Maps of Music

Alapalooza (1993)

Where the lyrics of Alapalooza take you, and where it was really made.

The title is a pun on the Lollapalooza festival, and the cover looked so much like the Jurassic Park soundtrack's that some editions carried a notice telling buyers they were different records.

Place unknown

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Album story

Overview

• Alapalooza: eighth studio album by American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic
• Released October 5, 1993, in the United States
• Seven original songs and five parodies across twelve tracks
• Title refers to the Lollapalooza music festival
• Three parody singles: "Jurassic Park", "Bedrock Anthem", and "Achy Breaky Song"

Background

• Follows Off the Deep End, a 1992 album that was Yankovic's best-selling since 1984's "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D
• Off the Deep End revived his career after the commercial failures of Polka Party! and the film UHF
• By the time Off the Deep End neared completion, Yankovic had already written all the original songs for the next album
• Fearing "I Was Only Kidding" would be outdated, he moved it onto Off the Deep End
• "Waffle King" was saved for Alapalooza but was released as a B-side to "Smells Like Nirvana"

Recording

• Original songs were recorded by the end of 1992, except "Talk Soup" and "Harvey the Wonder Hamster"
• Most remaining tracks were recorded in July 1993, except "Livin' in the Fridge"
• "Livin' in the Fridge" was the last song recorded, about a month after the other tracks were finalized
• The album title was chosen as a reference to the Lollapalooza festival
• David Peters, who had worked with Yankovic on the "Dare to Be Stupid" video, designed the dinosaur in the booklet

Cover

• The two cover designs were similar to the Jurassic Park film soundtrack
• Some versions included a notice distinguishing the album from the official soundtrack

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (born October 23, 1959) is an American musician known for comedy songs that often parody other musicians' songs.
• He also performs original songs in the style of other acts and polka medleys of popular songs, usually featuring his accordion.
• His first on-air exposure came in 1976, when a comedy song he made was played on The Dr. Demento Radio Show at age 16.
• He has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2025), recorded more than 150 parodies and original songs, and performed more than 2,000 live shows.
• He has won five Grammy Awards and earned eleven further nominations.
• His first top ten Billboard album (Straight Outta Lynwood) and single ("White & Nerdy") were both released in 2006.
• His album Mandatory Fun (2014) became his first number-one album in its debut week.
• He wrote and starred in the film UHF (1989) and the television series The Weird Al Show (1997).
• He has produced two satirical films about his own life: The Compleat Al (1985) and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022).
• He has not released a full album since Mandatory Fun and mainly releases singles.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critical reception ranged from average to negative
• Some critics said the album seemed hurried and out of touch with contemporary music
• Entertainment Weekly called the Alapalooza: the Videos collection "amusing" and gave it a "C"
• Barry Weber of AllMusic said the album "sounds sloppy and mostly like a compilation of old B-sides"
• Anthony Violanti of The Buffalo News gave the album three stars out of five

Reappraisal

• The (New) Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album 2.5 stars out of 5
• The Rolling Stone guide placed it somewhere between "mediocre" and "good"

Records

• Certified gold by the RIAA on December 23, 1993, for sales of at least 500,000 units
• Peaked at number 46 on the US Billboard 200 on October 30, 1993, with no charting singles
• Canada: gold on November 16, 1993; platinum on January 31, 1994; double platinum on February 12, 1998
• US sales exceeded 873,000 copies as of 2014, according to Nielsen SoundScan

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Talk Soup" was first commissioned as a new theme for the E! Entertainment Television show of the same name, but the producers decided against using it
• "Harvey the Wonder Hamster" was included after Yankovic received numerous requests to include it on an album
• The cover was a parody of the cover of the then-recent Jurassic Park film
• "Jurassic Park" was a top five hit on the Canadian magazine The Record's single chart
• The album's title is a reference to the Lollapalooza music festival

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

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