Re: first impressions

Date: 9 Apr 2003 20:55:25 -0700
Newsgroups: alt.music.weird-al
Size: 3,556 bytes

"Robert J. Muldoon" <email-address-deleted> wrote in message news:<SgJka.58710$email-address-deleted>...
> << i also think an eminem parody is going to be crucial to the album's
> commercial success. >>
>
> Uhm... Why are people so neurotic about having an Eminem parody?
he's popular. he's EXTREMELY popular. that's kinda what al is known
for, doing parodies of hits by popular artists. (i know that's not
all he does, but he owes most of his success to those parodies).
> For the
> life of me, I can't stand him.
i hate puff daddy/sean combs/p. diddy/whatever, but "...pentiums" was
brilliant. in fact, a great deal of the artsts he's parodied are on
my hate list, but he still did amazingly entertaining songs based on
them.
> I don't understand his appeal,
don't you?
> his lyrics are profane and blasphemous.
bingo. why is (was?) south park popular? tom green? at one time
even the simpsons were considered vulgar by the standard at the time,
before shows like south park raised the bar.
having said that, however, i can't entirely understand why i listen to
him. i don't generally like that kinda stuff, and the swearing
doesn't bother me, but it doesn't impress me either... i think
honestly i've just been finding his music catchy. i mean, i cringe
when i hear people blasting "without me" from car windows 18 times a
day, but i still put it on the CD player occasionally, if only to hear
that funky bassline right before the first verse starts.
and one last thing, despite the violent fiction in his songs, and the
image he projects, he's a wonderful father and still mostly a
down-to-earth guy in an odd way. most of the character traits he has,
those that people like and those that they don't, he's had since
before his first album was released.
> What kind of person [calling
> himself an "artist", no less] brings war to the very creative process of
> music [I am referring to these so-called "lyric battles" he seems to
> inspire]?
um... lyric battles have been happening in rap music for years before
marshall mathers even pressed "record" on a tape machine, it's part of
the scene. em's popularity (and specifically 8 mile) simply brought
it to the spotlight. and believe it or not, some rap battles actually
prevent physical violence, even tho some cause (or suppliment) it.
battling was originally invented to replace gang wars, much like
breakdance battles. even thugs know that all that killing does is
decrease the population.
> To tell you the truth, I really don't care about who Al parodies,
> he could release an album of 100% original material, and I'd be just as
> happy. Hell, I'd actually PREFER if he did that, I haven't enjoyed top 40
> pop songs since 1994.
won't disagree with you entirely on these comments, but al has a
tendancy to take songs that are mundane or insipid and make brilliant
parodies of them. even ppl who hate eminem (which i don't) would
probably be able to enjoy al doing an eminem parody, because al does
it so well, period. not only that, but you have to remember that
there are still a lot of people out there who just don't "get it",
they think of al as nothing but a parody artist (or "that guy who
makes fun of people"). each new album he releases results in hundreds
of people being surprised that "he does originals?". releasing an
album with no parodies may entertain his die-hard fans like you and i,
but could be commercial suicide. i'm not saying we should pander to
the lowest common denominator, or that al should, we just have to face
reality.