This CD is awesome! I've never listened to an "Al"-bum with so many songs that appeal to my ear drums. "Like a Surgeon", "Dare to Be Stupid", "I want a new Duck", "One More Minute", "Yoda", "Slime Creatures from Outer Space", "Girls just wanna have Lunch", "This is the Life", "Cable TV, "Hooked on Polkas". . . . they are all awesome! , (if you didn't know, I named all but one song on that CD). It's got some of Al's best parodies, ("Like a Surgeon", "I want a new Duck", "Yoda", and "Girls just wanna have Lunch"), coolest Artist parodies, ("One More Minute" and definately "Dare to be Stupid"), and shows Al's versatility in originals,("Slime Creatures from Outer Space", "This is the Life", and "Cable TV"). "I want a new Duck" is Al's most underrated parody of all time, and should be on his greatest hits CD. "Hooked on Polkas" revolutionized Al into making awesome polka adaptations from several excerpts of hit songs. Even though the title sounds stupid, "Slime Creatures from Outer Space" is one of Al's best originals, with a bunch of kooky sound effects, blues guitar riffs, and hilarious lyrics. "This is the Life" has musical tidbits from all music; Polka, Blues, Heavy Metal, and even a disco twist tossed in for good luck.

"Dare to be Stupid" has to be heard to be believed. Take the risk of buying it before pre-listening, believe me. It's worth every cent.

The reason Dare To Be Stupid is my favourite Weird Al album is that "Like A Surgeon" was the first I heard of him and I remember laughing at the video on MTV. I wouldn't want the guy in the song, an intern who was last in his class, and whose patients have a high mortality rate: "It's a fact, I'm a quack/the disgrace of the AMA/cause my patients die/yeah, my patients die/before they can pay." The way he says "HEY!" after he sings the title really skewers Madonna. EEG beeps are featured that flatline towards the end of the song, immediately after "I can your heart beat/for the very last time."

The title track has a uptempo new wave sound that's almost like a Devo song, but Al sings a laundry list of things one can do to emulate the song. Some are takes on old cliches, "it's time to let your babies grow up to be cowboys, it's time to let the bedbugs bite." Others are way sillier, "You better squeeze all the Charmin you can, when Mr. Whipple's not around, stick your head in the microwave and get yourself a tan."

Only Weird Al could take Huey Lewis and the News' "I Want A New Drug" and turn it into "I Want A New Duck." This is not only silly, with Donald Duck-like quacks, but has some groaners for puns, "duck tape", "the duck stops here", and the king of them all, "one that won't smell too foul."

"One More Minute" is a breakup ballad where he sings like Elvis a la "Can't Help Falling In Love". The bitter humour used is like those pain gags used in Inspector Clouseau or Naked Gun comedies: "I'd rather have my blood sucked out by leeches/shove an icepick under a toenail or two/I'd rather clean all the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with my tongue/than spend one more minute with you." There is a hint of innuendo using a clever metaphor: "cause I'm stranded all alone/in the gas station of love/and I have to use the self-service pumps."

"Yoda" is a send-up of the Kinks' "Lola" and here's the first shot at Star Wars Al did years before "The Saga Begins." The Dagobah swamp is described as a place "where it bubbles like a giant carbonated soda" Yoda, yo-yo-yo-yo-Yoda" Catchy, that. Funniest line: "I know Darth Vader's got you really annoyed/but remember if you kill him then you'll be unemployed/oh my Yoda."

The brief "George Of The Jungle" replicates the theme song to the show. "Slime Creatures From Outer Space" features weird space age noises about an invasion from beyond the stars.

I wonder if Al got any dates after singing his Cyndi Lauper's send-up, complete with crunching noises. His funny take on the female metabolic system and how females never like to pay would've gotten him a moratorium on dating: "She eats like she got a hole in her neck and I'm the one that always gets stuck with the check/can't figure out why they don't weight a ton/girls, they wanna have lunch."

I was told that the ragtime/Dixieland jazz of "This Is the Life," about something being so filthy rich, was featured in the Johnny Dangerously movie. Nice guitar solo here.

"Cable TV" is another critique on TV, on the perception that getting more satellite channels and esoteric ones makes one cool, be it watching the stock report in Korean, midget wrestling, Celebrity Hockey, etc. "83 channels of escatasy/I love my cable TV" go the chorus. Here's how it'll it end: "I never want to leave my apartment/cause there's so much for me to see." Is life is so empty that they feel fulfilled doing that?

Finally, "Hooked On Polkas," which is a polka medley of 80's tracks Al does snippets of with accordion accompaniment and silly noises. The medley consists of Pee Wee Hunt's "12th Street Rag", Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger's "State Of Shock", ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man", Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It", Hall and Oates' "Method Of Modern Love", Yes's "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It", Nena's "99 Luftballons", Kenny Loggins' "Footloose", Duran Duran's "The Reflex", Quiet Riot's "Bang Your Head", and Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Relax."

So, bite off more than you can chew, take some wooden nickels, look for Mr. Goodbar, get your mojo working now, you can dare to be stupid.

"Weird Al"'s third album continues with the pattern he established with his second album. An (almost) equal number of parodies and originals, plus a medley of hit songs done polka style. (Although this album throws in an out-of-leftfield cover version of the George of the Jungle theme song.) The parodies: "Like a Surgeon" and "Yoda" are classics, "I Want a New Duck" and "Girls Just Want to Have Lunch" are just average. The originals are all pretty good, with "Dare to Be Stupid" (a Devo style song) and "One More Minute" (a '50s vocal group style song) being absolute classics. Recommended to "Weird Al" fans (you know who you are).

Well I just recently became a Weird Al fan. See I first heard about his "SAGA BEGINS" from my friends and when I heard the song, man I loved it. It took me awhile to figure out I had heard his stuff before though. Then I remembered back in 96 I was flipping through the channels till I reached MTV. When I saw the video to "OMISH PARADISE." I was rolling on the floor it was so funny, anyway onto the review.

1. "DARE TO BE STUPID." A very catchy tune. If your a devo fan you will definitely love this song. The lyrics are very clever and you'll find yourself dancing to the wonderful rhythm of the keyboard.

2. "LIKE A SURGEON." A parody of Maddona's "LIKE A VIRGIN" is a fine Weird Al parody but not his best. The lyrics are very clever but quite a few medical terms (you can't blame Al for doing his homework) and if you get your hands on the music video let me tell you, it's a hoot!

3. "I WANT A NEW DUCK." A classic Weird Al song. The sound effects (unlike some of his other songs such as "CAVITY SEARCH") are very funny and never get obnoxious. And you'll love the saxaphone. Oh yeah like the other two very clever lyrics.

4."ONE MORE MINUTE." A classic I-Hate-Love song which was written after Weird Al was dumped by his girlfriend. The lyrics aren't that creative but it's worth a few laughs. Oh yeah guys, buy this album if you've lost your latest girlfriend. Trust me it will cheer you up.

5. "YODA." If you're a star wars fan you'll love this song. The guitar used in this by Steve Jay is very entertaining. The song has a few laughs and really is one of the more serious Weird Al Yankovic songs (scary I know but believe it.)

6. "GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE" I'll have to tell you the truth I really didn't like it. You'll like the drums and the sound effects but other than that it isn't all that great.

7."SLIME CREATURES FROM OUTER SPACE." A very cool song by Weird Al. It's somewhat funny but it's the sound effects that are cool. A very good back track.

8. "GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE LUNCH." A very funny spoof of "GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN." It's very funny and the lyrics are creative but there's no sound effects or instrument to awe at. Never the less a very funny song.

9."THIS IS THE LIFE" A song made for the movie Johny Dangerously. Pretty funny but that's all.

10. "CABLE TV" A very funny song with lots of funny lyrics and some girl echoers to awe at.

11."HOOKED ON POLKAS." I've heard a lot of Weird Al's polka's trust me this isn't the best one. It is very cool though.

Hilarious LP that still cracks me up. I dig the earlier more DIY sound of Al better than his more-mature, demure, long-haired self... His CDs have gotten smarter and stylistically more chameleon-like (remember back in '92 when the Al video for smells like nirvana came on and at first you actually thought it was the Nirvana video?), buit I still like this earlier stuff more... Dare to be Stupid has to be one of the funniest songs and videos of all time.