Oingo Boingo was a huge 80s new wave hit. They are best known for their song “Weird Science,” released on the “Dead Man’s Party” album in 1985 and featured in a movie by the same name. Although the band split in 1995 after being together for 17 years, the band’s frontman, Danny Elfman, holds an impressive film music career and has written several scores for Tim Burton movies, such as the 1989 film “Batman”.
Every single Oingo Boingo album, even dating back to their theater troupe days under the name Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, is crafted ingeniously. However, it is not very hard to rank their albums. I will only be including their studio albums, despite how much I adore their live albums.
Coming at number eight is their debut EP, the self-titled “Oingo Boingo.” The album cover features an art piece by Louis Wain, a personal favorite artist of mine. The track list consists of “Only A Lad,” “Violent Love,” a ska cover they did of a song originally sung by Willie Dixon, “I’m So Bad” and “Ain’t This The Life.” While this EP does hold a few favorites of mine, especially “Only a Lad,” it does not hold up to the many other albums I will be ranking on this list.
Number seven on this list is “Dark At The End Of The Tunnel.” While this album is a musical masterpiece, it sort of lost its original feel of the band’s earlier work for me. At the time the album was released, in 1990, Danny Elfman had just begun his film scoring career. This shines through brilliantly on each listing on the album. Each song has its own melancholy and mystical sort of feel to it. That is why it is placed so low on the ranking for me, simply because it felt much more depressing to me than the original Boingo albums.
Number six on the list is “Boingo ‘94.” Around this time in 1994, Danny Elfman had shortened the band’s line-up considerably, going from an eight man show complete with a horns section down to five band members with drums, bass, vocals, and two electric guitars, respectively. This album is very similar to “Dark At The End Of The Tunnel” from a musical standpoint, as Elfman channeled much of his film score experience into this album. Each song is wonderfully crafted, and most of the songs are much, much longer than songs put out on previous albums. “Change,” the 11th and last track on the album, is nearly 16 minutes long. While I believe this album is a musical masterpiece, I will say the same thing about it that I said for “DATEOTT.” It simply did not really feel Boingo to me anymore. It became much darker and more depressing.
Number five would be “Dead Man’s Party.” “DMP” was by far Oingo Boingo’s most popular album. While I can appreciate the booming popularity Oingo Boingo garnered from their song reaching the Billboard Top 100, I am not a big fan of this album. While I do appreciate some of the tracks sounding similar to Oingo Boingo’s earlier work, the sound of “Dead Man’s Party” is a bit overrated.
Number four is “Good For Your Soul.” It is one of the earlier Oingo Boingo albums, released in 1983, which is why I like it so much. I like most of the songs, but it does not hold up much to the other albums I have ranked higher on my list. It certainly does have a few good songs, like “Sweat” and “Wake Up (It’s 1984)”, but it does have a few weak songs like “Cry of the Vatos.” Another plus for this album is the cover art.
Number three is “Only A Lad.” This is the second album on the Boingo discography, and I believe it perfectly emulates the sound of the band. I enjoy every single track, but my favorite song on this album by far has to be “Nasty Habits.” I love the horns section on this song, and the lyrics are twisted yet delivered in a funny way that entertains me each time I listen to it.
Number two is “So-Lo,” the solo album produced by Danny Elfman and Steve Bartek. While it was released under just Danny Elfman’s name, many Boingo fans, including myself, still consider “So-Lo” a Boingo album since it consists of the same eight man band and instruments. I particularly love the art on the album cover – it is based on an image of Elfman in a whimsical art style. I also adore all of the songs on this album. “Lightning” is by far my favorite, as I find the electric guitar to be very cool.
Finally, number one is the 1982 album “Nothing To Fear.” There is just so much to say about this album. I love every song. It would be very difficult for me to choose a particular favorite, seeing as I would not skip a single track if I were listening to the album in full. There is such a variety of instruments used in this album, as seen most in “Grey Matter” and “Islands.” Grey Matter features a rumbaphone, an instrument invented by Danny, in its intro, which I cannot help but dance to every time I listen to it. Overall, I absolutely adore the sound of this album and it is one I cherish very much.
