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"Weird Al" Yankovic's Greatest Hits

 
Album Review: "Weird Al" Yankovic Greatest Hits

  • Artist: "Weird Al" Yankovic
  • Rating: StarStarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: 1989
  • Total Time: 34:07
  • Type: Compilation (best of)
  • Genre: Spoken Word

Review

Though 1989's Greatest Hits only covers the first half of "Weird Al" Yankovic's career, it nevertheless features nearly all of his best work, with classics such as "Eat It," "Fat," and "I Lost on Jeopardy" chief among its highlights. The collection takes a fairly even amount from each of Yankovic's early albums -- Weird Al Yankovic, In 3-D, Dare to Be Stupid, Polka Party!, and Even Worse -- thus gathering "Like a Surgeon," "Living With a Hernia," and "Ricky" in one place. The small, parody-heavy track-listing may disappoint die-hard Yankovic fans; indeed, some of his original work from In 3-D is better than a few of the parodies that wound up on the collection, and it seems that by 1989 Yankovic deserved to have at least a dozen songs on his greatest hits album. Regardless, Greatest Hits is still the most consistent and concise album in his catalog, and a great introduction to his very special brand of musical humor. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Fat Weird Al Yankovic, Michael Jackson Weird Al Yankovic (3:37)
Eat It Weird Al Yankovic, Michael Jackson Weird Al Yankovic (3:21)
Like a Surgeon Weird Al Yankovic Weird Al Yankovic (3:31)
Ricky (Lyrics) Weird Al Yankovic, Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn Weird Al Yankovic (2:36)
Addicted to Spuds (Lyrics) Robert Palmer, Weird Al Yankovic Weird Al Yankovic (3:52)
Living With a Hernia (Lyrics) Charlie Midnight, Dan Hartman, Weird Al Yankovic Weird Al Yankovic (3:20)
Dare to Be Stupid (Lyrics) Vince DiCola, Weird Al Yankovic Weird Al Yankovic (3:25)
Lasagna (Lyrics) Weird Al Yankovic, Los Lobos Weird Al Yankovic (2:47)
I Lost on Jeopardy Weird Al Yankovic, Greg Kihn Weird Al Yankovic (3:29)
One More Minute (Lyrics) Weird Al Yankovic Weird Al Yankovic (4:03)

Credits

Tony Papa (Engineer), Weird Al Yankovic (Arranger), Rick Derringer (Producer)
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Wikipedia: "Weird Al" Yankovic's Greatest Hits
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"Weird Al" Yankovic's Greatest Hits
Greatest hits by "Weird Al" Yankovic
Released October 18, 1988 October 18, 1998 (Remaster)
Genre Comedy
Label Scotti Brothers
Professional reviews
"Weird Al" Yankovic chronology
Even Worse
(1988)
"Weird Al" Yankovic's Greatest Hits
(1988)
UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff
(1989)

"Weird Al" Yankovic's Greatest Hits is a compilation CD of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic that features his best known songs from his first five studio albums.

Track listing

Track Title Length (Style) Parody of Description Original Album
1 "Fat" 3:55 "Bad" by Michael Jackson About a man's obesity that is blown out of proportion. Even Worse
2 "Eat It" 3:19 "Beat It" by Michael Jackson About a parent's exasperating quest to get their child to eat properly. Peaking at #12 on the Hot 100, this song was Al's highest-charting single until White & Nerdy placed at #9 in the October 21, 2006 issue of Billboard Magazine. "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D
3 "Like a Surgeon" 3:29 "Like a Virgin" by Madonna About an incompetent surgeon performing surgery. Notable because Madonna herself gave the idea for the title of the song, when asked in an interview what sort of parody Yankovic would make of "Like a Virgin." Dare to Be Stupid
4 "Ricky" 2:35 Tony Basil's "Mickey" About I Love Lucy, discussing the argument between Ricky and Lucy. "Weird Al" Yankovic
5 "Addicted to Spuds" 3:46 "Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer About a man's obsession to potatoes and potato related products. Polka Party!
6 "Living with a Hernia" 3:18 "Living in America" by James Brown The song is, as the title says, about hernias. The video for which was shot on the concert set used in the movie Rocky IV. Polka Party!
7 "Dare to Be Stupid" 3:24 Style parody of Devo This song describes many stupid things a person can do, such as "Stick your head in the microwave and get yourself a tan." It is one of Al's most renowned original songs. It was also used in The Transformers: The Movie as the theme song for the Junkions, and was later covered by MC Chris in 2007. Dare to Be Stupid
8 "Lasagna" 2:45 "La Bamba" (popularized by Ritchie Valens, though the parody is more likely inspired by Los Lobos' 1987 cover) A song centered largely around Italian and Italian food. Even Worse
9 "I Lost on Jeopardy" 3:26 "Jeopardy" by the Greg Kihn Band. About a man who lost on Jeopardy. Greg Kihn himself appears on the video. "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D
10 "One More Minute" 4:02 Generic doo-wop parody Singer describes the myriad tortures he would sooner endure than spending one more minute with his ex-girlfriend. Yankovic wrote this song about an ex-girlfriend. Her picture can be seen being torn up in the video. Dare to Be Stupid

See also

  • Greatest Hits Volume II



 
 

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article ""Weird Al" Yankovic's Greatest Hits" Read more