| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [2] |
Dark at the End of the Tunnel is the seventh studio album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1990.
Music
Dark at the End of the Tunnel marked a stylistic shift toward ballads, with less synthesized instrumentation and more emotive lyrics than the band's previous records. However, the album's rock-heavy opener, "When the Lights Go Out", is more reminiscent of the band's previous work, while "Run Away" was one of their most overt ska songs to date.
By the time of the album's recording, Danny Elfman had become a famed film composer, particularly in collaboration with Tim Burton. Two tracks on the album had previously emerged on movie soundtracks: an early recording of "Try to Believe" first appeared as an instrumental during end credits of the 1988 film Midnight Run (scored by Elfman), and a vocal version, attributed to "Mosley & The B-Men", was released on the film's soundtrack album; similarly, a different mix of "Flesh 'N Blood" had first appeared in the 1989 film Ghostbusters II and on its soundtrack.
"When the Lights Go Out" peaked at #15 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in March 1990.[3]
Artwork
The cover art of the album depicts a portion of a painting entitled "Volcano," by artist Peter Zokosky.[4]
A promotional version of the album was released on a vinyl picture disc, with one side featuring the album cover and the other side featuring a color photograph of the band.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Danny Elfman.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "When the Lights Go Out" | 4:11 |
| 2. | "Skin" | 4:43 |
| 3. | "Out of Control" | 4:12 |
| 4. | "Glory Be" | 5:03 |
| 5. | "Long Breakdown" | 4:39 |
| 6. | "Flesh 'N Blood" | 4:19 |
| 7. | "Run Away (The Escape Song)" | 4:20 |
| 8. | "Dream Somehow" | 4:39 |
| 9. | "Is This" | 3:27 |
| 10. | "Right to Know" (CD/cassette exclusive bonus track) | 3:58 |
| 11. | "Try to Believe" | 4:33 |
| Total length: | 47:46 | |
Personnel
- Oingo Boingo
- Danny Elfman - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- John Avila - bass, vocals
- Steve Bartek - lead guitar
- Carl Graves - keyboards, vocals
- Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez - drums, percussion
- Sam Phipps - tenor and soprano saxophones
- Leon Schneiderman - baritone saxophone
- Dale Turner - trumpet
- Additional Musicians
- Bruce Fowler - trombone
- Ralph Grierson - piano
- Kenny Kotwitz - accordion
- Brian Mann - accordion
- Yvonne S. Moriarity - french horn
- Maxine Waters and Julia Waters - additional vocals on "Try to Believe"
- Production
- Bill Jackson - engineering
- Jeff Lord-Alge - engineering
- Csaba Petocz - additional engineering
- Jim Scott - additional engineering
- Brian Soucy - assistant engineering
- Talley Sherwood - second engineer
- David Cragin - studio assistant
- Chris Lord-Alge - mixing
- Greg Fulginiti - mastering
References
- ^ "Dark at the End of the Tunnel". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 518.
- ^ https://www.billboard.com/music/oingo-boingo/chart-history/alternative-songs/song/322227
- ^ http://www.peterzokosky.com/paintings-four.html