Oingo Boingo

Boingo

For any fan of well written songs, not just Boingo fans

Review Score:

(10/10)
One of the most under-rated albums ever made. It's unfortunate that this passed most people by. I highly recommend this CD for music fans. At the time Danny Elfman wrote most of these songs, he said that noticed his teenage daughters were listening to a lot of Beatles and Led Zeppelin which caused him to rediscover an appreciation for that music. You can hear the influence in the song writing on "Boingo". This is almost the highest level of song writing that Boingo achieved. It's not my favorite Boingo CD, but it is one of my favorite works of music.

It begins with Insanity, a grand orchestral piece about the frustration of living in what is perceived to be a "Christian" society. The third song "Mary" is very Beatles-esque. It's a beautiful song that I was shocked never made it onto the radio. "Can't See - Useless" makes me cry every time I hear it. It's a song about a failing relationship. "Lost Like This" is very much like old, early eighties Boingo. "War" is a great protest song, written at the time of the Gulf War. "Change" is a 10 minute wonderful and fulfilling jam.

There are only a few week points on this CD. First, I'm not too fond of "Pedestrian Wolves". I find the song to be a little too long and not that great to listen to. The other problem is the lack of "Helpless". This song was a bonus track on the cassette tape of "Boingo", but could have easily fit on the CD. I have no idea why they've left it off.

These are minor draw backs. The CD is great. They spent a lot of time on it. They titled it "Boingo" because it was a complete departure from "Oingo Boingo". They practically dropped the horn section, and added the guitarist of the Vandals to get a more rock sound going on this CD. The songs are long and musically well thought out (Danny Elfman is a composer, after all). Even if you don't like the traditional O-B sound, I think that any person would be very pleasantly surprised by this CD. Now what are you waiting for? Order it already!

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