mind when Running With Scissors came out with parodies of cheesy pop and ska songs (genres that I wasn't a fan of), I enjoyed it anyway. Because I was listening to Al.

by the way it's "Chamillionaire" not Charmillionaire

mrmeadows · Post by **mrmeadows** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:12 pm

spmahn @ Sep 15 2006, 08:21 AM wrote: Look, the fact is that Hip Hop and R&B is a much more polarizing genre of music then Pop music. People in general seem to either hate the entire genre or like it. . .When Three of the Five parodies on this album are of a genre of music that many people don't like, myself included, well then that's going to affect how much you like the album.

Funny. . .I dislike contemporary R&B, too. However, my two favorite parodies on the album? "Confessions, Part III" and "Trapped in the Drive-Thru"! Who cares if I didn't like the source material? The parodies were hilarious!

Meadows

nedseagoon · Post by **nedseagoon** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:18 pm

spmahn @ Sep 15 2006, 06:22 PM wrote: ...every station has it's own format. You have the country station, the Top 40 Pop Station, The R&B Station, The Hard Rock / Metal Station, The Oldies Station, etc. There is very little variety within these stations. You're not going to hear R. Kelly on the Pop Station, nor will you hear Kelly Clarkson on the R&B Station. If you don't turn the dial on the radio over to the Hip Hop station, Artists like Usher, R. Kelly, and Charmillionaire will be completely foreign to you.

You've got a point here, in that the culture is a lot less cohesive than it used to be. When Al was starting out, it was normal for there to be just a handful of monster hit songs every year. Nowadays, there's more diversity, with fewer songs having the universal reach of Michael Jackson's or Madonna's greatest hits. I think that's a good thing, but it must make it harder for Al to pick parody targets.

Still, I think there's a lot more crossover than you think. Thanks largely to the internet, people aren't so genre-bound anymore. Having eclectic tastes has become a point of pride.

And R&B and rap have gotten so huge that Al would be remiss *not* to focus on them.

Also, I don't want to bash you, but I really don't understand this:

The parodies on this album are some of the weakest yet, having little to no connection to their original songs. He's not so much bashing the genre as he is writing silly songs based on the melodies of some of their recent hits.

Well, yeah. Al's parodies are almost always about something silly and unrelated to the original. The only times he's ever really attack the source material are (This Song's Just) Six Words Long, Smells Like Nirvana and Achy Breaky Song. The rest are pretty random. But that doesn't make them weak, not by a long shot. (And besides, Confessions Part III, probably the best SOL song I've heard so far, sticks a lot closer to the original's premise than is usual for Al...)