Good for Your Soul

Oingo Boingo | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1983
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000002GC7
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,527 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Oingo Boingo Album, November 6, 2005

By 

Logan Albright "thellama73" (Marietta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Good for Your Soul (Audio CD)

I'm surprised this is out of print, because if you ask me it's THE one to get. Not only is it their moost spooky-fun record (forget Dead Man's Party) but it's also their most intelligent, shot right through with literary themes. No Spill Blood is based on The Island of Dr. Moreau and Animal Farm, and Wake Up (it's 1984) is based on George Orwell's "1984". I also suspect that "Pictures of You" is loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Oval Portrait" although I could be wrong (if I am though, I have no clue what it's about.).
However, I think what I like most about it is that sense of frantic paranoia which runs through the entire record, and is largely absent from later releases. This feeling is embodied perfectly in Swead and Dead or Alive (the best song about zombies ever). Now I know what you're thinking. "I can get most of these songs on the Boingo Alive compilation, so why bother hunting this down?"
I love the Boingo Alive collection, but if there's one album the rerecords failed to capture, this is it. It's just not the same, folks.
I can't conclude this review without mentioning the album's closer "Little Guns." This is probably one of the weirdest songs they ever recorded and no Boingo collection is complete without it. It rocks. Also, great saxophone solos throughout. I bought my copy used on vinyl and ripped it to cd, but there are obviously bettter ways to go about it. So get thee to a record shop, consumer!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music That Is Great For Your Soul, March 14, 2001

By 

The Orange Duke "orangeduke" (Cupertino, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good for Your Soul (Audio CD)

There never has been a band like Boingo, and maybe there never will be again. The closest thing at the time was Adam Ant or Juluka; the only thing close recently was legendary LA alt band Sad Monster. Driving, propulsive and frenetic, Boingo did not just encourage you to dance; they demanded that you do it. Add to this sharp, witty, quirky lyrics and you get a manic dance band that only the New Wave era could have produced. Scorned by critics, ignored nationally, Boingo's unique brilliance has yet to be truly appreciated, but if you lived in LA in the eighties you knew all about them. In that city, in their time, they were king. No one has ever matched them. Many have suggested that this album was not as good as ONLY A LAD or DEAD MAN'S PARTY, but in truth the band is just as good as ever. It is a superb album overflowing with excellent tracks. Note how the use of brass and the use of the almost echoing chorus punch up the excellent `Wake Up (It's 1984)'. Check out the quirky angst of `Who Do You Want To Be' or the manic intensity of `Cry Of The Vatos'. Ponder the mystery of "Pictures Of You' and `Dead Or Alive' (Boingo's Halloween obsession needs no better introduction than the latter track). Thrill to the driving tension that is `Sweat' (which deals with the trauma of teenage sex), enjoy the esoteric vision that is `No Spill Blood' (based on Wells). Stroll with the sarcastic indifference of `Nothing Bad ever Happens To Me' (`Did you here about Fred whose unemployed, they threw him away like a useless toy, he went down the drain after 20 long years, no warning, no pension, nobody's tears, and I can't believe that anyone would, wanna do such a terrible thing, but why should I care, nothing bad ever happens to me'). Cruise with `Fill The Void' or `Good For Your Soul'. From the former check out the lyrics: `They all come to me with their demands what do they want from me, what do they want from a boy who can't believe? They want to fill the void, they want to fill the empty spaces but I won't let them consume me with the rest of the lifeless faces' you'd be hard pressed to find a better expression of adolescent angst (except perhaps, on `Sweat'). Not a guilty pleasure, but a timeless treasure

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Out Of Print, February 9, 2005

By 

EJP (Van Nuys, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good for Your Soul (Audio CD)

This album is available on itunes, so you don't have to spend over $40 on a used copy.