Monty Python

This is the album that started the Monty Python craze in America, proving in the process that U.S. audiences actually could get English humor if it was done well enough. The surrealist vignettes and lightning changes from one sketch to another make this one of the few comedy albums that can be listened to for years with complete enjoyment. Most comedy is based on surprise but, long after the surprise has worn off, Monty Python still makes fans laugh at the way the troupe constructs its bizarre sketches, and sometimes fans laugh at themselves for laughing at such silliness. Another Monty Python Record may have inadvertently fostered a greater knowledge of English history and culture in audiences who wondered what the heck they were laughing at and went to look it all up later. The catch phrases of a decade are here: the penguin on the TV, cannibalism in the British Navy, the Spanish Inquisition, and, not least of all, the musical tribute to canned meat featuring singing Vikings, which ranks with the best-known comic pieces of the 20th century. Note: Many people who have owned this album for years have never read the whole back cover. The joke shouldn't be given away here, but, if you own the LP, you might want to take a closer look. [This album was reissued in 1989 on CD under the clever title Another Monty Python CD.] ~ Richard Foss, All Music Guide