John Ary here with a bit of Weird Al news to report. It sounds like his next album will indeed be his last. In a conversation with a Lehigh Valley newspaper, he explains,
I have one more album on my contract, and I'm looking forward to doing more digital distribution... Cause I think, particularly with what I have to do, I need to be as immediate as possible, and that means getting my material out quickly... So I don't even know after this next CD if I'll be doing any kind of traditional releases anymore because it seems like everything I do is geared more toward being online and being immediate. And I'm doing my best to figure out a way to do that.
This news saddens me as Mr. Yankovic's cover art and liner notes rival the brilliant visuals of his music videos. On the flip side, it also means we may get his song parodies in a more timely fashion.
Perhaps the timing for this week's edition of The Vulcan Vault could not have been better, as we take a look at an early mock biography based on the accordion player's early experiences with stardom. The Compleat Al bases much of its dry style and structure on a documentary from a few years earlier on the Fab Four entitled The Compleat Beatles. This straight to home video release was meant to promote Al's brilliant Dare to be Stupid LP.
The Compleat Al is only available on VHS, but you may or may not be able to find a copy of it streaming on YouTube right now. Well... That is officially a wrap on the first season of The Vulcan Vault. The guys and I had a bunch of fun putting this together for you every Tuesday. We're planning to revamp the format a bit and return with bigger and better episodes. We would love to hear your thoughts about the show. What would you like to see in the next season of episodes? Be sure to let me know on Twitter (john_ary) or in the comments section below. If you want to catch up on any episodes that you may have missed over the last few weeks, just click on the links...
Week 1 - The Long Shot (featuring an opening rap between Ice-T and Tim Conway)
Week 2 - Twice Upon a Time (an animated film with filthy words executive produced by George Lucas)
Week 5 - Too Many Ways to be No 1 (a Sliding Doors take on Hong Kong gang films)
Week 6 - The Patsy (some of the jokes in this Jerry Lewis masterpiece go soooooooo meta)
Week 8 - The Blood of Heroes (an apocalyptic sports flick starring Rutger Hauer... nuff said)
Week 10 - Toto the Hero (a Belgian revenge thriller that mostly takes place in the memories of an old man)
Week 12 - Miami Blues (A young Alec Baldwin plays cat and mouse with a grizzled Fred Ward)
Week 15 - Modern Romance (Comedian Andy Kindler talks about his favorite Albert Brooks comedy)
