REVIEW

Music Review: Weird Al Yankovic - Straight Outta Lynwood

Written by Anna Creech
Published September 27, 2006

Weird Al Yankovic thinks that Straight Outta Lynwood is the best album he's made. Of course, he says that every time he makes a new one. Yankovic tries to raise the bar with every album that he puts out. This one makes it easy to see that his hard work has paid off.

The cover of Straight Outta Lynwood was planned long before the first single was chosen to be on the album, but the two are pure chemistry together. "White & Nerdy" is a parody of Chamillionaire's "Ridin'," and it is sure to become the hip-hop anthem of geeks everywhere. The protagonist wants to hang out with the gangstas, but he's too white and nerdy to fit in, as he displays in the typical hip-hop style of pimping one's skills and abilities.

First in my class there at MIT
Got skills, I'm a champion at D&D
MC Escher, that's my favorite MC
Keep your 40, I'll just have an Earl Grey tea
The lyrics are classic Weird Al, but delivered in a believable hip-hop style, and enhanced through a hilarious music video. It almost doesn't seem like the same guy who gained national attention by performing a parody of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" on the accordion.

Yankovic says that he's toned down the comedic use of instruments over the years and only includes the accordion and other atypical instruments when they are appropriate in the song. For example, the Beach Boys-inspired ode to a body part, "Pancreas," includes a ukulele because Brian Wilson used the ukulele in some of his music. Not that anyone would notice its presence along with lyrics such as, "Don't you know you got to flow, flow, flow, pancreatic, juice / Flow, flow, into the duodenum..."

Yankovic doesn't like to wear his politics on his sleeve, but he says that listeners are going to get an idea of where he stands on some issues, although as with the message of "Don't Download This Song" (available as a free download prior to the release of the CD), sometimes it's still ambiguous.

The song "Canadian Idiot" is both a creative parody of Green Day's "American Idiot" and also a comedic look in the mind of the American idiot described by the Green Day song. The original proclaims a resistance to the sheep-like thinking of some Americans who are so wrapped up in their lives that they don't pay attention to the world outside. Yankovic turns this around and gives the stereotypical American perspective on Canada and Canadians. "They all live on donuts and moose meat, and they leave the house without packing heat," he sings.

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mug shotAnna Creech is a librarian and blogger who dreams of a day when she can improve the ratio of read-to-unread books in her house.
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Music Review: Weird Al Yankovic - Straight Outta Lynwood
Published: September 27, 2006
Type: Review
Section: Music
Filed Under: Video: Comedy, Music: Video, Music: Rock, Music: Pop, Music: Hip-hop
Writer: Anna Creech
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Comments

#1 — September 28, 2006 @ 10:13AM — Brian aka Guppusmaximus

Great Review...

Weird Al Yankovic is one of the most underrated artists of our time... He is BRILLIANT & a Pure Genius!! "White & Nerdy" should be as big as "Fat" was and is actually a better rap song than anything Eminem has released in his whole career. "Polkarama" is probably the best comedic performance I have heard in years and only Mr. Yankovic can still pull off a Polka!

#2 — September 28, 2006 @ 11:52AM — Anna Creech [URL]

Thanks!

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