Editing Running with Scissors (album) (section)

==Critical reception==
{{Album ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}<ref name=allreview>{{Cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/running-with-scissors-mw0000240924/awards|last=Huey|first=Steve|access-date=May 3, 2013|title=Running with Scissors|publisher=[[Rovi]]|work=[[Allmusic]]}}</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
|rev2score = B<ref name=entertainment>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,272456,00.html |author=J.D. Considine |author-link=J.D. Considine |title=Running with Scissors Review |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=June 23, 1999 |access-date=April 1, 2012 |archive-date=June 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616080154/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,272456,00.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>
|rev3 = ''[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]]''
|rev3score = B+<ref name=dispatch>{{cite news |last=Ruggieri |first=Melissa |title=Weird Al's Sharp Wit Shines on 'Scissors' |url=http://docs.newsbank.com.www2.lib.ku.edu:2048/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:RTDB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0ED7BA94232A1154&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0F8479522BD09CA1 |newspaper=[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]] |publisher=[[Berkshire Hathaway]] |access-date=May 9, 2013 |date=August 19, 1999}} {{subscription required}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Pitchfork Media|Pitchfork]]''
| rev4Score = 7.2/10<ref name="pitchfork">{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/weird-al-yankovic-squeeze-box-the-complete-works-of-weird-al-yankovic/ |title="Weird Al" Yankovic - Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic |publisher=[[Pitchfork Media]] |access-date=December 7, 2017 |last=Thomas Erlewine |first=Stephen |date=7 December 2017 |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}</ref>
|rev5 = ''[[Anchorage Daily News]]''
|rev5score = positive<ref name=bestof1999/>
|rev6 = ''[[San Antonio Express-News]]''
|rev6score = {{Rating|1.5|5}}<ref name="San Antonio Express-News"/>
|rev7 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
|rev7score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref name ="rolling stone">{{cite book |last1=Brackett |first1=Nathan |last2=Hoard |first2=Christian |author-link1=Nathan Brackett |author-link2=Christian Hoard |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=2004 |location=New York City, New York |page=893 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/n906 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
}}
The album was met with mostly positive reviews from critics. [[J.D. Considine]] of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' gave the album a "B" rating and felt that, while many comedians are unable to translate jokes onto CD, "Yankovic's jokes are eminently listenable."<ref name=entertainment/> He concluded that "compared with most comedy recordings these days, ''Running with Scissors'' is a cut above."<ref name=entertainment/> Melissa Ruggieri of the ''[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]]'' graded the album a "B+", writing, "Now on his 10th album, the weird and wacky Al tackles gems such as Don McLean's 'American Pie', The Offspring's 'Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)' and Barenaked Ladies' 'One Week'. Most of the results are priceless."<ref name=dispatch/> Warren Rhodes of the ''[[Anchorage Daily News]]'' named the album the fifth best release of 1999, writing that, "Leaving his long-time label [Scotti Brothers] has inspired the parody king; even his originals are pretty good this time."<ref name=bestof1999/> He also wrote that "the intellect's still there, and his wide-ranging chameleon band has no equal."<ref name=bestof1999>{{cite news |last=Rhodes |first=Warren |title=Best of 1999 |url=http://docs.newsbank.com.www2.lib.ku.edu:2048/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:ADNB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EAFE8FDD080F352&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0F8479522BD09CA1 |newspaper=[[Anchorage Daily News]] |publisher=[[The McClatchy Company]] |access-date=May 9, 2013 |date=December 31, 1999}} {{subscription required}}</ref> In ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'', ''Running with Scissors'' was given 3.5 stars out of 5, which denoted that the album averaged between good and excellent.<ref name="rolling stone"/> The book wrote that Yankovic's "nasal whine has never been put to more appropriate use than [on] 'Pretty Fly for a Rabbi'."<ref name="rolling stone"/>

Not all reviews were positive. Steve Huey of [[AllMusic]] gave the album two and a half stars out of five and called it "a mixed bag".<ref name=allreview/> Huey felt that both "The Saga Begins" and "Jerry Springer" were clever parodies, whereas "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" and "It's All About the Pentiums" were not "quite up to his usual standards."<ref name=allreview/> Robert Johnson of the ''[[San Antonio Express-News]]'' was critical of the album, giving it one-and-a-half stars, noting that "in his haste to stay up to the minute, [Yankovic] forgot to make ['The Saga Begins'] funny."<ref name="San Antonio Express-News"/> He wrote that the album "features recycled ideas (fat jokes, alt-rock hits redone as polkas), tunes that sound better than they play ('Pretty Fly for a Rabbi') and weirdness for its own sake (the 11-minute 'Albuquerque')."<ref name="San Antonio Express-News">{{cite web |last=Johnson |first=Robert |title=QuickSpins |url=http://docs.newsbank.com.www2.lib.ku.edu:2048/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:SANB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EAFE8C94B705753&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0F8479522BD09CA1 |work=[[San Antonio Express-News]] |publisher=[[Hearst Corporation]] |access-date=May 15, 2013 |date=July 14, 1999}}</ref>