World of Weird Al Yankovic

Al noted on MySpace that his next tour would be very different from the last. I believe the biggest change will be the last half of the set. If you have noticed, since 1996 the later half of the show has been the same. Smells Like Nirvana, Amish Paradise, and Fat have always been there. 'Fat' can't leave the show. It is the definitive finale. People have noted how Yoda is the perfect encore, but it has been in various places over the years and has worked fine, but Fat stays at the end.

So, that leaves 2 songs. Smells Like Nirvana or Amish Paradise. Cutting one of these and adding new songs can make the second half of the show much different from before. But which one should it be? Should it be neither? Should it be both? Here, we can discuss.

Let me tell you the reasons why I think my choice, SLN, should go.

1 - It doesn't get the crowd reaction of AP. Every video of Amish Paradise I've seen shows the crowd erupting at the start of the song. SLN, however, gets some cheers, but no roar from the audience. Also, does SLN get the audience to start waving there arms? It doesn't have that bit of audience participation that AP has.

2 - SLN is too tough on Al's voice. There no denying that as Al ages, his vocal ability will diminish. It happens to every singer. It's amazing how Al can still singer as good, if not better than the old days. But, SLN isn't a easy song to do. And who knows what doing this song may do to his voice in the long run.

3 - SLN is almost 20, put it to rest. Nirvana isn't relevent anymore, the song has run its course. Amish people are still around, it transcends time. It can still be topical.

4 - AP is more well known. SLN may have brought Al back into the limelight, but AP helped make Bad Hair Day the biggest album of his career. It went Gold in two months of release, and Platinum a month later. It nearly reached the two million mark by 1999. It took Off The Deep End almost 15 years to sell one million copies. BHD took 3 years to almost go Double Platinum. No other AL-bum has done it.

I've pled my case, now tell me what you think.

Personally, I think both should stay...both are great songs that are loved by many Al fans. Who says he's getting rid of something? By "changing everything", maybe he'll open the show with Fat or something...(not to get too off topic), but this years tour, Alice Cooper opened the show with "School's Out", probably his biggest hit. So why can't Al do the same thing?

I voted for SLN because I wanted to force myself to vote for one and I think AP is more timeless and epic(although I love both songs). Honestly, it would not bother me for Fat to leave the set list. He has other songs that could fit in the last spot.

Both should stay. They are two of his biggest - AND BEST - parodies.

I wouldn't be THAT upset if he alternated between the two from show to show, sort of like Bob and WDTAHTM, if it meant he would do more catalog songs in their place.

As much as I like to do the hand waving thing during AP I like the non-synchronized cheerleaders of SLN more.

I think Al could get rid of SLN - just because... it's not AP. After all, it's mocking the musician who is dead, and it's too fast-pacing and tough to sing indeed. AP is surely more timeless and more likeable to rock the audience.

AND, I think Al finally should (and, I believe, would) finally include more original songs in the set list, to make it finally half/half at least. Just imagine Craigslist live... And I would love to hear more oldies... they're just... cool...

SEVA.

Smells like Teen Spirit is my favourite song EVER, AP needs to go, too slow

I'll vote for both to stay, but honestly, I never understood the fascination for keeping AP.

It's a great song, don't get me wrong. It's just when compared to SLN (And that's what gets me...the either/or for those two songs in particular), the fact is SLN was a bigger hit, chartwise and fanwise, and the outside the fandom buzz of AP was mostly because of Coolio.

Again, not trying to bash AP. I just think if it really had to come down to these two, AP should go to the medley.

the Dingo @ August 25, 2009 02:04 pm wrote: It's a great song, don't get me wrong. It's just when compared to SLN (And that's what gets me...the either/or for those two songs in particular), the fact is SLN was a bigger hit, chartwise and fanwise, and the outside the fandom buzz of AP was mostly because of Coolio.

But, the Bad Hair Day album was HUGE. It is Al's fastest selling, it is his highest selling, and it almost sold 2 million by 1999 (about 1.7 million units). So, while the SINGLE SNL charted higher than AP, the ALBUM BHD was Al's biggest success.

I'm not sure why we've included Amish Paradise as a selection, when we really have no sufficent persuasion on why we might want it to get the boot.