What? Nobody opened a topic for this musical genius before? Bad, bad metalstormers!

His songs are funny, but I dislike how he overshadows plenty of other song parodists.

Nothing like "I'll Sue Ya", "Lasagna", "Hardware Store", "Amish Paradise" and "Smells Like Nirvana" though, among others.

Haha, oh yeah. There's also 'Eat It', 'I'm Fat', 'Like a Surgeon', 'White & Nerdy' and so on....I even enjoy few of his polkas on occasion.

But seriously, due to the advent of the internet and file sharing, mostly on Gnutella networks, practically every parody song on the face of the Earth is labeled as Al's. When there are other good parodists like Bob Rivers, Johnny Crass (okay, maybe he isn't too good, but "Internet Sandman" is great), ApologetiX, Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine, etc.

http://free.house.cx/~eil/etc/notal_list.html

Anyway, don't forget "eBay". Love that one. "White & Nerdy" is so goddamn overrated.

I must say I'm not familiar with other parody artists. But Al has a specific voice, so it's easy to recognize him.

Oh yeah, e-bay is great too. You should watch his 'interviews' of celebrities on youtube, they're hilarious.

Like a surgeon hahahahah

I'm fond of Weird Al Yankovic! I have a few of his albums...Alapalooza and Running with Scissors

Me too, I've been a fan of his for about a decade now! His lyrics are so awesome and let's not forget the glorious videos, from which my faves would be ''Like A Surgeon''. That song also really helped me during my studies for the surgey exam And Albuquerque is just epic

Vezzy complaining bout an artist overshadowing some more obscure artist (see also Elvis and that piano player who married his 14yo cousin)... take a drink.

fact is Al was the master at it. Al is to parody as Judas Maiden is to metal. there are others, but he's guy that really put it on the map. had his first four albums on tape back in the 80s. i love how he has adapted to new trends in pop music over the years... but i think i really like his polka renditions and his own tracks (Dare to be Stupid, Christmas at Ground Zero, Mister Frump in the Iron Lung) more than the parodies.

Ok, my favorite one is "Smells Like Nirvana"

Well, new album, people. What do we all think? I have to admit I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a metal-type song to go with that rather metal album cover.

As for the album, I can say that it's better than Straight Outta Lynwood. That one seemed kinda slow to me and this one rolls along a little. I don't know if the stuff here will be quite as classic or have as much impact but I'm glad that it turned out better than I thought it would. The Internet Leaks EP didn't exactly fill me with hope.

Overall, probably about a 3 out of 5. This was decent but he's done better. I hope this isn't a sign of him aging.

My family and I used to play his songs all the time in the car. I also remember seeing him twice in concert as a little kid (once at the county fair, the other by the lake) and he was quite fun both times. My whole family (except for my dad) is more familiar with The Saga Begins parody of American Pie than they are with the original itself. lol

You know, maybe I should have said something earlier, but there has been an online petition to get Weird Al to be the Half-Time Show for the next Super Bowl. I personally think it would be awesome.

Well, it's official! Weird Al's new album, Mandatory Fun, is #1 in the US (and like 71 in the UK, I think). Spurred on by a campaign of eight videos (which can all be seen at his website), he's finally at the top of the charts, after 35 years of being consider a niche act with no lasting appeal (proved them wrong!).

Anyways, what do you guys think? Did you see any of the videos? i personally ran "Tacky" on loop for a few days.

Obviously there's a market for him based on his success and fan following but I personally think he's one of the worst musicians alive. His voice irritates me, his jokes are too forced, and I generally disagree with making a career out of simply changing lyrics to songs already written for you.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 24.07.2014 at 18:40

Obviously there's a market for him based on his success and fan following but I personally think he's one of the worst musicians alive. His voice irritates me, his jokes are too forced, and I generally disagree with making a career out of simply changing lyrics to songs already written for you.

I would at least like to argue that I think he's a pretty good lyricist, given that he's able to create rhymes without ruining the cadence of the original song (not always easy), and that only half of his songs are direct parodies of specific songs, as the other half are style parodies or polka medleys that he writes himself, with the occasional original (but still silly) song thrown in (though these usually didn't get a video that was played ad-naseum on MTV). I could also point out that he certainly isn't the first to be successful with song parodies, as artists like Tom Lehrer, Stan Freberg, and Allan Sherman all beat him by at least 20 years (and, of course, serve as an inspiration for all of Weird Al's career). There will always be clowns.

I can't defend his voice though. I can certainly see that some people might find it nasally and annoying. I know I've heard other people say the same thing about Dave Mustaine or Geddy Lee (and I consider Timo Tolkki's tinny voice to be something of an acquired taste, despite being a massive classic Stratovarius fan).

To each their own. I admit that I discovered Weird Al through a friend in middle school, which was right about the time I was really getting into video games and anime and stuff (I wouldn't get into metal until much later). So, as I was becoming a pathetic nerd, it was only natural that I'd be drawn to the King of Nerds himself. Seeing him get the number one spot after all these years of being considered a niche-artist or a one-hit wonder does feel like something of a victory (despite the fact that being number one not being as difficult as it was in the 80s).

I think the annoyingness of his voice adds to the appeal, it wouldn't be Weird Al if he sounded like, oh, Barry White. Not that that's any less annoying.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 24.07.2014 at 18:40

Obviously there's a market for him based on his success and fan following but I personally think he's one of the worst musicians alive. His voice irritates me, his jokes are too forced, and I generally disagree with making a career out of simply changing lyrics to songs already written for you.

Agreed with everything. Fuck Weird Al.

Written by bj_waters on 25.07.2014 at 00:08
To each their own. I admit that I discovered Weird Al through a friend in middle school, which was right about the time I was really getting into video games and anime and stuff (I wouldn't get into metal until much later). So, as I was becoming a pathetic nerd, it was only natural that I'd be drawn to the King of Nerds himself.

Like I'd be reading my own story how I got to know Weird Al and his music (the only difference that I was into metal before).

I'm not his mad fan or anything now, but at that time I was listening to him non-stop. His videos have always made me laugh and his twisted ryhming while telling a story onto a song that has already been composed. Plus, I admire the fact that he always ask with the original performed if it is OK to do the parody (if we count out a few mishaps, like Gangsta's Paradise and You're Pitiful). His voice is annoying though, but in a likeable way - I find it connected to the parody closely. I think I'm always gonna stay true to Weird Al "classics" from the 80s & 90s mostly; because it's the music I listen(ed) to and thus find the parodies more enjoyable. I can't really say I enjoy Mandatory Fun, well because, with the exception of a few songs and most of the songs in the polka, I don't really know the original versions.

Weird Al is a genius. Too bad many artists he parodied can't see it that way!

Written by Infernal Eternal on 29.12.2014 at 20:40

Weird Al is a genius. Too bad many artists he parodied can't see it that way!

Actually, not too many people have had an issue with Weird Al, and many consider getting a parody to be a rite of passage into true popularity. I know that Michael Jackson, Nirvana, Don McClean, Foo Fighters, Graham Nash, Charmillionaire, and Lady Gaga were thrilled to get a parody. Other noted fans include Paul McCartney and Jimmy Page.

The only people I can think of that had an issue with Weird Al were Prince (who never allowed Weird Al to parody him; not a surprise), Coolio (over Amish Paradise, though he later got over it and admitted he was being dumb), one of the guys from Devo (I can't remember which one, but Weird Al did a style parody of them called "Dare to be Stupid" and the guy hated it because he knew it was very good, so it was more like jealousy), and a few record producers who got in the way despite getting the artists' blessing (James Blunt and Lady Gaga come to mind). There's also the odd case where Enimem allowed a song parody but not a video parody. (What?)

Written by bj_waters on 29.12.2014 at 21:17

Written by Infernal Eternal on 29.12.2014 at 20:40

Weird Al is a genius. Too bad many artists he parodied can't see it that way!

Actually, not too many people have had an issue with Weird Al, and many consider getting a parody to be a rite of passage into true popularity. I know that Michael Jackson, Nirvana, Don McClean, Foo Fighters, Graham Nash, Charmillionaire, and Lady Gaga were thrilled to get a parody. Other noted fans include Paul McCartney and Jimmy Page.

The only people I can think of that had an issue with Weird Al were Prince (who never allowed Weird Al to parody him; not a surprise), Coolio (over Amish Paradise, though he later got over it and admitted he was being dumb), one of the guys from Devo (I can't remember which one, but Weird Al did a style parody of them called "Dare to be Stupid" and the guy hated it because he knew it was very good, so it was more like jealousy), and a few record producers who got in the way despite getting the artists' blessing (James Blunt and Lady Gaga come to mind). There's also the odd case where Enimem allowed a song parody but not a video parody. (What?)

Yeah, I'm aware of Eminem's case. Pretty weird.

So Weird Al just won another Grammy! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Now back to your regularly scheduled metal programming.

I got to see him in concert last year and it was a blast. Grew up listening to Weird Al and have always been a fan. Haven't heard too much of his newer stuff, say anything beyond the Alapalooza (sp?) album. So I am not quite certain about his really new stuff. Since I also don't listen to the radio anymore I have no clue what is popular or who even any of these new artists are, so I don't really get his new material. He still is great, too bad the music he parodies anymore is just crap.