Boingo Alive - Celebration of a Decade 1978-1988

Though Oingo Boingo was renowned for its high-energy concerts, Boingo Alive wasn't recorded at a club or in an arena. Instead, it was recorded without an audience at the Power Plant Rehearsal Studio in North Hollywood, Calif. While some fans might say that this greatest-hits set lacks the fervency caused by a live audience, the band’s definition of “live” has more to do with how the songs were played than who was watching. These performances have no overdubs and no postproduction effects. For a studio-intensive unit like Boingo, it was imperative to celebrate its legacy by showing that its songs weren't the result of technological wizardry but rather of deep chemistry that had been developed over more than a decade. The 31-song tracklist contains all the Boingo classics plus some hidden gems, like “Country Sweat,” “Dear or Alive," and “Help Me.” Though a better title for the album might have been Naked Boingo, this unembellished project emphasizes the quality that propelled all those legendary live shows: the band’s instrumental chops and the spirited camaraderie of its members.