Title: The Saga Begins

Parody Of: American Pie [Don McClean]

As A Parody: Al doesn't do an entire 9-verse parody, but makes a successful 4-verse one.

As An Original Al Idea: He's done Star Wars before, but that was around one character- this revolves around the entire movie even tho the chorus is dedicated soley to Anakin.

Lyrics: Al briefly, yet cleverly sums up the entire movie in this song, but somehow it seems more of just that, a summary.

Lyrical Comments: Al manages to save this song from totally becomming boring as a summary of the movie with his humor. Thank goodness for his sly and funny lines scattered every here and there. Al's a fun storyteller (as if we couldn't already tell!).

Al's Vocal Performance: It's about time we heard some natural if any resonance in his voice! No lisp, only about 20% of his old comical voice can be heard. We are so very close to hearing Al's true singing voice! This is such a treat to listen to!

Mix: Very clear and smooth. The original was very simplified instumentally- but Al has managed to give it more depth and instruments without deterring from the song itself. Wonderful companion to its target!

Background Vocals: Almost identical to the original- only it's not Mcclean's voice. The harmonies are very nice and pleasureable. I wish I could hear more of the ending harmony (timewise).

Title: My Baby's In Love With Eddie Vedder

Style Parody Of: Zyedeo

As A Style Parody: I do not know if I have ever heard 'zyedeo' before, but I have heard Cajun music & from what I have heard, the 2 are very similar. This song has a zyedeo backbone but isn't 100 percent.

Comments on the Style: I LOVE that accordian!

As An Original Al Idea: Another Anti-Love song- what's different is how the break-up is handeled lyrically.

Lyrics: We've heard Al lose girlfriends to other people before, but this time we get hear to whom it was- another rock singer. Al shows more than his usual dispair and sorrow- he shows jealousy! He adds a 'modern twist' by acting out his jealousy by stalking another woman, hoping to bring his true love back.

Lyrical Comments: Nothing really special to comment about, only that he mentions Eddie Vedder (to whom he apologizes to in the Special Thanks section) and Alanis Morisette.

Al's Vocal Performance: Same ol' humor voice but it sounds too much like Airline Amy and She Never Told Me She Was A Mime for comfort.

Mix: Bass is booming (as it should be) and the accordian is to die for! The drum is reminiscent of a carousel. The overall mix is very good with clearly defined individual notes.

Background Vocals: Again the AA/SNTMSWAM thing going.

Title: Pretty Fly For A Rabbi

Parody Of: Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) [Offspring]

As A Parody: I've heard the original only a couple of times (as of this writing) and the music is VERY close to being identical.

Comments on the Original:

As An Original Al Idea: Another 'unusual character' description.

Lyrics: Very ingenius interaction of the Yiddish with English. I still don't know why he included the Pee Wee's Playhouse reference.

Lyrical Comments: Not sure if there would be any offense taken by anyone on account that Al very blatentaly comes out and says certain things about Jews. Good thing he did Amish Paradise first in this sense as to establish the fact that he's not trying to be offensive to any specific ethnic or religious group. Also a good thing AP was well-recieved.

Another thing being debated within the newsgroup is just what exactly Al meant by "getting to keep the tip."

Al's Vocal Performance: Very nice low vocals but he goes right back into his comedy voice wich kinda throws things off blalance. He also has that Kermit the Frog-like voice thing (see Isle Thing) again at the beginning.

Mix: Very nice percussion!

Background Vocals: Nice touch using Tress MacNeille.

Title: The Weird Al Show Theme

Title: Jerry Springer

Parody Of: One Week [Barenaked Ladies]

As A Parody: Al's version went slower than the original and thank goodness! I can't even recite the first one (yet)!

Comments on the Original: I do like the original b/c it's uniqe and quirky. You don't necessarily have to listen to One Week in order to appreciate Jerry Springer tho.

Parody Of: The Jerry Springer Show

As A Parody: I've never seen this show but b/c it's a talk show, I can only imagine that there would be some pretty sick wackkos on it!

Comments on the Original: (see above) I also don't think I'd ever feel compelled to see it.

As An Original Al Idea: Al has used the talk show idea in Talk Soup but JS isn't all redundant listing like TS was so this one is much better!

Lyrics: Not listing thank goodness, but the weirdos are no longer the classic dysfunctional folks they once were- they are the modern freaks. Exs: 'lap dance,' 'tear off their clothes,' 'she-male,' bitch,' trailer trash,' and 'crack ho.' I NEVER expected to ever hear Al say these words in a song! Talk about shock factor! He runs with scissors on this one!

Lyrical Comments: The bridge includes a dialogue between Al and Tress MacNeille and once again- the shock factor. It's all about 'who's been sleeping with whom." Very risky thing Al may doing with his career here. He does however keeps some of his classic nonsense with the 'gay Jewish Black dude.' Good One Al!

Al's Vocal Performance: usual comedic voice while singing and talking. gets nasal only during the fastest passages which contrasts with the clarity he displays in the chorus.

Mix: softer and slower than the original but it's a HECK of a lot CLEARER! Finally, I can hear the individual parts! The bass and guitar are well-defined and the precussion is clear.

Background Vocals: the only harmonies are during the quickest passages where Al's noice goes nasal- creating an almost-eerie sound.

Title: Germs

Style Parody Of: Nine Inch Nails or Dép&e;che Mode

As A Style Parody: The only NIN song I've ever heard is "Closer" and there is a presence of this song in Germs.

Comments on the Style: The style is and interesting major/minor scale mix. And if you remember my tastes in music, this sounds inviting. Now I gotta go reasearch this NIN thing...

As An Original Al Idea: He's never even touched this subject before! (pun intended!)

Lyrics: Story-style of someone who's scared of germs. Because of the style of music it is, it's hard to understand the lyrics without having the lyric sheets in front of you. Not much in the way of humor in it- much like That Boy Could Dance. Al gets a little gross with the line: "I rub and scrub until my flesh is raw and bleeding." I've also never heard Al mention the word "kiss" in one of his songs before!

Lyrical Comments: I hope that any OCD'ers who have trouble with contamination use this song as a way of conquering your fears and learning to laugh at yourself. Both help you get control of it!

Al's Vocal Performance: Al loses all of his humor voice while singing in this Grunge style.

Mix: Wonderful NIN/ Depeche Mode combination! I love this!

Background Vocals: Is that Al or Steve on the bass?- whoever it is, they're GOOD!

Title: Polka Power!

Title: Your Horoscope For Today

Style Parody Of: Ska

As A Style Parody: The only Ska I've heard is The Mighty Mighty Basstones and No Doubt; based on these 2 groups, YHFT is a is a good match.

Comments on the Style: I like the style

As An Original Al Idea: This is one Al's most creative ideas! Very nice move!

Lyrics: The lyrics are read like a real newspaper horoscope, with the middle sound byte spoken like a tv pitch for a Psychic hotline.

The actual lyrics vary from sign to sign and all are equally clever. With the exception of only a couple of elements are 'Al repeats,' the lyrical events are new.

Lyrical Features: They can be in-your-face at times. Very Funny! Hmm...tuna!

Al's Vocal Performance: Al's usual comedic voice- a little nasal; falsetto obvious.

Mix: Bass and drums are punchy as they should be. The horns are very nice but a bit soft in order to accomatade Al's comedic voice. Little noticeable guitar.

Background Vocals: Harmonies are nice.

Title: It's All About The Pentiums

Parody Of: It's All About The Benjamins [Puff Daddy]

As A Parody: I never heard the original

Comments on the Original: I understand that there are 2 versions of the original: a rap and a rock version, and apparently this is the rock version that is parodied here.

As An Original Al Idea: It's Gee I'm A Nerd all grown up. More mature writing.

Lyrics: Al has decided to get technical on us- literally! Unlike Al's first computer-oriented song (the unreleased Gee, I'm A Nerd) where the techie is the geeky one, in this the techie is very cool because he is in-the-know and up-to-date in the world that revolves around computers and scoffs at those aren't.

Lyrical Comments: He's put an awful lot of tech jargon together in this ultra-hilarious rap ode. Al has done his homework b/c he obviously knows what he's talking about- just listen to the way the lyrics evolve!

Al's Vocal Performance: Al decides to show us his deep low vocal ends again. Very attune to the stereotypical deep-voiced rapper, but Al makes it sound GOOD!

Mix: Distorted guitars and booming bass- they sound great! Very catchy tune in all aspects and very nicely captured!

Background Vocals: The background vocalists don't really have much to background vocalize- it's just rap stuff, but at least they were able to manage all the yelling without peaking or being overally obnoxious.

Title: Truck Drivin' Song

Style Parody Of: Country music

As A Style Parody: consistant

Comments on the Style: Kinda Clichéd country.

As An Original Al Idea:

Lyrics: Is the character a woman or a cross-dresser? When you hear the low singing voice, you know it's the cross-dresser. Al lives the life of a cross-dressing truck driver...sounds like he should've been a guest on track 5!

Lyrical Comments: This ranks with Pretty Fly and Jerry Springer as his most audacious and mature songs ever...mature both in that his songwriting style is breaking loose from gettng stuck in repetitive ruts and that the actual material could be rated PG-13. I damn near died when I hear Al say "crotchless panties" and "nipple rings!" See what I mean?

Al's Vocal Performance: Another low vocal! His lowest yet! It's also the closest we've ever come to hearing Al's honest-to-goodness real voice! His characteristic and hard-to-get-rid-of light, airy, falsetto voice can only he heard for a split second at the beginning of a couple lines, but overall he doesn't even flinch! This is one of Al's best vocal performances ever!

Mix: Very clear. Catchy stereotypical beat.

Background Vocals: Hear Steve on the EXTRA low vocals?! He's in with the Al and Al harmonies. Sounds damn good!

Title: Grapefruit Diet

Parody Of: Zoot Suit Riot [The Cherry Poppin' Daddies]

As A Parody: 97% identical to the original but softer.

Comments on the Original: I you ain't dancin' in your seat- you're nuts!

As An Original Al Idea: Yet another FOOD song!

Lyrics: Fat follow-up because he talks more about his pre-diet habits than the actual diet experience (which is something I personally was expecting and would've loved to hear).

Lyrical Comments: Another 'patchwork' style lyrically with a few clever lines. This 'patchwork' thing is getting tiresome.

Al's Vocal Performance: Is this an Elvis impersonator at the end?

Mix: The mix and arrangement are nearly identical the the original, Zoot Suit Riot- one of the closest matches to date. The original sounded great and its parody is equal if not a little superior in that the mix is juuuust a little clearer.

Background Vocals: Not many bv's to comment on, unless of course you mean the horn section! :)

Title: Alberquerque

Style Parody Of: some folks in the ng think this might be either a Monty Pyton "Lumberjack Song" or Stan Freeburg parody

As A Style Parody:

Comments on the Style:

As An Original Al Idea: This is completely new to Al. Although he's done an epic before, he's never done as jumbled up as this!

Lyrics: Al rambles on and on about his life before and while in Alberquerque, the city that changes his life from his mother who force-feeds him his least-favorite food, saurkraut.

Lyrical Comments: This is by far one of the strangest and most hilarious things Al has ever done! Although we do hear recurrences of the weasles, doughnuts, bowling ball, lost love, big ego satire, and unlikely events (hey- it's comedy!), we do hear new ideas. One new idea falls under the newer-and-bolder catergory that has been ever-present throughout this whole album. I personally was thrown WAY off my guard when Al emited the words "we bathed together" and emited them before "we got married." I thought I'd have a heart attack! But then again, Al *does* make fun of *pop culture* which doesn't necessarily mean that Al follows pop cultural practices. But then again, that's just me.

Al's Vocal Performance: This is mainly spoken-word but there is singing in it. Al's storytelling voice resembles Peter and the Wolf, where his voice constantly changes, does weird voices, sound effects, and strange vocal quirks. You also get to hear Al's natural talking voice (tho just barely).

Mix: Very well executed considering that it is mainly spoken-word and all parts are recorded seperately. The band does and excellent job of keeping up with Al- even when it seems that rythemic repetition will drag on forever (this song is over 11 minutes long).

Background Vocals: We get to hear Steve on the bass vocals and we get to hear nice harmonies.