Oingo Boingo Albums (8)
'Farewell: Live from the Universal Amphitheatre'
Release Date 4/2/1996
Tracks 30
Label A&M
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The final performance of Oingo Boingo was captured on Farewell: Live from the Universal Ampitheatre on Halloween 1995. A two-volume VHS recording accompanies the two-CD set. Oingo Boingo agent provocateur Danny Elfman is an adroit, singular, and quirky songwriter. For sheer entertainment, the Oingo Boingo repertoire earns high marks. This CD and VHS set documents the final performance of the band -- Oingo Boingo's Halloween shows had become an institution, and this swan song is also their first live album. Finally, listeners and viewers are invited into this secret society. All the original material is written by Elfman and proves itself insightful and at times unforgettably quirky. Like the best groups, they provide uninterrupted entertainment with a mental package to take with you. There are 30 tracks on the two CDs -- these are all translated to the videos, with the addition of a half hour of "documentary and retrospective footage" and videos for "Little Girls" and "Insanity." This archival footage goes from goofy cacophonous theater to intriguing Oingo Boingo operas, proving the group's status as a great and underrated band. ~ Tom Schulte, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The introduction to Boingo's first track, "Insanity," sounds like an unused cut from the Batman motion picture theme , shuffling into an angry and eerie rebellion against Christianity, right wing mentality ("years of evolution and we get Danny Quayle"), and media. The lyrics and instrumentation alone demand attention, but the album is pushed over the top by the inclusion of children's vocals that contain a certain element of hypnotism, reminiscent of the rebellion against school teachers in Pink Floyd's The Wall. This is what happens when someone captures "Children of the Damned" and gives them Danny Elfman as choir director. If one can survive the entrance to the rest of the album, there are depressing ballads and guitar-driven rockers to gain, but nary a hint of the plucky instrumentals on past efforts. Boingo amply covers John Lennon's "The Walrus" and milks up their creative spots on the tracks "Lost Like This" and "Spider." Most enjoyable, and unfortunately only on the cassette version, is the end track "Helpless." "Helpless" is voiced by a Jack Skellington-mode Danny Elfman and nearly parodies the grieving found on the rest of the album. It is an operatically rendered portrayal of a "monster" who has been handed a bad life and has no escape. The group Oingo Boingo was once a party favorite, a cult dish for outcasts and pop-punksters, a Halloween night treasure. With their previous album Dark at the End of the Tunnel they showed signs of slowing down, becoming a bit more thoughtful and age weary. With Boingo they have completely dissipated every ounce of youthful banter and concocted an album that would fit neatly between the shelves of Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. Every grain of 1990s droopiness and melancholic frustration has been forced into the album, which makes it a risky one. Here is a fun '80s band in every sense of the term and they have made an unquestionable, 100 percent crossover into grim alternative. ~ Peter Fawthrop, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Though Nothing to Fear is by no means Oingo Boingo's best album, it is certainly not as bad as many near-sighted critics have asserted. Elfman's songwriting, even when he's not firing on all cylinders, still blows the hinges off most of his peers on their best days. It is true that many songs on this go-around lack the smooth transitions that characterize Only a Lad, but the intricately woven, complex song structures do well to sustain Elfman's erratic mood swings. The album begins strongly, with Boingo's trademark bells and synth on "Grey Matter" and then switches gears with an abrupt slap-bass progression on "Insects." "Private Life" brings it all together, oozing forth elaborate instrumentation and rich songwriting. If you can humor Elfman when he gets too excited by his own proselytizing with songs like "Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself," and you give the album a few listens, you'll recognize it's a vastly underrated sophomore effort. ~ Kieran McCarthy, All Music Guide
'Dark at the End of the Tunnel'
Release Date 1/1/1990
Tracks 11
Label MCA
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Danny Elfman, lead singer of Oingo Boingo, knows how to make great music. With his penetrating charisma he can pull many a song through in his own wacky direction and style, making it equally dark and fun. Dark at the End of the Tunnel seems misguided, as though Elfman has lost sense of the music he is "meant" to make, or maybe he had been dabbling in too many musical scores at the time to keep track (he was gaining momentum as a darn good film scorer with hits like Batman and Edward Scissorhands). There are only moments here and there that will remind you of the madman's laugh riot Oingo Boingo used to be. That would be fine, except that the remaining songs are bland and dispirited. Elfman takes a shot at pure pop on "Try to Believe," which is uniquely positive and emotional: Who knew he had it in him? He spreads those hidden wings of emotion even further on the mercifully tender and comforting "Out of Control," which is about as close to a lullaby as you are likely to hear from this group. What a wonderful idea it would have been to use one of the most artistic and clever singer/lyricists of the 90s and his inspired band to create an entire album of pop and ballads. What might be a selling of pride for Elfman could have been a huge benefit to the world of pop with his distinct voice and ability. He gives us a taste of what could have been, along with "Flesh and Blood," a tantalizing blend of vocals and rhythmic mischief that make the album glow, however briefly. ~ Peter Fawthrop, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Oingo Boingo have shortened their name to the more direct "Boingo," but their music hasn't changed. Even it longer sounds quite as fresh, it remains the warped, party-friendly dance music that it always has been. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Returning after a two-year recording hiatus (during which bandleader Danny Elfman recorded a solo album), Oingo Boingo forsook the excesses of smart-aleck humor and quirky production that had led critics almost universally to dismiss the band's first four albums. The sound is still maybe just a bit too uptight and over-determined, but the horn charts are more focused and sophisticated, and Elfman has matured considerably as a lyricist. Alongside such typically oddball fare as the title track and a surprise hit song called "Weird Science" are the faintly paranoid "Just Another Day" and the frankly romantic "Stay," as well as a glorious Motown tribute called "Help Me." But "Weird Science" is what really brings things to a close with a bang -- though it reverts somewhat to the band's earlier indulgence in wacka-wacka sound effects and willfully crazy production technique, it's also one of Boingo's most satisfying pop songs ever. Overall, this is perhaps the first Oingo Boingo album to hang together really well as a whole. Recommended. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Not as highly regarded as Only a Lad or Dead Man's Party, Good for Your Soul may have been underrated in the Boingo canon. While there are moments where Elfman and company are straining a little ("Wake Up (It's 1984)"), there are other moments where the band is in full flight and at the top of their form -- "What Do You Want to Be?" gets the album off to a roaring start, "Cry of the Vatos" is a very warped anthem, and "No Spill Blood," inspired by George Orwell's Animal Farm, is a chilling, thundering commentary... ~ Steven McDonald, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Only a Lad introduced the world to a man who would later become one of its most recognizable popular composers. Danny Elfman, later to write the score for The Simpsons as well as countless movie soundtracks, formed Oingo Boingo in 1977, but it wasn't until Only a Lad's 1981 release that they achieved national recognition. Only a Lad contains obvious new wave elements, but it doesn't stick to any one style long, undulating over a vast musical terrain. Ska, new wave, classical, heavy metal -- they all make at least cameo appearances. The band's musicianship, even at this relatively early stage, far exceeds most of their peers, and Elfman's deft songwriting ability offers a clear glimpse of what was to come. Elfman's voice fits perfectly within an '80s context, but otherwise, the album sounds far ahead of its time. As such, it should come as no surprise the album had more influence on musicians and artists than on the charts. It's probably a good thing that this particular Oingo Boingo collection never reached too high a level of prominence, though, because the lyrical content of Only a Lad could have landed them in serious hot water. Although never vulgar, the album brazenly shuffles through taboos without compunction, writing from a pedophile's point of view in "Little Girls," not-so-clandestinely discussing masturbation in "Nasty Habits," and generally adopting a socially whimsical and irreverent attitude. The lone track not written by Elfman is a stellar tribute to the Kinks' classic cut "You Really Got Me." Later cited as an influence by such diverse bands as Nirvana, Mr. Bungle, and Fishbone, this album stands up well to the test of multiple listens and would make a worthwhile addition to any album collection. ~ Kieran McCarthy, All Music Guide
