Weird Al Yankovic - Poodle Hat

The reliabilities of Weird Al: You know he has one ear to the studio of pop culture, one ear to the wall of bizarre, and both eyes on the ridiculousness of both. You know he watches a lot of TV (his spoof of Eminem's "Loose Yourself"/"Couch Potato" is about reality TV) and that his dead-on video interpretations of his parody work is uncannily good while being simultaneously hysterical. Basically, Weird Al is that guy at carnivals and amusement parks who does the caricature portraits, and he knows exactly what features of an artist or song to exaggerate, and he knows which nuances to keep. The portrait will look like its subject- you are able to instantly recognize that "It's Gettin Hot in Here"/ "Trash Day" is Nelly- but it's also undeniably far enough from the real thing by Al's creative twists that it's accurately fiction. A posed candid. An excited whisper. So- Poodle Hat. Not the pinnacle of artistic vision, no doubt, but original and creative and utterly hysterical. Making Billy Joel's "Piano Man"/"Ode to a Superhero" into (chorus): "Sling us a web/ You're the spiderman." Making Avril Lavigne's horribly annoying "Complicated"/"A Complicated Song" into "How was I supposed to know that we were both related" (the "constipated" version of the chorus is almost gut-wrenching), a by far better, catchier song (Just check out the bridge: "I sit and I wait/ and I strain /And I sweat and I clench/ and I feel the pain") The parodies, to be sure, are super on par and riotiously funny, though I think the Dylan cover ("Bob"/ "Blah Blah") works better with the video. Al is able to morph his voice into a nasal-yet-good mimic of the original artists (remember "Taco Grande?" or "Amish Paradise"?) and, as usual, make you realize how ridiculous some of rock and rap's pretentious preening really is. Al's regular originals are fine and creative, but if you're like me, you'll find that you're skipping those in order to hear the covers. Why you should buy the CD, however, lies in the song "Angry White Boy Polka." Word- This is one of the funniest songs I've ever heard. Ever. Al's medley of those sometimes insightful songs (System of a Down's "Toxicity") and those unnervingly bad songs (The Vines' "Get Free") and then just the already laughable (Limp Bizkit's "My Way or the Highway"), is SO FRICKIN' FUNNY. You gotta hear/get/pirate this song because I guaruntee laughter. To make it short- Al always makes great CDs that are funny, and this one doesn't falter in the pattern. But more parodies, please? I think that's where the more creative Al really shines- You know Al's the genius when you're humming his choruses instead of the originals ("I got it on Ebay" - "I Want it That Way"/"E-bay"). [www.weirdal.com]