Over the past 31 years, no one has poked fun at the world of popular music with more class, skill, and...weirdness than "Weird Al" Yankovic. There's a reason he's the winner of six platinum albums, four gold albums, and three Grammy Awards. It's because he's a darned talented musician. One thing a lot of people don't know about Al is that half of the songs on his albums are NOT parodies, but originals (though usually done in the style of a particular artist). Being a big "Weird Al" fan, I thought I'd rank and review each of his 14 studio albums to date, as well as name my favorite parody and original song from each ALbum. Here we go!

14. "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983)

Okay, so number 14 of 14 is Al’s debut album. This is by no means a bad album, but as Al continued making music over the years he really came into his own, and refined the craft of musical humor which left this album in the metaphorical dust. The parodies on this album are decent enough. The originals leave a bit to be desired. Personally, I like the song “Happy Birthday” which was written because Al thought there should be some options when it came to selecting a song to sing to someone on their birthday. What I find particularly funny on this album is “Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung” on which Al finds a VERY creative use for the air release button on his accordion (the air button doesn’t play music, but is used to let air out of the bellows). As I said, this is a decent album, though probably not the one you want to use to introduce someone to Al's music.

Best Parody: “Another One Rides The Bus”
Best Original: “Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung”

13. Alapalooza (1993)

What can I say? Just about every artist has an album that has to come after a best-selling album. That next album is almost always never as good. Enter Alapalooza. This album tried to live up to its predecessor, but fell short. This is the only album by the weird one that includes a good handful of forgettable tracks (for me, anyway). However, there ARE some gems on this release. Where Al usually would do a polka medley of the popular songs of the day, this album's polka song was a bit different. Instead of a medley of several different songs, we get a polka-fied cover of a single song: Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." Who doesn't love rocking out to the original? We've all seen Wayne's World and love to imitate the "Bohemian Rhapsody" car scene. For Weird Al-oholics, we now have the privilege of head-banging to "Bohemian Polka." Also, remember the one song that made Billy Ray Cyrus famous? Of course you do. It was only played every ten seconds on every radio station across the country. Al decided to make his disgust vocal with the parody "Achy Breaky Song." Also included on this album is Al's homage to the Steven Spielberg hit movie of the same name, "Jurassic Park;" Al's tribute to our favorite stone age family in the style of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Bedrock Anthem;" and the theme song for Al's faithful pet and sidekick "Harvey the Wonder Hamster."

Best Parody: "Bedrock Anthem"
Best Original: "Frank's 2000 TV"

12. UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1989)

To accompany the marvelous (even if it was flop at the box office) film UHF, Al released a soundtrack album. It seems Al was quite busy during the making of the movie because the album has its share of audio bits from the film (like the fake commercials for “Gandhi II” and “Spatula City”). However, the songs that are on this album are pretty good, for the most part. In my opinion, there’s only one song on this album that’s kind of “meh” and that’s “Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters From a Planet Near Mars.” Particularly good on this album is the Dire Straits parody which uses the words from the TV theme song “The Beverly Hillbillies.” GENIUS. Also on this album, we get the first taste of what I call Al’s “Epic Songs” (because of their long narratives) with “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota” which tells the story of a family taking a road trip to a bizarre tourist attraction. The R.E.M. parody “Spam” is a fun one about America’s favorite mystery meat, and is a fun sing-along when it is performed live. This album also features a polka medley (something that Al features on all of his albums except his debut outing) consisting of all Rolling Stones tunes. This is the only polka medley to date that is made up of songs by only one particular band. The only reason this album is ranked so low is really only because of its lack of songs.

Best Parody: “Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies”
Best Original: “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota”

11. Mandatory Fun (2014)

I feel kind of bad that this album is only at number 11 on my list seeing as how it's Al's first album to hit #1 on the Billboard Top 200. Don't get me wrong, it is a very good album, but Al's had better in my opinion. To be honest, some of the problem could be due to the fact that the quality of the popular songs that have been coming out of late are just terrible. He can only work with what he's given. Some of the parodies on this album are kind of sub-par, but some parodies ("Foil" and "Word Crimes") are stinkin' awesome! "First World Problems" is an original that kind of caught me off guard. The first time I heard it I wasn't wild about it. Now, it's probably my favorite track on the album. I also really love "Sports Song," which is Al's version of a football fight song. I really wish this song existed when I was in high school marching band (then again, we couldn't have used it because our football team sucked). All in all, Mandatory Fun is pretty okay.

Best Parody: "Word Crimes"
Best Original: "First World Problems"

10. Polka Party! (1986)

Polka Party! is a very underrated album. It did not do very well upon its initial release. What can I say? Some people are just stupid. Granted, this isn't Al's best album, but it's by NO means a bad one. I particularly like this album's original compositions. "Don't Wear Those Shoes" is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. I'll admit its premise is kind of stupid, but that's the beauty of it. It is sung from the perspective of a guy who will go to all kinds of crazy lengths to deter his girlfriend from wearing a particular pair of shoes. For those who have ever worked in an office environment (especially for a corporation), the song "Dog Eat Dog" should be thoroughly enjoyable. And who doesn't want to hear a tribute to Ed McMahon? Al's parody of "Who's Johnny" by El DeBarge, newly titled "Here's Johnny", is a fitting tribute to Johnny Carson's well-known sidekick. The last song on this album, "Christmas at Ground Zero," is a festive holiday song about celebrating the Christmas season during a nuclear holocaust. Can't say I'm surprised that this one was banned from radio.

Best Parody: "Addicted to Spuds"
Best Original: "Good Enough For Now"

9. Dare to Be Stupid (1985)

One of Al's biggest albums of the 80s, Dare to Be Stupid offers some of Al's most memorable songs...but also some that aren't so memorable. Two songs from this wound up being used in movies: the original "This is the Life" was used for the opening credits of the gangster spoof movie Johnny Dangerously, and the song "Dare to Be Stupid" was used in the 1986 animated movie Transformers: The Movie. Interestingly, this album includes the only time that Al did a parody from someone else's idea. As legend has it (ha), Madonna had just achieved popularity with her song "Like A Virgin" when she apparently made an off-hand comment that resembled, "I wonder when Weird Al will come out with 'Like A Surgeon.'" One of the people who overheard the comment happened to be friends with Al's manager Jay Levey, who then told Al. That's how "Like A Surgeon" came to be. This album also includes the only straight cover song Al has ever done (if you don't count his polkas) with his rendition of the "George of the Jungle" theme song. One of the very best songs on this album is Al's doo-wop ballad "One More Minute" which was inspired by a break-up Al had gone through shortly before beginning production of this album. In the music video for the song, he rips up a picture of the actual ex-girlfriend. "Yoda," Al's parody of the Kinks' "Lola," is a song that Al actually wrote in 1980 when the movie "The Empire Strikes Back" was in theaters, but it took years to actually get permission from Lucasfilm and the writers of the original Kinks song before this parody could make it on to one of Al's albums.

Best Parody: "Yoda"
Best Original: "Dare to Be Stupid"

8. Poodle Hat (2003)

Poodle Hat is a terrifically solid album. There's only really one song on the album that I come close to not liking, but then I listen to it and it becomes a sort of guilty pleasure. That song is "Trash Day," parody of Nelly's "Hot in Here." This is one of the albums where I like the originals more than the parodies, but the parodies are darn good too (does that make sense?). "Bob," a song done in the style of Bob Dylan, is a song where the lyrics are all palindromes (Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog!). The epic song on this album is called "Genius in France," and tells the story of a man who is considered to be a complete and utter moron, but finds he is considered to be nothing short of a genius by the French. "Wanna B Ur Lovr" is a crazy song that is full of cheesy come-on's and pick-up lines. Al's parody of Avril Lavigne's "Complicated" is gut-busting hysterical. The rap about TV shows that the parody of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" is, is a real credit to Al's songwriting genius. As I said, a very solid and likable album.

Best Parody: "Couch Potato"
Best Original: "Party at the Leper Colony"

7. Running With Scissors (1999)

I feel sort of biased on this one. Running With Scissors was my first "Weird Al" album, and is one of my very favorites. Just a heads up. Haha. Let's start with the first track, "The Saga Begins." Al got permission from George Lucas to read the official synopsis for Star Wars: Episode I several weeks before it came out in theaters so that the song could come out at the same time as the movie. This song is one of Al's best in his entire catalog, and continues to be a staple in his live shows. This album also contains what I, and many other fans, consider to be Al's best "epic" song. "Albuquerque" is an 11 minute romp of utter silliness going through a man's ludicrous life story. Al's original song "My Baby's in Love With Eddie Vedder" pokes fun at the grunge genre. Also included on this album are: an awkward original about a transvestite truck driver; a hilarious, too-true parody of Barenaked Ladies' "One Week" that talks all about the content of Jerry Springer; an original poking fun at the absurdity of horoscopes; and more! This is also the first album to be released after Al changed his well-known look. Ditching the mustache and glasses (having gone through LASIK surgery), Al took on the more modern look we know today.

Best Parody: "The Saga Begins"
Best Original: "Albuquerque"

6. "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (1984)

After his debut album the year prior to this, it didn't take Al long to come into his own. His second album was a huge hit, mainly because of his popular Michael Jackson parody "Eat It." The song actually remained Al's highest-charting single until 2006, and the music video is a terrific shot-by-shot spoof of the original. Another great parody on the album is "Theme from Rocky XIII (The Rye or the Kaiser)" which jokes about how many Rocky movies there can be. By Rocky XIII, the champ is all washed up and opens a local delicatessen. In 3-D also includes Al's first polka medley, including songs such as "Hey Jude" by the Beatles, "LA Woman" by the Doors, and "Every Breath You Take" by the Police. The last track of the album is an original about a fictional movie called "Nature Trail to Hell." One of the best parts of this song is when Al tackles the popular "backward message" trend with one of his own. The seemingly indecipherable babble that can be heard about halfway through the song actually says "Satan eats cheez whiz" when played backwards. Also worth mentioning is "I Lost on Jeopardy," Al's parody of the Greg Kihn Band's "Jeopardy" which was wildly popular at the time. In 3-D is an excellent album, and QUITE a step up from the previous one.

Best Parody: "Eat It"
Best Original: "Midnight Star"

5. Bad Hair Day (1996)

Bad Hair Day may arguably be Al's best know album, mostly because of its hit parody single "Amish Paradise," which is a brilliant concept. Al combines Coolio's gangsta rap with lyrics about living the rough life...in Amish country. At that time, it became Al's most popular song. A big song in '95 was U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" which was made for the film "Batman Forever." Al takes advantage of the song's ominous and chilling tone and turns it into a song about a visit to the dentist. Interestingly, Al's real dentist dropped by the studio during the recording of this song with a drill and a real human tooth. You can hear it near the end of the track. The second single released from the album is "Gump" a parody of the song "Lump" which takes you through the narrative of the movie Forrest Gump. There are also many great original songs on this album. An a cappella doo-wop tune called "Since You've Been Gone," about the agonies of being away from a loved one, is a wonderfully written and performed track. Al also gave us a brand new Christmas carol in the song "The Night Santa Went Crazy." Santa has had enough, and decides to go berserk on the elves and reindeer. Originally, the song had a much more violent final verse, but it was altered because the label didn't want kids to listen to a song in which Santa Claus is killed. The original "extra gory" version can be heard, however, on the compilation album The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic as well as when it is performed live in concert. You can't go wrong with this album!

Best Parody: "Amish Paradise"
Best Original: "The Night Santa Went Crazy" (though my 12-year-old self would argue for "Everything You Know Is Wrong")

4. Off The Deep End (1992)

This album was a big success for Al...and it was all thanks to the grunge movement. Sort of. Al had kind of been struggling at this point to find a lead parody for the album. He had been turned down by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney to do parodies of their songs. It's kind of a good thing, though, because soon after those refusals the grunge movement took off, as did the band Nirvana. Al decided to cash in on the new sensation with his parody "Smells Like Nirvana," a hilarious send-up which pokes fun at the incoherency of the band's lead singer Kurt Cobain. Another parody was "Taco Grande," a Mexican spin on Gerardo's "Rico Suave." The song features a rap in Spanish done by Cheech Marin (who incidentally knew very little actual Spanish). The album also includes parodies of MC Hammer, New Kids on the Block, and Milli Vanilli. The originals on this album are pretty stinkin' excellent! Easily the funniest is the acoustic ballad "You Don't Love Me Anymore," which describes a destructive relationship between the singer and a woman. "Trigger Happy" is a Beach Boys style song about a guy who...well, he really likes his guns. The polka medley that appears on this album, "Polka Your Eyes Out," just may be my favorite of all Al's polkas. This is a terrific album (which I'm sure you know by its ranking on this list).

Best Parody: "Smells Like Nirvana"
Best Original: "You Don't Love Me Anymore"

3. Even Worse (1988)

This is one of my very favorite ALbums (obviously, as indicated by my rating)! To me, this album has just the right amount of zany, quirky humor, and there's not a single "throwaway" track on the entire album. For the lead parody track, Al was hesitant to do another Michael Jackson parody because he didn't want to gain the reputation of riding the pop prince's coattails. However, after a handful of other parody ideas were denied by the original artists, Al went back to his idea for a parody of Jackson's "Bad." Just as with his song "Eat It," the new "Fat" became a big hit. Here's a random one: like the Milton Bradley game Twister? Then you'll like the one minute ditty Al does about the game in the style of the Beastie Boys. Another very good original is the song "Good Old Days." Al described his goal for the song: "I wanted to see if I could write a song as if Charlie Manson and James Taylor were collaborating." This is an essential album for "Weird Al" fans of ANY degree!

Best Parody: "Fat"
Best Original: "You Make Me"

2. Alpocalypse (2011)

Alpocalypse is a darn near perfect album. I don't know about you, but there are few albums out there that I can/want to sit the whole way through. This album is so good I feel bad if I don't listen to every song! Each one has its own unique flair that makes it solid gold! First, let's talk originals. The great thing about Al is that the older he gets, the better he gets. A prime example of his unmatched talent is the song "Craigslist" done in the style of the Doors. Al got the Doors style down so well, the only way you would know it's him is by listening to the silly lyrics. Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek even played for this track before his death (a video can be seen on Al's YouTube channel of Manzarek laying down his parts for the track). Ever been out in public and been incredibly annoyed by some stranger's annoying ringtone? Well, Al tackles that subject (in the style of Queen, no less) in the song "Ringtone." And remember those Chuck Norris jokes that everyone loves? Well "CNR" is a song whose lyrics are all Chuck Norris-esque jokes...about Charles Nelson Reilly. Watch your back, Norris! Now, on to parodies. Track one on this album pokes fun at the antics of the festively freakish Lady Gaga with stunning (and hilarious) accuracy. "Party in the CIA" takes a crack at Miley Cyrus (before the weirdness set in). This is an album that will not disappoint! A good one to introduce non-fans to Al.

Best Parody: "TMZ"
Best Original: "Skipper Dan"

1. Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)

The absolute best in the weird one's catalog is the breakthrough album Straight Outta Lynwood. This album takes the best parts of Al's style and personality that we already knew and loved, and combines it with new tricks and treats! The best track is the first one, and unless you've lived under a rock the last eight years you've heard it before. "White & Nerdy" is Al's magnum opus, and has become the theme song for pretty much every self-proclaimed nerd EVER. Al also takes a look at the dangers of pirating music with the original "Don't Download This Song" (which, ironically, was made available as a free download when the album was first released). The original song "I'll Sue Ya" is a spot on style parody of Rage Against The Machine while also talking about some of the most ridiculous and embarrassing cases to ever come before a court of law. Need help with your biology/anatomy homework? "Pancreas" is filled with all the facts you learned then forgot in high school concerning your favorite organ. "Canadian Idiot" (Green Day parody) pokes fun at our neighbors to the north, and "Do I Creep You Out" (parody of 2006 American Idol winner Taylor Hicks) is pleasantly creepy while also giving a nod to Al's 1988 original song "Melanie." This is the ultimate "Weird Al" Yankovic album! It has everything you could possibly want from a comedy album!

Best Parody: "White & Nerdy"
Best Original: "Close But No Cigar"

So there you have it! My run-down of the best Weird ALbums. If you haven't heard them yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?! Spotify and YouTube are FREE!!!!