Bohemian Rhapsody - Polka style (Alapalooza - Weird Al Yankovic)

Member Name: bailey_kipper_uk

Product:	Alapalooza - Weird Al Yankovic
Date:	06/08/08 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Couple of good songs

Disadvantages: Lots that aren't very good

Continuing through my album reviews, I've skipped two whilst I wait for one to be added, and I've already reviewed "(The) Age of the Understatement" so I'll move on to Alapalooza. This is an ablum by Wierd Al Yankovic.

Wierd Al is easily the most prolific parody act ever, he has sold over 12 million albums, and has actually released 12 albums. This is his 8th album, i've got a few of his albums and it's not among my favourites, however I've leave you to make your own decision.

Track 1 - Jurassic Park - Parody of MacArthur Park. This is essentially the song that should have been played at the end of the film. It gives a summary of the film but in song version, including being disembowled by dinosaurs, dinosaurs eating lawyers (proves dinosaurs are useful), and how he's got no plans to go back again anytime soon. 8/10

Track 2 - Young, Dumb and Ugly - Style of AC/DC. This is about lads trying to look cool, but it's sung as though they realise other people's opinions about them. Such as wearing leather jackets in mid summer, clearly stupid. There's a variety of other opinions too. It's quite a funny song like much of his stuff. 7/10

Track 3 - Bedrock Anthem - Style of Red Hot Chili Peppers and mainly parodying "Give it Away". Similar to Jurassic Park this is instead about the plot of the Flintstones and has a few soundbites from it. Like many of his songs I prefer ones where it was a good song to start with and one that I like. This is in my opinion is just the best song on the album 9/10

Track 4 - Franks 2000 inch TV - Style of REM. This is a bit of a rubbish song, it's not really about anything and doesn't really parody any style that clearly. I think that kind of kills it for me before it's even started. It's a decent song that I wish was set to a better song, if I can think of an example I'll come back to this. 6.5/10

Track 5 - Achy Breaky Song - This should be obvious... Just in case it's not though it's a parody of Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus. It's mainly about how much he hates it, and how he'd rather hear Abba or Yoko Ono, or be chucked down the stairs. Like the real song it becomes very annoying after a while. 5/10 - "I'd rather have a pitchfork in my brain".

Track 6 - Traffic Jam - Parody of Let's go Crazy by Prince. This is simply about being stuck in a Traffic Jam.... Like usual he parodies songs really well when he tries it. I think I like him cause I try to do this myself when I hear songs, especially if I can't decipher the lyrics. This, like a few songs on this album is another song I don't know or not based on an actual song, for me this ruins the point of a parody album, which is what he really is.
At points this song sounds like Sesame Street theme tune being played in the background. 6/10

Track 7 - Talk Soup - Parody of Superstition by Stevie Wonder. This is about a guy who could appear on Trisha given his crazy stories that he has. Things like sleeping with Bigfoot, and his wife running off with Elvis. He really, really wants to get on Geraldo, and Jerry Springer just so he can tell his stories. This song is 4.24 minutes which is far too long. 6/10

Track 8 - Livin in the fridge - Parody of Aerosmith's Livin on the Edge. This is another song I don't recognise, which really doesn't help this album get a lot of airplay through my Itunes. This is about food that really should have been chucked out a long long time ago, and a discussion about whether it's alive or not. It's done well, though again it's not one of his better songs. 6/10

Track 9 - She never told me she was a mime - Again in the style of Aerosmith. I'm starting realise the difficultly of reviewing my entire collection, it's coming to albums you don't really enjoy and subjecting yourself to the whole thing so you can hopefully write a better review. This is almost 5 minutes about how this chap didn't notice that his girlfriend was actually a mime.... dull..... help!...... 4/10

Track 10 - Harvey the Wonder Hamster - just a very short original track style in an Army style about a Hamster named Harvey.... That's it, it's 22 seconds long. 3/10

Track 11 - Waffle King - recognisably in the style of Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel. However this doesn't save this song, which about a totally self - obsessed chap who has come up with great waffles. Compared to many of his other songs this is rubbish, I prefer his popular culture songs much more than these random topics. 6/10

Track 12 - Bohemian Polka - A polka version of Bohemian Rhapsody. FINALLY! BUT! It's a great song. Who'd have thought doing a Polka version of this great song, could be so good. It's almost down to half the length of the original due to the speedier style of the Polka. It's great to hear this song in such a different style but yet incredibly similar to the original. It's something that Al does really well, and many of his other albums contains Polkas, and there's even an album called Polka Party, celebrating the great musical style. 9/10

Summary
~~~~~~
Overall it's not a great album, there's a couple of good tracks you could download but personally I wouldn't buy the album until you've heard more of his stuff. Then, and only then, should you consider this.

Summary: It's an mediocre album that contains a high percentage of rubbish.