"Weird Al" Yankovic

Poodle Hat
Volcano

Rolling Stone
June 12, 2003
by Christian Hoard

Rolling Stone

Novelty songs, minus the novelty

"Poodle Hat," "Weird Al" Yankovic's eleventh studio album, includes a Dylan parody, "Bob," which raises the question: Are Yankovic's fans even old enough to know who Dylan is? Trafficking in the usual middle-school humor, Poodle Hat finds him once again taking really popular songs and changing the lyrics to cover some mildly funny subjects (Avril Lavigne's "Complicated" becomes "Constipated"). The Eminem parody and obligatory polka-pop medley, wherein he sends up System of a Down, the Hives and Kid Rock, among others, are clever enough to make you chortle aloud. But the joke gets old fast, and the goofy Yankovic-penned original songs don't help much.