Oingo Boingo Album: “Boingo Alive”

When this CD (actually I bought the tape originally) first came out I was thrilled. OB had done something that most bands won't spend the time doing. They recorded a live CD (as they play the music in concert) in the studio.

So you get the best of both worlds. You get the music the way the band likes to play it, but it is digitally remastered and very crisp.

If however, you like live recordings with all the energy from the fans, get "Fairwell". This is the bands final live concert.

Bar none, this is the GREATEST collection of Boingo music available. Though technically not a live album (no crowd -- trust me, you won't miss 'em -- just the band on a soundstage), this set captures the energy, power and keen songwriting abilities of Boingo at their peak. The set includes old favorites and a couple new (at least at the time) tunes that'll keep ya hummin' and serves as witness to the dynamic, vital sound created by Oingo Boingo in the early '80's.

I remember back when I was in year 12, I was watching a movie called "Shruken Heads" that night when I heard a amazing song in the film with a pounding, pulsating beat. The song was "No One Lives Forever", I waited until the end credits and I found out it was by a group called "Oingo Boinog" and it was written by "Danny Elfman" (who was my favourite composer at the time and I had no idea he was involved with a band). Anyway, I went out and bought "Dead Man's Party", yet that wasn't the version of "No One lives Forever" that was featured in the movie. Finally, I bought this album on cd and vinyl and I was overwhelmed that it had the version of "No One Lives Forever" (even though it didn't even appear on the vinyl, only the compact disc). The songs in this double album are played at faster tempos, with different openings and such a wallop, that it is something truly amazing. The opening of "Dead Man's Party" is great to play driving down the coast and when you are on the highway doing 110km/h, you have to crank up "No One Lives Forever". It gets your blood going and shivers down your spine. My other favourite tracks on this cd are "Dead Man's Party", "Dead or Alive", "Stay", "Home Again", "My Life", "Not My Slave", "We Close Our Eyes", "Winning Side", "Private Life", awwwwwwww heck all of em. But especially "No ONe Lives Forever", for if I hadn't of heard this song then I would never of heard of Oingo Boingo and that is a very scary thought indeed. Also, this song kept me sane through my senior and univeristy years so I have tremedous gratitude for this song. So, buy this, play it and crank up "No One Lives Forever" just for me and enjoy life!!!!!!!!!!.

Oingo is fast, fun, quirky music. If you've enjoyed any of their other offerings, this is a must have.

OINGO is/was Lord of the Soundtrack Danny Elfman's old band, playing an eccentric, hyperanimated, and very swinging psychopop. There are so many crazy influences, manic arrangements and swooping vocal gymnastics displayed on their albums that I'm at a loss to pin the individual components down for analysis. Futuristic pop-rock as delivered by the house band at the cantina in "Star Wars", maybe - who knows? The lack of ready comparison points is the heart of Oingo's charm - writing them off simply as an "80s band" is a big mistake. Elfman's lyrics and vocals are reminiscent of - hmm, well, again, nobody comes to mind.... After a few early missteps, they began to hit their stride with 1983's GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL, and all their subsequent work o'erflowed with infectious tuneage that incorporated great craft and complexity as well as barely-controlled lunacy, boasting some of the hands-down best arrangements & productions you'll ever hear (one wag likened their albums to stereo demonstration records - a pretty accurate comparison). BOINGO ALIVE is the best place to start, a two-disc 'live' set recorded without the distraction of an actual audience (I told you they were strange). The 30 tracks are given high-powered renditions including many highlights ("Dead Man's Party", "No Spill Blood", "Stay", "We Close Our Eyes", "Elevator Man", "Only A Lad", "Who Do You Want To Be", to name a few) and while the frenetic pace might be a bit much without a pogo-stick handy, you're never bored. The '88 set naturally omits material from their last (and possibly best) studio album, 1990's DARK AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL, but practically every other Elfman raveup is shoehorned in here. Put to pasture in the early 90s while Elfman devoted his energies to film scores; recently reformed as just plain Boingo, issuing one lackluster CD. What WAS Oingo Boingo exactly? I don't know...but to my ears, they sound good, smart, skilled and damned unique. That's gonna have to suffice.