The variety of source music in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story includes some accordion performances by Yankovic and others by Cory Pesaturo, whose work also extended into the score's recording. These source applications are all effective in the movie, though something like "The Chicken Dance" (a bizarre bullying scene in the story) is insufferable on its own unless you need top material for retaliatory use on phone solicitors and nosey neighbors. Not unexpectedly, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story utilizes a traditional orchestral score that plays its role totally seriously to amplify the ridiculousness of the movie. Tackling these duties are young composing duo Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson, who together served as assistant coordinators for Christophe Beck in the early 2010's and launched their own compositional careers that most notably landed them the television series "Cobra Kai" later in that decade. Their score battles the song placements and source material, some of which they also coined, from start to finish in the movie, but they manage to yield a surprising amount of cohesiveness in the mostly symphonic recording. They do play over the top for laughs at times, but the soul of the score exists in the two themes they provide for the main characters. The bulk of the music is conveyed by a moderate string orchestra with woodwind and piano layers, aided periodically by playfully light percussion for innocence and brass for bloated nobility. The accordion makes a few notable appearances in the score, both carrying the melodic lines and as a supporting accent. For the machine gun play in the final third, the composers add synthetic elements and exotic percussion, with electric guitars assisting at times, too. Choral explosions mark one notably demented cue. The tone of the genuine character moments is thus charming to a fault, which is the point, but listeners will likely best recall the moments of overt humor in the music. The action music is heavily inspired by generic Lorne Balfe thriller tones in "Diner Kidnapping" (laced with wild accordion), and the exotic action percussion akin to David Arnold in "Heart of the Jungle" is strikingly cool. The ensemble suspense of "The Closet" and militaristic alternative with percussion and strings in "On the Spot" are gripping. Nothing can compete, however, with the ensemble and choir pomposity from The Lord of the Rings for the unforgettable "LSD Trip" sequence, a tremendous fantasy cue for the hilarious scene.

With remarkable success, Birenberg and Robinson maintain their main theme for Yankovic himself throughout every corner of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, applying the idea via various instrumental colors in highly appropriate ways per the needs of each parody scene. The theme is superb and highly redemptive, with a yearning, incomplete phrase followed by a longer one to denote completion. An ascendant secondary phrase is also very warm, and surrounding connective motifs often ring of James Horner's pleasant character mode of the early 1990's. Just the two main phrases emerge at 0:36 into "Weird" on full strings, followed on oboe, strings, and charming percussion at 0:09 into "The Accordion," after which the idea shifts to noble horns at 0:47 (accompany young Al's first sight of an accordion) and xylophone at 1:06 for his sense of wonderment. A lamenting variation at 0:38 into "The Closet" accompanies his father's destruction of his accordion but turns inspirational on woodwinds over string ostinatos at 1:23. The theme is finally heard from an accordion for a brief moment at the start of "Epiphany" and smartly switches to inform the rhythmic, momentous fantasy later in the cue as Yankovic's brain makes the "My Balogna" connection while constructing a sandwich. The melody extends out of the secondary family theme at 0:16 into "My Parents" and becomes somber at 0:34 into "Write Your Own Songs" before returning to the noble horn at 1:01. In the aforementioned "LSD Trip" whirlwind, the main theme is massive on brass at 0:09 over fantasy explosions, and a trumpet carries it at 1:12 over huge chanting and percussive pounding. Anxious fragments of the theme struggle in the first half of "A Parody of 'Eat It'," with nice snippets of accordion taking the melody during the cue's crescendo of angst. A sparse clarinet and piano solos touch the theme in "Drunk Driving," the piano stewing on it over slightly tense strings at 0:13 into "You're All I've Got" and the idea mixed into the exotic percussion and synths at 0:28 into "Certified Platinum" before its confident hero mode on brass at 0:57 accompanies the revelation of his bulletproof chains of records on his chest. The theme suffers on strings over synths at 1:01 into "It's All Business" but becomes redemptive thereafter in the score as Yankovic shows the obligatory reconciliation with his father. An honorable trumpet carries the idea at 1:18 into "Dad Apologizes" and builds to a huge ensemble performance at 1:37 for their embrace.

The composers' handling of the main theme in the final two scenes of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is so emotionally overblown that some listeners may find it obnoxiously sappy, but the performance inflection is perfect. It spills out on strings with newfound resolve at 0:24 into "Al's Speech," where it really milks the secondary ascending sequence of the melody. Then, as recognition that Hans Zimmer has made solo cello performances the obligatory representation of sadly compelling heart, Birenberg and Robinson supply it for the main theme in a melancholy rendition over piano at the outset of "In Memoriam," a scene full of photoshopped pictures of Yankovic's life after his killing. The full ensemble offers a heroic conclusion at 1:59 as a one-eyed Madonna visits Yankovic's grave, the accordion taking the theme out at the end as a gloriously lovely conclusion. That is, until dissonant synths and strings burst forth for the zombie hand pulling Madonna into the grave. Meanwhile, the composers' family theme (mainly for the father) is another nice narrative loop, heard first at 0:16 into "Weird" on oboe, piano, and strings and starting "My Parents" on piano before extending into a pretty, new idea. At the end of the film, it is slight and tender at 0:03 into "The Factory" and opens "Dad Apologizes" and "Raised Amish" lightly. The latter cue expands to a more lyrical variant on solo fiddle for an Americana effect, accordion delicately taking over the theme and the cue concluding with the main theme's secondary sequence in James Horner rumbling formation. The family theme makes an appropriate cameo at 0:06 on oboe over hopeful strings and woodwinds in "Al's Speech" as well. Finally, a love theme for Madonna has hints of Silver Age romanticism in its gorgeous piano incarnation during all of "Al and Madonna," the massive ensemble rendition at 2:30 during the ridiculous kissing sequence not to be missed. In one of the score's few faults, though, this idea is absent thereafter, the other scenes with Madonna and Yankovic unscored and "It's All Business" failing to take it to dark new territory. Still, Birenberg and Robinson's score for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a qualified success. It may not be as resoundingly robust in stature as the typical Theodore Shapiro parody work, but it far exceeds what you receive from John Debney and others writing this kind of music during this era. The 78-minute album, available on CD and vinyl for retro enthusiasts, is an excellent souvenir of the film, the songs placed up front, the source tracks in the middle, and the score thereafter. While laughing at "Eat It" and "Amish Paradise" is always tempting, the revelation here is the surprisingly engaging and narratively effective score.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download