Running with Scissors

1	The Saga Begins 5:27
2	My Baby's In Love With Eddie Vedder 3:25
3	Pretty Fly For A Rabbi 3:02
4	The Weird Al Show Theme 1:13
5	Jerry Springer 2:46
6	Germs 4:38
7	Polka Power! 4:21
8	Your Horoscope For Today 3:59
9	It's All About the Pentiums 3:34
10	Truck Drivin' Song 2:27
11	Grapefruit Diet 3:30
12	Albuquerque 11:22

Barnes & Noble

"Weird Al" Yankovic has sold more albums of purely humorous music than anyone else, ever. His last outing, 1996's Bad Hair Day, was his biggest yet, giving this new one a lot to live up to. Can Running with Scissors cut it? Yes. Track for track, it's the best Weird Al album yet. The opener, and the first single, "The Saga Begins," retells the story of "The Phantom Menace" to the music of "American Pie." It's very nicely done, but Al's just getting started. "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" is self-explanatory, and just as funny as Bad Hair Day's "Amish Paradise." Barenaked Ladies' "One Week" becomes a smashing ode to Jerry Springer, while songs about astrology, the Grapefruit Diet, and a transvestite truck driver prove that Al's humor isn't just for kids. "It's All About the Pentiums" contains my favorite single line -- "You're just about as useless as JPEG's to Helen Keller!" -- and there's a medley of recent chart-toppers in polka time. The fact that Yankovic can keep this old gag fresh time after time is a tribute to his musicianship and that of his backup band (he's had the same three guys with him for 16 years). The grand finale, "Albuquerque," is an 11-minute roller-coaster ride, with a surrealistic surprise around every bend. There's never been anything else like it in the history of comedy music. After all these years, Al Yankovic is still discovering new ways to be funny. Dr. Demento

All Music Guide

Like many of Weird Al's 1990s albums, Running With Scissors is something of a mixed bag, although devoted fans will definitely find enough of interest to add it to their collections. As usual, the highlights tend to be song parodies: "The Saga Begins" is a retelling of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace from Obi-Wan Kenobi's point of view set to the tune of "American Pie," while "Jerry Springer" is a clever rewrite of the Barenaked Ladies' "One Week." Not all of them quite hit the mark, though: "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" has the same borderline ethnic condescension of the Offspring's original, and Yankovic's mimicry of the sound of his source material on the Puff Daddy takeoff "It's All About the Pentiums" isn't quite up to his usual standards. The originals tend to come off as forced, as though Yankovic is trying way too hard to live up to his nickname; although the snarky rip of "My Baby's in Love With Eddie Vedder" hits pretty close to the mark, the 11-minute closer "Albuquerque" is interminable. Overall, there are some songs worthy of adding to Yankovic's next best-of, and some more that no one will miss. Steve Huey