The Wack Album
by The Lonely Island
  • Record Label: Island
  • Release Date: Jun 11, 2013
User Score
7.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 38 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 38
  3. Negative: 4 out of 38
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  1. MooziikMaster
    Jun 11, 2013
    9
    The returning Grammy-nominated masters of frap (fake rap) come out strong with their best album to date. Nowhere else will you find Pharrell Williams dreaming about hugging your mom in a Suburu Hatchback, Kristen Wiig jealously imagining a man with an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction, or Kendrick Lamar as a good financial adviser. Yes, The Lonely Island did it. The Lonely Island haveThe returning Grammy-nominated masters of frap (fake rap) come out strong with their best album to date. Nowhere else will you find Pharrell Williams dreaming about hugging your mom in a Suburu Hatchback, Kristen Wiig jealously imagining a man with an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction, or Kendrick Lamar as a good financial adviser. Yes, The Lonely Island did it. The Lonely Island have created the ultimate mockery of rap and pop music and somehow made it sound better than every pop artist. Although the album has about ten times the profanity of the previous two albums, the significance within the songs really pack a punch. The Lonely Island is a revolutionary trio of creative frappers who know what's up. They take the blueprints of crappy pop music, make it unique, and blow every other artist out of the water. Although they aren't very family friendly, their lyrics express the true issues in the world... and plenty of penis jokes.… Expand
  2. PolisKanin
    Feb 16, 2014
    7
    We need good lyrics, not meaningless ****. YOLO, say no-no to this album. Just kidding, this is a good album, but when I heard "I **** my aunt" I felt like they had **** me over by giving me that **** instead of a good song. ;
  3. Jiano74
    Jan 27, 2016
    0
    Simply not entertaining and I know that they are a comedy group but it was truly cringe worthy and personally one of the worst albums that I have ever listened to. Same I can't score it -1.
  4. Lambo442
    Jun 24, 2013
    6
    Some pretty awesome tracks here, solid production, lots of humor, basically everything you expect from these guys. Problem is, the tracks are just too short! Ok so there are loads of them but I'd prefer less tracks and have them longer.
  5. Mab_987
    Oct 14, 2013
    6
    There's one thing that I'll say gives this an edge compared to their last 2 albums. While Incredibad and Turtleneck & Chain were good on their own merits, it was hard to get out of the head that half of those albums were basically SNL compilations from the last couple years, especially Incredibad which had a couple tracks dating back to 2005. Here though, besides “3-Way”, every track isThere's one thing that I'll say gives this an edge compared to their last 2 albums. While Incredibad and Turtleneck & Chain were good on their own merits, it was hard to get out of the head that half of those albums were basically SNL compilations from the last couple years, especially Incredibad which had a couple tracks dating back to 2005. Here though, besides “3-Way”, every track is from 2013, so it's easier to look at this as one cohesive project. Also because of that there aren't those awkward tracks where it's not nearly as entertaining without the video. But going to the music itself, one more advantage this album has is that here they're incorporating something they haven't before: cleverness. Even though they were funny for the most part before, it was more in a purely goofy way that even the most simple-minded of people could get 100%. While that's obviously the general vibe here, you can tell these ideas took a little more thought, particularly in the way they make fun of hip hop trends. For example look at “Go Kindergarten” & “Semicolon”, which make fun of dance-command rap songs & the hashtag-rap rhyming scheme respectively in the hyper-exaggerated attitude that they've made their name with, with the latter having a double joke between the actual verses & the last few seconds I won't spoil. Other notable ones in this department include “I Run NY” (feat. my favorite guest singer here Billie Joe Armstrong), “Spell It Out” & “YOLO”. And "Perfect Saturday" ends the album on a great note.

    The main problem with this album though is that while the highs are higher, the lows are much lower. Looking through the track list, to me it's extremely front-loaded, with almost all of the throwaway tracks coming in the back half. Tracks like “Hugs”, “I'm a Hustler (Song?)”, “Spring Break Anthem”, “I Don't Give a Honk”, “I F*cked My Aunt” & “We Are a Crowd” just feel like filler made to pad the album out to reach that 40-minute length, with lazy writing & few actual jokes whatsoever. Not only that, but “3-Way (The Golden Rule)” disappointed me as the 3rd in the trilogy following “Dick in a Box” & “Motherlover”. Why? Because unlike those songs, which are are so outlandish & absurd in concept you can't help but laugh, this is just one sub-par dirty joke with a couple one-liners thrown in. It's not as effective because it's more down-to-earth, and I'm sad to say I recommend skipping it. There's also one instance in the track “The Compliments” where the joke is frustratingly explained in the last 30 seconds via a guest verse from Too $hort.

    The Wack Album doesn't entirely live up to its name. It's not as consistently good as Turtleneck & Chain, but the better tracks here are some of the best they've ever done. If you were annoyed by The Lonely Island's previous stuff, then this won't do much to impress you outside of some refinement here & there. But for fans & anyone burned out on serious subject matter & just wanting an album to make them laugh a bit, I think it's worth a listen.

    Top 5 tracks: YOLO, Diaper Money, Semicolon, Go Kindergarten, I Run NY
    Score: 68/100    … Expand
  6. shyts_7
    Jun 14, 2013
    6
    Probably their weakest album. While it does have some good humor, there is really no stand out songs like "I Just Had Sex", "Motherlover", or "Jack Sparrow". "3 Way" is included on this album but that song came out 2 years ago.
  7. Adam1571
    Jun 18, 2013
    8
    The album as a whole is a solid effort, some jokes fall short but it's to be expected in this difficult genre. Lonely Island use satire throughout to address several modern societal issues. A recurring theme is the nonsensical and materialistic nature of 21st century Hip-Hop. At the same time they make it sound good, and credible as a track in its own right, exposing the formulaic hitsThe album as a whole is a solid effort, some jokes fall short but it's to be expected in this difficult genre. Lonely Island use satire throughout to address several modern societal issues. A recurring theme is the nonsensical and materialistic nature of 21st century Hip-Hop. At the same time they make it sound good, and credible as a track in its own right, exposing the formulaic hits spurned out by major record labels today. However the album retains a certain level of immaturity typical of TLI, and despite the absence of a stand-out hit fans of the group should enjoy 'The Wack Album'… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Expert Witness (MSN Music)
    Aug 13, 2013
    83
    Struggling for cred as aging rappers will, they stumble occasionally. Some of these ideas obviously seemed funnier when they brainstormed them.
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  2. New Musical Express (NME)
    Jun 24, 2013
    60
    It’s not Flight Of The Conchords quality but, hey, at least it’s not The Midnight Beast.
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  3. Consequence
    Jun 14, 2013
    70
    While TLI never rival the best of those bygone styles in terms of memorability, this is the first album of theirs to make clear how well they’ve grown to understand the dynamics of making rap songs, fake or otherwise, beyond basic song structure.
    Read full review
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