'Tuned In' review: 'Muppets' soundtrack covers everything

"The Muppets" soundtrack

“The Muppets” soundtrack, various (Walt Disney)

Disney pre-hyped the new movie/soundtrack for “The Muppets” this past summer with “Muppets: The Green Album,” featuring new versions of past “Muppets” songs reinterpreted by Weezer, My Morning Jacket, Amy Lee, OK Go and more. It was fitfully interesting, but not very Muppety.

Now it’s time to get things started with the real deal: a Muppety “Muppets” soundtrack featuring a little bit of everything — new songs by Muppets, new songs by people, old songs by Muppets, old songs by people, a “Whistling Caruso” featuring the fanciful whistling of Andrew Bird, and a whole lot of dialogue bits from the new movie starring Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Chris Cooper.

Half of the 30 tracks are bits of dialogue that don’t mean much out of context of the film. Also, Starship’s universally loathed “We Built This City” is an unpleasant flashback in pop history, contrasted by the more palatable Paul Simon classic “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” and, especially, the original, 1969 version of “Mah Na Mah Na” (by Mahna Mahna and the Two Snowths) as the closing track.

The collection also features a couple of sappy ballads that might have kids (and adults) squirming in their seats or nodding off — “Man or Muppet” and “Pictures in My Head,” where Kermit mopes, “Sometimes even frogs have rainy days.”

Yet most of the songs are upbeat and infectious, including a stomping version of “The Muppet Show Theme” (by the Muppets and Joana Newsom) and a buoyant “Life’s a Happy Song” featuring the improbable combination of Mickey Rooney, Feist, Adams and Segel and reprised by the cast late on the release. “Rainbow Connection” also shows up twice, as a brief version by “The Moopets” and a full version by The Muppets.

Yet stealing the show are two cover songs. One is an a cappella rendition of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by The Muppets Barbershop Quartet (which includes Beaker, so you can imagine). The other is Camilla and the Chickens’ version of Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You” that uses chicken clucks for vocals. These two tracks bring a flood of nostalgia for the absurdist humor of “The Muppet Show.”

All in all, fans of the new film will likely find the soundtrack a fun, if not crucial, accompaniment.

Rating (five possible): 3-1/2

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