| Good for Your Soul | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 26, 1983 | |||
| Recorded | January 1983 – June 29, 1983 | |||
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 41:42 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer | Robert Margouleff | |||
| Oingo Boingo chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Good for Your Soul | ||||
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Good for Your Soul is the third studio album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1983. It was produced by Robert Margouleff and was the band's last album to be released on A&M Records.
The track "No Spill Blood" is inspired by the H. G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau , [1] specifically Erle C. Kenton's 1932 film adaptation of this novel, titled Island of Lost Souls . In this story, the mad scientist Dr. Moreau performed operations on wild beasts in order to make them more human and able to undertake menial tasks. When the beasts acted in an inappropriate manner, Dr. Moreau would crack his whip and challenge the beasts. In the film, this takes the form of a litany:
The instrumental track "Cry of the Vatos," named after drummer Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez, contains a back-masked message jokingly promoting Christianity to its listeners.
"Wake Up (It's 1984)" is based on the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four . A music video of the band performing the song was aired on January 1, 1984 on the show Good Morning, Mr. Orwell . [2]
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Several songs were recorded but cut from the final album and remain unreleased, namely "All the Pieces" and "Waiting for You". Two further songs recorded, "Lightning" and "Cool City", were released on the following album, So-Lo , in 1984. Many additional songs were demo recorded for the album but did not reach the studio sessions, including "Lost Like This", which surfaced many years later on the 1994 album Boingo in a new orchestral arrangement.
The music video accompanying "Nothing Bad Ever Happens" depicts the band performing on a paradise island; Elfman appears watching TV, unaware that his house is being robbed behind him, referencing the lyrics of the first verse. He finishes taking a bath, before the tub catches fire, and catches sight of guitarist Steve Bartek being carried down the street by a lynch mob, but decides to ignore. The video ends with Elfman serving the singing severed heads of the band's horn section to three upper class diners, who at first appear shocked, but proceed to eat regardless. The paradise island from the start of the video then appears to get hit by a nuclear bomb while the band continue playing. [3] Elfman said of the song and video in 1986, "It's about somebody who chooses to ignore his neighbors' problems and doesn't get involved - but it's really about getting involved... We can't live like ostriches." [4]
"Who Do You Want to Be" appears in the films Bachelor Party (1984) and Teen Wolf Too (1987).
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |    [5] |
Ira A. Robbins of Trouser Press praised Good for Your Soul, particularly producer Robert Margouleff for giving the band a "streamlined and powerfully driven attack", calling "Wake Up (It's 1984)" and "Who Do You Want to Be" "among the most invigorating and engaging things the band has ever done." [6] In a retrospective review, Steven McDonald of AllMusic called the album "underrated" but bemoaned its "inconsistency". [1]
In 2021, Rubellan Remasters issued a remastered version of Good for Your Soul on both colored vinyl and CD, the latter as an expanded edition with three bonus tracks. [7]
All tracks are written by Danny Elfman
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Who Do You Want to Be" | 3:31 |
| 2. | "Good for Your Soul" | 3:16 |
| 3. | "No Spill Blood" | 3:42 |
| 4. | "Cry of the Vatos" | 2:21 |
| 5. | "Fill the Void" | 3:42 |
| 6. | "Sweat" | 4:31 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Nothing Bad Ever Happens" | 3:45 |
| 8. | "Wake Up (It's 1984)" | 4:44 |
| 9. | "Dead or Alive" | 4:04 |
| 10. | "Pictures of You" | 4:03 |
| 11. | "Little Guns" | 3:42 |
| Total length: | 41:42 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Bachelor Party" | 3:49 |
| 13. | "Something Isn't Right" | 3:42 |
| 14. | "Wake Up (It's 1984) (Single Version)" | 3:00 |
Oingo Boingo
Additional musicians
Technical
Daniel Robert Elfman is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his first studio film in 1985, Elfman has garnered international recognition for composing over 100 feature film scores, as well as compositions for television, stage productions, and the concert hall.
Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the years previous. Their highest-charting song, "Weird Science", reached No. 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Only a Lad is the debut studio album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1981, following their self-titled EP.
Dead Man's Party is the fifth album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1985. The album contains the only two singles by the band to chart on the Billboard Hot 100: "Weird Science" at number 45, and "Just Another Day" at number 85.
Oingo Boingo is the debut EP by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1980.
Boi-Ngo is the sixth studio album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1987.
Nothing to Fear is the second studio album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1982 on A&M Records.
So-Lo is the debut studio album by American musician Danny Elfman, released in 1984 by MCA Records. Recorded primarily by Elfman, but also featuring the members of his band, Oingo Boingo, it was recorded when Elfman was offered a solo contract with MCA after the band had been dropped from I.R.S. Records. The album marked the band's last release to feature bassist Kerry Hatch and keyboardist Richard Gibbs.
Dark at the End of the Tunnel is the seventh studio album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1990.
Boingo Alive is a double album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1988. It was performed and recorded live in a rehearsal studio with no audience, with the band performing songs from previous albums and two previously unreleased songs to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band's beginning.
Boingo is the eighth and final studio album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo. It was the band's only album recorded for their new label, Giant Records, as well as the only album to be released by the band's 1994–95 line-up.
The Best of Oingo Boingo: Skeletons in the Closet is a compilation of songs by American new wave band Oingo Boingo. It features songs recorded during the band's tenure with I.R.S. Records/A&M Records, culled from the albums Only a Lad (1981), Nothing to Fear (1982) and Good for Your Soul (1983).
Best O' Boingo is the second greatest hits album from American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1991 by MCA Records. It features songs recorded during the band's years on MCA Records, from 1984's So-Lo through 1990's Dark at the End of the Tunnel. As such, the songs from the period when the band was on I.R.S. Records—as well as several others—are represented here by their re-recorded versions from the 1988 "live in the studio" album Boingo Alive.
Steve Bartek is an American guitarist, film composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He is best known as the lead guitarist in the band Oingo Boingo and for his orchestration work with composer Danny Elfman.
"Dead Man's Party" is a song by American band Oingo Boingo, released as the third single from their album of the same name.
Select commercially released recordings of Danny Elfman's music for film, television, stage and the concert hall. For a full list of Elfman's compositions, see List of compositions by Danny Elfman. For Elfman's recordings as lead singer/songwriter for Oingo Boingo, see the Oingo Boingo discography page.
Sam "Sluggo" Phipps is an American saxophone player, best known for being a member of the new wave band Oingo Boingo.
"Little Girls" is a song by American new wave band Oingo Boingo and the opening track of their debut studio album Only a Lad.
Big Mess is the second solo studio album by American singer, musician, and composer Danny Elfman. It was released by Anti- and Epitaph Records on June 11, 2021.
