Only a Lad

Only a Lad is the full-length debut album by Oingo Boingo, following their self-titled EP. The album's musical arrangements, by vocalist Danny Elfman and guitarist Steve Bartek, complete the group's switch from cabaret act to New Wave band (see Oingo Boingo - The Mystic Knights Years). Only a Lad features complex and frequently changing time signatures and keys, often incorporating harmonies borrowed from jazz and 20-century classical music, all ... more

Only a Lad is the full-length debut album by Oingo Boingo, following their self-titled EP. The album's musical arrangements, by vocalist Danny Elfman and guitarist Steve Bartek, complete the group's switch from cabaret act to New Wave band (see Oingo Boingo - The Mystic Knights Years). Only a Lad features complex and frequently changing time signatures and keys, often incorporating harmonies borrowed from jazz and 20-century classical music, all hallmarks of Elfman's songwriting. The album's success was somewhat limited, but, largely due to the backing of Los Angeles radio station KROQ, the album established Oingo Boingo as a permanent fixture in the Southern California music scene. The National Review Online called "Capitalism" one of the "50 greatest conservative rock songs", despite the fact that Danny Elfman stated in an AOL chat in January of 1997 that the song was "serious satire." "Only a Lad" is a playable track on the PlayStation 2 video game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the... less