Fantastic band . The Emotional vocals , the beautiful and the mesmerizing synth lines create MAGIC . Organisation was the first O.M.D album I heard and bought , I liked the music very much so I started to buy all the rest of their albums. For me Organisation , Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and Architecture & Morality are masterpieces. One of my favorite songs from Organisation, I like the dark atmosphere in the song The Misunderstanding
Yes , Architecture & Morality remastered cd is horrible , very loud and harsh , I bought it and although I loved the music the sound really disturbed me to enjoy from the album so I bought an early version cd from 1983 , sounds great. 1983 Virgin – CDID12, Virgin – CDID 12, Virgin – 0777 7 86484 2 0 here you can find all the early cd editions of this masterpiece. http://www.discogs.com/Orchestral-Manoeuvres-In-The-Dark-Architecture-Morality/master/30428
I like the debut a lot. I think it took them two records to find their feet and ultimately come up with Architecture and Morality, but the first album works well in announcing them as a Kraftwerk-influenced, minimalist electronic outfit, with undeniable pop (dare I say mainstream?) sensibilities. There's a good mix of uptempo material - Electricity is terrific (I don't know why the didn't have that as the opening track) - and Messages provides further buoyant fare, though I much prefer the re-recorded single version. I have great affection for Red Frame/White Light and Pretending to See the Future. The mix of these more upbeat tracks against some of the more sombre material isn't as jarring as on Organisation, where I think the bleak stuff is very bleak. More on that later, I suppose. What's ultimately very impressive about the debut is how young Andy and Paul were at the time of its recording and release; only nineteen or twenty.
At any rate, as for the actual debut, I think it's an astoundingly strong and sure-footed effort. Messages, in particular, remains one of my all-time favorite songs of theirs, and I was ecstatic to see them play it live on their tour back in 2011 (at the Fox in Oakland, CA). It's a beautiful track, and those glorious, soaring synth melodies never fail to send a chill down my spine. Electricity is, of course, classic, infectious pop. Almost is haunting, moody, and romantic. Mystereality coolly chugs along with its catchy rhythm and even has an awesome sax solo. Julia's Song conjures up a beautiful atmosphere - I love the added reverb on this. I could go on - it's a classic album, and is the first of what in my opinion is a four-album run of classic albums. I want to echo Jeffmo789 in hoping that Havoc has heard the actual debut.
Jumping ahead a bit here, but one of my favourite songs from OMD is Crush, which, whatever mood I'm in, always thoroughly depresses me...and sometimes I like that, the old Joy Division effect... OMD Crush:
I only just listened to the debut for the first time a couple of months back - even though I've been a big fan for ages. Of course I knew "Electricity" well and it's one of my fave synthpop songs. Enjoyed the rest but will probably have to give it another listen before I comment on it. And while on the subject of OMD - I always thought of those mid 80's singles as ok but nothing special. But then I saw the video for "If You Leave" and it finally clicked. Also recently gave a proper listen to "So In Love" and "Forever Live & Die" & now have a much higher opinion of them. Not as experimental as the early stuff but just great melodic pop songs.
I hope this turns out to be a real album by album thread including singles. The first album sounds best on łp but there's that cd version with a live DVD that is fantastic. The energy of the gig is up there and mclusky dancing is as memorable as Ian C's.
That's what is says on Wikipedia, but we all know how reliable it can be I though everyone knew they were a Liverpool band......
Their latest "English Electric" is a fun album. Much better than the latest U2. Sadly it was ignored here by the media.
I had read they grew up in Scotland before the internet was ever invented by Algore so the Wiki thing made sense. I even heard they had bounced back and forth for a while whilst getting things going.
Its actually the live Architecture & Morality recorded in 2007 that has the DVD, not the remaster of the original album.
Completely agree with you, the first four albums are fantastic! I particularly love the haunting, moody stuff like 'Statues', 'Almost', 'Sealand', 'The Romance of the Telescope', 'Stanlow', etc. It's weird too because I have enthusiastically pitched them to a lot of friends over the last 30 (!) years, but I've almost never been able to convey how unique a feat they pulled off with that run of albums. People I've talked to seem have a lot of trouble getting past thinking of them as something deeper than just the 'If You Leave' group. I think the John Hughes films cemented that in their heads. Even Wikipedia has them classified as a new wave group, but they are definitely much more than just that.
I guess it's fair to say they are a Liverpool band but I thought it was similar to A-ha moving to London to be near the music industry infrastructure. I had read on a few occasions they were both Scottish but I knew that they associated themselves with Liverpool as there were quite a few Beatles references in many of the articles I had read.
The Romance of the Telescope Is such a wonderful song , one of my favorite O.M.D songs , the song version on Navigation - The OMD B-Sides is a bit different than the version on Dazzle Ships, I like both versions.
I haven't spun OMITD album for awhile and will pull it off the shelf this weekend. Still chuckling about the Scotish thing, and it reminds of a one off concert that Tony Wilson put together in some field in the middle of nowhere. It featured OMD and the Bunnymen representing Liverpool and Joy Division and someone else representing Manchester. Can't recall the other band, probably because I love the other three bands so much!
I don't recall if you and @rxcory were on the forum back then but if you search the archive there was a thread about this album and most posts were quite positive.
I was a big fan of the band, but I'll be mostly reading and learning until we get to Junk Culture. I do know the early singles.
Oh I give up, I know I read something about them in school in Scotland before and maybe that's what whoever put it in Wiki read as well. it also went on about McCluskey's roots in Scotland and on and on and on so I didn't raise an eyebrow when I saw it in Wiki even though I knew they had ties to Liverpool....so I officially surrender and blame Star hits or NME or someone other than myself. Maybe it was a writer wishing they were Scottish cos they were so good.......eh........eh?
Sheesh! Everyone knows they're from Huntsville, Alabama! I'm embarrassed to admit that while I have most of their CDs, including a bunch of the first Virgin pressings, I haven't actually gotten around to listening to their early albums. So, I only know the singles from the first few albums. Apparently, I need to fix that! I did see them on tour a couple of times in the eighties and they were great live.
A&M old cd's has pre-emph, just a heads up, they sound good but I feel the recording was poor originally, The US A&M vinyl suffers also
