‘Mandatory Fun’ is Weird Al Yankovic’s much anticipated new album. The master musical satirist is back and many smash hit songs have had a reworking in his inimitable style. While his parody music videos go viral, the music critics weigh in with their reviews. Find out what they have to say.
We were long overdue for Weird Al Yankovic’s reinterpretation of the hits that have become familiar to us — in some cases perhaps too familiar. With his 14th album, ‘Mandatory Fun,’ he is back to doing what he has been doing best since the 1980s.
This time around, in brazen style he has rendered Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ as ‘Tacky’ and come out a winner. And with his ‘Word Crimes,’ he has taken Robin Thicke’s controversial ‘Blurred Lines’ and rescued it from its salaciousness — and in the view of some, misogynistic — excess and turned it into arguably the best grammar and syntax lesson we’ve ever gotten from a song.
And there’s much more, from Lorde’s ‘Royals’ becoming ‘Foil,’ an ode to aluminum foil — with tinfoil conspiracies thrown in for good measure — to Imagine Dragon’s ‘Radioactive’ becoming now ‘Inactive’ of the slacker variety. The lyrics and the visuals are for the most part sharp and sometimes edgy, yet all in good fun.
Al Yankovic has become a social media winner — dominating Twitter in particular — but what do the music critics have to say? Well, they are applauding as well. He has gotten mostly positive reviews, with the occasional grumbler.
Here’s a roundup.
“…The success of any great piece of art is determined by a few key factors. Does it accomplish what it sets out to achieve?…Under these guidelines, Weird Al Yankovic’s new “Mandatory Fun” is a stone cold masterpiece. Its goal remains the same since Yankovic changed the game with “My Bologna” and “Eat It”: parodying hit songs to create gut-busting laughter. Thirty years later the Weird One hits every note…..” — L.A.Times
“….Obviously, Weird Al fans know they are going to buy this album, but when they do, they should be happy. Mandatory Fun is a good, humorous album that shows that Yankovic is not slowing down in the slightest. He’s still creative, the band still prove themselves to be shrewd mimics, and there will always be new pop songs to parody, or to play as rockin’ polka ditties. The fun may be mandatory, but Weird Al still earns it…..” — Paste Magazine
“…..While it’s foolhardy to read too much into Al’s lyrics, a tune like “Word Crimes” captures the zeitgeist in more ways than one. Digital culture hasn’t simply obliterated the English language — it’s accelerated the chew-’em-up, spit-’em-out celebrity hype cycle that’s turned Thicke from R&B star to laughing stock virtually overnight. Now, Yankovic isn’t goofing on “Blurred Lines” because he, like many critics, thinks its author is a slime ball. Al’s far too good-natured for that. But let’s face it: The last thing Thicke needs right now is another person making him look silly……” — Billboard
“…. The schoolhouse R&B of “Word Crimes” is clever enough to win over the harshest critics of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines…Sure, there’s a touch of hypocrisy in a guy as gloriously tacky as Al taking shots at the shameless but who really cares when it’s this much fun…..” — Rolling Stone
“….“Mandatory Fun” is his 14th album and frankly it is one of his most solid to date. In fact, I would put it in his top 3 or 4 releases ever. What makes this one sharp is that it really captures the current culture in a bubble in a way that is more pinpointed than on previous records. This is especially true in the originals…..” — ABC News
And now the world knows the new Weird Al Yankovic album is out, and with it no less than eight consecutive days of music video premieres. It may leave us wanting our daily dose of ‘Mandatory Fun’ on day nine and beyond, so we will have to hit rewind. Alas, they will just have to become our go-to classics. Check out the the already classic ‘Word Crimes’ video below!
Pictures: PR Photos
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/q7uo2L2EsLg/
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