White Album

This album carries the National Lampoon moniker, but don't get too excited. Originally released in 1980, this is, for the most part, dated, weak, and clichéd material. It isn't funny now and it probably wasn't funny back then. Track titles like "Fartman" and "The Sounds of Physical Love" speak for themselves (and the titles contain as much humor as the ensuing dialogue), while "Shakespeare Knock Knocks" is a concept with potential but it isn't realized here. Other tracks, like "Perrier Junkie" and the Johnny Cash copycat song "What About Reupholsterers?" are clever and well delivered but won't leave you in stitches. The best track by far -- and the album's only redeeming cut -- is "Gay Alliance." Not coincidentally, it features John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Christopher Guest, and Steve Collins. A spoof on macho movie men Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, and Lee Marvin "coming out" on a radio show, it's well written and executed with the sharp timing and stylistic nuance that separate the great comics from those who don't cut it. And it makes you laugh. Thankfully, at a bit more than six minutes it's also the longest track on the disc. Most of the other names involved on this album probably won't ring a bell. If it's sharp comedy you're after, best to look elsewhere.