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Running With Scissors
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Volcano, 1999
REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 07/06/1999
I remember when I first discovered "Weird Al" Yankovic, way backin grade school. He dared to parody the "King Of Pop", MichaelJackson, with his song "Eat It," and Yankovic (or his song, anyway)became the talk of the playground. While I fell out of the habit ofbuying each of his albums as they came out, I still occasionallychecked in on Yankovic to see if his style was still as sharp asthe way I remembered it. Sure enough, this generation's Spike Joneswas just as good as I remembered him.
After a three-year hiatus, Yankovic has returned with a newlabel and a new album, Running With Scissors, and he quickly proves that his satireis still sharp and cutting, but there is more of a sarcastic edgeto his work, reflecting a newer, more daring Yankovic. With onenotable exception, this works, creating what could possibly beYankovic's best album.
The highlight of the disc is "The Saga Begins," a parody of boththe recent "Star Wars" prequel and Don McLean's "American Pie"."Star Wars" is not new territory for Yankovic; "Yoda" on Dare To Be Stupid was a great take on The Kinks's "Lola".But to take on one of the hallmarks of '70s rock is a dangerousthing, especially to those of us (like myself) who love theoriginal.
Fortunately for Yankovic, the song succeeds on many levels.Musically, he keeps things very close to the original song, evendown to the rhythm of the lyrics. And while I haven't seen "StarWars: Episode I" (and don't plan to - sorry, George Lucas), histake on the tale sounds like a perfect plot summary. (Warning: ifyou haven't seen the movie, this song will give away a lot ofdetails.) By staying so close to the original while injecting hisown voice into it, Yankovic proves that parodying popular music isserious work.
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