New Danny Elfman album

[The Giggling Bean]

I couldn't find the previous Danny Elfman thread to add this to, despite searching several pages in.

It's been pre empted, by ITUNES and Amazon etc, that Danny Elfman has a new album coming out on the 11th June called "Big Mess". Given he was releasing a new song each month it did seem inevitable. It's certainly a sliver of light in these dark times.

That said, out of all the songs he's released so far "Happy" has been the only one I've liked. Whilst I'll buy this album I'm not keen on the industrial sound his recent songs have taken. I'm hoping there'll be a few tracks on there closer to the sound of Oingo Boingo. One listed track is Insects, although unknown if it's a cover of the Oingo Boingo track or something new.

[sutin]

Saw it mentioned on FB this morning but can't find a pre-order link. I'm sooo excited!!

[sutin]

Here we go....

https://eu.kingsroadmerch.com/shop/product/19401/big-mess-2xcolored-vinyl

[The Giggling Bean]

I believe there's a "deluxe" box set for $150 through his site with a ton of extras. Unfortunately I'm not that flush and, as mentioned before  I don't like this stuff as much as the Oingo Boingo stuff. Standard CD only.

[The Giggling Bean]

So he's just released the version of "Insects" from the album...which is an updated version of the track from Oingo Boingos "Nothing To Fear" album... bloody hell it's bad. Aside from "Happy", the track that kicked all of this off, I've not taken to any of the other songs he's released.

I absolutely loved Oingo Boingo and have been wishing for a new Danny Elfman album since I heard "The Little Things" from the Wanted soundtrack. I can't see myself buying this album because, out of the 6 or 7 tracks he's made videos for, only 1 song appealed to me.

I'm not keen on the heavy, industrial noise, shout rock thing he seems to have going at the moment.

Any other Elfman/Boingo fans want to weigh in on this?

[sutin]

I didn't think the new Insects was bad but it does feel pretty pointless. Still, I got a kick out of him simply acknowledging Boingo existed, doesn't seem to happen often sadly. He didn't even turn up for the Boingo Day ceremony in Los Angeles.

I'm still reasonably excited about the album. Surely the whole thing won't be hardcore industrial?

[The Giggling Bean]

His acoustic cover of Running on a Treadmill was fantastic and I feel he's softening about his Boingo past. I had to relisten to the original Insects straight after to wash the cover version away. I didn't like it at all.

It is a shame he's tried to distance himself from Oingo Boingo, he has made gestures towards acknowledgement in the past few years. I doubt there'll ever be any kind of reunion or new track under the Boingo name again. I do wish someone would put out a CD release of all of those out takes from the various albums.

I hope that there are some non hardcore industrial tracks on there. However I'll be listening to its inevitable upload on YouTube before I decide whether to pay full price for it.

[sutin]

Well, I played the album once through and I think it's pretty good actually!

[The Giggling Bean]

I had a listen to most of it on YouTube this morning. There's a lot of it that doesn't really move me at all but there were a few softer tracks I thought were pretty good. I noticed it was just over a tenner on Amazon so I'll probably pick it up next week.

I listened to a few interviews with him today and it sounds like he's open to further albums. I was very disappointed when he said this album could almost have been a synth based album...I'd have preferred that.

[olliebean]

Not sure why it's on two CDs, when it's short enough to fit on one (shorter than Boingo). Just to up the price? Also how come the MP3 download is five quid more than the CD?

[The Giggling Bean]

Not sure why it's on two CDs, when it's short enough to fit on one (shorter than Boingo). Just to up the price? Also how come the MP3 download is five quid more than the CD?

I'm not sure on either of those points. I'm still a physical media guy so I've only looked at the cost of the CD. It seems odd to split it over 2 CDs when 1 could have done it.

He did hint that there might be a remix album too in one of the interviews I watched. Apparently one of the musicians on the album reached out to a ton of people who were eager to remix tracks. He said there were plans he couldn't talk about...but a remix album seems likely.

It's wierd listening to new Danny Elfman stuff and just being "meh" about it because I love Oingo Boingo. I was desperate for a new album after he recorded "The Little Things" on the "Wanted" soundtrack...but the majority of the singles released have left me cold. There were a few I liked when I YouTubed it this morning, and will likely buy it, but I can't see myself playing the full album very often.

I also feel its a bit disingenuous to claim this was a second solo album...the first was still technically Oingo Boingo but put out as a solo album to avoid a contractual dispute or record company issue.

Still I'm glad he's open to releasing more songs and maybe future stuff will grab me more than this current stuff has.

[Noodle Lizard]

Is anyone getting strong Devin Townsend vibes from the first track? In fact, it's funny how a lot of the album sounds influenced by artists who were almost certainly inspired by Elfman/Boingo to some extent in the first place.

I like it though. It's no Oingo Boingo, but it's a decent enough collection of songs and probably quite a shock for people only familiar with his movie scores.

[The Giggling Bean]

I've had a couple of background listens to it so far on YouTube. There were a couple of songs that caught my ear and felt like a continuation of Boingo (Oingo Boingos last album). I picked up the CD from HMV yesterday. I need to sit down and have a proper listen to it to really appreciate it. There's still some tracks that do nothing for me but there's flashes of the old genius there and that's good enough for me.

[The Mollusk]

In fact, it's funny how a lot of the album sounds influenced by artists who were almost certainly inspired by Elfman/Boingo to some extent in the first place.

This happened with Gary Numan and Nine Inch Nails as well.

[Dusty Substance]

Not listened to it but Elfheads might like to know that Danny Elfman was on WTF a few weeks ago.

[Noodle Lizard]

This happened with Gary Numan and Nine Inch Nails as well.

Artists taking after other artists they've influenced is probably a thread in and of itself, but not one I'm going to bother with since I evidently can't even think of a concise title. Even still, it's nice to know that Elfman's still clearly listening to/appreciating unusual music, despite his career being what it is. In interviews he always seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders, even if he does seem unduly embarrassed by his Boingo days.

[The Giggling Bean]

I've just finished listening to the album. I've had an early night, lay down in bed and threw my headphones on to properly listen to it. There's a lot of stuff on there that doesn't connect for me BUT there's tracks on there that really hit the mark. Listening to a few tracks they wouldn't be out of place on the album "Dark at the end of the tunnel" and others just feel like an extension from the last Oingo Boingo album (Boingo).

I'd say that this new cover of Insects illustrates just how important the horn section was to Oingo Boingo.

There's some songs which have grown on me since I first heard them. Overall I've been pleasantly surprised by this album and glad I bought it.

[Shaky]

Insects isn't a patch on the Oingo Boingo version, natch, but it's not bad and the video is absolutely fucking mental.

[Noodle Lizard]

On the plus side, the release of this album has made me rediscover Oingo Boingo. At an older age, it's become all the more impressive to me - especially as someone who generally doesn't care for distinctly 80s sounds and aesthetics. It's not at all surprising that Elfman went on to do full orchestral compositions, Boingo's stuff is so dense and intricate. I'm also one of those people who's grown tired of his film scores being a bit samey, but Christ if there's not a very rare musical talent behind all of this. A few duds, obviously, but the vast majority of it is just solidly fun, confident and inventive - like a really good rollercoaster. It's a shame he seems so reticent to acknowledge it now - they deserve to be known as so much more than "that band Danny Elfman was in before he got famous".

[The Giggling Bean]

The first 4 Oingo Boingo albums are being remastered and released in September through a US company called Rubellan Remasters. They've each got a couple of additional tracks on them which will make it worthwhile picking up. As I understand it the company tried to get in touch with Elfman and his management to release some of the rarity tracks knocking about on YouTube but where roundly ignored.

[The Giggling Bean]

https://www.rubellanremasters.com/news