Forbidden Zone: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Soundtrack]

Danny Elfman, Oingo Boingo | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 31, 1993)
• Original Release Date: March 21, 1980
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B0000014RL
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,995 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Forbidden Zone

2. Hercules Family Theme

3. Some of These Days

4. Journey Through the Intestines

5. Squeezit's Vision of His "Sister"

6. Queen's Revenge

7. Factory

8. Love Theme - Squeezit and the Chickens

9. Flash and Gramps

10. Squeezit the Moocher (Minnie the Moocher)

11. Alphabet Song

12. Cell 63

13. Witch's Egg

14. Yiddishe Charleston

15. Bim Bam Boom

16. Chamber Music

17. Pleure

18. Battle of the Queens

19. Love Theme - King and Queen

20. Finale

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elfman's First Soundtrack, March 3, 2001

By 

Solo Goodspeed (Granada Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Forbidden Zone: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

...... and in many ways, still one of his best. It is just so sad that the only place you can find the film this music is from is either Ebay or the odd cult sections of random video renters.

Before the band Oingo Boingo, Danny Elfman and his brother Richard founded The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, which was more of a theatrical troupe than a straight ahead band. It has even been said that the very band was formed as part of Richard Elfman's film project. To watch these guys (and girls) do their thing was like watching an NC-17 rated Betty Boop cartoon on acid, a totally rude and hilariously brilliant musical performance experience. The film "The Forbidden Zone" is/was the only cinematic testament to the existence of this wonderfully weird ensemble, which Maestro Danny evolved into the better known new wave big band Oingo Boingo when the brothers parted ways.

One can get sort of an idea as to the energy of this lost treasure of a film from the soundtrack selections. A highlight is Danny's take on Cab Calloway in Minnie the Moocher, which was a staple of the Mystic Knights' original performances. Another is actress Susan Tyrell's performance of "Witch's Egg", which she also penned the lyrics for. There are also the wonderful instrumental intervals, which range from punchy funky cartoonish to surprisingly beautiful (the blatantly Satie-ish love theme), and of course the title theme, the style of which was to determine the rock direction of Boingo.

It is tempting to delve further into this album and cover more of the film it is from, but there is not much point if the film isn't even available. At least we still have the music. An interesting thing to do is to compare the material on this disc to the soundtrack of "The Nightmare Before Christmas"; not surprisingly, a lot of similarities find their way out of these two otherwise different-as-night-and-day Elfman outings. But then, that's always been a strength of his, this chamelion-like tendency in music. One can't help but hope that he's got another musical or two in store for us on his own, dark personal project board.

In the meantime, cross your fingers (and maybe even start a petition or two) for the imminent release of "The Forbidden Zone" on DVD.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Danny Elfman's "Forbidden Zone" an avant-garde homage..., July 7, 1998

By 

[e-mail] or Kyle Beach (Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forbidden Zone: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

Richard Burton's 1980 film "Forbidden Zone" was an avant-garde homage to pre-production code Max Fleishcer cartoons. He called upon his brother Danny, of the soon-to-be-legendary (Mystic Knights of) Oingo Boingo to score the film, and write the songs of the musical. He was allowed only two weeks for the task. The maddening, frenetic pace of working within such a time constraint is apparent with the inherent genius of the songs. Danny himself has a cameo in the film as Satan, presented here as a big band leader a la' Cab Calloway. This album is not only a must for Oingo Boingo and Danny Elfman fans alike, but for fans of cult cinema, and anyone with a wild streak in them.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elfman/Oingo Boingo Enliven A Very Strange Film, February 20, 2001

By 

Sir Charles Panther "Life is hard. It's hard... (Alexandria, Virginny, USandA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Forbidden Zone: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

This is the soundtrack for the black-and-white, 16mm very-bad-dream-made-reality film by Richard Elfman. You can enjoy this soundtrack CD without having first seen the movie, but your appreciation of the music will be much less. The music is very Oingo Boingo, in that it was driven solely by the creative genius Danny Elfman. As such, it is a must-have for any hard core Oingo Boingo fan. Best bits on the recording: The Forbidden Zone theme, "Journey Through The Intestines," "Alphabet Song," and "Witch's Egg." Notably missing on this CD is the wonderful rendition of "Pico and Sepulveda," used for years by Dr. Demento as his theme song. Your final bit of Forbidden Zone trivia: For those legion of lovers of Dilbert and the animated TV show, the TV show's theme song is a slightly modified "Forbidden Zone" theme. Strange music from a strange film, and well worth your investment.