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| The Yellow Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 24, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | January 1992 – December 1994 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 46:35[1] | |||
| Label | Geffen,Gracie | |||
| Producer | ||||
| The Simpsons chronology | ||||
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The Yellow Album isThe Simpsons' franchise secondstudio album, released as a follow-up to the 1990 albumThe Simpsons Sing the Blues. Likewise with the previous album, "The Simpsons" characters sing (with their respective voice actors performing)covers and original songs. Unlike the previous musical album, reception and promotion was poor, and this would possibly be the final pop music album by "The Simpsons", as future music releases weresoundtrack,comedy, ormusical score albums.
Though it was released in 1998, the album remarkably consists of songs that were not included in "Simpsons Sing The Blues", and/or, recorded figuratively around that time as well. Reason being due to conflict with the record label, and essentially several (up to twenty) featured artists such asElton John,Mariah Carey, andSting, (which none of the above artists would make the final album), who would later be removed from the album. However the album does featurePrince,Linda Ronstadt, andC+C Music Factory.[2]
The album title is a play on the name ofthe Beatles'self-titled 1968 album, commonly known as "The White Album", with the skin color of the characters ofThe Simpsons. In addition, the cover is aparody of the Beatles' 1967 albumSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The parody was also used for a couch gag inSeason 8Simpsons episodes "Bart After Dark" and "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" (until it was replaced in reruns of the latter episode with the couch gag from "Kamp Krusty", where the Simpsons find the Flintstones on their couch and Fred invites Homer to sit with him). A similar version of it is on the inside of the United Kingdom version ofThe SimpsonsSeason 9 DVD. An outtake named "My Name Is Bart" is a parody of musicianPrince's 1992 single "My Name Is Prince".[3] In 1993, it was also reported thatMatt Groening had penned a rap song to be performed by Bart.[3]
James L. Brooks, producer of the show, wanted to produce a follow-up album based on the popular reception of the debut, but creator Matt Groening was against it. The cast then recordedThe Yellow Album, but it was not released until 1998, at which time it suffered poor reception.[4] Plans were in the works for music videos to accompanyThe Yellow Album.[5]
Greg Haver cowrote and produced "Ten Commandments of Bart".[6]
TheYellow Album cover artwork, illustrated byBill Morrison (although signed byMatt Groening as with allSimpsons promotional art), is a parody of the cover art for theBeatles albumSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, replaced with characters fromThe Simpsons.[7][8]
In 2005, the artist and designerKaws (commissioned byNigo) createdThe Kaws Album, a "traced interpretation" ofThe Yellow Album. In 2019,Sotheby's auction house in Hong Kong soldThe Kaws Album for 115.9 million Hong Kong dollars, or about $14.7 million U.S. dollars, a new auction record for the artist at the time.[9][10]Yellow Album artist Bill Morrison felt "ripped off" by this,[11] re-igniting a conversation about theappropriation of commercial illustrations for fine art (seeRoy Lichtenstein).
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
There was some hype leading up to the release of the album.Entertainment Weekly writer David Browne said he "eagerly await[ed]" it in March 1993, a month before it was set to be released.[12]
Nevertheless, the album received mixed to negative reviews.The Star-Telegram compared the album to theSouth Park albumChef Aid, arguing that "the subversion [included inThe Simpsons andSouth Park] is only skin-deep, especially when both shows thrive on the type of money-grubbing merchandising that results in junk likeChef Aid: The South Park Album andThe Simpsons The Yellow Album, both released just in time for Christmas."[13] TheTampa Bay Times said the album "is an uninspired collection whose best feature is a too-tiny takeoff on the cover ofSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," noting that songs such as "Ten Commandments of Bart" sounded dated, though others like "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" are praiseworthy.[14]
| Track number | Title | Performers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Love?" | Bart Simpson | 3:50 |
| 2 | "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves"(originally byEurythmics) | Lisa Simpson,Ann Wilson &Nancy Wilson ofHeart,Patty and Selma Bouvier | 4:00 |
| 3 | "Funny How Time Slips Away"(originally byWillie Nelson) | Homer Simpson andLinda Ronstadt | 4:06 |
| 4 | "Twenty-Four Hours a Day" | Apu | 4:24 |
| 5 | "Ten Commandments of Bart" | Bart Simpson | 6:08 |
| 6 | "I Just Can't Help Myself" | Bart Simpson,Lisa Simpson,Homer Simpson | 4:58 |
| 7 | "She's Comin' Out Swingin'" | Lisa Simpson and theP-Funk All-Stars | 6:37 |
| 8 | "Anyone Else" | Bart Simpson andLisa Simpson | 3:56 |
| 9 | "Every Summer with You" | Marge Simpson andHomer Simpson | 3:36 |
| 10 | "Hail to Thee,Kamp Krusty" | Children's Choir, feat.Otto Mann,Lisa Simpson,Martin Prince,Bart Simpson | 5:00 |
| 11 | "My Name Is Bart" | Bart Simpson | 4:56 |
"My Name Is Bart" is a bonus track only found on promotional copies of the album.
