Founding members Iggy Pop (vocals), Ron Asheton (guitar), and Scott Asheton (drums) are featured, along with new band member Mike Watt (bass guitar), formerly of Minutemen, and returning guest musician Steve Mackay (saxophone), who appeared on The Stooges' 1970 album, Fun House.

[citation needed] According to Watt's online diary, the songs recorded during the sessions included a finalized version of "My Idea of Fun" (first heard on the live CD Telluric Chaos) and a cover of The Beatles' "I Wanna Be Your Man" (more faithful to the Rolling Stones version), while a 20 November article on the album, derived mainly from an interview with Pop, also gives the following song titles as appearing on the album: "Trollin'", "ATM", "You Can't Have Friends, "The Weirdness", and "Greedy Awful People".

Pitchfork gave the album an exceptionally low 1.0/10 rating, writing that it "hideously disgraces the band's original work.

"[13] BBC Music, on the other hand, wrote "Fast, tight, and ready for action, [The Weirdness is] entertaining, exuberant and fun.

"[4] Mojo called the album "a brash, modern-sounding rock record that also sounds more vital than most bands 40 years The Stooges' junior.