History AudioPlay / MontyPythonsContractualObligationAlbum

* AbsenteeActor: Creator/TerryGilliam doesn't appear on this album, as on most of the Monty Python albums. A liner note mentions that he only showed up "for lunch."

* NeoClassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly:
** "Henry Kissinger" is a 1920s music hall style song.
** "Here Comes Another One" is performed with a classical orchestra and in a CountryMusic style. It returns being played with bagpipes during "A Scottish Farewell".
** "Decomposing Composers" has various {{Standard Snippet}}s from classical compositions.
** "All Things Dull And Ugly" is done in the style of a CherubicChoir.

* Darker and Edgier

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/32834e5a5d640ad446d50e37b14ca793.jpg]]

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: "Rock Notes" discusses the various names of the band Dead Monkeys all of which were related to fish and/or had some variant on "Dead" except the last one Helen Shapiro, which is a reference to a pop singer who was popular during the 1960s.

* OneWordTitle: "String", "Finland", "Bishop", "Finland", "Bookshop", "Crocodile" and "Bells".

** "Sit On My Face" is a melodical parody of "Sing As We Go" by English music hall singer Gracie Jones. It actually got the group under threat of legal persecution because of copyright infringement.

* Darker and Edgier: so, so much

* Darker and Edgier

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Like the title boldly admits, it was indeed put together to complete a contract with Charisma Records.

** Creator/TerryJones announces a sketch was left out due to "legal advice", which is followed by a slight silence. This wasn't a joke by the way. The track there was originally titled "Farewell to Music/JohnDenver" and features the country singer (played by Creator/EricIdle) singing the first line of a parody of "Annie's Song" (You came on my pillow,), before being strangled. On legal advice the sketch was ommitted. Later CD releases reinstated it, but when Denver himself died in a plane crash in 1997 the 2006 reissue reverted to Jones' apology.

* BrokenAesop:

** "Medical Love Song" lists various STDs, using medical terminology provided by Graham Chapman who was a qualified doctor.

** "I Like Chinese" describes the Chinese as numerous, wise, witty, cute, cuddly and ready to please. Idle says "they only come up to your knees" and associates them with UsefulNotes/{{Mao}}ism, UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}}, Literature/IChing, chess, Zen, ping pong, Yin and Yang and Creator/{{Confucius}}. He also mentions "their tiny little trees", which is a (deliberate) mistake as bonzaï trees are Japanese, though penjing trees are Chinese so perhaps he meant those. Halfway the song an erhu starts playing to add more Chinese atmosphere.

** "Decomposing Composers" informs us the following composers have passed away: Music/LudwigVanBeethoven, Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart, Music/JohannesBrahms, Music/FranzLiszt, Music/EdwardElgar, Music/FranzSchubert, Music/FryderykChopin, Music/GeorgeFredericHandel, Music/JosephHaydn, Music/SergeiRachmaninoff, Music/GiuseppeVerdi, Music/RichardWagner, Music/ClaudeDebussy, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Carl Maria von Weber, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Music/ModestMussorgsky and Johann Nepomuk Hummel.

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: "Bells"
--> '''Husband''': ''The principle's the same. Bleedin' C. of E.! The Mohammedans don't come 'round here wavin' bells at us! We don't get Buddhists playing bagpipes in our bathroom! Or Hindus harmonizing in the hall! The Shintoists don't come here shattering sheet glass in the shithouse, and shouting slogans-''
--> '''Wife''': ''All right, don't practice your alliteration on me.''

--> [[spoiler: ''For fifteen days and nights did Victor withstand these maidens, but on the sixteenth day he cried out, saying: "This...is fantastic! Oh...this is terrific!" And the Lord did hear the cry of Victor. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint And verily came He down and slew the maidens. And caused their cottonwool bugs to blow away, and their Kleenex to be laid waste utterly]]. And Victor, in his anguish, cried out [[SophisticatedAsHell that the Lord was a rotten bastard]]. So the Lord sent an angel to comfort Victor for the weekend. And entered they together the jaccuzzi. Here endeth the lesson.'']]

--> ''But you got nicer legs than Hitler. And bigger tits than Music/{{Cher}}''

--> ''The world today seems absolutely crackers''
--> ''With nuclear bombs to blow us all sky high''
--> ''There's fools and idiots sitting on the trigger.''
--> ''It's depressing and it's senseless''

--> ''All things sick and cancerous''
--> ''All evil great and small''
--> ''All things foul and dangerous''
--> ''The Lord God made them all.''

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Like the title boldly admits it was indeed put together to complete a contract with Charisma Records.

* GodIsEvil: "All Things Dull And Ugly"
--> ''All things sick and cancerous,''
--> ''All evil great and small,''
--> ''All things foul and dangerous,''
--> ''The Lord God made them all.''

* InnocentBigot: "I Like Chinese", a list of the most benign stereotypes about Chinese people.
--> ''I like Chinese,''
--> ''I like Chinese,''
--> ''They only come up to your knees,''
--> ''Yet they're always friendly and they're ready to please.''

* IntercourseWithYou: "Sit On My Face".
--> '' Sit on my face, and tell me that you love me''
--> ''I'll sit on your face and tell you I love you, too''.
--> ''I love to hear you oralize''
--> ''When I'm between your thighs''
--> ''You blow me away''
--> ''Sit on my face and let my lips embrace you''
--> ''I'll sit on your face and let my love be truly''
--> ''Life can be fine if we're both 69''
--> ''If we sit on our faces in all sorts of places and play''
--> ''Till we're blown away''

* LocationSong: "Finland Song", a comedic song about the marvels of this country. When Palin went to the country in one of his travel shows he sang this song while kayakking.

--> '''Creator/EricIdle''': ''Can [[Creator/TerryGilliam T.G.]] do a nice eye-catching cover to help it sell?''
--> '''Creator/TerryJones''': ''Not really worth it.''
* NationalStereotypes: "I Like Chinese" describes the Chinese as numerous, wise, witty, cute, cuddly and ready to please. Idle says "they only come up to your knees" and associates them with [[UsefulNotes/{{Mao}} Maoism]], UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}}, Literature/IChing, chess, Zen, ping pong, Yin and Yang and Creator/{{Confucius}}. He also mentions "their tiny little trees", which is a (deliberate) mistake as bonzaï trees are Japanese, though penjing trees are Chinese so perhaps he meant those. Halfway the song an erhu starts playing to add more Chinese atmosphere. "A Scottish Farewell" is performed on bagpipes and sung with a Scottish accent.

** "Henry Kissinger" is a 1920s music hall style song

** "Decomposing Composers" has various [[StandardSnippet standard snippets]] from classical compositions.

--> ''Splitting up again to get their heads together, they reformed a fortnight later as Heads Together, a tight little name which lasted them through a difficult period when their drummer was suspected of suffering from death. It turned out to be only a rumor.''
* NWordPrivileges: Parodied in "Never Be Rude To An Arab". The singer, who does not have N-word priveleges, recites lines such as "Never poke fun at a nigger". The song abruptly ends with him getting blown up as if by [[BoltOfDivineRetribution divine retribution]].

* ReferenceOverdosed: "Decomposing Composers" summarizes various well known European 18th and 19th century composers. "Medical Love Song" lists various STD's, using medical terminology provided by Graham Chapman who was a qualified doctor.

---> ''How about Makarios? No, no he's dead. Never mind, we'll get his brother it'll be cheaper.'' [[note]] Makarios was arch bishop of Cyprus between the 1950s and 1970s. [[/note]]

* StuffBlowingUp: The accidental racist in "Never Be Rude To An Arab" is blown up near the end of the song. The church in "Bells" is shot down with a missile.

* SwallowedWhole: "Crocodile": News reporter Brian Goebbels is swallowed alive by a crocodile.

* WarIsHell: "I Like Chinese"
--> ''The world today seems absolutely crackers''
--> ''With nuclear bombs to blow us all sky high''
--> ''There's fools and idiots sitting on the trigger.''
--> ''It's depressing and it's senseless''

* ACappella: "Traffic Lights" is sang by Creator/GrahamChapman and a choir.

* BilingualBonus: Certain lines in "I Like Chinese" are sang in Mandarin and translate to "I love Chinese people. How are you, how are you, how are you, goodbye."

* CherubicChoir: "All Things Dull And Ugly" is sang by a children's choir, but instead of positive things it's all about CrapsackWorld stuff, making it a case of CreepyChildrenSinging.
* ContinuityNod: "All Things Dull And Ugly" is a parody of the Christian hymn "All Things Bright And Beautiful", a song that was sang before but straight during "The Bishop Sketch" from ''AudioPlay/TheMontyPythonMatchingTieAndHandkerchief''.

* NationalStereotypes: "I Like Chinese" describes the Chinese as numerous, wise, witty, cute, cuddly and ready to please. Idle says "they only come up to your knees" and associates them with [[UsefulNotes/{{Mao}} Maoism]], UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}}, Literature/IChing, chess, Zen, ping pong, Yin and Yang and Creator/{{Confucius}}. He also mentions "their tiny little trees", which is a (deliberate) mistake as bonzaï trees are Japanese, though penjing trees are Chinese so perhaps he meant those. Halfway the song an erhu starts playing to add more Chinese atmosphere. "A Scottish Farewell" is performed on bagpipes and sang with a Scottish accent.

* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: Near the end of "Traffic Lights", Graham Chapman sings the line "Although my name's not Bamber", obviously setting up the rhyme for "amber" (as green and red lights were mentioned in the previous verses), [[spoiler:but eventually gives up before getting to it]].

* STDImmunity: "Medical Love Song", in which Chapman lists several sexually transmitted diseases contracted by his loved one.

* NationalStereotypes: "I Like Chinese" describes the Chinese as numerous, wise, witty, cute, cuddly and ready to please. Idle says "they only come up to your knees" and associates them with [[UsefulNotes/{{Mao}} Maoism]], UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}}, Literature/IChing, chess, Zen, ping pong, Yin and Yang and UsefulNotes/{{Confucius}}. He also mentions "their tiny little trees", which is a (deliberate) mistake as bonzaï trees are Japanese, though penjing trees are Chinese so perhaps he meant those. Halfway the song an erhu starts playing to add more Chinese atmosphere. "A Scottish Farewell" is performed on bagpipes and sang with a Scottish accent.

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: "Henry Kissinger", named after US Secretary Of State, UsefulNotes/HenryKissinger.

--> [[spoiler: ''For fifteen days and nights did Victor withstand these maidens, but on the sixteenth day he cried out, saying: "This...is fantastic! Oh...this is terrific!" And the Lord did hear the cry of Victor. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint And verily came He down and slew the maidens. And caused their cottonwool bugs to blow away, and their Kleenex to be laid waste utterly]]. And Victor, in his anguish, [[BlasphemousBoast cried out that the Lord was a rotten bastard]]. So the Lord sent an angel to comfort Victor for the weekend. And entered they together the jaccuzzi. Here endeth the lesson.'']]

* NWordPrivileges: Parodied in "Never Be Rude To An Arab". The singer, who does not have N-word priveleges, recites lines such as "Never poke fun at a nigger". The song abruptly ends with him getting blown up as if by [[BoltOfDivine divine retribution]].

* NWordPrivileges: Parodied in "Never Be Rude To An Arab". The singer, who does not have N-word priveleges, recites lines such as "Never poke fun at a nigger". The song abruptly ends with him getting blown up as LaserGuidedKarma.

* NWordPrivileges: "Never Be Rude To An Arab"
--> ''Never poke fun at a nigger.''

* SoundEffectBleep: Creatively used in "I Bet You They Won't Play This Song on the Radio".

** "Never Be Rude To An Arab", in which the singer tells us to not use offensive racial language, only to do it himself and being blown up as a result.

* PachelbelsCanon: Used as background music during "Decomposing Composers".

* ACappella: "I Like Traffic Lights" is sang by Creator/GrahamChapman and a choir.

* LimitedLyricsSong: "I Like Traffic Lights", "Do What John" and "Here Comes Another One" are mostly the same lyrics over and over again.

* OverlyLongGag: A good chunk of the tracks revolve around this. "I Like Traffic Lights" lampshades it.

I like traffic lights
I like traffic lights

** Creator/TerryJones announces a sketch was left out due to "legal advice", which is followed by a slight silence. This wasn't a joke by the way. The track there was originally titled "Farewell to Music/JohnDenver" and features the country singer (played by Creator/EricIdle) singing the first line of a parody of "Annie's Song" (You came on my pillow,), before being strangled. On legal advice the sketch was ommitted. Later CD releases reinstated it, but when Denver died for real in a plane crash in 1997 the 2006 reissue reverted to Jones' apology.

* GriefSong: "Decomposing Composers", where Creator/MichaelPalin lists all the composers who are dead now.

* IHaveManyNames: "Rock Notes" features Creator/EricIdle reading how the band Dead Monkeys changed their name several times, being called- in chronological order: Dead Salmon, Trout, Fried Trout, Poached Trout In A White Wine Sauce, Herring, Red Herring, Dead Herring, Dead Loss, Heads Together, Dead Together, Dead Gear, Dead Donkeys, Lead Donkeys, Sole Meunière, Dead Sole, Rock Cod, Turbot, Haddock, White Bait, the Plaices, Fish, Bream, Mackerel, Salmon, Poached Salmon, Poached Salmon In A White Wine Sauce, Salmon-monia and Helen Shapiro.[[note]]Sole meunière is a dish consisting of sole dredged in flour, fried in butter and served with a brown butter sauce made with parsley and lemon; Helen Shapiro was a British teen pop star in the 60s.[[/note]] Just as Idle is confident that they will be called Dead Monkeys forever, he is phoned with the question: what does he think of "Dead Duck"? Or "Lobster"?

* OverlyLongGag: "I Like Traffic Lights" [[spoiler: where Graham Chapman just sings this line over and over again, with occasional extra lines such as "but not when they are red", until finally succombing to the imbecility of it all with the sigh: "Oh, God..."]]