I bought Weird Al's "Alpocalypse" the other week (on vinyl*!). After my first listen, I was sully prepared to talk about what a weak and lazy effort it is, especially coming off of the amazing "Straight Outta Lynwood." However, a few more listens have softened that opinion, much to my delight. It's still got its share of drivel, but there are some pleasant surprises.
I still kind of stand by my "lazy" assertion (so... kneel by it?). Of the twelve songs on "Alpocalpyse," four of them deal with crappy, pseudo-current, pop culture-ish issues: TMZ, Craigslist, Ringtone, and Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me. He's not singing anything that hasn't been said before about any of these subjects and I doubt that any of these songs will be the definitive word, either (though Ringtone is a kind of fun Queen-y pastiche and Craiglist does a good job on The Doors with Ray Manzarek on keyboard!). I think it's fairly clear that I prefer Weird Al when he's free to just be weird and not necessarily concerned with modern culture (a strange assertion given the man makes his career of to pop parodies and homages).
A big problem Weird Al faces that affected my first listen is that the pop music he is parodying simply isn't that good. As far as first impressions go, the music is foregrounded whereas the lyrics aren't really noticed. So on songs like TMZ, Perform This Way, Another Tattoo, and Party in the CIA, you're stuck with some pretty terrible music and it's hard to make oneself fight the uphill battle towards appreciation (not that they all deserve appreciation). And even though Perform This Way is easily the worst of the bunch, I can't help but smile when I here it because the music video is so damn disturbing.
The exception, and a notable one at that, is Whatever You Like, a parody of a T.I. song of the same name. As usual, he nails the genre while totally mocking the extravagance and boisterousness typically associated with hip-hop. If it wasn't for CNR, Whatever You Like would be the highlight of "Alpocaplypse." Associated with this problem is that, for the first time ever, I don't recognize half of the songs on his polka. In fact, I only recognize two in the whole song by ear and about half if I look at the list of songs featured. Still, kudos for the name of the song: Polka Face. And you can never really go wrong with a polka.
The only other songs I haven't talked about are Skipper Dan and If That Isn't Love which both fall squarely into Weird Al's several wheelhouses. Skipper Dan is about shattered dreams and unmet expectations mixing peppy music with a harsh reality. If That Isn't Love is a pseudo-love song based around low expectations. But even at his worst, Weird Al is able to turn an inspired phrase that almost makes the bad songs worthwhile (example from Another Tattoo: "Check out this Boba Fett... he's playing clarinet!").
I don't know if it's who Weird Al decided to parody, but for the first time ever I questioned who he's making the music for. Obviously, it's for his dedicated fans and, as White and Nerdy showed, he occasionally gets some crossover appeal, but is there a lot of crossover between Weird Al fans and Taylor Swift fans? Most of his parodies on "Alpocalypse" I wouldn't recognize as parodies. Am I just out of touch? Does it even matter if the source is known as long as the song is entertaining? The polka is still awesome, but it's more fun when one recognizes the songs in that context. Otherwise, he may as well be making up his own lyrics. Regardless, "Alpocalype" is still fun and while not his best, there's some gold in that thar hill.
*Seriously, any new release vinyl should come with a free digital download. I can't believe that hasn't caught on with everyone yet. Neither "Alpocalypse" or Bill Callahan's "America" came with one. Do the companies releasing these albums not understand how most music is received these days? That even though people who buy vinyl like it, they still like the ability to take the music with them?
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