The Ping - Aperitif for Destruction

OK, what's music without some sense of humor, right? This is coming from quite possibly one of the biggest "Weird Al" Yankovic fans growing up. He blew the parody genre out of the water and single-handedly turned it into a multi-million dollar business. Who can forget albums like Weird Al in 3D, Polka Party, and Dare to Be Stupid. Classics. In that same vein, I now bring you the following...

Ladies and Gentlemen, brace yourselves for the leisure suit-laden guy so cheesy, they named it after him...Richard Cheese. In case you've ever wondered what 2 Live Crew, Guns N Roses or Alice In Chains would sound like as a lounge act, now you can find out. Richard Cheese can take any popular rap, rock, metal or hip-hop tune and turn it into pure lounge crap -- very entertaining and funny lounge crap, that is. I give you Aperitif for Destruction, kids.

Richard opens the album up and goes right for the throat...so to speak...with "Me So Horny". Now you know what they were actually saying when 2 Live Crew released it. I know I was amazed. He somehow makes it sound so smooth as asks the rhetorical question on all guys' minds: "What's wrong, Baby Doll, with a quick nut?" Thanks for keeping it real, Richard.

Musically, the album is excellent. They can really play a mean "Welcome to the Jungle", no joke. It comes complete with piano intro mimicking Slash's scorching guitar.

Like most good artists these days, Richard collaborates with a friend to bring you a remake of "The Girl Is Mine" (McCartney/Jackson). It's quite a surprise guest, really. I had no idea Stephen Hawking could sing, let alone play a ladies man and proclaim "she told me I'm her forever lover." Considering the last man to state that fact was Michael Jackson, I'd be willing to believe Stephen Hawking is more suited for the role of ladies man than Jacko. A funny remake of this song, I must admit.

Now when I got to "Do Me" I wasn't sure whether there much to do with this song to make it interesting. Richard proved me wrong. He also shows how much of a diva he can be. When he thinks the song is "Dome", the studio engineer has to correct him that it is two words "do" and "me". Well, the temper tantrum that ensues rivals Casey Kasem chewing the head off his assistant for being late with his latte he ordered.

"Uno, Dos Tres, Quatorze!...Domingo Sangre Domingo!" Yes, it's U2 with a Latino flair, kids. Well done, Richard. Muy bien! More good music on this cover of “Sunday Bloody Sunday”. The horns know their stuff (as a long time trumpet player and band geek, I'm allowed to say that without getting beat up…right?).

Other tunes include Green Day's "American Idiot", Violent Femmes' "Add It Up", Alice In Chains' "Man In The Box" and The Killers' "Somebody Told Me". Overall I'd give this a 2 out of 5 stars on my highly official rating scale. It would be a 3 to 3.5, but the replay factor is very low since they kind of lose their comedic value after 1 or 2 listens. Don't let the 2 stars deceive you. This is still a required listen for everyone out there.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Good night.