 Various Artists Given the outpouring of animosity directed toward Elmo in a recent Loud Bassoon staff's "Favorite and Least Favorite Muppets" argument, I am almost compelled to give this disc a seven just out of spite. I have nothing against Elmo, and in fact he brings great delight to my life. The tie-in album to the Elmopalooza! TV special, though, features about 10% Elmo and 90% artists on Sony, so it's a predictably hit-and-miss affair, although the hits and misses themselves surprised me. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, for example, turn in a fine "Zig Zag Dance," and Steven Tyler's "I Love Trash" is surprisingly good too. Those were two tracks I predicted I'd absolutely hate. The concept of The Count counting members of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones ("One Mighty, Two Mighty, ah ah ah!") is a bit gratuitous. The runaway favorite track is Rosie O'Donnell and Elmo's duet on "Nearly Missed." I heard about ten seconds of this one on TV while in Mexico earlier this year, and it stuck with me enough that upon my return to a civilized nation, I actually bought the disc on the strength of the ten seconds. It did not disappoint. The Fugees' "Just Happy to Be Me" is simultaneously the hippest and most incongruous track on the album, seeing as the rest of the disc is about as white (green, orange, and red) as it gets. Lauryn Hill delivering the line "They never seen a yellow bird seven-feet tall!" is well worth the effort here. The lesser songs are decidedly Kenny Loggins' sappy "One Small Voice," Celine Dion's miserable "Happy To Meet You" (with Harry Monster, Elmo, and Big Bird), and Shawn Colvin's pretty but sterile "I Don't Want to Live On the Moon." Ernie provides some nice harmonies on the latter, though. (But it's the "new" Ernie voice.) Jimmy Buffett's "Caribbean Amphibian" (with Kermit the Frog and the "All Amphibian Band" is 100% what you'd expect. Totally depends on your tolerance for Buffett's eternally sunny vision of humanity (or, um, ichthyology) … mine is very, very low. Steven Tyler sounds more genuinely committed to "I Love Trash" than to the last few Aerosmith albums, which had already proved that he does, in fact, love trash. (And that trash loves Aerosmith … at least white trash does.) The disc closes with Elmo's sole solo contribution, "Songs," which is classic Sesame Street, no matter what your local aging hipster says. ("NO, Sesame Street was only good when I was a kid! I'm bitter! Rahhh!") Inconsequential on every level, Elmopalooza! is still a decent diversion into the world of kids' music, although I'm not sure if either the kids or parents will be fully satisfied by the experience. I certainly wasn't.
Review by Jo Anne Whumpus |