Rank the songs on Mandatory Fun

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LovelySortsOfDeath
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Re: Rank the songs on Mandatory Fun [Spoilers]

Post by LovelySortsOfDeath »

1. Word Crimes
2. Jackson Park Express
3. Now That's What I Call Polka
4. Mission Statement
5. First World Problems
6. Handy
7. Inactive
8. Foil
9. Lame Claim to Fame
10. Tacky
11. Sports Song
12. My Own Eyes
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Re: Rank the songs on Mandatory Fun [Spoilers]

Post by Teh Dingo »

My rankings. Overall I think this album's stellar, so don't confuse my rankings with meaning I didn't like the song


1. First World Problems
2. My Own Eyes

I'm biased, I admit, but as soon as I heard what these were style parodies of, they immediately became my must hear songs on the album, and they did not disappoint me in any way. Amanda Palmer's part pushes First World Problems slightly ahead.

3. Word Crimes

As I said, best parody. Lived up to the hype from when the tracklist came out

4. Lame Claim to Fame

The winner of this album's "Out of nowhere" award. Didn't really know what to expect and it blew me away.

5. NOW That's What I Call Polka

Not "Best Polka Ever!" good for me, but still really good.

6. Jackson Park Express

The song just got more bizarre and better the longer it went on.

7. Foil

We saw it coming and it was still awesome. Gotta say the food part is pretty good in some parts too.

8. Sports Song

Judging by the reactions to this song, I guess you just have to "get it". If you do, it's classic.

9. Tacky

It's funny and it'll probably be the one that grows on me the most. Right now it's just not quite there for me, but I see my opinion of it growing fast.

10. Mission Statement

This album's Pancreas. I don't think it's necessarily funny, but musically it's superb.

11. Handy

I don't want to rag on this too much (Especially since last album's track #1 was a sore spot for me), so again, I'll just reiterate what I said in it's topic: He did the best he could and it will probably be helped by the video, but it probably wasn't going to outdo what he had already recorded.

12. Inactive

Just wasn't into this one at all. And I admit part of that has to do with my feelings toward the original, but as said on this forum, it seems it tread too closely to You're Pitiful. The only four star out of five and the only one that isn't going on my iPod.
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Well, Well, Well
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Re: Rank the songs on Mandatory Fun [Spoilers]

Post by Well, Well, Well »

1. Lame claim to fame
2. Foil
3. First world problems
4. Word crimes
5. Handy
6. My own eyes
7. Tacky
8. Mission statement
9. Now that's what I call polka
10. Sports song
11. Jackson park express
12. Inactive
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drewdy9999
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Re: Rank the songs on Mandatory Fun [Spoilers]

Post by drewdy9999 »

I waited until today to listen to 10 of the 12 songs... what a cool album! I've only heard most of these once or twice, but here's my tentative list:

1. Jackson Park Express
2. Tacky
3. Word Crimes
4. Handy
5. Now That's What I Call Polka!
6. First World Problems
7. Sports Song
8. Foil
9. Inactive
10. My Own Eyes
11. Mission Statement
12. Lame Claim to Fame

This could easily change though.

I don't know why people on here don't seem to like Handy as much as the other parodies - yeah, it's kind of like I'll Repair for You 2.0, but it works really well with the music. Not too many jokes in the lyrics (aside from the stripper line), but I think the video will do the song wonders.
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Re: Rank the songs on Mandatory Fun [Spoilers]

Post by TMBJon »

drewdy9999 wrote:Not too many jokes in the lyrics (aside from the stripper line), but I think the video will do the song wonders.
Huh? The song is filled with jokes from beginning to end.
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Re: Rank the songs on Mandatory Fun [Spoilers]

Post by Yup. »

I guess "Screw dat, screw dat" wasn't enough.
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Re: Rank the songs on Mandatory Fun [Spoilers]

Post by OneWAY »

1. NOW That's What I Call Polka! - This polka, is just great. The choices are great, even if it feels short in comparison to previous ones.
2. First World Problems - Stylistically perfect, with a hilarious premise. Can't get over that chorus, with the Kim Deal impression.
3. Word Crimes - Best parody on the album, if only because the subject is perfect on so many levels. Catchy and fun, with an educational twist that everyone can appreciate.
4. Jackson Park Express - I love the subject matter, and Al's longest "love song" after WBUL, which is awesome.
5. Handy - Great parody, with a funny subject/execution. It doesn't hinge on some crazy pop culture movement, which is a nice change of pace from the last couple of albums. It's just a nice, goofy song.
6. My Own Eyes - Very funny list song, with a fantastic musical style to go with the insane subjects.
7. Tacky - Very glad to hear a song slam some of the weird things we do in today's culture. It's catchy too!
8. Foil - Really short, but so funny! The original song is kinda boring, so I'm glad it isn't dragged out too much.
9. Mission Statement - Kind of feels Skipper Dan-funny, due to the juxtaposition present, more than anything. This is one song I probably won't be able to sing along with well for a while.
10. Lame Claim To Fame - Great subject, especially relevant with the YouTube comments part. Not especially notable for me, but a good track.
11. Sports Song - As the short gag song, this works well. Musically unique from most of his previous work, and has a hilariously vague premise that makes me want to play it at any sports event.
12. Inactive - Funny subject, but I didn't respond to it as much as the rest of the album. For a while, I forgot that I had heard the original before this.
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Re: Rank the songs on Mandatory Fun [Spoilers]

Post by PlayAWarGame »

Hmm, I'll do it by category first, and then try to make one single list.

Parodies:
1. Word Crimes
2. Foil
3. Tacky
4. Handy
5. Inactive

Originals:
1. Sports Song
2. Jackson Park Express
3. First World Problems
4. My Own Eyes
5. Mission Statement
6. Lame Claim To Fame

Polka Medleys:
1. NOW That's What I Call Polka!

Full Album, with explanations:
1. Sports Song: I got really excited when I saw it compared (positively, negatively, and neutrally) to Weasel Stomping Day, and it did not disappoint. It really is essentially a spiritual sequel to WSD; a pastiche of a "timeless" musical genre with lyrics jabbing at the traditions associated with that genre. I'm not a sports fan, but I'm not one of those anti-sports nerds, either, and if you don't recognize what's being satirized here, you really need to get out of the house more, because you're not unfamiliar with sports jargon but with the concept of sports itself.
2. Jackson Park Express: A "long song", a song where the narrator is a portrait of a crazy, potentially dangerous man creepily obsessed with a girl, and a song that's at times genuinely emotional? Those are three of my favorite WAY song categories by themselves, and it's all of them! It hits each note perfectly, and I expect it'll be my most-listened long song from now on - it's not as entertaining as Albuquerque but it's also less of an investment of time and focus.
3. Word Crimes: Was really looking forward to this one because I knew Blurred Lines' internet infamy would propel it to success. The song itself is the most entertaining parody on the album, and, despite many peoples' expectations, parodies the entire song, unlike Foil, which could've benefited from doing the same thing. It's kind of the White And Nerdy of the album in that it's a song that I expect will gain a lot of traction with internet geeks for a long time and perhaps even overshadow the original song in the public memory.
4. NOW That's What I Call Polka! This is the second polka medley Al's released since I became a big fan of pop music, and I have to admit that every pop song I like that wasn't included disappointed me a little, but that's inevitable. Compared to its predecessor, Polka Face, I think I liked Polka Face better, but the polka medleys are reliably among the best songs on Weird Al's albums (though never the single best), and this is no exception.
5. First World Problems: I didn't have strong feelings for this song at first, but it's grown on me a lot. The musical hook is perhaps the best original on the album; Amanda F. Palmer's vocals really make it and as a whole the music outshines the lyrics. The subject matter isn't that interesting, and of course, in this modern internet age, Al's been beaten to it by other novelty artists, but he does the best he can with it, which is much better than most people could.
6. Foil: I love the original song musically, which gives this song a pretty big step up. I also like the A Complicated Song-esque schtick, though I feel ACS did it better, because this song only had two distinct components. Like many here, I feel that it was too short, though I don't think Weird Al should have added an extra verse; it'd make the thing too repetitive, and Al never extends parodies anyway. I just think he should have used the whole darn song. Figure out something to do with the bridge and final chorus. It's not that hard. Lorde put them there for a reason, Al. There are more things you can and should do with the concept! This song has made me listen to the original more. I feel that this is the album's White And Nerdy, in a sense, in that it's so good that people want it to go on longer.
7. My Own Eyes: Musically fantastic, lyrically meh, much like Ringtone. Has grown on me. Probably one of the least funny tracks on the album, but I listen to Weird Al originals more for the music anyway.
8. Mission Statement: Lyrically great, and I've got to roll my eyes at the people who didn't get it, as with the Sports Song. In fact, it's so lyrically great that I'm almost ashamed to put it this low? But the music just doesn't do it for me. It's not the worst music on the album, I'll get to that, but I still don't really like it. To be fair, I feel that the music does fit excellently with the lyrics, and makes them funnier because it's a great contrast.
9. Tacky: I didn't care much for the original song, with its okay tune and its lyrics that were bizarrely generic even for pop music. Weird Al's song is much less generic, but for a Weird Al song it's still pretty generic, so I guess it captures the original song decently well. Was hoping this'd be an Achy Breaky Song-type thing about how cheap-Hallmark-card-esque the original song is, but I guess Happy wasn't a big enough hit for that, thankfully, and I guess Weird Al probably actually likes Pharrell, given how he's on the album three times. I see this as the album's White And Nerdy, because it's a generic Al song with a well-produced cameo-filled music video parodying the original's.
10. Handy: Alright, I'll admit it: I don't like rap music. I'm fine with rap interludes in pop songs, for example in Blurred Lines (hate that song for its lyrical content but that's something I'm not getting into and yay, we have Word Crimes now!), but songs that are fully rap just bug me. This is kind of analogous to White And Nerdy on Straight Outta Lynwood, because Al took a rap song and made it better (that'd be a nice Al-themed parody of Hey, Jude, incidentally). Unfortunately, unlike White And Nerdy, he didn't make it better enough, and it's still practically unlistenable for me, despite some funny lyrics.
11. Lame Claim To Fame: Lame concept and lame music. Appropriate.
12. Inactive: This is kind of like "You're Pitiful", but self-deprecating instead of insulting the listener, and with intense alternative electronic rock instead of being a light folk rock ballad. Unfortunately, the contrast doesn't work nearly as well as the contrast in You're Pitiful, and the song's only real saving grace is the original's music, which I could listen to the original if I wanted to hear. This song is this album's version of White And Nerdy, insofar as my "friend", who's the biggest Weird Al fan I know, and incidentally a big fan of Imagine Dragons and Radioactive in particular, will inevitably blast it 24/7 and I will have to pretend not to hate it.
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Re: Rank the songs on Mandatory Fun [Spoilers]

Post by chellie2126 »

1. Tacky
2. Word Crimes
3. Now That's What I Call Polka
4. Sports Song
5. Handy
6. My Own Eyes
7. Inactive
8. Lame Claim To Fame
9. Foil
10. First World Problems
11. Jackson Park Express
12. Mission Statement
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Re: Rank the songs on Mandatory Fun [Spoilers]

Post by weird user »

Here's my list for now. I'll probably do a revised list later (some songs I have only heard once, and feel I should listen to them again a few more times).

My "first draft" ranking:
1. Tacky
2. Handy
3. NOW That's What I Call Polka
4. Word Crimes
5. Lame Claim to Fame
6. Jackson Park Express
7. Inactive
8.Sports Song
9. My Own Eyes
10. First World Problems
11. Foil
12. Mission Statement
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