I picked this up yesterday, not realizing it was the day the album was released. I just saw Al on CD, and that caught my attention. I'd always been a fan, but the only other album I own is Alapalooza on cassette. So it seemed like a perfect excuse to expand my collection.

Looking at the track list, it seemed like a truly complete and well-rounded Al compilation--all his greatest hits over his career. The songs really are that good, and the track listing represents itself. In fact, the only song I personally miss is "Living in the Fridge" (parody of Aerosmith's "Living on the Edge").

So besides the songs, what else is there? Well... there's a great essay by Steven Thomas of The Onion/AV Club, and there is a wealth of photos from over Al's 30 year career. All of that adds to the overall value of the package for me. It's also a really good way to introduce new and casual fans to more of Al's work.

I wish i could say I was an old school weird Al fan, but I'm nowhere near old enough. I can say that I was a fan before the huge White and Nerdy wave swept over my school. There is a great selection of songs on here. Of course it covers all the major singles like Eat it,Like a Surgeon,Amish Paradise,White and Nerdy,and the very old, Another One Rides the Bus. This song, going by his behind the music, was originally recorded in a bathroom in his college.

I saw another reviewer bring up the exclusion of Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies. This does suck because otherwise you'd have to get it on the UHF album. This album had very few highlights and is only really good if you a big fan of the UHF movie. Which you should be because that movie was awesome and would have been a big hit if Indy Jones hadn't also come out. But that's just my opinion. This is a great album for new fans of Mr. Yankovic, especially at a price of 14 bucks for 38 songs.

To begin with, "Weird Al" Yankovic -- who just turned 50 last year -- is someone I always forget how much I've liked until I happen to hear a new song from him. I heard the Michael Jackson parody "Eat It" sometime in the 1980s when I was very young, and I thought it was a hoot; after that, listening to The Dr. Demento Show in the early '90s, I was introduced to songs like "Fat," "Smells Like Nirvana" (my personal fave), the Beach Boys pastiche "Trigger Happy," and "You Don't Love Me Anymore." A few years later, the Coolio parody "Amish Paradise" came along, and in 1999 I caught "The Saga Begins" (the plot of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace set to the tune of "American Pie") and VH1's cheeky Behind The Music special. Then "White & Nerdy" and the hysterical charity-single goof "Don't Download This Song" caught my attention in 2006. All of the aforementioned tracks are included in this 2-disc, 38-track Essential collection -- indeed, it's the Weird Al retrospective I've been waiting for.

Al's first 8 albums (from 1983 to 1993) have been anthologized many times before -- on two volumes of Greatest Hits, the box set Permanent Record, The Food Album, The TV Album -- and now they're revisited on Disc 1 of this set. But this set is the first time his 4 albums from 1996 to 2006 have received the best-of treatment; this period is covered on Disc 2. Given that the tracks on Essential were picked by the man himself -- including a mix of hits, his personal favorites, and fan faves -- I can't really argue with what he apparently feels is his best and most enduring work. Anyway, this was meant as an introduction for beginning fans, and besides, any compilation NOT specifically based on which songs were released as singles and/or how high they charted is bound to come up short for longtime fans. (For the record, from what little I've heard on the radio, I'm already missing "Stop Draggin' My Car Around," "Christmas At Ground Zero," "When I Was Your Age," "Couch Potato," and "Ode To A Superhero.")

Frankly, I'd rather address what actually IS here. Though Weird Al is most widely known for his parodies of Top 40 pop hits ("Like A Surgeon," "eBay") and rock classics ("Yoda," "Jurassic Park"), his original tunes are often equally accomplished -- from twisted love songs like the nasty heartbreak ballad "One More Minute," the power pop-y "Melanie" and the doo-wop ditty "Since You've Been Gone," to the off-the-wall narratives of "The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota" and "Albuquerque," to the remarkable rapid-fire sections of "Your Horoscope For Today" and "Hardware Store." Furthermore, he and his longtime bandmates -- drummer Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, bassist Steve Jay, and guitarist Jim West -- prove themselves incredibly versatile performers, moving deftly from polka (the covers medley "Polkas On 45") to New Wave ("Dare To Be Stupid" and "Dog Eat Dog," dead-on "style parodies" of Devo and the Talking Heads, respectively) to rap and R&B ("It's All About The Pentiums," "Trapped In The Drive-Thru") to symphonic pop (the Brian Wilson homage "Pancreas"). Regardless of whether or not you think Al's lyrical jokes hold up, you really can't deny the sheer craftsmanship that went into the music.

Weird Al's career has lasted a good 30 years (which is as long as I've been *alive*), outlasting the careers of most of the artists he's parodied. Early on, after his accordion-driven self-titled 1983 debut (represented here only by "Another One Rides The Bus," an acoustic single he had actually recorded in 1980), he and his band realized the best jokes are told with a straight face rather than with a giggle; throughout this set's 2-and-a-half+ hours, you can follow the band's musical growth, as well as Al's knack for keeping up with current trends without altering himself in any fundamental sense (i.e. occasional mild vulgarity and gross-out humor aside, his lyrics are intended for a general audience, and have never resorted to outright profanity). Not that Al shows any signs of slowing down, either: He is currently working on a new album -- five of the tracks having already been previewed on last year's digital EP Internet Leaks -- and I am most certainly looking forward to whatever he does next.

It's been a long time since Al has put out a "best of" article. This is a major update including some of the more modern music. For those of us who have been fans a long time, it's great that Al is still cranking it out.

This is truly a classic concentration of the greatest hits for those who are not only genuine fans, but also those who like the many songs that have made Al famous beyond his true devotees. Looking forward to seeing Al on Jimmy Fallon tomorrow night.

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Make up your playlist with the song Al covers, then Al's version. Now think of any of the songs and I guarantee you you'll think of Al's version first and you'll keep saying out loud "This is so much better than the original. Al is a genius". And lest we forget, the Stupid Band is the 2nd best cover band EVER! (Just because the Blues Brothers have a killer horn section.)