My Thoughts
First off, what the hell does Poodle Hat mean? I know, on the cover, he's on the subway wearing a poodle on his head, but what the hell? Anyway, "Weird Al" has been doing the same thing for close to 25 years, and he still does it the best. His parodies of "Beat It", "Bad", "MacArthur Park", and countless others have kept us entertained for years. And his polkas are priceless. No one plays the accordian quite like him.
His last album was released in 1999, and while I always anticipate a spirited outing with Al, I wasn't rabid for another. Running With Scissors, as the last was titled, left me wanting more, even though there were some pretty classic parodies on there. This album is full of his takes on many recent hits, but the standout single here is "Complicated Song". Its a parody of the hateful Avril Lavigne hit "Complicated". It just makes you laugh out loud. And his take on the Spider-Man movie, "Ode To A Superhero" is priceless. Of course, the original songs "Wanna B Ur Lovr", "Party At The Leper Colony" and "Genius In France" are despicable. He's on when he parodies songs, but his originals are hit and miss.
Anyway, this along with the release of his videos on DVD made it a year worth watching and listening to "Weird Al". However, this album only gets a 2 and a half. It slipped from my regular rotation rather quickly, which is never a good sign. Want good Al, go get his early stuff.
