Track Listing

1. Straight Up
2. The Elephants Graveyard
3. This Is My Room
4. Another Piece Of Red
5. Hurt Hurts
6. Please Don't Go
7. Fall Down
8. Go Man Go!
9. Under Their Thumb Is Under My Thumb
10. Banana Republic
11. Whitehall 1212
12. Mood Mambo
13. Cheerio
14. Don't Talk To Me (B-side)
15. Arnold Layne (Recorded For TV)
16. Another Piece Of Red (Live In Portsmouth)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54978 in Music
• Released on: 2005-02-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Running time: 53 minutes

CD Description
As the very stylized album cover indicates, 1981's MONDO BONGO presents the Boomtown Rats in the throes of New Wave. Here the Irish band amps up the bass and the keyboards, and the era's requisite production sheen abounds. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though, since it allows for vibrant tunes such as the surging "Straight Up", the reggae-tinged "Banana Republic", and the buoyant, Elvis Costello-like "Elephants Graveyard".
Although frontman Bob Geldof's streetwise narratives and the group's brash punk attitude had largely given way to a bigger, more streamlined sound by this point, MONDO BONGO still has plenty of charms, and even includes an inventive cover: a ska-like take on the Stones' "Under My Thumb" (here retitled "Under Their Thumb Is Under My Thumb"). Though this outing, recorded before Geldof's leading role inPink Floyd's THE WALL, is overshadowed by the Rats' preceding albums, it's an underrated gem that deserves further recognition.

Customer Reviews

An excellent and brave album
Mondo Bongo saw the Boomtown Rats moving firmly away from the sound of The Fine Art of Surfacing into more rhythmic waters. Led by the reggae tinged Banana Republic it showed be Rats experimenting in a way they hadn't done before. Fortunately all of the experiments paid off and the result is an enjoyable and imaginative album. I like the sound of the remaster, it sounds clear to me. The reissue includes the previously uncredited curio that finished side two of the vinyl release, now titled Cheerio, one b side, an rewarding cover of Arnold Layne and a good live version of Another Piece of Red. This album was the sound of the rats spreading their wings and it paved the way for the richer textures of V Deep.

Definitive Remaster ? Distorted Opinion !
I was really happy to here that the back catalogue would finally get a new lease of life!
The content for me is flawless, hence the 5 stars.
A great shift into the '80s for The Boomtown Rats !
UNFORTUNATELY this cd is plagued with DISTORTION throughout the disc which makes me question "Definitive Remaster".
The distortion carries through to the bonus tracks also so perhaps the problem is not from the original album master tapes.
It's nice to see this disc back in the rack but it would benefit greatly from a little more TLC at the so called remastering stage.
I have yet to listen to the other discs and hope that the sound quality is not as bad as this one.

These remasters are long over due...
...it's just a shame the sound levels are so wrong. It's remastered too loud, so it sounds as though your speakers are maxed out. A real shame, as we've been waiting years for the Rats back catalogue to be re-released.

Other than that, it's a classic album. It's not the Rats at their punkiest, but's it's not the disaster that was 'V Deep'. One of my favourites. I don't care what they were doing off wherever they recorded this, it worked a charm.