Eric Idle Sings Monty Python Eric Idle Restless, 2000 Buy it online Tracks 1: Spam Song 2: The Meaning of Life 3: Money Song 4: Every Sperm is Sacred 5: Accountancy Shanty 6: The Meaning of Life Poem 7: I Like Chinese 8: The Bruce's Philosophers Song 9: Men, Men, Men 10: Shopping 11: Sit On My Face 12: Penis Song 13: All Things Dull and Ugly 14: Eric the Half a Bee 15: One Foot in the Grave 16: I Must Be In Love 17: Rock Notes 18: The Galaxy Song 19: Medical Love Song 20: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life 21: (Encore) Lumberjack Song 22: Liberty Bell   Reviewed by David Middleton	If you, like me, are a Monty Python Fan, then you will understand what I am about to say. If you are not, then bear with me and hopefully we'll all get though this relatively unscathed. I remember with much embarrassment a time in my life when going to a party -- especially one where copious amounts of cheap beer was going to be consumed and nearly everyone at the party was a 20-something male (despite the fact that the host insisted there would be multitudes of women in attendance) -- meant standing in a small group and doing something that is akin to a pop culture circle jerk: reciting scenes from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Or more correctly: trying to out-recite the other members of your little alcohol-swilling quorum. Some smart-ass would inevitably start screeching in that unmistakable Pepperpot accent and we would all follow suit like a row of unstable dominoes. Intoning such jewels as "The Architect Sketch" with reverent and savant-like accuracy. It was such adolescent twaddle that I can barely remember what made it worth doing -- except maybe being able to come up with a sketch that no one else had heard of, let alone recount. Once everyone had finished their uncannily faithful performance and it was decided all were true Python Fans -- interlopers, pretenders or those unable to come up with at least part of "The Parrot Sketch" were usually severely admonished and then banned from ever showing their poxy faces at subsequent parties -- it was then on to the musical portion of the program. It would, of course, start with that famous ode to luncheon meat. An easy sing-along and even if you didn't know the words you'd usually get the hang after barely one verse. With the release of Eric Idle Sings Monty Python, those halcyon days return like a bad Spam flashback. Idle is one of the founding members of the Python troop. Apart from being quite a funny man he is also a decent musician and has penned many of the tunes heard both on the popular 1970s television show and in the Python movies. To many, the thought of an album full of Python tunes surely causes great groans and much rolling of the eyes. But to those who are ardent fans -- and we know who we are -- every syllable any of the members of Python ever uttered is a sacred gem. While non-devotees may get a laugh out of such tunes as "Every Sperm is Sacred," "The Bruce's Philosophers Song" or "Eric the Half a Bee," context is what really makes these songs relevant. Without knowing that "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from the 1979 movie The Life of Brian is sung -- and whistled -- by a group of crucified men, or that "I Must Be In Love" is a parody of The Beatles from the 1978 movie The Rutles, is to miss out on some of the visual subtleties, cultural references and black humor these songs evoke. They're all here, though. "The Spam Song," "The Lumberjack Song," "The Penis Song" and though not a song but equally as irreverent, "Rock Notes," (in which Idle tells of trying to come up with a band name "so silly, no one would ever use it or dream it could ever be used. So I wrote the words Toad the Wet Sprocket.") And, of course, what album of Python tunes would be complete without John Philip Sousa's "Liberty Bell," Now infamous as the theme for Monty Python's Flying Circus. The liner notes are complete but for the empty spaces where the lyrics of four songs and a few of the spoken parts should be. But a True Fan should be able to fill these voids in without missing a beat. The album was performed by Idle in Los Angeles in concert and therefore these songs are not the versions as they originally appeared on TV or in movies. But that hardly matters. Eric is in fine voice, has a wonderful rapport with his audience and seems to be having a grand time. As Idle unabashedly states, "For what was it exactly that Monty Python was searching for? In a word: Money." And along with the sheer pleasure of performing these -- in some cases almost 30-year-old -- songs, Eric Idle is no doubt none the poorer for it. And neither are we. | June 2000 David Middleton is the art director of Blue Coupe magazine and has not recited a Python sketch since meeting Clive Barker in a Vancouver hotel. Well, he started it.	With the release of Eric Idle Sings Monty Python, those halcyon days return like a bad Spam flashback. Idle is one of the founding members of the Python troupe. Apart from being quite a funny man he is also a decent musician and has penned many of the tunes heard both on the popular 1970s television show and in the Python movies.