''The Yellow Album'' is ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'' second

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

of originally recorded songs, released as a follow-up to the 1990 album ''

The Simpsons Sing the Blues ''The Simpsons Sing the Blues'' is the first album released as an offshoot of ''The Simpsons''. The album contains originally recorded music not featured in the series save for the first verse of the track "Moaning Lisa Blues" which was first f ...

''. Though it was released in 1998, it had been recorded years earlier, after the success of the first album. The title is a play on the name of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

' self-titled 1968 album, commonly known as "The White Album", with the skin color of the characters of ''The Simpsons''. In addition, the cover is a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

of the Beatles' 1967 album, '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. The parody was also used for a couch gag in

Season 8 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

''Simpsons'' 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 of ''

'' The Simpsons (season 9), Season 9 DVD. An outtake named "My Name Is Bart" is a parody of musician Prince (musician), Prince's 1992 single "My Name Is Prince". In 1993, it was also reported that Matt Groening had penned a rap song to be performed by Bart. 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 recorded ''The Yellow Album'', but it was not released until 1998, at which time it suffered poor reception. The album was to be released in February 1993 and feature Prince, Linda Ronstadt, and C+C Music Factory. Plans were in the works for music videos to accompany ''The Yellow Album''.

Production

Greg Haver cowrote and produced "Ten Commandments of Bart".

Album artwork

The ''Yellow Album'' cover artwork, illustrated by Bill Morrison (comics), Bill Morrison (although signed by Matt Groening as with all ''Simpsons'' promotional art), is a parody of the cover art for the Beatles album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', replaced with characters from ''The Simpsons''. In 2005, the artist and designer Kaws (commissioned by Nigo) created ''The Kaws Album'', a "traced interpretation" of ''The Yellow Album''. In 2019, Sotheby's auction house in Hong Kong sold ''The 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. ''Yellow Album'' artist Bill Morrison felt "ripped off" by this, re-igniting a conversation about the Appropriation (art), appropriation of commercial illustrations for fine art (see Roy Lichtenstein).

Critical reception

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. Nevertheless, the album received mixed to negative reviews. ''The Star-Telegram'' compared the album to the ''South Park'' album ''Chef Aid: The South Park Album, Chef Aid'', arguing that "the subversion [included in ''The Simpsons'' and ''South Park''] is only skin-deep, especially when both shows thrive on the type of money-grubbing merchandising that results in junk like ''Chef Aid: The South Park Album'' and ''The Simpsons The Yellow Album'', both released just in time for Christmas." The ''Tampa Bay Times'' said the album "is an uninspired collection whose best feature is a too-tiny takeoff on the cover of ''Sgt. 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.

Track listing

"My Name Is Bart" is a bonus track only found on promotional copies of the album.

Cast

* Dan Castellaneta - Homer Simpson, Krusty the Clown * Julie Kavner - Marge Simpson, Patty and Selma Bouvier * Nancy Cartwright - Bart Simpson * Yeardley Smith - Lisa Simpson * Hank Azaria - Apu Nahasapeemapetilon * Harry Shearer - Otto Mann * Russi Taylor - Martin Prince

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yellow Album, The The Simpsons albums 1998 soundtrack albums Geffen Records albums Television animation soundtracks Albums with cover art by Matt Groening