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Showing posts from 2014

279. "Weird Al" Yankovic: Mandatory Fun (2014)

Back in 2010 I did a review of every single "Weird Al" album, and though I've all but sworn off doing reviews of new albums, I can't let the collection go incomplete. (I've also done every-album-reviewed projects for The Beatles, The Monkees, Talking Heads, and XTC, so if any of them put out a new studio album I'll review it - though I think I'm pretty safe.) So Al is back with his 14th effort, Mandatory Fun . This is the last record of Al's contract, and in multiple interviews on the promotion circuit he has claimed that this may be his final proper album. In order to keep up with the zeitgeist, he's more likely to do digital singles and EPs that can be released quickly and without the laborious machinations required of a  physical record release. I think this strategy makes sense, especially given the success of his 8-videos in-8-days promotional strategy during the week of the album's release (which certainly helped Al get his first nu