Also, Dazzle Ships wasn't really that much of a departure for those who were listening closely, anyway. If anything, it was a return to the type of material they were doing very early on in '78.
― Full of bile and Blue Nile denial (Turrican), Saturday, 17 March 2018 10:10 (six years ago) link
Junk Culture isn't a step down from the work before it - it's just different.
"Different" in the sense that it's not as good.
― he doesn't need to be racist about it though. (Austin), Saturday, 17 March 2018 18:36 (six years ago) link
It has some clangers, 'Apollo' is terrrrrible, I listened to it again recently and was thinking that they intersect with Lowlife/Brotherhood-era New Order here and there 'Hard Day' for instance, then I realised that they got there a year or so earlier.
― MaresNest, Saturday, 17 March 2018 18:47 (six years ago) link
What is so good about Dazzle Ships imo isn't the musique concrete stuff-- which is fine-- but the unhingedness of the performances? imo? I'm thrilled every time Andy just goes for it on "International", and the sound of the tom + out-of-tune guitar being mangled on "Of All The Things We've Made", those moments convey the-frustration-with-the-very-nature-of-the-process-and-a-lack-of-care-as-to-what-people-think better than any moment on, say, Big Star's Third
― nevertheless, he stopped (flamboyant goon tie included), Saturday, 17 March 2018 19:37 (six years ago) link
For me, Andy's voice is key to the whole first four album's deal, seems obvious to say, but there is so much warmth and humanity in it, quite different to bleepy, purposefully robotic Gary Numan/John Foxx, the slate grey crooning of Ian Curtis or nagging post-punkers like Howard Devoto.
Not technically the greatest singer and a bit mannered and honky in places perhaps, but his vocal melodies really elevate the rest of the music even in it's weaker moments.
it's that and Humphries ability to write a memorable top line that enabled them to have one foot in Smash Hits and another indulging their Radioactivity era Kraftwerk studio fantasies.
― MaresNest, Saturday, 17 March 2018 20:31 (six years ago) link
What I love about Junk Culture is that they never made an album quite like it again - it's this strange mix of music which, yes, brings to mind New Order (in the sense that they were pretty much using similar equipment) but far more polished than anything New Order did prior to 1989. This is then blended with horn sections and steel drums inspired by their surroundings during recording in Montserrat, and their own experimental impluses which can not only be still heard on the album itself but on the free single that came with the original album on the B-sides - most notably 'The Avenue' ...
... anyway, Austin is wrong.
― Full of bile and Blue Nile denial (Turrican), Sunday, 18 March 2018 00:55 (six years ago) link
Andy's voice is key to OMD full stop, not just the first four albums.
― Full of bile and Blue Nile denial (Turrican), Sunday, 18 March 2018 00:56 (six years ago) link
What a coincidence -- I just wrote about them!
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 18 March 2018 01:01 (six years ago) link
come around to dazzle ships in a big way, my current fav. the 2008 remaster of architecture and morality sounds great too, beefed up drums and bass
― tinnitus the night (Ross), Tuesday, 27 March 2018 19:58 (six years ago) link
Great! Did you go back and try out the first two?
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 27 March 2018 20:51 (six years ago) link
I've heard organisation which is great bhr not familiar with self titled yet. Junk culture hasn't fully grown on me yet tho
― tinnitus the night (Ross), Tuesday, 27 March 2018 20:55 (six years ago) link
I would hit up Crush before Junk Culture perhaps.
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 27 March 2018 20:59 (six years ago) link
okay thanks MaresNest, how do their later albums fare?
― tinnitus the night (Ross), Tuesday, 27 March 2018 21:07 (six years ago) link
I love 'Dazzle Ships' a lot (though 'A&M' will always be my #1), but does anyone else find it slightly weird that its two best tracks--"Romance of the Telescope" and "Of All The Things We've Made"--were repurposed b-sides? I mean kudos to them not letting them languish as raritied, but it kind of cuts down the sense of 'DS' as some kind of coherent visionary statement album.
― Soundslike, Tuesday, 27 March 2018 21:13 (six years ago) link
Silent running tho !
― tinnitus the night (Ross), Tuesday, 27 March 2018 21:17 (six years ago) link
Well lets say two *of* its best, then : )
― Soundslike, Tuesday, 27 March 2018 21:21 (six years ago) link
Good point tho sounds like :) those are fantastic songs
― tinnitus the night (Ross), Tuesday, 27 March 2018 21:28 (six years ago) link
I've read that DS was started before they were really quite ready to make a record, hence the greater leaning toward experimentation and the repurposing of B-Sides, Radio Waves was an older, pre-OMD track iirc.
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 27 March 2018 21:36 (six years ago) link
Junk Culture is great! Sometimes I dig it more than the first four. "White Trash" is such a cool track.
Crush is good, a bit of a step down IMO but it has some excellent tunes - "Bloc Bloc Bloc", "88 Seconds in Greensboro", and "Women III" are all real catchy and just gimmicky enough, if you know what I mean. Loses some steam on Side 2 but overall pretty decent.
Pacific Age on the other hand kinda shows them slipping. I like "Forever Live and Die" and I recall "Goddess of Love" being good but I can't recall how that one goes anymore. I believe this one was made in the wake of the success of "If You Leave" which is not a good thing. It also isn't really recognizable as an OMD record.
Sugar Tax though is a highlight. I think most people would agree it's their best from 1985 until, I dunno, English Electric perhaps. I've heard this was more or less a McClusky solo effort but it's definitely got the OMD sound to it.
The next two, Liberator and Universal, get maligned an awful lot. Liberator because it jumps full on into its 90s dance rhythms, sounding often like a garbage "OMD...In The Mix!" style album. Universal because it's just blah, boring cover, unmemorable tunes, though some of it is very very good, for example "Very Close to Far Away". I'd skip both of these.
As for their comeback albums - this era from 2010 on where they hop on the vintage synths and try to sound like their old selves, is very much a hit for me, since they really do nail that old sound. History of Modern is a pretty cool record, a bit of a grab bag perhaps (featuring a couple songs clearly intended for other artists), but it's mostly good. The "Europe Endless" aping closer "The Right Side?" is one of my very favorite OMD tracks. English Electric is even better, a very modern-sounding take on the Kraftwerk sound, I think if you dig classic OMD then you'll like this one very much. It sounds like what the follow-up to Dazzle Ships ought to have been. As for their latest (Punishment of Luxury), I actually think it's more fun overall, though it doesn't quite have the replay value of EE. But it's very good.
Anyway, those are all my opinions on OMD at the moment
― frogbs, Tuesday, 27 March 2018 21:43 (six years ago) link
Good post frogbs!!
― nevertheless, he stopped (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 27 March 2018 21:55 (six years ago) link
Nice one frogbs, I love the second side of Crush though, man 'Native Daughters...', OMD does Kashmir!
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 27 March 2018 22:06 (six years ago) link
Nice post frogbs _ very thorough
― tinnitus the night (Ross), Tuesday, 27 March 2018 23:12 (six years ago) link
I listen to Crush as much as the formative albums. I never listen to Pacific Age or Sugar Tax. B Sides collection, whatever they call it, is excellent as well.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 27 March 2018 23:32 (six years ago) link
I first heard OMD in a synthpop band I was in as a teen (Enola gay). No idea why it took me to 34 years old to get into this amazing band
― tinnitus the night (Ross), Tuesday, 27 March 2018 23:33 (six years ago) link
Sugar Tax is def. the best album to be put out under the OMD name between Junk Culture and English Electric. Although I love the highlights of Crush and The Pacific Age. History of Modern is good, but a couple of tracks too long. I never listen to Liberator or Universal beyond a couple of tracks fron each.
― Full of bile and Blue Nile denial (Turrican), Wednesday, 28 March 2018 06:13 (six years ago) link
good lord they were great tonight in L.A.
McCluskey is a great frontman, he reminds me of Karl Hyde a bit in terms of ageless and endless energy. And it's insane how his voice remains virtually unchanged as far as I can tell. I didn't catch any compensating for lost range or taking it easy in certain sections of early era songs. I had suspected as much from his vocals on the recent albums but the live show confirms it. Brilliant.
― omar little, Friday, 30 March 2018 06:54 (six years ago) link
yeah I saw them for the first time on the English Electric tour and ^that's totally otm
― willem, Friday, 30 March 2018 09:13 (six years ago) link
saw them again last night as part of a bill w/the B-52s and Berlin and while the other two were respectively great and good, these guys are absolutely incredible. On another level live. They are also one of the few legacy bands who can drop in a new song or two mixed in with the old hits and have it sound on par. I do think due to the relatively shorter set vs the last time i saw them, the only newish one they played was History of Modern Pt 1, which is superb and one of the better "everything you know will be gone someday" songs. i.e. "mono no aware-core"?
i guess from their albums i always thought maybe they'd be a bit more low-key performers, maybe even more serious, but they're just good-humored, fun rock stars. The crowd was i think mostly there for the B-52s but you could tell they were completely won over by OMD.
― omar little, Monday, 5 August 2019 18:44 (four years ago) link
A new/old thing, with unreleased bits.
OMD - Souvenir - (5xCD/2xDVD Super Deluxe Boxset)
Please note this boxset does not include the Electricity 7" Single - that will be back on pre-order soon.Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD) continue their 40th anniversary celebrations with the launch of a career boxset and brand new greatest hits collection. The special box set will comprise 5xCDs and 2xDVDs housed in a 10” box set, together with a hardback book, poster and a series of 10” prints.The audio discs include all the band’s singles from ‘Electricity’ to ‘What Have We Done’, as well as a brand new single ‘Don’t Go’, exclusive to this release. The box set also includes a previously unreleased live show from the Hammersmith Odeon in 1983, 22 previously unreleased demos from the archive which have been selected and mixed by Paul Humphreys, rare and unreleased live material from the BBC and an entire live show from the Mermaid Theatre in 2011.One of the DVDs contains BBC TV performances from Top Of The Pops, Old Grey Whistle Test, Later With Jools Holland and more. The other contains a live show from Sheffield City Hall in 1985, another live show from the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1981, as well as Crush – The Movie.The book contains unseen photos, single sleeve artwork, an introduction by Paul Morley and sleeve notes to accompany the archive material by Andy McCluskey.This announcement comes as part of another exciting installment of the band’s anniversary celebrations which first saw the reissue of their first four classic albums on 180g vinyl, mastered at half speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road and housed in their original iconic die cut sleeves designed by the legendary Peter Saville, followed by the huge world tour. The band, Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper and Stuart Kershaw will be starting in October in Portugal, stretching through to February 2020 finishing in Paris. To coincide with the band’s Liverpool show, there will be upcoming exhibitions happening at the British Music Experience and Museum Of Liverpool to celebrate the band’s impressive legacy."OMD - Souvenir", is out Friday, 4th October 2019 on UMC/Virgin and available for pre-order now.NB: All products ordered with a pre-order will be dispatched together close to the latest pre-order release date. If you want earlier dispatched for another product then please place separate order(s).Disc 1 - The Singles 1979 - 1987ElectricityRed Frame/White LightMessagesEnola GaySouvenirJoan of ArcMaid of OrleansGenetic EngineeringTelegraphLocomotionTalking Loud and ClearTesla GirlsNever Turn AwaySo in LoveSecretLa Femme AccidentIf You Leave(Forever) Live and DieWe Love YouShameDisc 2 - The Singles 1988 - 2019DreamingSailing on the Seven SeasPandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way)Then You Turn AwayCall My NameStand Above MeDream of MeEverydayWalking on the Milky WayUniversalIf You Want ItSister Marie SaysHistory of Modern (part 1)MetrolandDresdenNight CaféIsotypeThe Punishment Of LuxuryWhat Have We DoneDon't GoDisc 3 - Unreleased Archive Vol I.Brand New Science (06.1981)Dumbomb (01.1986)Violin Piece (09.1982)Untitled 2 (06.1981)Cut Me Down (03.1986)Radio Swiss International (09.1982)Untitled 3 (09.1982)Weekend (04.1985)Organ Ditty (05.1980)Unreleased Idea (06.1981)Cajun Moon (05.1986)Guitar Thrash (09.1982)SMPTE (12.1982)American Venus (04.1990)Liberator (02.1985)Ambient 1 (04.1980)Unused 1 (12.1980)Flamenco (04.1990)Andy’s Song (04.1985)Dynamo Children (01.1985)Flutey (03.1984)Nice Ending (06.1981)Disc 4 - Live at the Mermaid Theatre, London (03/02/2011)MessagesTesla GirlsNew Babies New ToysHistory of Modern (Part 1)(Forever) Live and DieSouvenirJoan of ArcMaid of OrleansNew Holy GroundGreenWalking on the Milky WaySister Marie SaysLocomotionSailing on the Seven SeasEnola GayElectricityDisc 5 - Live at the Hammersmith Odeon (10/05/1983)Dazzle Ships - Parts II,III & VIIABC Auto IndustryMessagesShe’s LeavingGeorgiaAlmostJulia’s SongJoan of ArcMaid of OrleansStatuesThe Romance of the TelescopeSouvenirTelegraphRadio WavesBunker SoldiersEnola GaySilent RunningElectricityPretending to See the FutureStanlowDVD1 - BBC TV PerformancesMessages (The Old Grey Whistle Test 15/04/1980)Messages (Top Of The Pops 08/05/1980)Messages (Top Of The Pops 29/05/1980)Enola Gay (Top Of The Pops 09/10/1980)Souvenir (Top Of The Pops 03/09/1981)Joan of Arc (Top Of The Pops 29/10/1981)Maid Of Orleans (Top Of The Pops 14/01/1982)Genetic Engineering (Top Of The Pops 03/03/1983)Locomotion (Top Of The Pops 19/04/1984)Locomotion (Top Of The Pops 03/05/1984)Talking Loud and Clear (Top Of The Pops 05/07/1984)Tesla Girls (Top Of The Pops 13/09/1984)So in Love (Top Of The Pops 30/05/1985)La Femme Accident (The Old Grey Whistle Test 22/10/1985)(Forever) Live and Die (Top Of The Pops 18/09/1986)Dreaming (Wogan 27/06/1988)Sailing on the Seven Seas (Top Of The Pops 02/05/1991)Pandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way) (Top Of The Pops 11/07/1991)Pandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way) (Top Of The Pops 25/07/1991)Call My Name (Pebble Mill 11/12/1991)Stand Above Me (Top Of The Pops 13/05/1993)Walking on the Milky Way (Top Of The Pops 16/08/1996)Enola Gay (Later With Jools Holland 31/05/2013)DVD2 - Live at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (04/12/1981), Live at Sheffield City Hall (14/06/1985) and Crush - The MovieLive at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (04/12/1981)AlmostMysterealityJoan Of ArcMotion and HeartMaid Of OrleansStatuesSouvenirNew Stone AgeEnola GayBunker SoldiersElectricityShe's LeavingJulia's SongStanlowLive at Sheffield City Hall (14/06/1985)The Romance Of The Telescope (intro)CrushMessagesSecretTesla GirlsWhite TrashTalking Loud and ClearMaid Of OrleansTelegraphEnola GayElectricityThe Romance Of The TelescopeCrush - The MovieBloc Bloc BlocThe Native Daughters Of The Golden WestSo In Love88 Seconds In GreensboroHold YouWomen IIICrushLa Femme AccidentSecretThe Lights Are Going OutFormat: 5xCD/2xDVD Super Deluxe BoxsetCatalog Number: 7732451Bar Code 0602577324512Label: UMC/VirginRelease Date: Friday, 4th October 2019
― MaresNest, Monday, 26 August 2019 13:09 (four years ago) link
I like OMD but that is too much OMD for me.
― akm, Tuesday, 27 August 2019 12:48 (four years ago) link
Maybe in list form, but listened to? I bet it's just right!
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 27 August 2019 13:20 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDDxpKJv8Qc
― Maresn3st, Thursday, 22 April 2021 18:27 (three years ago) link
This is an odd beast, but kinda interesting - https://store.omd.uk.com/products/architecture-morality-singles-40th-anniversary-cd
I wonder why nothing from it ended up on the box set?
There's a very weird, faster, almost disco-y version of Souvenier and the demo of Georgia is really sweet, missing the radio clips and the sample from 'I Wish You Love' but really poppy and simple.
― Maresn3st, Friday, 15 October 2021 23:08 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5NDXBf1zGY
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 1 February 2023 18:32 (one year ago) link
New album out today?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 27 October 2023 18:44 (six months ago) link
listening to it now and I'm surprised there's been no discussion of it on ILX so far. it's really good! reminds me of Electric by the Pet Shop Boys - sounds surprisingly youthful (has McClusky's voice changed at all the last 40+ years?) and modern, in fact most of these probably could be modern PSB tunes
― frogbs, Friday, 1 December 2023 14:31 (five months ago) link