(Review) Dr Horrible and Megan Gogerty
Dr Horrible and Megan Gogerty ...clearly a marriage made in Heaven. Or somewhere.
Well, like millions of people all over the world I've been struggling to watch Dr Horrible's Sing-along Blog. Actually, the first time I tried it, at lunchtime yesterday at work, it worked perfectly. Tried again at home later, and the site was down. So was Whedonesque. And Felicia Day just posted on her blog that "Horrible has melted the internet, haha." Finally today the site's back up, but refused to actually play the video - until I disabled my firewall, clicked play then immediately re-enabled the firewall. I just hope millions of viruses and spyware apps didn't infect my computer during that window of opportunity.
Now I'm just annoyed that the iTunes download is currently only for sale to US and Canadian viewers. I'm hoping this is fixed soon...
Because in the meantime, the opening song of Megan Gogerty's new tribute album I Miss Buffy is particularly ironic:
Joss is the boss, buy all his products!
I'd love to, if only he'd let me...
"Tribute album"? you might be asking. "What tribute album?" Well, a while ago Gogerty recorded the song 'I Miss Buffy the Vampire Slayer', and now she's released an entire album. Which I bought, and have been listening to a lot because I couldn't access the Dr Horrible site. And, er, also because it's good. So here's a full review of it.
To be honest I wouldn't say I'd necessarily buy it if it wasn't Buffy-related, because the music isn't that wonderful. But the humour in the lyrics is very, very funny. The album also has some amusing parodies of different musical styles - at least I assume it does... not being an expert I can't actually identify most of them. :-)
The first song, Joss Is The Boss (Give Him Your Money), is short and poppy and shows that Gogerty has her finger on the pulse of why so many women are fans of the show:
Joss is the boss,
Buy all his products!
He's not afraid to show
James Marsters' buttocks.
Which is a courtesy
For those of us who can't
See them any other way.
Hey hey.
On the other hand, she's clearly also aware of the deeper fan critiques of the show, such as the fact that almost every character's father turns out to be either useless, evil or both. Hence the next song, which is done in a sort of reggae style, I think (see, I told you I was useless at this), is called Daddy Issues (Giles Giles Giles).
Third up is the song that's also available as a free download single from her website (link is above) - Kinda Wish D'Hoffryn Was My Boyfriend. It's fast-paced and poppy and cute and funny.
Yeah, I know: he's a demon.
He doesn't care for men's tomfoolery.
But think: his best friends are women,
Plus he likes to give away jewellery!
In a total contrast of musical styles, Lipstick Wiccans is a heavy rock style number complete with feedback-laden guitar solo. Really the exact opposite of the sort of music I imagine Tara and Willow listening to, in fact...
Lipstick wiccans, they have scruples.
Sometimes they have scary black pupils.
Only problem with this song is that some of the lyrics are quite hard to decipher. And I think the phrase 'Wiccan until graduation' near the end might be considered controversial in some circles. :-)
What can we say about the fifth song, The Legend of Mr Gordo? Only that it's deeply, deeply silly; the portentous ballad-type delivery complete with a deep-voiced male backing singer whispering "Mr Gordo!" after each line of the chorus only makes it funnier.
Imagine being embraced by the Slayer,
But never knowing the touch of a sow.
That's life's cruel fate for Mr Gordo.
However, Gogerty is clearly under the impression that Mr Gordo died in the ruin of Sunnydale; she's obviously never read the stories in which he escapes, or is rescued, or teams up with Amy and Warren, or indeed is lying right there on the floor of Buffy's bedroom in Scotland in 8.12 while his Girl and Satsu are bonking...
I Think My Roommate Is A Demon With A Soul is one of my favourites musically, and I can sympathise with the singer's line here:
I know the signs because I've seen the show so many times
Interestingly, a later song on the album is called I Didn't Write A Song About Angel, so clearly, the demon with a soul she's singing about here must be Spike. Even though some of the clues to her roommate's real nature - "She's got an irrational fear of gypsies" and "she broods, she acts all riddled with guilt" - do seem to suggest the other vampire with a soul...
Song number seven, Sunnydale Saturday Night, is probably my least favourite - it's not bad as such, there's just not much I want to say about it. It's done as a 50s-style rock and roll number, with a trumpet solo and everything, and it has a one-line reference to Vampire Willow... there, now I've said something about it. :-)
Lots of Xander To Love will doubtless be a favourite for Xander fans, even if it's actually a sly reference to Nick Brendon putting on weight (I don't know if it is or not, to be honest...) But the song is definitely sympathetic to him. Musically, I wasn't particularly impressed with it, though.
When evil attacks, he's got snacks,
Plus lots of Xander to love.
Ninth comes the song that inspired the whole thing, I Miss Buffy T.V.S. (which is how it's actually titled on the album.) The original recording, which is probably still out there free on the Internet, was Gogerty singing to an acoustic guitar. This new version has electric guitars and a better sound quality, but to be honest I preferred the original - the vocals had a lot more emotion behind them, especially in the bit where Gogerty gives us her reaction to her friend Alexis not liking the show:
And frankly, I don't understand
how it's possible
I'm still friends with her.
Other favourite bits from the song include the wonderfully pseudointellectual:
I want metaphorical mythology
Coupled with ontological authenticity.
I really don't think that's too much to ask of a show.
If any of my flist want to take a stab at explaining how 'Buffy' showed ontological authenticity, please feel free. :-)
Also:
And I'm this close to reading fanfiction,
But writing this song is pathetic enough.
Hmph. :-)
You know, I'm strongly tempted to create a vid of this song. Which I suppose would be a tribute to a tribute? The only problem would be my lack of vid source of Alias, The O.C., and Scooby Doo, though I could use still images. That might work. [/thinking aloud]
And the final song on the album is I Didn't Write A Song About Angel. Of course, just as in the classic fable of the atheist who went around saying "I don't believe in God" all the time, then on dying found himself in heaven, because his whole life had been spent thinking about God... Gogerty writes a song about not writing a song about Angel, which turns out to be a song about Angel. Or something like that...
Although it's also a song about all the other characters she didn't write about, too. And it's really, really funny. So I'm going to push Fair Use in a review to the limit, and just give you all the lyrics to the song. Also, do you get the impression Gogerty is well aware of shipping wars, given her defensiveness in this song? ;-)
I didn't write a song about Angel,
Because it doesn't do much for me.
Don't hate me.
I didn't write a song about Clem,
Because how can you write a three-minute song about Clem?
I didn't write a song about Faith,
Even though I love Faith - she's cooler than Buffy.
Don't hate me.
I didn't write a song about Dawn.
Face it - you're kinda glad I didn't write a song about Dawn.
But I love them all.
I love them all.
I love them all.
Some more than others.
I love them, I love them all.
I didn't write a song about Angel,
Even though the square root of Angel equals five plus Riley.
I didn't write a song about Riley,
I don't have much to say about him.
I didn't write a song about Cordelia,
But I mentioned her in passing so that's okay.
I didn't write a song about Spike,
But I name-checked James Marsters at the beginning of the album.
'Cause I love them all.
I love them all.
I love them all.
Some more than others.
I love them, I love them all.
I didn't write a song about the Mayor,
Even though I love the Mayor - he's my favourite villain.
I didn't write a song about Joyce,
Even though the episode she died in, it was my favourite.
I didn't write a song about Andrew,
Or Jonathan or Warren or any of them.
I didn't write a song about 'Firefly',
Because this CD's about 'Buffy', it's not about 'Firefly'.
But I love them all.
I love them all.
I love them all.
Some more than others.
I love them, I love them all.
I love them all. (x3)
Some more than others.
Yeah, I love them, I love them all.
I didn't write a song about Angel,
But I'm glad David Boreanaz has a career.
I didn't write a song about Angel,
I really should give that show another try.
I didn't write a song about Angel,
I hear the episode with the puppets is funny.
I didn't write a song about Angel,
Even though I like Angel, I'm not saying that I hate Angel.
I didn't write a song about Angel,
Thank you for noticing.
I didn't write a song about Angel,
I'm confident that you and I can move past this.
I didn't write a song about Angel,
Hey look, I just wrote a song about Angel...
So there it is. Buy it - it's only about £6.50 for the mp3 download. :-)
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