Family Guy Live in Las Vegas [CD & DVD] [PA] (CD - 2005)

Like its predecessors, THE SIMPSONS and SOUTH PARK, FAMILY GUY succeeds in transferring mature animated comedy into a sophisticated musical setting, packed with orchestration and arrangements inspired by Broadway and Hollywood musicals. Creator Seth McFarlane uses a Rat Pack-like template on FAMILY GUY: LIVE IN LAS VEGAS, cleverly framing the finely wrought charts of arranger and musical collaborator Walter Murphy on these funny--and often profane--songs.

McFarlane provides most of the voices, and, in doing so, experiments quite a bit. As Brian the Dog, his crooning impresses as he goes from the Maurice Chevalier-inspired whimsy of "The Last Time I Saw Paris" to a bossa nova groove via "Slightly Out of Tune," an adaptation of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Desafinado." Best of all is when the Rhode Island native duets with himself as Peter and toddler Stewie on the lengthy and hilarious "T.V. Medley," a hodgepodge of sitcom theme songs. Throughout LIVE IN VEGAS, there's plenty of lewd humor, pop-culture skewering, and politically incorrect humor, but it's all in keeping with the panache that exemplifies this popular cartoon. minimize