Originally known for derailing numerous Saturday Night Live sketches with his blooper-worthy crackups, most of them falling right before the punch line, the coy, smirky
Jimmy Fallon of old was firmly "love him or hate him." Then, the childhood dream of hosting his own late-night talk show was fulfilled and suddenly he seemed in his element and widely embraced, naturally selling jokes and coming up with musical comedy moments that were hip, outrageous, sharp, and wonderfully dumb, sometimes all at once.
Blow Your Pants Off collects the most loved and wildest Late Night with Jimmy Fallon musical bits, up to and including "Neil Young Sings 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'," which wistfully delivers "Whistled for a cab, and when it came near/Its license plate said 'FRESH' and it had dice on the mirror" as if they were the ragged one's own words. They aren't, of course, and that's
Jimmy as
Neil, but
Justin Timberlake is really here on the old-school party "History of Rap" and that really is
Sir Paul McCartney taking his sacred "Yesterday" and returning it to its original lyrics and title with the hot, horny, and ready-for-breakfast "Scrambled Eggs." News anchor Brian Williams puts his reputation on the line on the pillow talk "Slow Jam the News,"
Stephen Colbert stops by for a spirited take on
Rebecca Black's so-awful-it's-awesome "Friday," and then
Big & Rich &
Jimmy twang out "I'm gonna bag you and stuff you when we get home tonight" while "Cougar Huntin'," each and every one of them having incredible fun with it with
Jimmy as the cheerleader. There's also the fan favorite mash-up "Tebowie," which combines
Ziggy Stardust with NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, and while every track is a hit if you like it absurd and sharply stupid, there are enough topical numbers to consider this release a cute timepiece right after its tenth birthday. Still,
Jimmy's incredible house band, the Roots, is behind it all, plus the idea of
Bob Dylan singing the Charles in Charge theme is timeless, so bring a belt or suspenders so those pants don't wind up in the next county. ~ David Jeffries