Introduction
It's important to note that if you were around for the Limewire days, you may have been lied to. Any and all parody songs on file-sharing sites (like Morpheus, or Grokster, or LimeWire, or KaZaA) were attributed to Al, and this led to a lot of confusion about the quality (and messages) of his work. In other words: That racy, tasteless, offensive song you heard online in 2003 probably was not written by Weird Al. He likes to keep his work inclusive and appropriate for all ages.
As I said, over the course of 40+ years, Weird Al has released 14 studio albums, as well as various singles and compilations. Each album is half parody music and half original compositions, and most of them also include a polka meldey of popular music.
One of the best ways to start familiarizing yourself with Weird Al's discography, besides listening to his albums in order one by one (and I know a lot of people do NOT want to do that), is to check out his music video playlist on youtube! It'll give you an idea of all of his singles over the years, and they're all pretty damn funny, too.
Left to right: Dare to be Stupid (1985), Amish Paradise (1996), Tacky (2014)
Pre-Album
Al's career started long before his first album release. From the mid 70s up until the release of his self-titled in 1983, Al had written dozens of songs, many of which never saw an official release. Al also released single before his first album's release (which had the famous version of My Bologna that had been recorded in a bathroom, as well as a song called School Cafeteria) as well as an EP (which contained Another One Rides The Bus, as well as earlier versions of Happy Birthday, Gotta Boogie, and Mr Frump In The Iron Lung, which had all been recorded live on the Dr Demento Show and in various makeshift studios).
Some Notable Tracks include:
Belvedere Crusin (his first song to ever play on the radio!)
My Bologna (Bathroom Version)
If you're looking for some songs that Al's written that don't have a music video, specifially from Al's early career (the 80s), I'd recommend checking out:
- Mr. Frump In The Iron Lung (a short comedy song he wrote in college using his accordion's air valve)
- I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead (probably one of his most genuine songs)
- Midnight Star (a song inspired by crazy tabloids)
- Nature Trail to Hell (a song spoofing the (then incredibly popular) slasher genre of horror movies)
- Slime Creatures From Outer Space (an original composition about an alien invasion)
- Yoda (a Star Wars themed parody of Lola by The Kinks)
- Dog Eat Dog (a style parody of The Talking Heads)
- One of Those Days (a song about having one of those days)
- I Think I'm a Clone Now (a parody of I Think We're Alone Now by Tiffany)
- Melanie (a love song from the perspective of a love-crazed stalker)
- The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota (Which is a real place, and yes, Al's been there himself)
- Spam (Parody of Stand by R.E.M)
This era is the most dense with albums, as his label had him make an album every year for half the decade. This is also the first half of the "classic" Al era, which is best characterized by his "classic" look with his huge glasses and signature 'stache.
Check out this era's albums by clicking on the respective album cover below!
If you're interested in video-less music of his from the latter half of the "classic" Al era (also known as 1990-98), I'd reccomend these:
- Trigger Happy (a parody of the beach boys poking fun at American gun culture)
- When I was Your Age (a song poking fun at how older people always insist life was so much harder when they were growing up)
- Young, Dumb and Ugly (a parody rock song about dudes who are... well. It's in the title.)
- She Never Told Me She Was A Mime (a tragic song about what happens when you keep secrets in a relationship)
- Everything You Know Is Wrong (A nonsense TMBG style parody)
- The Night Santa Went Crazy (the goriest christmas song ever written)
Al's work evolved in the 90s, along with the rest of the music industry, switching from 80s pop hits to 90s alt rock, R&B, and rap pretty flawlessly.
Check out this era's albums by clicking on the respective album cover below!
From Straight Outta Lynwood onward, Al started to commission animators to create videos for a LOT more of his music (hell, the ENTIRETY of the Alpocalypse tracklist has a music video), so a good chunk of his stuff from here on out has videos. This list, instead of just being notable songs without videos, are songs from his "modern" era (1999-) that I either think are notable and don't have videos, or songs with videos that I think are underrated!
- Germs (A NIN style parody with a really great live perfomance to go with it)
- Albuquerque (a lyrical adaptation of Al's life, considered by some (me) to be Al's magnum opus)
- Hardware Store (a love song dedicated to a very special place in every small town)
- Why Does This Always Happen to Me? (A song about a guy who just can't catch a break!)
- Trapped in the Drive-thru (parody of Trapped in the Closet by R Kelly)
-Virus Alert (A warning...)
-Whatever You Like (a heartwarming story of a couple making it work during the recession)
-Mine Own Eyes (a song about all the things people have seen with their own two eyes...)
-Lame Claim to Fame (everyones a few degrees of separation from someone famous!)
Al entered the new millennium with a bang! This era has been Al's biggest yet, with his most recent album, Mandatory Fun, being the first of his to hit the number one spot on the billboard charts!
Check out this era's albums by clicking on the respective album cover below!
Non-Album Tracks + Other Unreleased Music + Special Releases
Al's made a few songs that haven't appeared on any of his albums, or were just released as a single. Some notable ones are:
Headline News, a really fun Crash Test Dummies parody that was released as a single.
You're Pitiful. This was meant to be the lead single of Straight Outta Lynwood. He'd gotten permission from the songwriter to parody it, but Atlantic Records barred him from releasing it properly. Instead, Al released it as a free download, and he still performs it live at shows. Remember, kids... ATLANTIC RECORDS SUCKS!
The Hamilton Polka. Pretty self-explanatory! A polka meledy of songs from the musical Hamilton!
Who's Gonna Stop Me. Okay, techichally, this is a Portugal. The Man song. But it's the ONLY non-comedy song Al's ever featured in as far as I know. It's a beautiful song with a great message, and a really interesting listen as a Weird Al fan. Al's done another collaboration with Porgugal. The Man as well, a polka remix of their song Feel It Still!
In 1988, Al collaborated with the great Wendy Carlos, a HUGE trailblazer for synthesized music, to create a children's album called Peter and the Wolf/Carnival of the Animals Part II! This album is one of the hardest ones to find, physical copies are super rare and its not on a single streaming service, but its up on the Internet Archive. The album is a charming mix of Al's offbeat humor, Wendy's incredible composition, and classical music. I highly recommend giving it a listen! Wendy also has a great page dedicated to it on her site!
Beat On The Brat is a Ramones cover that Al did for the Covered In Punk Dr Demento album! It's really fun!
Conclusion
I know what you're thinking now, you're saying to me, "But Data, what's the best Weird Al album?" And to that I say all of them are good, and theres really no real winner, and...
...
(Its Straight Outta Lynwood)
| Contact me: gamerwednesdayaddams@yahoo.com | Last updated: 04-04-23 | 
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