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The Essential Weird Al Yankovic

"Weird Al" Yankovic

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iTunes Review

Three-time GRAMMY-winning entertainer, “Weird Al” Yankovic has spent 30 years poking fun at and inventing new humorous angles for pop songs and cultural marks. Beginning with basic song parodies such as “Another One Rides the Bus,” after Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust,” and “Eat It” to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” Yankovic managed to up the ante with crazy conceptual pieces like “The Biggest Ball of Twine In Minnesota.” “Smells Like Nirvana” skewered the entire marketing of the “grunge” movement, while obviously riffing off of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” “White & Nerdy” turns the joke back onto “Weird Al” himself. “Amish Paradise” introduced a Pennsylvania Dutch gangsta-rapper. “The Night Santa Went Crazy” turns the jolly one into a serial killer. Yankovic has created an alternate world where no one is safe or sane. His love for pop music can be heard in the note-perfect renditions that mimic the world of hip-hop, heavy metal, alternative rock and all-star charity power ballads (“Don’t Download This Song”).

Customer Reviews

Weird Al greatest Hits??

Even though his hardcore fans (ME!!) already have every single song on here, and don't need it, it's still a great album for a beginner. Some of his most amazing songs were left out, but I think it's a good start to a fabulous Weird Al collection. But when you buy the hard copy of the CD you get a 28 page booklet and stuff. But whatever. 5 stars for Al!!!

If you own just one Weird Al album, this is it

If someone had told me in 1984 that I'd be writing not just a review, but a GOOD review of Weird Al in 2009, I'd have said they were crazy. Yet here I am...

And yet not only has Al remained consistantly funny, but his music has continued to develop, his original material ranking up as good, if not better, than his parodies. And his career has outlasted many of those he's parodied, sometimes by decades. Al and his backing band have evolved into the Greatest Cover Band in the World, aptly covering and inhabiting everything from Devo to Nirvana to the Beach Boys to rap with seeming ease. If you listen close, not only is Weird Al funny, but listening to how well and intellegently constructed his music is can be quite the revelation.

So at last, we have The Essential Weird Al, compiled by the man himself...and it is what it says it is; 38 tracks of inspired lunacy, covering the entire range of his nearly 3 decade career.

As ever with compilations like this, there are missing tracks..."Headline News" (parody of Crash Test Dummies) and the "Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies" parody from his film "UHF" most noteably. And there's too many tracks from his most recent album. But still, for the money, this is really the one Weird Al album you'll ever need.

Now for those who already own everything, why would you want/need this? Simple...this collection is hands down the best SOUNDING Weird Al disc yet, loving remastered, and not mastered too loudly. This is especially apparent with the earliest material. Overall, the depth and quality of the sound is supurb.

As stated in the liner notes, Werid Al is currently eligable for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This well-produced and nearly complete collection is ample proof that he should be. It is, indeed, essential.

First review

Weird Al is awesome. Most of these songs are classic Weird Al material. But I hope this isn't the end him making new parodies. Buy it if you don't own ny weird al, these are his hits

Biography

Born: October 23, 1959 in Lynwood, CA

Genre: Comedy

Years Active: '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s

The foremost song parodist of the MTV era, "Weird Al" Yankovic carried the torch of musical humor more proudly and more successfully than any performer since Allan Sherman. In the world of novelty records — a genre noted for its extensive back catalog of flashes-in-the-pan and one-hit wonders — Yankovic was king, scoring smash after smash...
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The Essential Weird Al Yankovic,
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  • $16.99
  • Genres: Comedy, Music, Pop, Novelty, Rock, Pop/Rock
  • Released: Oct 26, 2009
  • ℗ 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993 Sony Music Entertainment/(P) 1996, 1999, 2003, 20006 Sony Music Entertainment

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