Rating: 7/10

Top Track: ‘Dead Man’s Party’

Well, today is Halloween and I have decided to end my hiatus which has lasted for entirely too long. Not to mention, this post is coming out pretty late into the evening, but hey, I’m back. And what a way to come back with Oingo Boingo. I wanted a spooky-themed album for a Halloween post and this album’s name is “Dead Man’s Party”, it’s kind of too perfect. The cover art is an homage to the Mexican Holiday Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), which I also observe as a Mexican. So a but of a twofer with this one. Oh, and heads up, this post is going to be a little shorter than past posts. It still counts as a full post, but it’s a holiday post and I’m not taking this one too seriously. Unfortunately, there is a lack of Halloween parties this year thank to the lovely coronavirus, but if I would to suggest an album to provide the soundtrack to such parties, this would be the one. Different from the band’s previous records, this album lends itself to a more pop-friendly and danceable vibe. Okay yes, this album has a lot of 80s and New Wave elements to it which aren’t super popular with today’s crowd, but I have yet to find an album that I can get down and boogie to while giving me those spooky feels. This album wasn’t critically acclaimed in any way, but it’s sales were decent and it is arguably the band’s peak with a couple of their biggest hits. All of that being said, let’s move on to the top track!

This decision was too easy. It’s Halloween and the title track of an album called “Dead Man’s Party” has to be my top track. This song was a staple of the Halloweens of my childhood. From elementary school memories of my parents dancing together in the living room to this song while it played on our stereo to adding it to a playlist for a family Halloween party in my early teens. The opening guitar intro followed by three beats of a drum have been tattooed into my brain (along with every single lyric of the song). Oh, I have I mentioned the electric guitar chord progressions throughout the song? I haven’t? Well allow me to elaborate. Musically, the best part of the album as a whole. It just adds that extra element of style that pushes this song from good to great as well as an excellent Halloween song. The horns in this song add some power that kick this track into high gear while also adding an element of ska that would inspire future acts of the 90s. Ig all of that wasn’t enough, the bitchin’ keyboard solo break at the four-minute mark of the song keeps the song from being too repetitive and is so fun to dance to. Don’t even get me started on Danny Elfman’s vocals on this song. I can’t even count the number of times I have tried to emulate the man’s insane vocal range and unique sound. This song is just so fun, I could play it any time of the year and it would still hit the same.

I don’t have too much else to say about this album. All songs are fairly similar and none of the other tracks are on a ‘Dead Man’s Party’ type of level. I do really like ‘Just Another Day’, which is the opening track of the album. It’s a great way to start the album and sets an accurate tone for the other eight tracks on the album. I think the song is almost equally as great as ‘Dead Man’s Party’, but considering this is a Halloween post and the song isn’t Halloween-themed nor as fun, I could not pick it as my top track, but I do truly like it. That’s pretty much the only other song I like on the album. I do have a love-hate relationship with ‘Weird Science’, the ninth and last song on the record. It’s just different enough from the other songs between it and ‘Dead Man’s Party’ and has a nice dance feeling to it, but it’s not something I’d want to listen to all of the time.

That’s it for this late Halloween post. If there is any time to listen to this album (or at least my top track), I recommend it. It’s a great throwback to 80s Halloween that isn’t “Thriller”. Plus it’s super pop-y and has some New Wave vibes that mix up what some people probably listen to during this season I’d imagine. Then again, I don’t know.

I apologize for my super long break from the Vinyl Vault Blog, but it feels good to be back!

Happy Halloween!