The Weird Accordion to Al
Every "Weird Al" Yankovic Album Obsessively Analyzed by the Co-Author of Weird Al: The Book (Nathan Rabin with Al Yankovic)
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The Weird Accordion to Al
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Narrated by:
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Eric Jason Martin
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By:
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Nathan Rabin
About this listen
From veteran pop culture scribe Nathan Rabin, former head writer of the A.V. Club and the man who wrote the book on, and with, "Weird Al" Yankovic in the 2012 coffee table book Weird Al: The Book (Nathan Rabin with Al Yankovic) comes The Weird Accordion to Al, an even more essential guide to an American original's life and work.
Adapted from the column on its author's website, Nathan Rabin's happy place, with an introduction from Al himself, The Weird Accordion to Al explores every track on all 16 of Al's records (14 studio albums, the medium rarities obscurities collection, and Peter & the Wolf, his collaboration with Wendy Carlos) with an obsessiveness that's downright peculiar.
Equal parts music criticism, cultural and comedy history, autobiography, and comic meditation on nostalgia, television, consumerism, childhood, technology, and food, The Weird Accordion to Al does justice to a musical legend and comic genius, the extent of whose remarkable achievements are only now being fully understood and appreciated.
Praise for The Weird Accordion to Al:
“A brilliant, heartfelt cry of obsession and love for an already beloved and obsessed-over artist. Share Nathan’s madness and be freed!” (Patton Oswalt, American stand-up comedian)
"This book is pop culture history, music dissertation, and comedic theory. Nathan has exemplified the qualities that make Weird Al an artist who is equal parts Frank Zappa, Mel Brooks, and Mark Twain.” (Jonah Ray, American actor and comedian)
“You don’t have to be a fan of Weird Al to enjoy Rabin’s raucous deep-dive into the complete discography. But if you’re not a Weird Al fan, there’s clearly something wrong with you.” (Alex Winter, American actor)
“Wonderfully captures the quirks and fun details that have made the Yank-oeuvre ooze with oddness for almost four decades. Nathan really shows you what makes Al's mind tick. Spoiler: It's the neurons. A must read for anyone unemployed, childless, or with ninety spare hours to kill.” (Scott Aukerman, American writer and actor)
“The Weird Accordion to Al is the definitive companion to the “Weird Al” catalog. It’s chock-full of fascinating insights that left my head spinning like a Frankie Yankovic record (no relation). Nobody covers the Al canon in better depth than Nathan Rabin. It’s a must-read for the weirdos in your life. I learned so much from this very specific book.” (Thomas Lennon, American actor and comedian)
"Nathan Rabin is obsessive in the best sense of the word. He literally already wrote the book on Weird Al that Weird Al asked him to write. That wasn't enough for Nathan, and that's why, we are lucky to have this book. Al's contributions to pop culture deserve the kind of obsession that only Nathan Rabin can bring to the page, and he brings it big time in this book. He dares to be very smart about 'Dare to Be Stupid'.” (Jake Fogelnest, American writer and comedian)
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What listeners say about The Weird Accordion to Al
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Julia
- 09-12-20
Deep, funny, insightful -- like Al
The back story behind each of his songs, plus an intro by the Weirdo himself -- what more could a superfan want?
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Deedra
- 02-04-21
The Weird Accordian to Al
I really enjoyed this book on Al.Having a boy in the 1980's,you could not avoid Al.His fun music and the stories behind them were so interesting!We saw Al a few times.I was glad to hear Stranger Things mentioned as it did bring Al to a new generation.Eric Jason Martin was a very good narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.'
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- James Marsh
- 09-22-20
Tribute to the King of Musical Parody
Disclaimer: I was give a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I think it's fair to tell you that I grew up listening to the music of Weird Al Yankovic. There are a lot of his songs I am more familiar with than the source material Al is parodying.
I think it's fair to break this review into three pieces. 1. Narration. 2. Complete Discography of Weird Al's music and 3. Nathan Rabin's comedic notes.
1. First the narration by Eric Jason Martin was top notch. He had a voice that was easy and calming to listen to, while still maintaining the kind of high energy that pervades the obvious love the author has for the subject of his work. I would gladly listen to Martin read anything from an adventure book to wikipedia articles and would feel like I'm in good hands and will enjoy myself.
2. Weird Al Yankovic is an artist of irrepressible talent. From his dazzling creative mind finding humorous reinventions of pop culture's soundtracks to the ability to be a musical chameleon. Any Weird Al album will cover different musical stylings and genres from track to track. Breaking down the chapters to albums and giving information on what was parodied, how, what was unique to each track is easier said than done. Some works were more rewarding in this regard than others. We also get a feeling of Al's evolution as an artist and get glimpses into his career. I thought I was familiar with the vast majority of Al's work but there were some tracks and projects that I was learning about for the first time - and am eager to explore and revisit the music of the man himself after having finished the book.
This right here is what I was looking for in the book.
3. Which leads us to Nathan Rabin from AV Club. I understand that this book was based upon a series of articles that he wrote and compiled - but I feel that this was a disservice of the ultimate product. "Eat It," "Fat," "White and Nerdy" and other tracks stand out more in Al's career and in the minds of his fans than some lesser songs like "Gotta Boogie" or the Karaoke version of "One More Minute." However due to the format each song is given roughly the same amount of discussion time. Sometimes that means really stretching or over-explaining a joke. Sometimes it means songs come and go before we were done fully digesting their matter. Rabin wrote a comedic series of articles and you may find his humor hit or miss. He also has a few running jokes throughout that may have served better over the course of time rather than all at once. I ultimately could have done with less of the author’s voice and more information.
I did enjoy this book and plan to revisit it in the future. If you are a fan of Al then enjoy a journey of equal parts discovery and nostalgia.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Troy Buffington
- 12-22-20
Fun for true Weird Al fans
I enjoyed this very detailed look and dissection of every song and album of Weird Al.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mike
- 10-17-20
The insight to the Weird Al World.
Stupendous Patato. what a true elegance of the Weird Al. My hero for many a years. Al showed me that being Weird is cool and those who can't embrace it are totally lost. the cadence of the narrative made me truly feel the Weird Al mind. the songs brought back good memories from long ago. I am who I am because of the influence and songs of Weird Al. thank you for all the geekness and happiness of being NERDY. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. WEIRD AL FOR PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Veedubyaman
- 12-08-21
Al: Forever! Author: Never again!
“Weird” Al has been one of those constants in my life that I couldn’t imagine ever being without. I love every single album he’s ever produced. The author does an exemplary job giving the info on each song, but lost me a little more each time he used the word “oeuvre” or brought up Donald Trump…. I’m by no means a fan of Trump, but for the love of god leave your personal hang ups about him at the door and talk about Al!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- mike s.
- 09-26-20
Why the constant Donald Trump references?
Great idea I did not know I wanted. It gets going quite well, the tone and information what I’d hoped for, all well written. Then the author does a weird thing. Making it about himself is okay, how he relates to the songs, what they meant to him, etc. All that is fine and good. But he goes farther and keeps carping on consumerism and other distasteful American pursuits, in his opinion, which he keeps mentioning ad nauseum. He becomes like a sad, angry Canadian teen munching his poutine and sloshing around his can of squirt all over his parent’s basement as he rants about how awful America is. It’s unfortunate since there are many great funny bits, mostly involving a loud Fred Schneider voice. I wish he’d been as subtle and clever as the songs he was dissecting instead of letting his hate and rage seep out – why, exactly, in Weird Al’s name did he mention Donald Trump over and over again. Seriously, why? Also, I hope he re-edits and removes 67% of the times he used the words titular and oeuvre. It became a doleful, pretentious drinking game.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- JulieM
- 09-20-20
Good performance, but tiresome text
Any review for an audiobook contains two separate parts. One is a review of the content, and the other is the review of the narrator's performance. As a Weird Al fan, I was looking forward to this book, and the narration sample was pretty good. But the book on the whole confused me, and I almost stopped in the middle and made it a DNF.
I can't tell what the writer is trying to do with this book. It feels less like a straight up musical analysis and a joke that I'm not part of. Yes, I know Al performs parody and comic music, but that doesn't mean he's not a very skilled musician himself. I could have handled a direct musical analysis, but that doesn't feel like what's going on here. Slogging through the 80s songs and albums feels like satire.
As much as I like Al, I did not like THIS.
To the second point about the narrator's performance... He was very good. He's got a nice instrument, and I would definitely listen to him again in a variety of fiction genres and nonfiction.
I wish I could recommend this, but I'm so glad the book is over. I've got the bad kind of a book hangover, and the only reason I'm rounding up to three is that it was performed so well.
Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Gabrielle
- 03-06-24
The Weird Accordion to AL
This is a fun and interesting look at every album and song that Al Yankovic had released up until 2020. It gives listeners some idea about the backstory of each song and the author’s thoughts on them. As a teenager in the eighties, I loved Dr. Demento and was introduced to Weird Al through the show. This book brings back memories as I listen to the author give his opinions. Narrator Eric Jason Martin dos a good job of keeping the narration flowing and keeping the listener engaged. I received a free copy of this audio book at my own request and voluntarily leave this honest review.
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