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The Weird Accordion to Al: Every "Weird Al" Yankovic Album Obsessively Analyzed by the Co-Author of Weird Al: The Book
From veteran pop culture scribe Nathan Rabin, former head writer of the A.V Club and the man who wrote the book on, and with, "Weird Al" Yankovic in the 2012 coffee table book Weird The Book (Nathan Rabin with Al Yankovic) comes The Weird Accordion to Al, an even more essential guide to an American original's life and work. Adapted from the column on its author's website, Nathan Rabin's Happy Place, with 52 hilarious, sometimes obscure and often oddly beautiful new original illustrations from Felipe Sobreiro and an introduction from Al himself, The Weird Accordion to Al explores every track on all sixteen of Al's records (14 studio albums, the Medium Rarities obscurities collection and Peter & the Wolf, his collaboration with Wendy Carlos) with an obsessiveness thats downright peculiar. Equal parts music criticism, cultural and comedy history, autobiography and comic meditation on nostalgia, television, consumerism, childhood, technology and food, The Weird Accordion to Al does justice to a musical legend and comic genius the extent of whose remarkable achievements are only now being fully understood and appreciated. Praise for The Weird Accordion to Al “A brilliant, heartfelt cry of obsession and love for an already beloved and obsessed-over artist. Share Nathan’s madness and be freed!”—Patton Oswalt "This book is pop culture history, music dissertation, and comedic theory. Nathan has exemplified the qualities that make Weird Al an artist who is equal parts Frank Zappa, Mel Brooks, and Mark Twain.”—Jonah Ray “You don’t have to be a fan of Weird Al to enjoy Rabin’s raucous deep-dive into the complete discography. But if you’re not a Weird Al fan there’s clearly something wrong with you”—Alex Winter “Wonderfully captures the quirks and fun details that have made the Yank-oeuvre ooze with oddness for almost four decades. Nathan really shows you what makes Al's mind tick. It's the neurons. A must read for anyone unemployed, childless, or with ninety spare hours to kill.”—Scott Aukerman “The Weird Accordion to Al is the definitive companion to the “Weird Al” catalogue. It’s chock full of fascinating insights that left my head spinning like a Frankie Yankovic record (no relation). Nobody covers the Al canon in better depth than Nathan Rabin. It’s a must-read for the weirdos in your life. I learned so much from this VERY SPECIFIC book.”—Thomas Lennon "Nathan Rabin is obsessive in the best sense of the word. He literally ALREADY wrote the book on Weird Al that Weird Al asked him to write. That wasn't enough for Nathan and that's why we are lucky to have this book. Al's contributions to pop culture deserve the kind of obsession that only Nathan Rabin can bring to the page and he brings it big time in this book. He dares to be very smart about "Dare To Be Stupid.’”—Jake Fogelnest
390 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 11, 2020
47 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
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July 2, 2024
It's with a heavy heart that I give this a two-star review, especially seeing how Nathan Rabin and I are kindred spirits in regards to how much Al means to us. I read Rabin's "'Weird Al': The Book" and found that I knew most of the information in it, but it was fun to take that stroll down memory lane. With this book, I was hoping for more insights into Al's work.
The first caveat I have to address is the concept of blog vs. book. If I had read this as Rabin posted it song by song, I'd probably have a different view of the text. Blogs are more transient, not meant to have much lasting influence, while books are more of a permanent record. To that end, Rabin's repeated comments on the Trump administration are fine for a weekly posting, but in the book they'll be dated in a matter of years.
Then there's the difficulty of Rabin's task. Once he took on this Herculean objective, he became obligated to search for deeper insights and meanings in *every* song Al did. I'm not sure that's possible. Some songs are simply one-note jokes and don't require that much analysis ("Addicted to Spuds", "Party at the Leper Colony"). If Rabin had instead opted to do an album-by-album analysis, he might have been able to avoid this.
One of the bigger issues I have with this book is Rabin's sense of humor. I don't find much of it funny, nor do I think *his* attempts at humor are appropriate in his discussion of the works of a *different* funny person. Rabin writes how "Smells Like Nirvana" became "the ultimate grunge anthem, easily beating out its inspiration,Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'" (237). If this is a joke, I don't get it; by virtually every metric, Nirvana was more successful. So why say this? The same idea comes across in his discussion of "Word Crimes". Before defending Prince's use of numbers for spelling, Rabin comments that Al gets his revenge on Prince consistently refusing to grant Al permission to parody his songs "by seducing Prince's lovers/proteges" (329). This offers no insight to the song in question and while it's an attempt at humor, given that this is clearly something Al would never do, the joke falls flat to me. Rabin also has this recurring joke that Al should get royalty checks because he brought back "Jeopardy!", he will inspire the plot of "Creed III", and Al brought "about the resurrection of 'George of the Jungle'" (80); it gets old.
In addition to Rabin's attempts at humor, his question-and-answer style of writing doesn't work for me. Rather than state something, he sets himself up with a question first. He writes, "Coincidence? I don't think so" (65), "What is this beast, this monolith, this apex of man's ingenuity and insatiable hunger for bigger, better, higher, more? Why, it's the titular wonder of the modern world" (200), "So, what is the titular white stuff? Is it the booger sugar that fueled the entirety of 1970s and 1980s rock and roll...? Nope, [it's] the white cream found between the cookies in Oreos" (184). I don't think anyone who has listened to "The White Stuff" ever mistook the substance of "the titular white stuff". Again, this tone might be more effective in a blog post, but not for a book.
Throughout the book, Rabin offers his own thoughts into the influences of Al's work, and most come with negative viewpoints. Few of Al's targets, both for parodies and pastiches, are worthwhile in their own rights in Rabin's mind. "American Pie" comes from "the big, cornball American songbook" (77), "Sussudio" is "such disposable fluff" (101), "Ruthless People" is "terrible and no one [likes] it" (103),
"Beverly Hillbillies" is "undeservedly beloved hot garbage" (151), "Gilligan's Island" is designed "to test the stupidity and gullibility of the American people" (156), a cappella songs are rare, "to the delight of... fans" (224), "Lump" is an "annoyance" (225), "The Phantom Menace" is "famously terrible" (235), "One Week" is "one of the more irritating hits from an unusually annoying period in pop music" (242), "Zoot Suit Riot" is filled with "infectious idiocy" (253), "Nu-Metal is such a tiresome form of music" (263), "Beverly Hills" "is cheeseball douchebag pop" (284), Justin Bieber is "an insufferable Canadian man-child" (307), "Jim Morrison was... the personification of bloated rock pretension" (310), and "Radioactive" "is a tacky consumer product... [that] belongs in a supermarket bin" (336). Despite all that, "8 Mile" is "brilliant" (257), "I Want It That Way" is "a masterpiece of pop craftsmanship" (272), "Royals" is a "perfect pop song" (325), and somehow "Hot in Herre" is better than "all of Beethoven's symphonies" (259), although that last one might be another case of Rabin's attempt at humor that doesn't work for me. The strange truth of the matter is, regardless of whether we agree with him, none of it is relevant to what Al is doing. Al takes inspiration from these sources because they connect with us and/or him for whatever reason.
Rabin also puts in much irrelevant information. The entry for "Ricky" focuses as much on the video as it does for the song. This would be fine if he did he same for other entries (e.g. "Eat It", "White and Nerdy", and "Tacky"), but as a one-off, it doesn't serve a purpose as effectively as it could. Rabin also spends an inordinate amount of time discussing Tonio K, the influence for Al's pastiche "Happy Birthday" to the point of taking half of page 162 to explain who he is, while reserving a couple lines of ink for virtually every other pastiche influence. It's possible that Rabin is overestimating Tonio K's importance in music while subconsciously knowing that few know who he is. In the entry for "My Own Eyes", Rabin spends the first page discussing the fact that Al has five Grammys and how that fifth one "separates the real from the fake" (330); none of that has anything to do with the song. It's these needless digressions that take away from the focus of the book. I again chalk most of this up to the fact that these were originally blog posts, but I think he should have revised these parts for the book.
I think it's important when discussing Al's work to also discuss (at more length, anyway) Al's band. If you're going to write about "Eat It", you need to discuss Rick Derringer's shredding take on Eddie Van Halen's solo. The same holds true for West's ability to emulate Brian May's sound on "Ringtone". While most of Al's work focuses on his lyrical abilities, the musicianship in songs such as "Hardware Store" and "Genius in France" needs to be addressed.
Rabin also spends time in this book making unsupported claims. He writes that "Al has been good to Hip Hop" (129), but doesn't explain how or why. He writes that "'Gump' is even more of an earworm" (236) than "Lump", but only provides lyrics as an explanation. If he's going to make such assertions, he needs to support them.
An issue separate from content is the fact that this book is self-published, and as such lacks editorial oversight. The book contains diction errors such as a reference to "the sick joke *underlining* 'Virus Alert'"(267) instead of underlying. Rabin references "Jiffy peanut butter" (208), possibly a subconscious mash-up of Jif and Skippy. "Melanie" has all the elements "you find in pretty much everything Taylor Swift ballad" (125); I'm not sure what that was supposed to say. The book also has errors in lyrical content. Rabin's entry for "The Weird Al Show Theme' says that the "TV bigwig... was sunbathing in a nearby forest" (240),when the lyrics state that *Al* was the one "in the forest trying to get a tan." In the entry for "Dare To Be Stupid", Rabin cites the line "party til you're broke and they *drive* you away" (72) instead of "drag you away" and refers to one who is "Stuck in the Closet with Vanna White" while "hot dogs and donuts are flying everywhere" (117), when the order is reversed in the song. On "Polkas on 45", he writes that "Hey, Joe" is now "a light-hearted goof about a dude getting shot" (54), when it's the dude who "shoot[s his] old lady." These examples can all be viewed as nit-picking, but it's a common danger in self-publication; without necessary proofreading, easily corrected mistakes slip by.
The last criticism I have is some missed opportunities, areas where Rabin could insert some relevant insights, but, for whatever reason, doesn't. One of the aspects of "Skipper Dan" that I find interesting is the idea of the persona bemoaning the fact that, despite his incredible talent, he goes through the same motions day after day. There's a beautiful irony in this, given that, with the exception of Al's self-indulgent vanity tour, this is exactly what he does. Night after night, he's singing the same songs, telling the same jokes, and wearing the same costumes; everything is timed right to the minute. On "Don't Download This Song", the singer goes to great lengths to inspire people not to use file-sharing sites while *telling* them what sites not to use. I think that's brilliantly funny. Rabin also never addresses those whom Al parodies who get in on the joke. Starting with Greg Kihn showing up at the end of the "I Lost on Jeopardy" video to Mark Knopfler, Ben Folds, members of Reel Big Fish, Ray Manzarek, and Taylor Hanson playing on songs that parody or pay tribute to their own music, this illustrates the impact Al has made in popular music.
Despite all these criticisms, this book does have its share of positive moments. Rabin offers some interesting insights into Al's work. He chronicles how and why Al switches his focus from food and tv to technology and how that allows Al to remain relevant. His deconstruction of "Canadian Idiot" shows how the idiots are likely the ones south of the border. He also addresses, although not always in the same terms, how Al uses different types of satire - inflation, diminution, and juxtaposition - throughout his career, showing Al's ability to prove points by making small issues large ("When I Was Your Age"), making large issues small ("Jurassic Park"), and having his lyrics belie his music ("Good Old Days").
The final area I want to address is the "Medium Rarities" album in Al's box set. Much of what is on here is either alternative versions of songs already discussed ("Dare To Be Stupid", "Since You've Been Gone") or songs Al didn't write ("Beat on the Brat", "It's My World (and We're All Living in It)"). I thought this would be the area that would have the least content as it, at first, doesn't have that much new to say due to Al's lack of authorship. Instead, Rabin effectively points out that it's because of these factors that the songs reinforce Al's importance over his entire career.
The first caveat I have to address is the concept of blog vs. book. If I had read this as Rabin posted it song by song, I'd probably have a different view of the text. Blogs are more transient, not meant to have much lasting influence, while books are more of a permanent record. To that end, Rabin's repeated comments on the Trump administration are fine for a weekly posting, but in the book they'll be dated in a matter of years.
Then there's the difficulty of Rabin's task. Once he took on this Herculean objective, he became obligated to search for deeper insights and meanings in *every* song Al did. I'm not sure that's possible. Some songs are simply one-note jokes and don't require that much analysis ("Addicted to Spuds", "Party at the Leper Colony"). If Rabin had instead opted to do an album-by-album analysis, he might have been able to avoid this.
One of the bigger issues I have with this book is Rabin's sense of humor. I don't find much of it funny, nor do I think *his* attempts at humor are appropriate in his discussion of the works of a *different* funny person. Rabin writes how "Smells Like Nirvana" became "the ultimate grunge anthem, easily beating out its inspiration,Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'" (237). If this is a joke, I don't get it; by virtually every metric, Nirvana was more successful. So why say this? The same idea comes across in his discussion of "Word Crimes". Before defending Prince's use of numbers for spelling, Rabin comments that Al gets his revenge on Prince consistently refusing to grant Al permission to parody his songs "by seducing Prince's lovers/proteges" (329). This offers no insight to the song in question and while it's an attempt at humor, given that this is clearly something Al would never do, the joke falls flat to me. Rabin also has this recurring joke that Al should get royalty checks because he brought back "Jeopardy!", he will inspire the plot of "Creed III", and Al brought "about the resurrection of 'George of the Jungle'" (80); it gets old.
In addition to Rabin's attempts at humor, his question-and-answer style of writing doesn't work for me. Rather than state something, he sets himself up with a question first. He writes, "Coincidence? I don't think so" (65), "What is this beast, this monolith, this apex of man's ingenuity and insatiable hunger for bigger, better, higher, more? Why, it's the titular wonder of the modern world" (200), "So, what is the titular white stuff? Is it the booger sugar that fueled the entirety of 1970s and 1980s rock and roll...? Nope, [it's] the white cream found between the cookies in Oreos" (184). I don't think anyone who has listened to "The White Stuff" ever mistook the substance of "the titular white stuff". Again, this tone might be more effective in a blog post, but not for a book.
Throughout the book, Rabin offers his own thoughts into the influences of Al's work, and most come with negative viewpoints. Few of Al's targets, both for parodies and pastiches, are worthwhile in their own rights in Rabin's mind. "American Pie" comes from "the big, cornball American songbook" (77), "Sussudio" is "such disposable fluff" (101), "Ruthless People" is "terrible and no one [likes] it" (103),
"Beverly Hillbillies" is "undeservedly beloved hot garbage" (151), "Gilligan's Island" is designed "to test the stupidity and gullibility of the American people" (156), a cappella songs are rare, "to the delight of... fans" (224), "Lump" is an "annoyance" (225), "The Phantom Menace" is "famously terrible" (235), "One Week" is "one of the more irritating hits from an unusually annoying period in pop music" (242), "Zoot Suit Riot" is filled with "infectious idiocy" (253), "Nu-Metal is such a tiresome form of music" (263), "Beverly Hills" "is cheeseball douchebag pop" (284), Justin Bieber is "an insufferable Canadian man-child" (307), "Jim Morrison was... the personification of bloated rock pretension" (310), and "Radioactive" "is a tacky consumer product... [that] belongs in a supermarket bin" (336). Despite all that, "8 Mile" is "brilliant" (257), "I Want It That Way" is "a masterpiece of pop craftsmanship" (272), "Royals" is a "perfect pop song" (325), and somehow "Hot in Herre" is better than "all of Beethoven's symphonies" (259), although that last one might be another case of Rabin's attempt at humor that doesn't work for me. The strange truth of the matter is, regardless of whether we agree with him, none of it is relevant to what Al is doing. Al takes inspiration from these sources because they connect with us and/or him for whatever reason.
Rabin also puts in much irrelevant information. The entry for "Ricky" focuses as much on the video as it does for the song. This would be fine if he did he same for other entries (e.g. "Eat It", "White and Nerdy", and "Tacky"), but as a one-off, it doesn't serve a purpose as effectively as it could. Rabin also spends an inordinate amount of time discussing Tonio K, the influence for Al's pastiche "Happy Birthday" to the point of taking half of page 162 to explain who he is, while reserving a couple lines of ink for virtually every other pastiche influence. It's possible that Rabin is overestimating Tonio K's importance in music while subconsciously knowing that few know who he is. In the entry for "My Own Eyes", Rabin spends the first page discussing the fact that Al has five Grammys and how that fifth one "separates the real from the fake" (330); none of that has anything to do with the song. It's these needless digressions that take away from the focus of the book. I again chalk most of this up to the fact that these were originally blog posts, but I think he should have revised these parts for the book.
I think it's important when discussing Al's work to also discuss (at more length, anyway) Al's band. If you're going to write about "Eat It", you need to discuss Rick Derringer's shredding take on Eddie Van Halen's solo. The same holds true for West's ability to emulate Brian May's sound on "Ringtone". While most of Al's work focuses on his lyrical abilities, the musicianship in songs such as "Hardware Store" and "Genius in France" needs to be addressed.
Rabin also spends time in this book making unsupported claims. He writes that "Al has been good to Hip Hop" (129), but doesn't explain how or why. He writes that "'Gump' is even more of an earworm" (236) than "Lump", but only provides lyrics as an explanation. If he's going to make such assertions, he needs to support them.
An issue separate from content is the fact that this book is self-published, and as such lacks editorial oversight. The book contains diction errors such as a reference to "the sick joke *underlining* 'Virus Alert'"(267) instead of underlying. Rabin references "Jiffy peanut butter" (208), possibly a subconscious mash-up of Jif and Skippy. "Melanie" has all the elements "you find in pretty much everything Taylor Swift ballad" (125); I'm not sure what that was supposed to say. The book also has errors in lyrical content. Rabin's entry for "The Weird Al Show Theme' says that the "TV bigwig... was sunbathing in a nearby forest" (240),when the lyrics state that *Al* was the one "in the forest trying to get a tan." In the entry for "Dare To Be Stupid", Rabin cites the line "party til you're broke and they *drive* you away" (72) instead of "drag you away" and refers to one who is "Stuck in the Closet with Vanna White" while "hot dogs and donuts are flying everywhere" (117), when the order is reversed in the song. On "Polkas on 45", he writes that "Hey, Joe" is now "a light-hearted goof about a dude getting shot" (54), when it's the dude who "shoot[s his] old lady." These examples can all be viewed as nit-picking, but it's a common danger in self-publication; without necessary proofreading, easily corrected mistakes slip by.
The last criticism I have is some missed opportunities, areas where Rabin could insert some relevant insights, but, for whatever reason, doesn't. One of the aspects of "Skipper Dan" that I find interesting is the idea of the persona bemoaning the fact that, despite his incredible talent, he goes through the same motions day after day. There's a beautiful irony in this, given that, with the exception of Al's self-indulgent vanity tour, this is exactly what he does. Night after night, he's singing the same songs, telling the same jokes, and wearing the same costumes; everything is timed right to the minute. On "Don't Download This Song", the singer goes to great lengths to inspire people not to use file-sharing sites while *telling* them what sites not to use. I think that's brilliantly funny. Rabin also never addresses those whom Al parodies who get in on the joke. Starting with Greg Kihn showing up at the end of the "I Lost on Jeopardy" video to Mark Knopfler, Ben Folds, members of Reel Big Fish, Ray Manzarek, and Taylor Hanson playing on songs that parody or pay tribute to their own music, this illustrates the impact Al has made in popular music.
Despite all these criticisms, this book does have its share of positive moments. Rabin offers some interesting insights into Al's work. He chronicles how and why Al switches his focus from food and tv to technology and how that allows Al to remain relevant. His deconstruction of "Canadian Idiot" shows how the idiots are likely the ones south of the border. He also addresses, although not always in the same terms, how Al uses different types of satire - inflation, diminution, and juxtaposition - throughout his career, showing Al's ability to prove points by making small issues large ("When I Was Your Age"), making large issues small ("Jurassic Park"), and having his lyrics belie his music ("Good Old Days").
The final area I want to address is the "Medium Rarities" album in Al's box set. Much of what is on here is either alternative versions of songs already discussed ("Dare To Be Stupid", "Since You've Been Gone") or songs Al didn't write ("Beat on the Brat", "It's My World (and We're All Living in It)"). I thought this would be the area that would have the least content as it, at first, doesn't have that much new to say due to Al's lack of authorship. Instead, Rabin effectively points out that it's because of these factors that the songs reinforce Al's importance over his entire career.
July 5, 2021
As a huge fan of Weird Al, this book was incredibly disappointing. Mosh's two-star review really hits all of the nails on the head (the odd attempts at humor, poor editing, negativity toward everything except Al, etc). I have just a couple things to add:
- I was hoping to get an exhaustingly-researched volume where I would learn lots of hidden nuggets about each song/album (especially since Rabin has direct access to Al, a fact he will remind you of repeatedly). Instead, this reads like a blog where the author set himself a goal of waking up and banging out a blog entry about one Weird Al song a day off the top of his head. Any Al fan with the time and determination could've written this book.
- Too many of the entries are basic summaries, without much analysis. On many of these songs, you'd learn just as much by simply reading the lyrics sheet. Instead of reading Rabin's beat-by-beat summary of UHF, you could just... watch UHF.
- The highlights here are the entry on the hard-to-find, out-of-print Peter and the Wolf, the entries where Rabin follows Al on several stops of his 2018 tour, and the fun illustrations. Those bumped it up a star for me.
- Conclusion: I really don't know who this book is for. If you're not a Weird Al fan, you won't have the patience for it. If you ARE a Weird Al fan, you won't learn anything. If you want to learn about each Weird Al song and album, you should go back and listen to the highly entertaining We're All Yankovics podcast. If you want to learn about Weird Al, you should read Rabin's own Weird Al: The Book. If you're a huge fan who wants to see behind the scenes, you should read Black and White and Weird All Over by Al's drummer, Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz. But this book seems to serve no purpose other than satisfying one man's obsession, so that he can say he's written it.
- I was hoping to get an exhaustingly-researched volume where I would learn lots of hidden nuggets about each song/album (especially since Rabin has direct access to Al, a fact he will remind you of repeatedly). Instead, this reads like a blog where the author set himself a goal of waking up and banging out a blog entry about one Weird Al song a day off the top of his head. Any Al fan with the time and determination could've written this book.
- Too many of the entries are basic summaries, without much analysis. On many of these songs, you'd learn just as much by simply reading the lyrics sheet. Instead of reading Rabin's beat-by-beat summary of UHF, you could just... watch UHF.
- The highlights here are the entry on the hard-to-find, out-of-print Peter and the Wolf, the entries where Rabin follows Al on several stops of his 2018 tour, and the fun illustrations. Those bumped it up a star for me.
- Conclusion: I really don't know who this book is for. If you're not a Weird Al fan, you won't have the patience for it. If you ARE a Weird Al fan, you won't learn anything. If you want to learn about each Weird Al song and album, you should go back and listen to the highly entertaining We're All Yankovics podcast. If you want to learn about Weird Al, you should read Rabin's own Weird Al: The Book. If you're a huge fan who wants to see behind the scenes, you should read Black and White and Weird All Over by Al's drummer, Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz. But this book seems to serve no purpose other than satisfying one man's obsession, so that he can say he's written it.
February 24, 2020
As a lifelong "close personal friend" of "Weird Al" Yankovic I can't help but give this book 5 stars. Is the book perfect? Nope. But Al is...just about, and well, that's the point. Rabin examines everything, track by track, from Al's hits to his misses to works so rare I'm not even convinced that they exist. By the end, Rabin has created a full picture of the Weird One's unmatched oeuvre, his improbable career, and his overlooked role as one of America's savviest social critics.
Rabin dares to be stupidly thoughtful, even about the silliest of tracks. His previous collaboration with Yankovic has given him the insight of an insider, and provided him with many tidbits that even the most die hard fan might not know. The book is part history, part critique, and all paean. Well worth every fan's time.
If I have one complaint it was that I wanted more. I wanted Rabin to go beyond his personal experiences, thoughts, and knowledge. I wanted him to delve deeper, and I wanted to hear from others, from Al's critics as well as his collaborators. And most of all, I wanted to hear the music, the tracks and their inspirations. I guess what I'm saying in a roundabout way is that....I...hate....sauerkraut!....no, sorry, what I'm saying is I wish that, instead of writing a book, Rabin had used this material as the starting notes for one of those re-watch podcast series that all the kids are talking about these days. Forget the West Wing, if you really want to learn about the past forty-five years of the American experience, it's got to be all about "Weird Al."
Rabin dares to be stupidly thoughtful, even about the silliest of tracks. His previous collaboration with Yankovic has given him the insight of an insider, and provided him with many tidbits that even the most die hard fan might not know. The book is part history, part critique, and all paean. Well worth every fan's time.
If I have one complaint it was that I wanted more. I wanted Rabin to go beyond his personal experiences, thoughts, and knowledge. I wanted him to delve deeper, and I wanted to hear from others, from Al's critics as well as his collaborators. And most of all, I wanted to hear the music, the tracks and their inspirations. I guess what I'm saying in a roundabout way is that....I...hate....sauerkraut!....no, sorry, what I'm saying is I wish that, instead of writing a book, Rabin had used this material as the starting notes for one of those re-watch podcast series that all the kids are talking about these days. Forget the West Wing, if you really want to learn about the past forty-five years of the American experience, it's got to be all about "Weird Al."
September 26, 2020
Great idea I did not know I wanted. It gets going quite well, the tone and information what I’d hoped for, all well written. Then the author does a weird thing. Making it about himself is okay, how he relates to the songs, what they meant to him, etc. All that is fine and good. But he goes farther and keeps carping on consumerism and other distasteful American pursuits, in his opinion, which he keeps mentioning ad nauseum. He becomes like a sad, angry Canadian teen munching his poutine and sloshing around his can of squirt all over his parent’s basement as he rants about how awful America is. It’s unfortunate since there are many great funny bits, mostly involving a loud Fred Schneider voice. I wish he’d been as subtle and clever as the songs he was dissecting instead of letting his hate and rage seep out – why, exactly, in Weird Al’s name did he mention Donald Trump over and over again. Seriously, why? Also, I hope he re-edits and removes 67% of the times he used the words titular and oeuvre. It became a doleful, pretentious drinking game.
August 24, 2020
This one didn't work for me.
The author tries too hard to be funny. Let Weird Al be funny. His songs are the reason we bought the book. The author tries to be as funny if not funnier than Al, makes claims like George of the Jungle wouldn't have been made into a live-action movie if Al had covered the TV show's theme song in the mid-Eighties, and the result is a book I tired of fast.
The author tries too hard to be funny. Let Weird Al be funny. His songs are the reason we bought the book. The author tries to be as funny if not funnier than Al, makes claims like George of the Jungle wouldn't have been made into a live-action movie if Al had covered the TV show's theme song in the mid-Eighties, and the result is a book I tired of fast.
January 21, 2021
It’s a nice little read, but Rabin’s writing style really hasn’t aged well. Seems to really hate a lot of the subjects of Al’s songs sometimes but loves others of the same level. It’s a strange effect. Also is clearly a person trying to appear more “woke” than he is while still making jokes about Lindsay Lohan being a train wreck and suicide. Not great. Very nonessential, but does make you want to relisten to every Weird Al song.
March 17, 2020
For the Weird Al fanatic
Lots of deep thoughts about silly music. Ultimately the book is almost as much about the author as it is about the musician and his songs. The deepest dives into songs are reserved for the ones with which Rabin has a special connection because of a personal experience or a love for the source music being parodied. He manages to bring up his disdain for Donald Trump a number of times while supposedly focusing on a song Al recorded years if not decades before his entry into politics. Personally, I picked up this book to escape from politics and focus on my love for Al's music.
Even so, I recommend this book for diehard Weird Al fans - as long as you don't mind these kinds of digressions or some of the moments of rambling on that had me thinking, "Enough, already. You already made that point."
Lots of deep thoughts about silly music. Ultimately the book is almost as much about the author as it is about the musician and his songs. The deepest dives into songs are reserved for the ones with which Rabin has a special connection because of a personal experience or a love for the source music being parodied. He manages to bring up his disdain for Donald Trump a number of times while supposedly focusing on a song Al recorded years if not decades before his entry into politics. Personally, I picked up this book to escape from politics and focus on my love for Al's music.
Even so, I recommend this book for diehard Weird Al fans - as long as you don't mind these kinds of digressions or some of the moments of rambling on that had me thinking, "Enough, already. You already made that point."
May 17, 2022
Wow, what a disappointment. I had such high hopes for this book - I'm a huge Al fan, and I was hoping I would pick up little stories and facts about Al's career through the summaries of each and every song.
That happens a few times, but not very often. Instead, this book is not according to Al, but according to the author. Much of the focus is about how Al's songs connect to the author and what they mean at that point in time. While that's fine and good for some other book, that's not what I was promised by this one.
As the book goes on, the author obviously runs out of things to say. By the time we get to Poodle Hat, the author has two songs in a row where all but one of the paragraphs are simply summarizing the song. I don't need that. I can listen to the song.
The author also works so desperately to show how woke they are. Such offense is taken when talking about things Al said in the past that aren't really offensive. Al is also held to a higher standard than the artists that are parodied. You have a problem with 'skank' in Confessions III (a great song, by the way), but the song Ridin' is celebrated as a song about bad police, despite its use of the n word and the singer's desire to bone without having kids? The author calls out Taylor Hicks for winning American Idol instead of some "more deserving minority", even though it was all white people in the top 8 of American Idol that season and a minority person had won half of the seasons before that.
It's so frustrating to think about what this book could have been. The author says time and again that they have Al's ear. If that's the case, then ask Al about these songs! Behind the scenes stories would be amazing! Instead, we are left with this personal journal that is boring and self-aggrandizing.
Ugh.
That happens a few times, but not very often. Instead, this book is not according to Al, but according to the author. Much of the focus is about how Al's songs connect to the author and what they mean at that point in time. While that's fine and good for some other book, that's not what I was promised by this one.
As the book goes on, the author obviously runs out of things to say. By the time we get to Poodle Hat, the author has two songs in a row where all but one of the paragraphs are simply summarizing the song. I don't need that. I can listen to the song.
The author also works so desperately to show how woke they are. Such offense is taken when talking about things Al said in the past that aren't really offensive. Al is also held to a higher standard than the artists that are parodied. You have a problem with 'skank' in Confessions III (a great song, by the way), but the song Ridin' is celebrated as a song about bad police, despite its use of the n word and the singer's desire to bone without having kids? The author calls out Taylor Hicks for winning American Idol instead of some "more deserving minority", even though it was all white people in the top 8 of American Idol that season and a minority person had won half of the seasons before that.
It's so frustrating to think about what this book could have been. The author says time and again that they have Al's ear. If that's the case, then ask Al about these songs! Behind the scenes stories would be amazing! Instead, we are left with this personal journal that is boring and self-aggrandizing.
Ugh.
March 5, 2021
I wanted to like this book, and there is a lot of fun and good in the book.
But about halfway through it goes from a joyful fan connecting with nostalgia and how the music of Weird Al (and the artists he's riffing off of) into an incomprehensible tirade against Donald Trump.
I mean, if you want to write a book railing on the former president, be my guest. But, it completely ruined the book. Really, the hate and anger corrupted a fun book and turned something that would transcend the present moment into a sadly dated jeremiad.
Sad.
But about halfway through it goes from a joyful fan connecting with nostalgia and how the music of Weird Al (and the artists he's riffing off of) into an incomprehensible tirade against Donald Trump.
I mean, if you want to write a book railing on the former president, be my guest. But, it completely ruined the book. Really, the hate and anger corrupted a fun book and turned something that would transcend the present moment into a sadly dated jeremiad.
Sad.
February 11, 2020
Mad Respect For “Weird Al”
God bless Nathan Rabin. He delves into the discography of “Weird Al” Yankovic for the thorough discussion that it needs. He doesn’t hold back when a song doesn’t work but never dismisses any song, either. Rabin’s love for all things “Weird” comes through in thoughtful criticism and just the right amount of praise.
Al’s fans will find a lot to love and discuss here.
God bless Nathan Rabin. He delves into the discography of “Weird Al” Yankovic for the thorough discussion that it needs. He doesn’t hold back when a song doesn’t work but never dismisses any song, either. Rabin’s love for all things “Weird” comes through in thoughtful criticism and just the right amount of praise.
Al’s fans will find a lot to love and discuss here.
July 28, 2020
So Close to Being Great
Loved: The play-by-play on each song, with some interesting bits of trivia and context.
Absolutely hated: the author's constant need to bring up the current political scene. We get it, you hate the current President. Go write a different book about it, as it had absolutely no place in a book about Weird Al songs.
Could have been an absolute classic :/
Loved: The play-by-play on each song, with some interesting bits of trivia and context.
Absolutely hated: the author's constant need to bring up the current political scene. We get it, you hate the current President. Go write a different book about it, as it had absolutely no place in a book about Weird Al songs.
Could have been an absolute classic :/
May 25, 2021
This might have been one of the most disappointing reads I’ve ever attempted. The book promotes an in-depth dive into every Weird Al track, but gives you surface-level tripe and unnecessary and dated political commentary, which wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t covering Weird Al - one of the most apolitical musicians of all time.
August 6, 2021
A number of years ago, Ian MacDonald wrote a book called "Revolution in the Head" wherein he broke down all the songs of the Beatles and individually analyzed how they were made, and more importantly, what they meant to the Beatles and the times they were living in. MacDonald pulled no punches and called the band out if the song was crap (and some Beatles' songs are crap) but also examined why the great ones were great.
My feelings toward Nathan Rabin's book on Weird Al Yankovic are influenced by my feelings toward MacDonald's great work. Rabin sets out to examine every song in Weird Al's oeuvre (a word Rabin uses over and over) and discuss the songs' origins and significance. The problem is that Rabin is very much a fanboy. He gives nearly every song high marks for creativity and craftsmanship without breaking down what makes them great. And he almost never calls a song crap. The only songs I can recall that he gave poor marks were two parodies of the Dare To Be Stupid album - "Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch" and "I Want a New Duck." Rabin also misses the mark on some of his analyses. If you have ever heard anything by Thomas Dolby other than "She Blinded Me With Science," then it is obvious that Al's song "Slime Creatures From Outer Space" is clearly a pastiche of Dolby's music (the term pastiche is what Rabin uses to describe what I refer to as style parodies - songs that might sound like a particular artist but not a parody of a particular song). He also misses the mark on "CNR" which is clearly a pastiche of Guns N' Roses (did you even notice the title of the song, Nathan?) and not Metallica.
Rabin's book is also way too long. After going through all the songs, he delves into other aspects of Al's career. I can understand a chapter devoted to the film UHF, but do we need an episode by episode breakdown of The Weird Al Show? Even less than that a breakdown of every episode of Comedy Bang! Bang!? Again, Rabin is an unapologetic fanboy (no sin there - so am I). But in his enthusiasm, he goes overboard with wanting to include so much.
This is not say that the book is without merit. There is plenty here that I did not know and Rabin had access to Al and his music than any other writer ever had. I think Rabin could have used a a better editor and someone to tell him when to stop.
I am a devoted Weird Al fan. I am firmly of the belief that he should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (I feel the same way about The Monkees but neither will never happen as long as Jann Wenner has anything to say about it) as well as the Comedy Hall of Fame. As Rabin points out, in the early '80's when Al first hit the spotlight, no one could have imagined that he would still be recording and doing so extremely successfully 30 years later. Al is a musical genius. No one has ever made quality music of so many genres as he has and continues to. I appreciate Rabin's efforts and applaud him for it. I just wish he could have had a bit more objectivity.
My feelings toward Nathan Rabin's book on Weird Al Yankovic are influenced by my feelings toward MacDonald's great work. Rabin sets out to examine every song in Weird Al's oeuvre (a word Rabin uses over and over) and discuss the songs' origins and significance. The problem is that Rabin is very much a fanboy. He gives nearly every song high marks for creativity and craftsmanship without breaking down what makes them great. And he almost never calls a song crap. The only songs I can recall that he gave poor marks were two parodies of the Dare To Be Stupid album - "Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch" and "I Want a New Duck." Rabin also misses the mark on some of his analyses. If you have ever heard anything by Thomas Dolby other than "She Blinded Me With Science," then it is obvious that Al's song "Slime Creatures From Outer Space" is clearly a pastiche of Dolby's music (the term pastiche is what Rabin uses to describe what I refer to as style parodies - songs that might sound like a particular artist but not a parody of a particular song). He also misses the mark on "CNR" which is clearly a pastiche of Guns N' Roses (did you even notice the title of the song, Nathan?) and not Metallica.
Rabin's book is also way too long. After going through all the songs, he delves into other aspects of Al's career. I can understand a chapter devoted to the film UHF, but do we need an episode by episode breakdown of The Weird Al Show? Even less than that a breakdown of every episode of Comedy Bang! Bang!? Again, Rabin is an unapologetic fanboy (no sin there - so am I). But in his enthusiasm, he goes overboard with wanting to include so much.
This is not say that the book is without merit. There is plenty here that I did not know and Rabin had access to Al and his music than any other writer ever had. I think Rabin could have used a a better editor and someone to tell him when to stop.
I am a devoted Weird Al fan. I am firmly of the belief that he should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (I feel the same way about The Monkees but neither will never happen as long as Jann Wenner has anything to say about it) as well as the Comedy Hall of Fame. As Rabin points out, in the early '80's when Al first hit the spotlight, no one could have imagined that he would still be recording and doing so extremely successfully 30 years later. Al is a musical genius. No one has ever made quality music of so many genres as he has and continues to. I appreciate Rabin's efforts and applaud him for it. I just wish he could have had a bit more objectivity.
September 22, 2020
Disclaimer: I was give a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I think it's fair to tell you that I grew up listening to the music of Weird Al Yankovic. There are a lot of his songs I am more familiar with than the source material Al is parodying.
I think it's fair to break this review into three pieces. 1. Narration. 2. Complete Discography of Weird Al's music and 3. Nathan Rabin's comedic notes.
1. First the narration by Eric Jason Martin was top notch. He had a voice that was easy and calming to listen to, while still maintaining the kind of high energy that pervades the obvious love the author has for the subject of his work. I would gladly listen to Martin read anything from an adventure book to wikipedia articles and would feel like I'm in good hands and will enjoy myself.
2. Weird Al Yankovic is an artist of irrepressible talent. From his dazzling creative mind finding humorous reinventions of pop culture's soundtracks to the ability to be a musical chameleon. Any Weird Al album will cover different musical stylings and genres from track to track. Breaking down the chapters to albums and giving information on what was parodied, how, what was unique to each track is easier said than done. Some works were more rewarding in this regard than others. We also get a feeling of Al's evolution as an artist and get glimpses into his career. I thought I was familiar with the vast majority of Al's work but there were some tracks and projects that I was learning about for the first time - and am eager to explore and revisit the music of the man himself after having finished the book.
This right here is what I was looking for in the book.
3. Which leads us to Nathan Rabin from AV Club. I understand that this book was based upon a series of articles that he wrote and compiled - but I feel that this was a disservice of the ultimate product. "Eat It," "Fat," "White and Nerdy" and other tracks stand out more in Al's career and in the minds of his fans than some lesser songs like "Gotta Boogie" or the Karaoke version of "One More Minute." However due to the format each song is given roughly the same amount of discussion time. Sometimes that means really stretching or over-explaining a joke. Sometimes it means songs come and go before we were done fully digesting their matter. Rabin wrote a comedic series of articles and you may find his humor hit or miss. He also has a few running jokes throughout that may have served better over the course of time rather than all at once. I ultimately could have done with less of the author’s voice and more information.
I did enjoy this book and plan to revisit it in the future. If you are a fan of Al then enjoy a journey of equal parts discovery and nostalgia.
I think it's fair to tell you that I grew up listening to the music of Weird Al Yankovic. There are a lot of his songs I am more familiar with than the source material Al is parodying.
I think it's fair to break this review into three pieces. 1. Narration. 2. Complete Discography of Weird Al's music and 3. Nathan Rabin's comedic notes.
1. First the narration by Eric Jason Martin was top notch. He had a voice that was easy and calming to listen to, while still maintaining the kind of high energy that pervades the obvious love the author has for the subject of his work. I would gladly listen to Martin read anything from an adventure book to wikipedia articles and would feel like I'm in good hands and will enjoy myself.
2. Weird Al Yankovic is an artist of irrepressible talent. From his dazzling creative mind finding humorous reinventions of pop culture's soundtracks to the ability to be a musical chameleon. Any Weird Al album will cover different musical stylings and genres from track to track. Breaking down the chapters to albums and giving information on what was parodied, how, what was unique to each track is easier said than done. Some works were more rewarding in this regard than others. We also get a feeling of Al's evolution as an artist and get glimpses into his career. I thought I was familiar with the vast majority of Al's work but there were some tracks and projects that I was learning about for the first time - and am eager to explore and revisit the music of the man himself after having finished the book.
This right here is what I was looking for in the book.
3. Which leads us to Nathan Rabin from AV Club. I understand that this book was based upon a series of articles that he wrote and compiled - but I feel that this was a disservice of the ultimate product. "Eat It," "Fat," "White and Nerdy" and other tracks stand out more in Al's career and in the minds of his fans than some lesser songs like "Gotta Boogie" or the Karaoke version of "One More Minute." However due to the format each song is given roughly the same amount of discussion time. Sometimes that means really stretching or over-explaining a joke. Sometimes it means songs come and go before we were done fully digesting their matter. Rabin wrote a comedic series of articles and you may find his humor hit or miss. He also has a few running jokes throughout that may have served better over the course of time rather than all at once. I ultimately could have done with less of the author’s voice and more information.
I did enjoy this book and plan to revisit it in the future. If you are a fan of Al then enjoy a journey of equal parts discovery and nostalgia.
November 23, 2023
I've mentioned before that Nathan Rabin is a friend of mine, at least through social media; I'm pretty sure I've also mentioned that "Weird Al" Yankovic is one of my favorite musicians, if not my favorite musician. And among my favorite subjects about my favorite musicians are books collecting lyrics (in the vein of Lyrics: 1962-2001 by Bob Dylan or The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics by Alan Aldridge) or books examining an artist's entire oeuvre (in the vein of the All the Songs series begun by Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin). To that end, Nathan's The Weird Accordion to Al: Sincere Movie Cash-In Edition truly warmed my sick and twisted heart, as Nathan looks at every song on every one of "Weird Al"'s albums, including some obscurities, as well as virtually every "official" TV and film appearance, and dissects all of them with both love and critique.
The Weird Accordion to Al is especially interesting insofar as Nathan isn't universally positive about everything "Weird Al" has released; Nathan is unafraid, even confident, to say when "Weird Al"'s humor has aged poorly, was mean-spirited in the first place, problematic or off-color, or simply lame—and given that "Weird Al" had specifically given his imprimatur to The Weird Accordion to Al (and not merely by his contribution of an introduction), not to mention at least as frequently as not concurred with Nathan and adjusted his own playlists accordingly, that Nathan openly criticizes his admitted hero is impressive indeed. And when Nathan offers high praise for something "Weird Al" has done, the reader knows it's probably deserved. (At least, assuming one enjoys "Weird Al" Yankovic in the first place; I of course wouldn't recommend this book to someone who doesn't.)
If The Weird Accordion to Al only dissected Yankovic's songs, it would be good enough, but Nathan is more than adept enough to illustrate the patterns and themes and tropes within "Weird Al"'s discography, and makes sure to note the specific examples thereof: If not for Nathan, I would've been oblivious to "Weird Al"'s albums having the hit-song parody as the first track . . . and a truly demented and bizarre gift-to-the-loyal-fans in the form of a deep cut paying homage to some of "Weird Al"'s favorite music of his own (such as "Albuquerque" or "Mr. Frump In The Iron Lung"); these final tracks are often in dubious taste, irreproducible in concert, and/or thoroughly uncommercial—but somehow many have become fan favorites as well, and Nathan acknowledges this, too. Nathan also illustrates the various musical personae of "Weird Al" Yankovic as unhealthily obsessive about food or pop culture, or even more unhealthy creepy lotharios in their own minds, and in turn illustrates how "Weird Al" deeply and insightfully examines the realities of pop culture at whatever era the work has come out; as such, The Weird Accordion to Al is a masterpiece of music criticism on multiple levels.
Add to that that Nathan looks at "Weird Al"'s various movies, his self-titled Saturday-morning TV show, and his stint on the final season of Scott Aukerman's Comedy Bang! Bang! TV show, all with the same attention to detail and abnormalcy, and with the same clear-eyed reverence, and I can't recommend The Weird Accordion to Al enough. I don't know whether Nathan will come up with an even more updated edition as "Weird Al" may release more material, but if he does, I'll be sure to pick up that masterpiece as well.
The Weird Accordion to Al is especially interesting insofar as Nathan isn't universally positive about everything "Weird Al" has released; Nathan is unafraid, even confident, to say when "Weird Al"'s humor has aged poorly, was mean-spirited in the first place, problematic or off-color, or simply lame—and given that "Weird Al" had specifically given his imprimatur to The Weird Accordion to Al (and not merely by his contribution of an introduction), not to mention at least as frequently as not concurred with Nathan and adjusted his own playlists accordingly, that Nathan openly criticizes his admitted hero is impressive indeed. And when Nathan offers high praise for something "Weird Al" has done, the reader knows it's probably deserved. (At least, assuming one enjoys "Weird Al" Yankovic in the first place; I of course wouldn't recommend this book to someone who doesn't.)
If The Weird Accordion to Al only dissected Yankovic's songs, it would be good enough, but Nathan is more than adept enough to illustrate the patterns and themes and tropes within "Weird Al"'s discography, and makes sure to note the specific examples thereof: If not for Nathan, I would've been oblivious to "Weird Al"'s albums having the hit-song parody as the first track . . . and a truly demented and bizarre gift-to-the-loyal-fans in the form of a deep cut paying homage to some of "Weird Al"'s favorite music of his own (such as "Albuquerque" or "Mr. Frump In The Iron Lung"); these final tracks are often in dubious taste, irreproducible in concert, and/or thoroughly uncommercial—but somehow many have become fan favorites as well, and Nathan acknowledges this, too. Nathan also illustrates the various musical personae of "Weird Al" Yankovic as unhealthily obsessive about food or pop culture, or even more unhealthy creepy lotharios in their own minds, and in turn illustrates how "Weird Al" deeply and insightfully examines the realities of pop culture at whatever era the work has come out; as such, The Weird Accordion to Al is a masterpiece of music criticism on multiple levels.
Add to that that Nathan looks at "Weird Al"'s various movies, his self-titled Saturday-morning TV show, and his stint on the final season of Scott Aukerman's Comedy Bang! Bang! TV show, all with the same attention to detail and abnormalcy, and with the same clear-eyed reverence, and I can't recommend The Weird Accordion to Al enough. I don't know whether Nathan will come up with an even more updated edition as "Weird Al" may release more material, but if he does, I'll be sure to pick up that masterpiece as well.
March 2, 2022
Basically, this volume reviews every song ever written and released by “Weird Al” Yankovic. I mean every song. Ever. B-sides and rarities and I think any and every thing released to the public. The problem is–how much can you say about an artist’s work before it starts lacking originality? Even for someone as diverse as Weird Al? It was so boring I actually bought a physical copy and still didn’t finish it.
They’re just reviews. Like the kind you might see on AllMusic.com. So many glowing words just get repetitive. And it’s worse because it’s comedy. Mark Twain said “Explaining humor is a lot like dissecting a frog. You learn a lot in the process, but in the end, the frog is dead.”
I was hoping for content about the creation of each song, where it originated, what it means, how it was constructed. I expected details on the Lady Gaga and Coolio kerfuffles. What was the impetus for “Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung?”–a song about such an antiquated subject? Why does Weird Al write so many songs about creepy casanovas?
Maybe there’s a difference between what I expected the book to be and what the author wrote, which feels like a very long long long fan letter to each “Weird Al” song. And I have no need for that. I already like Weird Al Yankovic, I don’t need to be told why over and over.
They’re just reviews. Like the kind you might see on AllMusic.com. So many glowing words just get repetitive. And it’s worse because it’s comedy. Mark Twain said “Explaining humor is a lot like dissecting a frog. You learn a lot in the process, but in the end, the frog is dead.”
I was hoping for content about the creation of each song, where it originated, what it means, how it was constructed. I expected details on the Lady Gaga and Coolio kerfuffles. What was the impetus for “Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung?”–a song about such an antiquated subject? Why does Weird Al write so many songs about creepy casanovas?
Maybe there’s a difference between what I expected the book to be and what the author wrote, which feels like a very long long long fan letter to each “Weird Al” song. And I have no need for that. I already like Weird Al Yankovic, I don’t need to be told why over and over.
September 20, 2020
A review for an audiobook contains two separate parts. One is a review of the content, and the other is the review of the narrator's performance. As a Weird Al fan, I was looking forward to this book, and the narration sample was pretty good. But the book on the whole confused me, and I almost stopped in the middle and made it a DNF.
I can't tell what the writer is trying to do with this book. It feels less like a straight up musical analysis and a joke that I'm not part of. Yes, I know Al performs parody and comic music, but that doesn't mean he's not a very skilled musician himself. I could have handled a direct musical analysis, but that doesn't feel like what's going on here. Slogging through the 80s songs and albums feels like satire.
As much as I like Al, I did not like THIS.
To the second point about the narrator's performance... He was very good. He's got a nice instrument, and I would definitely listen to him again in a variety of fiction genres and nonfiction.
I wish I could recommend this, but I'm so glad the book is over. I've got the bad kind of a book hangover, and the only reason I'm rounding up to three is that it was performed so well.
Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
I can't tell what the writer is trying to do with this book. It feels less like a straight up musical analysis and a joke that I'm not part of. Yes, I know Al performs parody and comic music, but that doesn't mean he's not a very skilled musician himself. I could have handled a direct musical analysis, but that doesn't feel like what's going on here. Slogging through the 80s songs and albums feels like satire.
As much as I like Al, I did not like THIS.
To the second point about the narrator's performance... He was very good. He's got a nice instrument, and I would definitely listen to him again in a variety of fiction genres and nonfiction.
I wish I could recommend this, but I'm so glad the book is over. I've got the bad kind of a book hangover, and the only reason I'm rounding up to three is that it was performed so well.
Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
March 27, 2021
I'm guessing that for most readers this book holds a lot of nostalgia. It certainly did for me.
Most of the music in my life has been brought to my attention by my wife or one of my good friends from childhood. I think we started listening to Al in the mid 80s about when we started middle school, so Al has been part of my life from a pretty formative time on.
Because I don't seek out different music, the information in this book about the music and the basis for the parodies and pastiches was new to me where much of that information is probably a review for other Al fans.
There are Al songs I've heard hundreds of times and Al songs I've heard once and not too many in between. Rabin's book brought my attention to songs that I didn't really engage with when I heard them, and I found myself creating a new Al playlist of lesser heard songs as I read the book.
This book with this new playlist has made me smile hundreds of times at the music and the memories. Simply put this book is 5 out of 5 stars because it has brought me a lot of joy.
On a side note, I have mad respect for Rabin's chutzpah. I admire the fact that he was willing to risk 30% of his potential audience by calling out the cult leader who spent too long in the White House and currently controls the GOP."
Most of the music in my life has been brought to my attention by my wife or one of my good friends from childhood. I think we started listening to Al in the mid 80s about when we started middle school, so Al has been part of my life from a pretty formative time on.
Because I don't seek out different music, the information in this book about the music and the basis for the parodies and pastiches was new to me where much of that information is probably a review for other Al fans.
There are Al songs I've heard hundreds of times and Al songs I've heard once and not too many in between. Rabin's book brought my attention to songs that I didn't really engage with when I heard them, and I found myself creating a new Al playlist of lesser heard songs as I read the book.
This book with this new playlist has made me smile hundreds of times at the music and the memories. Simply put this book is 5 out of 5 stars because it has brought me a lot of joy.
On a side note, I have mad respect for Rabin's chutzpah. I admire the fact that he was willing to risk 30% of his potential audience by calling out the cult leader who spent too long in the White House and currently controls the GOP."
May 26, 2022
This book was great until it wasn't. To be honest I stopped reading without finishing, and found the format to be tedious and mind numbing. The book is an in depth study of everything Al ever did. It begins with his first album and dissects every song. Then moves to the next album. Then the next and so on. I forced myself to read through the album sections, but as I started "The Weird Al Show" and all other t.v. appearances, most of which I didn't see, I discovered I have no interest and just stopped.
The dissection of Al's earliest albums was really great and I loved learning about what and/or whom influenced his earliest works. Then I stopped caring. The author's over use of certain words and phrases didn't help either (Al even mentioned that very thing in the introduction).
I am disappointed I didn't like it more. Maybe my Weird Al fandom doesn't run deep enough. Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe I just don't want to know. I won't waste more time trying to figure it out and instead give "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" a listen.
The dissection of Al's earliest albums was really great and I loved learning about what and/or whom influenced his earliest works. Then I stopped caring. The author's over use of certain words and phrases didn't help either (Al even mentioned that very thing in the introduction).
I am disappointed I didn't like it more. Maybe my Weird Al fandom doesn't run deep enough. Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe I just don't want to know. I won't waste more time trying to figure it out and instead give "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" a listen.
October 15, 2024
I enjoyed reading this book, but as a huge Weird Al fan, I was looking for something more deep. It felt like he was expressing his same opinion in every chapter and not many facts. And when there were facts, I couldn't figure out if they were facts or just jokes. I think it's useful if you are new to weird Al and just want to have a vague understanding of his albums, songs and career, but if you are already A big fan who knows A lot, this isn't the most helpful book ever. It introduced me to new songs I now love, but that was its only apparent purpose. I recommend that all new weird Al fans read it, but if you are a big fan who knows every song and every video and all the details behind them, this probably won't excite you much.
February 29, 2020
Very enjoyable for two reasons: a surprise, anonymous package in the mail? Call Homeland Security! But especially as it holds a discography of Weird Al's lyrics (in order). Fans of all ages will appreciate this complete, though not *perfect* book. Hey, who's perfect, right? Very fun to flip through.
Rabin was writing about the ICP fandom at the same time as listening to and writing about all of Weird Al's music... I imagine there was massive headaches and ear bleeds, I'm impressed he managed to juggle the tasks.
(Ha. Snort!)
This is a great gift for a pal who's a fan or for your library's reference shelf - who knows what arguments may be waylaid?
Rabin was writing about the ICP fandom at the same time as listening to and writing about all of Weird Al's music... I imagine there was massive headaches and ear bleeds, I'm impressed he managed to juggle the tasks.
(Ha. Snort!)
This is a great gift for a pal who's a fan or for your library's reference shelf - who knows what arguments may be waylaid?
September 5, 2022
Love "Weird Al" and love the book. My only concern is that by discussing every single you have paid short shrift to some that deserve much deeper analysis: "Skipper Dan" for example is an incredibly meta look at the way an artist can end up shoehorned into a "type" and not be allowed to explore all aspects of his/her/their artistic voice... taking a job that's tangentially related to a person's true vocational love is how a tremendous number of poets end up as 7th grade English teachers, how we get so many "real-estate novelists" (apologies to Billy Joel), and wannabe gold glovers selling badminton sets at Dick's Sporting Goods.
April 17, 2023
I love Weird Al, loved reading about his mostly brilliant songs, but this read would have been much better without the author's obvious anti-Christian/conservative right bias clobbering me over the head in snarky comments every so often. That, and that lengthy section at the end describing every episode of The Weird Al Show and all Al's appearances on Comedy Bang Bang.
January 7, 2024
A fun and passionate book. like WEIRD AL: THE BOOK, which Al and Rabin worked on prior to this, it isn't full of much in the way of revelatory information for the hardcore fan, but it's a great, fun way of browsing through Yankovic's career and remembering how much you love it.
April 10, 2024
Obviously this book is written for aa very specific audience: obsessive Weird Al fans. People for whom it’s not enough to just hear his songs, but who want to dive deep into the why and how of every parody, polka, and production. I legit could barely put the book down.
April 25, 2020
finally, a writer brave enough to take on doland drumpf
It’s all so tiresome.
It’s all so tiresome.
May 4, 2020
If you're looking for an in depth analysis of every Weird Al song ever written in loving but practical fashion, this is the book for you. Enjoyable and fun.
September 27, 2020
Loved it!!!! Thanks to my Bestie for getting me an autographed copy for my bday
December 22, 2020
I enjoyed this very detailed look and dissection of every song and album of Weird Al.
April 22, 2021
Got me through Covid, two of my two favorite things together. Some really great essays and writings.
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