Oingo Boingo - Farewell: Live from the Universal Amphitheatre

Joy

They were just a joy and delight, and certainly one of the best live acts of the '80s and '90s. I only give this farewell perfomance 4 stars, because I would have given anything for a live version of "Elevator Man." But if you never saw them live, or if you did, and miss them like crazy, don't deprive yourself of this CD (or the DVD). They went out at their fierce, funny, joyful best. June 26, 2008

Hollowen has never been the same

I used to go to Boingo every Hollween-- I'd still be going if they were still jamming. I went to the last show at the Meadows (which was the est place to see them)-- and I had the pleasure of being at the very last show at the Universal Amphitheatre-- I remember the last show being alot longer (like 4 hours)-- But hey this CD is great! If your a fan you'll get some goose bumps.
October 9, 2007

Plenty of material not available elsewhere

Samual noted that this album contains one song, "Water" not available elsewhere. There are actually four songs.

"Water" was actually the easiest song of the four to obtain. It was recorded for an album, but never released. However, bootlegs of the studio recording are pretty common.

"Burn Me Up" and "Piggies" were introduced during the 1994 tour, after the last album was recorded. "Burn Me Up" is pretty much a throw-away- it might have been better if the horn parts had actually been played by the horns instead of on keyboard. The '94 tour had no horns, so I suspect they just didn't have time to learn the new songs for this brief Farewell tour.

"Piggies" is a little better- it proves that Elfman had been listening to a lot of Primus at the time. (Priums themselves were playing a piece of Elfman music from Pee Wee's Big Adventure before their shows the same year, and Elfman mentions this on the PWBA DVD.)

But the big get here is "Clowns Of Death". This song MAY pre-date the 1994 tour, but I'm not aware of any studio versions. (OB sometimes played secret shows under the name "Clowns Of Death") This is one of my favorites of OBs heavier material.

Along with those tracks, the album contains 3 songs which have never been released on CD- "I'm So Bad" and "Ain't This The Life" from their debut EP, and "Helpless", which appeared only on the cassette version of their final album. And, as mentioned, the live version of "Change" is a great improvement, turning the meandering 16 minute mess of the studio version into one of my favorite OB tunes. August 24, 2007

Boingo onstage ROCK!!!

This isn't just a "best-of" collection or "useless compilation" like the person below me says, it's the final show EVER of the almighty Oingo Boingo, making this more of a historical artifact. If that seems a bit extreme to say it's because I really believe Elfman and company to be musical geniuses who were never really given their due or much respect at all. Why? Just because they were quirky and (God forbid) FUN?! Get this cd and the DVD of the show as well to get the full experience of what these guys were like live. I would give almost anything to have been there for this show, but at least I have this great sounding cd to listen to for all time. Boingo STILL rule! July 15, 2005

Another Useless Compilation

Oingo Boingo had more compilations than any band has a right to and they all suck. Godawful songs like "Wild Sex In The Working Class", "No Spill Blood", "Piggies", "Sweat", "Grey Matter", "Little Girls", "Insects", and "Nasty Habits" ruin this one along with the necessities and marginal filler. This is one group where choosing the highlights should be easy. OK so you have to choose the overused and rather bland "Dead Man's Party", the fun "Wierd Science", and classics "Who Do You Want To Be?" and "Only A Lad". From there you pick "Nothing Bad Ever Happens To Me", "Winning Side", "Gratitude", "Stay", "Just Another Day", "No One Lives Forever", "Help Me", "Only Makes Me Laugh", "On The Outside", "Wake Up, It's 1984", and "Same Man I Was Before". From the new direction you can choose from "Where Do All My Friends Go?", "My Life", "New Generation", and "Home Again" from Boi-Ngo and the first 3 songs and maybe some others from Boingo might be OK to fill out the CD. Easy!!! June 25, 2005

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