The Best of OMD
	Track 14 by OMD
	Released on February 1988
	UK CHART POSITION #2 . . . US CHART POSITION #46 . . . GOLD RECORD
	Find it at GEMM
SP-5186 cover [high resolution scan]

T his is the little black box that records the rise and fall of OMD. In the beginning, OMD seemed like a romantic, English version of Kraftwerk. By the time of Architecture & Morality, Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey were combining cold electronics with ethereal melodies to create otherworldly pop music that suggested a romantic vision of the already-English Eno. “Souvenir” and “Maid of Orleans” especially were unlike anything else on the radio. You could argue that OMD at this stage were only an English version of the again-already-English Ultravox, but in 1981 I was ready to cede the title of standard-bearer for the next century of pop music to OMD. Prematurely, obviously. The singles that followed (“Telegraph,” “Locomotion”) were treacly confections, not the high-minded romanticism and experimentalism of past efforts. OMD would succeed occasionally at writing songs that transcended their high sugar content (“Talking Loud And Clear,” “La Femme Accident”), but what remained from the romantic, experimental music of the past was only the romance. This happened to a lot of the bands from the initial new wave period: Ultravox, Simple Minds, Duran Duran and of course the granddaddy of them all, Roxy Music. The Best of OMD chronicles the rise from Kraftwerk klones to romantic visionaries and, on the second half, the descent to dancefloor escorts. The elpee includes all of the major singles, the CD includes many of the minor ones as well. Also included here is a new single, “Dreaming,” recorded before Paul Humphreys left the band. If you think it’s any good, you are. Of course, I thought “If You Leave” was terrible too. If you were going to buy one OMD album, I’d make it Architecture & Morality. However, I’d give this compilation the nod over The OMD Singles, which inexplicably slights Dazzle Ships.

SP-5186 back cover	SP-5186 picture sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. ELECTRICITY    3:33
2. MESSAGES    4:44
3. ENOLA GAY    3:24
4. SOUVENIR    3:37
5. JOAN OF ARC    3:46
6. MAID OF ORLEANS    4:12
7. TALKING LOUD AND CLEAR    (OMD/Martin Cooper)    3:55
8. TESLA GIRLS    3:32
9. LOCOMOTION    3:55
10. SO IN LOVE    (OMD/Stephen Hague)    3:29
11. SECRET    3:58
12. IF YOU LEAVE    4:28
13. FOREVER LIVE AND DIE    3:32
14. DREAMING    3:56
    
    CD track listing
    
1. ELECTRICITY
2. MESSAGES
3. ENOLA GAY
4. SOUVENIR
5. JOAN OF ARC
6. MAID OF ORLEANS
7. TELEGRAPH
8. TESLA GIRLS
9. LOCOMOTION
10. TALKING LOUD AND CLEAR
11. SO IN LOVE
12. SECRET
13. IF YOU LEAVE
14. FOREVER LIVE AND DIE
15. DREAMING
16. GENETIC ENGINEERING
17. WE LOVE YOU (12" VERSION)
18. LA FEMME ACCIDENT (12" VERSION)
    
    All songs written by OMD unless noted

CREDITS

Andrew Catlin -- photography
Stylorouge -- design

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