'Weird Al' Album Flashback - 'In 3-D' Highlights

I've had a recent resurgence in listening to 'Weird Al's second album In 3-D. The 1984 album spawned the early-career defining hit "Eat It," but that is probably my least favorite song on the album.

There's also "I Lost on Jeopardy," "Theme from Rocky XIII (The Rye or the Kaiser)," the ode to supermarket tabloids "Midnight Star" and the two that stand out the most for me "Mr. Popeil" and "The Brady Bunch."

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In 3-D is interesting because it is Al's second full-length album, but the amount that he has grown and improved since his first album is enormous.

His 1983 self-titled debut has a few standout tracks like "Ricky" and "Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung." The rest of the album, while still good, is more like well-done Dr. Demento-ish quality, novelty songs. They're good for a chuckle but don't have the inspired spark that Al fostered and grew throughout the rest of his career.

That's how most great artists work though, isn't it?

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But, the amount of improvement between that album and In 3-D is vast. Beginning with the ideas - they are stronger and have the bit of provocative social commentary that Al peppers his song with.

Whether skewering the white Reggae/Yuppy era in "Buy Me a Condo" or slasher movies with "Nature Trail to Hell;" Al takes what could be one joke, generic morning radio throwaway bits and crafts musical compositions that live as songs and comedy.

The writing on the album is also becoming less juvenile and more good-silly with better references and jokes that still hold up.

The two songs I want to highlight this week are the B-52's style parody "Mr. Popeil" and the parody of the Men Without Hats* song "The Safety Dance" about "The Brady Bunch."

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"The Brady Bunch" features a recurring theme in Al's work: the general junkieness of television programming. It mixes clever references to the current (1984) TV landscape while repurposing the story of The Brady Bunch into new lyrics for the Men Without Hats hit.

"Mr. Popeil" nails the frantic dance sound of the B-52's and uses the tropes of the early 'as seen on TV' commercial style of Samual Popeil, who invented the Vegematic and the Pocket Fisherman, to rocket late night TV nostalgia into your brain.

* An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified "The Safety Dance" as a Men at Work song because I'm a poor proofreader. And, come on, the names are really similar.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ben Kuhns is just some guy on the internet. He is a wannabe fiction writer, and his wife thinks he's funny. He writes for Results-Townsquare Media in Sioux Falls South Dakota.