"Polka down with your bad self."

This was "Weird Al's" breakthrough album. This was the first album to feature Al's touring band of guitarist Jim West, bassist Steve Jay and drummer Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz. The album opens with Al's biggest hit, "Eat It". There are four other great parodies of then recent hits, including the chart singles "King of Suede" and "I Lost on Jeopardy". Al also wrote five funny original songs on this album. "Midnight Star" is a hilarious song about tabloid newspapers. "Buy Me a Condo" is a reggae song about a Jamaican trying to assimilate in America. "Mr. Popeil" is a funny song about the creator of Veg-a-matic and many other "as seen on TV" products (Popeil's daughter actually sings background vocals on this song). "That Boy Could Dance" is about a dorky guy who was a good dancer, and it's probably my least favorite song on the album (but still pretty good). "Nature Trail To Hell" is a great song that is a parody of horror movie trailers. The album also features Al's first polka style medley of rock songs, "Polkas on 45". He continued to do a polka medley on virtually all his albums. This is a great album that Al's fans will love.



"Now how much would you pay?"

My favorite

Like the title of my review says, this is without a doubt my favorite Weird Al CD. I don't know why. Most people pick "Even Worse," or "Off the Deep End" as their favorites, but I like this one the best. It goes without saying that "Eat It," and the "Theme from Rocky XIII" are the most popular songs on this "AL"-bum, along with the bitterly satirical tabloid magazine dig "Midnight Star," and the salute to the 70's "Polkas on 45." "The Brady Bunch" is a cool song too. It's a really good parody of a song called "Safety Dance" by a group called "Men Without Hats." Somebody said in another review that "Men At Work" did that song, but I'm afraid their wrong. It was "Men Without Hats," but who cares? I'm rambling.



Then there's of course "King Of Suede," which is I think Al's only Sting and The Police parody, and he couldn't have picked a better song. I think this was the best of all of Al's parodies, because it sounds the closest to the original of any of the ones I've heard.



Every tune on this disc is great. Even the ones I didn't mention, but I think the real reason that this is my favorite "AL"-bum is because it contains my favorite Weird Al song of all time (maybe even my favorite song period). That song is "Nature Trail To Hell." It's great! Strangely enough, though, it doesn't rank as one of Al's most popular originals, and most of the reviewers here don't seem to care for it, either. Well, if you don't mind my saying so, YOU PEOPLE ARE ALL A BUNCH OF WUSSIES. You say that this song is too gruesome, and it's not typical of Al to write something so gory. Well, obviously your forgetting the song "Happy Birthday" from his self-titled debut album. You are completely glossing over "Like A Surgeon" from "Dare To Be Stupid," in which Al says the words "I'll pull his insides out and see what he ate." You are totally neglecting to remember the "Polka Party" album which contains the popular hits "Christmas At Ground Zero," a song about nuclear holocaust, the self explanatory James Brown parody "Living With A Hernia," and of course the infamous James Taylor and Charlie Manson inspired "One of Those Days," a song about a guy who pulls the wings off of flies, and shaves a woman's head, ties her up and leaves her to die in the desert. Most of these songs are newer than "Nature Trail To Hell," but the same people who bitch and moan about THAT song don't seem to know that, yet they LOVE these other even more gruesome tracks.



Don't misunderstand me. I love all of Al's songs. I'm just trying to point out that there seems to be an epidemic among his so-called following of not knowing what his art is truly about. These "fans" all seem to think that Weird Al's albums are riddled with nothing but songs about food, and lame polka medleys. That is not the case. Any casual glance through the catalog will show you that Al has touched upon subjects from all walks of life. This includes songs about love, hate, war, stalking, yellow journalism, organized crime, addiction to TV, the aches and pains of divorce, the stress of work, social diseases, obesity, cars, weapons of mass destruction, coming of age, our fear of dentists, the evils of cloning, the Star Wars craze, the unintelligible singing of modern rock groups, and the idiocy of the French. That is just a TASTE of all the things Al has sung about. I think he has made it more than clear to us that he is plenty familiar with the hard nocks of life. So, quit pissing and moaning about the goriness of "Nature Trail To Hell," and buy this CD.



Peace, Out!



Uncle Floyd

One of Weird Al's Best Records

This is one of Weird Al Yankovic's best cds. It starts with a really cool parody of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" called "Eat It", then it is the best song on the record: Midnight Star. A wonderful song about the crazy lying magazine "Midnight Star". Next, its a parody of Men at Work's "The Safety Dance", called "The Brady Bunch", a catchy song about how Al doesn't want to watch The Brady Bunch. Then, its "Buy Me A Condo", which is not the best, but ok. Then "I Lost On Jeoprody" a very good song about Al losing on Jeoprody.Then, the polka, "Polkas On 45" another medley. Then, "Mr.Popeil", another ok song. Then, King of Suede, another ok song. Next, "That Boy Could Dance", another ok sopng. then, "Theme From Rocky XIII(The Rye or the Kaiser)". Finally, Al ends the album with an awesome "Nature Trail To Hell".