REVIEW: Weird Al Yankovic, Running With Scissors (Volcano)
- Bob Gajarsky
This generation's master pop parodist, Weird Al Yankovic, has returned to poke fun at today's musical culture with his ninth album, Running With Scissors.
Complete with a combination of 'cover' songs (tweaked lyrically by Al), originals, and the ever popular polka medley, Yankovic has produced another album which should please his ever growing legion of fans.
The first single (and video), "The Saga Begins", marks a triumphant return to Al's mock arena. Plucked from Don McLean's classic "American Pie", Saga accurately tells the tale of a young Darth Vader in the Phantom Menace. Supposedly, Al combed the Internet for plot details well in advance of the movie's release, and although there was less than a month between the release of Phantom and Scissors, the results are remarkably accurate.
In a return to the world of food songs, Yankovic paordies the Cherry Poppin' Daddies on "Grapefruit Diet". The swing favorite becomes an ode to losing weight in one of his smartest parodies since...well, "Fat". And "Pretty Fly For A Rabbi", from the Offspring song about that white guy is hilarous, not just to goyims and yentas.
Not nearly as funny are the Puff Daddy clone "It's All About The Pentiums" and the parody of the Barenaked Ladies' "One Week", "Jerry Springer". Of course, your mileage may vary.
In the originals department, "Germs" is a nearly note-for-note ringer of Nine Inch Nails' "Terrible Lie", while "Truck Drivin' Song" walks a line between country music and Mojo Nixon, with an unspoken question - is the truck driver male or female? (The question and joke will become evident upon listening to the cut).
Some people love him, and some people hate him. But no matter what you think of him, Weird Al Yankovic and his band always are an accurate reflection of the pop music scene. Running With Scissors just continues part of Al's twenty year tradition.
