Reviewing music isn't really my style, but Weird Al can certainly be the exception to that rule. He may not have impacted my life quite like this guy, but through all the various genre swings I've gone through in my life, Al has always been there. He's in a very exclusive club that will get an in-store album purchase from me.

The reviews that follow are for the songs only. I've not yet checked out the accompanying DVD a music videos.

1. Perform This Way An obvious rip on Lady Gaga and her extreme fashion. This song has been a terrible ear worm for me since I watched the video last week. Both the lyrics and music for this are pretty damn good, only problem being that the song is far too short, imo. The song sounds very, very similar to Madonna's Express Yourself so it's kind of funny to hear "express yourself" uttered during the lyrics.

2. CNR It's a song about Charles Nelson Reilly being some sort of super human god. Not my favorite on the album musically, but not terrible. CNR was pretty cool on Match Game, though, and not to mention as the voice of Mermaidman Arch-villian, the Dirty Bubble.

3. TMZ A parody of Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me (so Wikipedia tells me), TMZ is all about those idiot celebrity gossip shows/magazines I hate so much (even if he only mentions TMZ specifically). A few chuckle worthy moments to be had as he mentions real life celeb stupidness such as Spears shaving her head. This one's pretty good.

4. Skipper Dan A rather depressing song about an acting genius who is stuck working a crappy amusement park ride as a tour guide. Probably all too common of a tale, the song is okay overall. This was one of a few songs he released a few years ago, so I'd already heard it.

5. Polka Face I love Al's polkas; think they're the highlight of all his albums, so call me nerdy when the first thing I realize about this song is that, in an unprecedented move, not only does he feature another song by an artist who's been parodied on the album, but that song opens and closes the polka. This is not Al's strongest polka ever, seeming more repetitious than previous ventures.

6. Craigslist This psychedelicy sounding song about the internet's garage sale is my least favorite on the album. Every time Al screams "CRAAAAAAIIGGSSSLLISSSTTTT-uh", I wince.

7. Party in the CIA This is your usual Al song taking some serious topic (being in the CIA doing all sorts of black ops killing and wiretapping and stuff), and turns it into a bouncy, fun little tune. A Miley Cyrus parody, this song is classic Al.

8. Ringtone A style parody of Queen (who is awesome), Ringtone is about some guy who has a terrible ringtone and how everybody around him cannot stand it. The opening sounds very much like Don't Stop Me Now and there's harmonies all over the place. The lyrics are pretty decent, too.

9. Another Tattoo I am not a fan of rap and its current place towards the top of the charts means that much of Al's pluckings come from this pool. This song isn't terrible, there are some melody redeeming qualities in the chorus, but I probably won't put it into playlist circulation.

10. If That Isn't Love If there's one person who knows how to make a screwed up love song, it's Mr. Yankovic and If That Isn't Love, a style parody of local band Hanson, is everything you'd expect from such. It's a cheery melody about the things the guy in the song do for his girlfriend that he considers above and beyond the call of duty (like not pretending she's some one else while they make out... most of the time).

11. Whatever You Like This is another rap parody, made back in '09 right on the heels of the economic down turn. About a penny pinching boyfriend/husband, this song was kind of funny back then, but it's mostly "seent it" now.

12. Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me This is probably my favorite song on the album, both lyrically and musically. It's yet another style parody of Meatloaf and song writer Jim Steinman, whose over the top songs are something I enjoy more than I probably realize. Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me is about some guy who is forever receiving forwarded internet garbage from a "friend". As anyone who has ever talked to me on IM knows, I am very much the "forwarder" here. Though, my content is usually fresh, not three years old. Oh, internet points for including a reference to Snopes.

So, that's my review of Al's latest. Overall, it's not as strong as in previous years and I attribute his overall seeming decline to change in the music landscape as well as age (he's over fifty now). But, even at that, the man is still a genius and can still belt out some awesome tunes.