Alpocalypse

I would even say it's worth it even if you're NOT already a fan of long-time pop comedy icon "Weird Al" Yankovic. I've been following his career since the Mid-1980s, and this is one of his best albums in years, as far as I'm concerned. You get a CD of music, a DVD of music videos, and a little booklet of liner notes with all the lyrics: what's not to like? (Well, maybe the DVD format might be a bit inconvenient, but I'll discuss that further down the page.) And speaking as someone who has never downloaded an MP3 in his life, every single one of the tracks in this album was new to me, and they were all fun. They are, as follows:

1) PERFORM THIS WAY (parody of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way") -- A playful and accurate swipe at Lady Gaga's apparently insane sartorial and performing style. A music video for this song exists, but is not included on the music video DVD. Fellow reviewer Jan-Bart Spang has thoughtfully included a link to it.

2) CNR -- A tribute to Charles Nelson Reilly, an American comic and later a panel-show regular. I don't think all his accomplishments listed in this song are true, but the number itself is an outrageous, catchy, adrenaline-stirring, upbeat hard-rocker with a White Stripes feel to it (further reinforced by the outstandingly funny and beautifully produced video). My favourite track on both the album and the DVD.

3) TMZ (parody of Taylor Swift's "You Belong to Me") -- Satirizing paparazzi and the celebrity-obsessives who fuel the market in embarrassing photos and footage of people who are in the public eye, even if they're famous for no apparent reason. While I normally love Bill Plympton's side-splittingly hilarious and often surreal cartoons, the video he did for this song on the DVD looks like he wasn't putting much effort into it, although the multiple flash-bulb effects on the starlet's face, rendered in pencil drawings, is astonishingly good.

4) SKIPPER DAN -- The story of an extremely promising young actor whose meteoric rise to stardom was a foregone conclusion, yet he ended up being a tour guide on an amusement park ride, spouting the same lines over and over and over every single day. Depressing concept, cheerful tune. The video on the DVD has a cozy "South Park" feel to it.

5) POLKA FACE -- "Weird Al" is known for making medleys of popular songs of the day and turning them into polkas. Rendered in this track are "Poker Face," "Womanizer," "Right Round," "Day 'N' Nite," "Need You Now," "Baby," "So What," "I Kissed a Girl," "Fireflies," "Blame It," "Replay," "Down," "Break Your Heart," and "Tik Tok," linked with the occasional traditional or Al-original polka bridge. No video exists for this track that I know of.

6) CRAIGSLIST -- An acid-trippy song about the internet bulletin-board phenomenon. The video on the DVD is live-action and also acid-trippy.

7) PARTY IN THE CIA (Parody of Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A.") -- A fun, perky song about joining a band of covert operatives, assassination, espionage, and torture. The video found on the DVD is stylish and stylised and very well done with excellent timing, vaguely reminiscent of a Genndy Tartakovsky cartoon in its use of bold geometric shapes.

8) RINGTONE -- A simple song about the regrets caused by selecting a ringtone which soon becomes tiresome to everyone else around you. A fun video as well, but if there was a weak link in this 2-disc set, this would be it. That's not to say that the song or the video are bad; far from it. It's just that I think all the other songs and most of the other videos (bar the last one) are better than this one. The cartoon caricature of Al on the video is spot-on, though.

9) ANOTHER TATTOO (parody of B.o.B.'s "Nothin' on You" featuring Bruno Mars) -- Dedicated to those out there who don't want to leave a single square micron of their skin the original colour, and who have impetuous and dubious tastes which can lead to some bad decisions. Not a bad song, and the animated video on the DVD seems to have been made deliberately bad-looking to best mock the unfortunate tattoo choices.

10) IF THAT ISN'T LOVE -- Aside from parodies and polkas, Al is also known for his anti-love songs. These numbers reflect unhappy or twisted relationships, and "If That Isn't Love" is one of the better ones. The song focuses on a self-centred prat who's convinced that the minimal effort he puts into his relationship is evidence of his great generosity and caring. In the video, Al's animated counterpart is the kind of stereotypical unshaven, unkempt jerkwad, with rippling muscles glimpsed through a billowy open-fronted white shirt, that seem to infest these types of songs and videos, and that women seem to swoon over no matter how many "Love Rat" articles appear about them in the glossy trash-rags. Not a very lively song, but excellent pointed satire.

11) WHATEVER YOU LIKE (Parody of T.I.'s "Whatever You Like") -- Sure, Al loves his special lady, but there's a recession on, and Al ain't made of money. She can have whatever she likes . . . so long as it fits within Al's budget. (About $7.) A typical slow-paced R&B love song snazzed up with embarrassingly funny lyrics, and a music video that's a treat for those who've been Al fans for decades. Pause at every opportunity to see all the hidden in-gags and homages throughout this chapter of the DVD, at least one of which dates back to Al's first album from 1983!

12) STOP FORWARDING THAT CRAP TO ME -- The last song on the CD and the last video on the DVD, this vitriolic yet mellow number targets people who have nothing better to do than to forward countless jokes, links, sappy messages, semi-amusing pictures, hoaxes, and e-mail chain letters to everyone they know ALL DAY LONG. A good song with a strong message, but the video is little more than the lyrics appearing on the screen as if being typed along with the song; it's my least favourite video of the lot.

I only have two problems with this set. The first is with the DVD itself. Nowhere on the packaging is it listed what format this DVD is in. If I'd have to hazard a guess, I would say it's probably a Region 0 NTSC disc. When I tried to play it on my PS2, the images came up all monochrome and striated. Played on my XBox, however, everything came up in bright, crisp, clear colour. I'm assuming the DVD should also work on computers, but if anyone else would like to confirm or refute this, that would be a most welcome comment. So if you have an XBox or similar set-up that can play Region 0 / Region 2 NTSC discs, you should be okay. Otherwise, expect black-and-white. (I'm basing this assumption on similar results I had with a DVD that I recently bought which was formatted as Region 2 NTSC.)

The other problem I have with this set is the packaging. It's done as a folding cardboard triptych, with the discs and liner notes sliding into pockets for storage. While I appreciate the recyclability and material-saving ramifications of this choice, getting the materials out of the pockets can sometimes be a pain. I've only had this set for less than 72 hours, and already one side of the triptych has a half-inch rip near one of the seams. I would've preferred a standard 2-disc jewel case for durability, but so long as the discs and liner notes themselves stay protected, that's the main thing, I guess.

On the whole, I would say that this 2-disc set is a must-have for all fans of "Weird Al," and recommended buying for those who enjoy a good dose of wit, sarcasm, and cynicism aimed at the irritating or silly aspects of modern life.

I really like this album. It takes getting used to since the songs are 'modern' and not the eighties and nineties songs I have been used to from Weird Al. I guess it just means I am old :)
The songs still have his trademark humour and that is why you should buy this album. 'Perform this way' had me in stitches and 'Another Tattoo' is bril! If you are a Weird Al Yankovic fan you much buy this album but if you really want to appreciate it all you must see him in concert!

For the people below complaining that 5 songs were already released on the EP 'Internet Leaks', please stop complaining. If you bought either 'Internet Leaks' or 'Perform this way' on Itunes you can use their 'Complete the album' function to download the remaining tracks. As described in Al's blog post -> http://alyankovic.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/alpocalypse-now/
Also have a look at the 'Perform this way' Music video on YouTube -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss_BmTGv43M

Great album from a great guy!

Really a brilliant album, all the songs are hilarious and in my opinion Al's best work yet, my favourite song has to be another tattoo!