Boingo (album)

After 1990's Dark at the End of the Tunnel, frontman Danny Elfman felt he was again "starting to get bored" with the band's musical direction and that a change was necessary to stay active.[1] In 1994, he decided to reshuffle the band's line-up without a horn section or keyboards and add second guitarist Warren Fitzgerald.

Boingo was a dramatic departure from all the band's previous album releases, featuring longer song structures with a mix of acoustic and electric guitars. Orchestral arrangements appear on several tracks, orchestrated and conducted by lead guitarist and arranger, Steve Bartek.

Recording for Boingo commenced in February 1993 prior to the change of line-up, but was postponed when Danny Elfman was commissioned to score The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton. Elfman claimed that much of the earlier recordings were abandoned, although the since-departed members were credited on the final release.[2]

The album was the first time the band had improvised some material in the studio, mostly notably "Pedestrian Wolves" and the long instrumental passage to "Change".[3] The cover of The Beatles "I Am the Walrus" was purportedly a jam recorded in one take, simply "to use up the rest of the [tape] reel", but was included on the album as an afterthought.[4]

A number of songs recorded between 1993 and 1994 went unreleased, including "Water" and "Vultures".[5][6] "Lost Like This" had originally been written and demo-recorded in 1983 for the album Good for Your Soul, before resurfacing live in 1993 with a new arrangement.

Upon its release, Elfman stated that Boingo was "the most challenging, fun, and difficult record we've ever done. It felt like a cold bucket of water splashed in our faces", and that he "expected" long-term fans may be put off by the new sound.[7]

Giant Records wanted to heavily promote the album as a relaunch of the band. The songs "Hey!" and "Insanity" were released as singles, with an accompanying sinister, stop-motion music video for the latter.[8] Giant also hoped to produce a music video for the single "Hey!" but it never came to fruition.[9] "Hey!" peaked at #23 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in July 1994.[10]

A limited edition package of the album, designed by Deborah Norcross, was issued in a foldout digipak, packaged with an embossed hardcover booklet containing lyrics and additional photography by Anthony Artiaga and Melodie McDaniel.[11] A special edition was also released in Europe[12] and Australia,[13] featuring an additional song, "Helpless", which had previously only appeared as the B-side to the "Insanity" CD single. The American and Indonesian cassette versions of the album also included "Helpless" as its final track.[14][15] Boingo was the first Oingo Boingo album without a vinyl release.

After the album's release in 1994, the band made numerous television appearances sporting new 'skater' looks, with long unkempt hair and loose T-shirts, in contrast to their previous eclectically-suited appearances throughout the 1980s.[16] Despite the recent reshuffle, Oingo Boingo announced their decision to disband in 1995, making Boingo the only studio album produced by this line-up.

All tracks are written by Danny Elfman, except for "I Am the Walrus," by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

• Produced by Danny Elfman, Steve Bartek and John Avila
• Recorded by Bill Jackson; Second Engineers: Mike Piersante and Marty Horenburg; additional recording by Michael Barbiero
• Orchestra recorded by Shawn Murphy
• Mixed by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero; assisted by Mike Baumgartner and Chad Munsey
• Mastered by George Marino
• All songs published by Little Maestro Music, except track 9, published by Northern Music/ATV Music/April Music.