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Which album or Best Of must I buy if I want to discover Oingo Boingo ? -_-
The first Boingo album I ever had was the 1990 compilation Best O’ Boingo, which is a good collection of their more mainstream 80s stuff, but if you want to hear their more punk songs or their more experimental stuff, you should look elsewhere.
I hear good things about the recording of the 1995 Farewell concert, but don’t own it myself.
I’d go with the Farewell deal. Not only does it cover most of their hits, but it has the early stuff mixed in with the later stuff rather nicely. Plus, you get two c.d.s (that’s thirty songs there, buddy! Yeah, I whipped out the “buddy-factor” just so you’d know I meant business and all)….and, you get to hear the band live, which is super-saucy!
Then again, my opinion is probably based on when I started liking Boingo–which has been for about six years now–so I’m sure there are lots of people who tend to lean towards the earlier stuff (which is, of course, snazzy as well). My first c.d. was the Best ‘O Boingo, but I prefer the live stuff, by far–it just sounds, you know, more natural and all….
“Farewell” has a live version of the song “Helpless”, which was only available on the cassette release of the “Boingo” recording (not to be confused by the “Boi-Ngo” recording).
“Helpless” is good, but mighty disturbing, as is the whole of “Boingo”, a dark departure from the demented circus atmosphere the band previously epitomized.
If you’re looking for collections, “Best O’Boingo” covers the MCA recordings, more rock-radio friendly stuff. “Skeletons In The Closet” is the A&M years and has the earlier, slightly more twisted things (“No Spill Blood”, “Only A Lad”, and “Private Life”).
Another band and performer to check out is Erik Sanko, self-professed Elfman devotee and leader of the band Skeleton Key. The latest, “Obtanium”, strikes me as where Boingo might have gone had Giant Records had to cajones to have actually promoted the damned thing.
Thanks all !
I agree with everyone else. Going with one of the later compilations like Farewell or Anthology gives you a nice overview of the group and then you can pick up the discs that your fave songs were from first.
It’s also a neat idea to jus jump in and do it chronologically. Then you get the same experience the long time fans did, ony much fast, most likely.
There is a lot of debate though in one of the yahoo groups about the status of some of the albums. It seems that Nothing to Fear and Good for Your Soul may now be out of print. I think So-lo too.
So here’s my new advice, to the compilation think then move on to your faves, UNLESS you see one of those OOP titles sitting in front of your face, then get that instead. And if they have more than one, get them all and run straight to eBay (if you want to make some money) or to the yahoo groups to sell for less (if you want to make some friends).
Happy Boingoing!
Go with the anthology. It has a little of everything, EP all the way to Farewell.
I LOVE Helpless! That song is damn funny! Wish I had the studio version. As a matter of fact, it’s an older song back from the MK era that the band decided to revisit, ala Ciderella Undercover.
RR
“Which album or Best Of must I buy if I want to discover Oingo Boingo ?”
Every single damn one of them! (in my, not so, humble opinion
My favorite Oingo Boingo studio album might be DARK AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. They almost never played tunes from that one in concerts, and I think it’s the only album that’s not represented on the FAREWELL live album. None the less, there are some great tunes on there including “When The Lights Go Out,” “Flesh N Blood,” “Dream Somehow” and “Is This.” There are a couple duds on there (I never much cared for “Out of Control”), but I think it’s the most satisfying.
The 1994 album (“Boingo”) has a few really good songs. It was the band trying to do a grungy 90s sound. It didn’t always work, but when it did, it really made for some great listening. “Insanity” is the only Oingo Boingo song to use a big orchestra, and is an interesting forerunner to some of Elfman’s film work that would follow. “Spider” is a really sad song, as is “Mary.” “Change” — all 16 minutes of it — may just be my favorite song the band ever recorded.
The 1995 live album is probably the OB recording that I listen to the most. A lot of the older songs get a cool-ass mid 90s treatment, and some songs that were never released commericaly — like “Water,” another favorite — finally made it onto CD.
Some of the older CDs — ONLY A LAD and GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL — have some great tracks, but it’s the early 80s we’re talking about and you need to brace yourself for the production value. Still, I prefer the original recordings to the 2 CD of rerecordings done in 1988: Oingo Boingo Alive. Some of the rerecordings are better (as the early 80s cheesieness has been played down), but they lack the same electricity that the original ones had. Still, that 2 CD set — if you can find it — might be a good way to accquaint yourself with the band. It was my first OB purchase, and I damn near wore it out.
Mullin – I’m with you on “Dark at the End of the Tunnel.” Great album!
I’ve always enjoyed “Spider” off of “Boingo” as well…
-E
if you want the best of compilation of oingo boingo, you must to buy Skeleton In The Closte…. is the best.
Skeletons in the closet has a great selection of music of thiers.
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