“Weird Al” Yankovic – Mandatory Fun Review

RolnRock rating

5

“Weird Al” Yankovic – Mandatory Fun · see community ratings →

For the first album review on RolnRock, I’m starting off with one of my all-time favorites, by one of my all-time favorite artists. Of course, I’m talking about Weird Al Yankovic, and based upon what he’s said, this will also be the last full album he ever releases, Mandatory Fun.

Mandatory Fun came out in 2014 and was released by RCA Records. The album has multiple singles, including “Word Crimes,” “Tacky,” and “Foil.” It went on to become number one on the Billboard charts. While it only remained number one for one week, it was a historic achievement, as it was Yankovic’s first and only album at number one and the only comedy album ever to debut at number one. It was also the first comedy album to hit number one since 1963 with Allan Sherman’s My Son, the Nut.

The album itself contains 12 songs, and from my perspective, not a single song drags the album down. Of course, a couple are stronger than others, and depending on your taste in polka, you may or may not enjoy Al’s polkas, but it’s not a Weird Al album without at least one polka. The album has a good mix of parodies, original songs, and polkas, and the songs flow well across the entire album. Whatever your thoughts are on comedy, what you could never say about Weird Al is that he doesn’t know music.

My favorite song on the album is “Tacky,” based upon Pharrell Williams’ hit song “Happy.” “Happy” is a great song, but “Tacky” is so catchy that when I hear the original song, I instantly start singing Weird Al’s version in my head. “Foil” is probably my second favorite on the album, and I’ll be honest, I had never heard Lorde’s “Royals” until “Foil” was released. I had to go find the original song and give it a listen just so I knew what the original was. I still prefer Al’s version, however.

Many artists consider it a rite of passage to have one of their songs parodied by Weird Al, and throughout his career, many famous artists have considered it a nod that you’ve actually made it when Al decides to add your song to one of his albums. The Weird Al effect is also a real thing, when Al creates a parody that is remembered long after the original song, and people know the parody but not the original artist or song. I’ve already given you two examples of this just with “Tacky” and “Foil,” especially “Foil.” One day, I can see that being the song people remember while “Royals” fades into obscurity. Nothing against Lorde; that’s just how good Weird Al is.

With all that said, while I don’t believe Weird Al has a bad album, of his entire discography, I put Mandatory Fun at the top. 5 out of 5 stars. If you want to add one Weird Al record to your collection, it should be Mandatory Fun.