Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
	Produced by Orchestral Manoeuvres and Chester Valentino
	Released on February 22, 1980
	UK CHART POSITION #27
	Find it at GEMM
201 653-320 cover [high resolution scan]

I ’ll ask you what you get when you cross Kraftwerk and Roxy Music, and you’ll say “Ultravox” or “Japan,” but the better answer, for one album anyway, is Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. OMD was something of a prodigy among die kinder aus Kraftwerk und Roxy Music, having had occasion to learn from the mistakes made by the older kinder (Ultravox, Gary Numan, Japan). Their debut sticks close to the Kraftwerk aesthetic of genuine electronic music, especially on tracks like “Bunker Soldiers” and “Messages.” However, the boys are just as interested in Roxy’s music, evidenced on “Mystereality” (complete with cheesy saxophone) and “The Messerschmitt Twins” (a title which even sounds like the Eno electronica it’s patterned after). Then, there are amalgams of the two styles that end up arriving at Japan (“Julia’s Song”) and Yello (“Dancing”). As I’ve mentioned maybe a billion times, 1980 was a watershed year for music as we consciously turned the corner toward 1984 (which turned out, ironically, to be just as disappointing for revolutionaries as 2000). Among the new works to emerge (Remain In Light, Scary Monsters, Peter Gabriel III), OMD’s eponymous debut caught my attention as something special. Thus, my bitter carping at their commercial crossover in the mid 80s. If it’s any consolation, I wasn’t any kinder to The Stranglers or Icehouse when they sold out. Songs like “Electricity” and “Almost” held the promise of a new rock generation, one that would make its art with machines. Turns out the pair were closet romantics for whom synthesizers were simply new toys, but it doesn’t diminish the accomplishment of this first album or that quintessential OMDLP, Architecture & Morality.

201 653-320 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. BUNKER SOLDIERS    2:50
2. ALMOST    3:40
3. MYSTEREALITY    2:42
4. ELECTRICITY    3:32
5. THE MESSERSCHMITT TWINS    5:38
6. MESSAGES    4:06
7. JULIA'S SONG    (Andy McCluskey/Paul Humphreys/Julia Kneale)    4:39
8. RED FRAME/WHITE LIGHT    3:10
9. DANCING    2:58
10. PRETENDING TO SEE THE FUTURE    3:45
    
    CD reissue bonus tracks
    
11. MESSAGES (SINGLE VERSION)
12. I BETRAY MY FRIENDS
13. TAKING SIDES AGAIN
14. WAITING FOR THE MAN
15. ELECTRIC (HANNETT/CARGO STUDIOS VERSION)
16. ALMOST (HANNETT/CARGO STUDIOS VERSION)
    
    All songs written by Andy McCluskey/Paul Humphreys unless noted. (Actually, on the elpee label for ID #201 653-320, the names are spelled McClusky, Humphries and Knaele. You'd think the law of averages would dictate they'd get one of them right, but no.)

CREDITS

PAUL HUMPHREYS -- voice, keyboards, electronic and acoustic percussion, rhythm programming
ANDY McCLUSKEY -- voice, bass, keyboards, electronic percussion, rhythm programming
Martin Cooper -- saxophone (3)
Dave Fairbairn -- guitar (6,7)
Malcolm Holmes -- percussion (7)
Julia Kneale -- lyrics (7)
Paul Collister -- engineer
Ben Kelly & Peter Saville -- packaging design

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