Oingo Boingo: "Жас Ұл" Альбомының Шолуы

Only a Lad is the debut studio album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1981, following their self titled EP.

The album's musical arrangements, by vocalist Danny Elfman and guitarist Steve Bartek, completed the group's evolution into a new wave rock 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 20th century classical music, all hallmarks of Elfman's songwriting.

Elfman claimed that many of the songs were inspired by newspaper articles he had read at the time and were "written as in your face facetious jabs". "Little Girls" courted controversy for its theme of underage relationships. At the time of release, Elfman described the song as being "about a character who has certain unacceptable inclinations" and later commented, "Out here in Hollywood, you see so much of that; the older guy's in the car with some young girl who essentially asks no questions." The music video features Elfman dancing inside a surreal, empty suburban house, joined by dwarves and teenage girls. The band members are later seen staring complacently in shop windows and drinking tea while Elfman's character walks down a street with an apparently underage girl. The video, directed by Elfman's brother Richard Elfman, was purportedly banned in Canada. In 2010, Elfman reflected, "I was always taking characters and singing from the point of view of a character. So it didn't necessarily reflect me". In 2014, Elfman stated that he "just basically make(s) fun of everybody", and that he "didn't see anybody as being protected". He elaborated: "To me, all organized political groups have a sense of absurdity to them. It's open to be mocked or satirized. If anything, I consider myself part of nothing, and any organized group was fair game to mockery, from my vantage point."

Only a Lad was highly praised upon release, though its success was limited to the band's Southern California region. With the backing of Los Angeles radio station KROQ FM, it established Oingo Boingo as a permanent fixture on the regional music scene. Oingo Boingo were already known for exploiting their negative press coverage; the song "Imposter" was a response to "a couple of assholes at the LA Times." Rock critic Robert Christgau criticised Only a Lad as having "catchy vocals and spoiled overarrangements". Trouser Press writer Ira A. Robbins panned the album, stating that it featured "contrived bits swiped from the Tubes, XTC and Devo to diminish the impact of reasonably clever lyrics and thoroughly competent music." However, Robbins praised "On the Outside" for sounding "normal". In 2006, Danny Elfman reflected that he "loved bad reviews, [ ] something's got to fuel us."

In 2006, the National Review named "Capitalism" as one of the "50 greatest conservative rock songs." It is featured in the 2005 film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. "Only a Lad" is a playable track in the 2007 PlayStation 2 video game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s. In 2021, Rubellan Remasters reissued Only a Lad on limited edition colored vinyl, followed by an expanded edition CD with bonus tracks, including the Oingo Boingo EP.

All tracks are written by Danny Elfman, except "Violent Love" by Willie Dixon.