Record Label: Volcano Entertainment
Genre: Comedy
Band Link: link
Buy on Amazon.com link

Weird Al is back with probably his best album since 96’s Bad Hair Day. Straight Outta Lynwood provides a laugh-a-thon of today’s’ current “hits”. Represented on this album are parodies of Green Day, R. Kelly, Chamillionaire, Taylor Hicks and Usher (a couple of those artists I’ve never even heard of). You also get your usual dose of Weird Al originals as well as his polka cover medley that is mandatory on every album.

I didn’t even know that Weird Al had a new album coming out until I heard “White & Nerdy” on the radio a few weeks back. That song sold me, even though IT IS Weird Al and would have bought it anyway. It was cool to hear some Al on the radio again. I managed to pick the album up for under ten bucks and brought it home to rock out to.

This release is a DualDisc and contains a lot of cool features including six animated videos, inside the studios footage and a karaoke mix of the entire album with the lyrics. The animated videos include a video by low-brow cartoonist extraordinaire and creator of Ren & Stimpy John Kricfalusi as well as the Robot Chicken animated video for “Weasel Stomping Day”. Hell yeah, Weird Al is relevant again!!!

Straight Outta Lynwood is one of the funniest albums that I’ve heard since…well…since Bad Hair Day. The 11 minute long parody of R. Kelly’s “Trapped In The Closet” aptly titled “Trapped In The Drive-Thru” is one of the best Weird Al songs ever. Why, you ask? When I first saw part of the video for the original version, I thought to myself, “What the hell is up with that song?” They called it a hip-hop opera. I called it a waste of my time. It was just so stupid and was basically R. Kelly rambling on an on about everyday nonsense in Days of Our live format. I seriously thought to myself for about a second that it would make a great Weird Al song. I never thought about it again until I seen the booklet for Lynwood. Everything about the Weird Al version is great. Basically, his version is about nothing more than going to the drive-thru and getting a hamburger, but I laughed at every single part. “So, we head out the front door. Open the garage door. Then I open the car doors. And we get in those car doors.” There’s also a part where he turns on the radio in the drive-thru and the song breaks into Led Zeppelin for about fifteen seconds. Great stuff! I was ROTFLMAOUIFOOMC.”White & Nerdy” is the first single and the first video to be released from Straight Outta Lynwood, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a video for “Trapped In The Drive-Thru” next.

With all of the attention on Weird Al’s parody songs, everyone forgets that he is the king of goofball and some of his own songs are as good if not better than some of his parodies. Remember “Happy Birthday”, “Twister”,”Everything You Know Is Wrong” or “Gotta Boogie”? Probably not, but I do. Those songs are funny, quirky, crazy and totally off the wall, everything that you would expect from “Weird Al” Yankovic. There are a few of those gems on this album as well. “I’ll Sue Ya” and “Close But No Cigar” are a good mix of the modern day pop sounds while “Weasel Stomping Day” invokes memories of “Harvey The Wonder Hamster” and as I mentioned before, what Weird Al album is complete without the polka medley? Included in this medley are songs by Weezer, the Gorillaz, Velvet Revolver, Snoop Dogg, Modest Mouse and 50 Cent. “Don’t Download This Song” is a tongue-in-cheek satire of downloading songs, file sharing and the RIAA with views from both sides of the battle and keeps the humor rolling even though it seems to be a stance from Weird Al against illegally downloading music. Why would anyone not want to support Weird Al? Idiots.

Over the past couple of days, I’ve found that I have listened to Straight Outta Lynwood a good four or five times. Running With Scissors was alright and I didn’t quite care for Poodle Hat much, but I really, really enjoyed Straight Outta Lynwood. It’s a multimedia masterpiece if I must say so myself. With the release of this album, the release of The Weird Al Show on DVD and hopefully a resurgence in everything Weird Al, we’ll be able to get more Al merchandise on a regular basis. If Weird Al released a new album every week, I would probably buy every one of them. I’ve been a big Weird Al fan since I was pooping my diapers and since I still poop in my Depends, I see no reason to stop liking Mr. Yankovic. With the tragedy that happened a few years ago with his parents, I thought for sure that Weird Al would call it quits for his career, but it sure is great to see that wasn’t the case and that hopefully he’ll keep me laughing for years to come. In conclusion, I’ll wrap this up with a paraphrased quote from Adult Swim: Micheal Jackson=burnout. Weird Al=still relevant.

Bottom Line:
Notable Tracks: White & Nerdy, Canadian Idiot, Trapped In The Drive-Thru, Don’t Download This Song, Close But No Cigar
Overall Rating: