OMD - Architecture & Morality (Dindisc, Ariola 204 016) (GER 1981) (Vinyl 24-96 & 16-44.1)

Info:


Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Architecture & Morality

Label: Dindisc
Catalog#: 204 016, 204 016-320
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Germany
Released: 1981
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

Tracklist:

A1 The New Stone Age 3:18
A2 She's Leaving 3:26
A3 Souvenir 3:36
A4 Sealand 7:42

B1 Joan Of Arc 3:46
B2 Joan Of Arc (Maid Of Orleans) 4:11
B3 Architecture & Morality 3:37
B4 Georgia 3:21
B5 The Beginning And The End 3:44

Pre-recorded at The Gramophone Suite (Liverpool, England).
Recorded at the Manor.
Mixed at Mayfair Studios.
Produced and created for White Noise Ltd. and on behalf of Architettura Industria.

Choral tapes on Souvenir courtesy of David Hughes.
Title suggested by M. Ladly from a book by David Watkin.

Sleeve has a cut-out through which you can see the printed black & white inner sleeve

Catalog# "204 016" on labels, "204 016-320" on sleeve

© 1981 DinDisc Ltd.
Distributed by the Ariola group of companies.
Printed in West Germany by Mohndruck Graphische Betriebe GmbH, Gütersloh

Barcode and Other Identifiers:

Other (Mechanical Rights): GEMA
Other (Label Code): LC 3098


Discogs Url: http://www.discogs.com/Orchestral-Manoeuvres-In-The-Dark-Architecture-Morality/release/59431

Review

by Ned Raggett

If there was a clear high point for OMD in terms of balancing relentless experimentation and seemingly unstoppable mainstream success in the U.K., Architecture & Morality is it. Again combining everything from design and presentation to even the title into an overall artistic effort, this album showed that OMD was arguably the first Liverpool band since the later Beatles to make such a sweeping, all-bases-covered achievement – more so because OMD owed nothing to the Fab Four. All it takes is a consideration of the three smash singles from the album to see the group in full flower. "Souvenir," featuring Paul Humphreys in a quiet but still warm and beautiful lead role, eases in on haunting semi-vocal sighs before settling into its gentle, sparkling melody. The mid-song instrumental break, with its shifted tempos and further wordless calls, is especially inspired. "Joan of Arc," meanwhile, takes the drama of "Enola Gay" to new heights; again, wordless vocals provide the intro and backing, while an initially quiet melody develops into a towering heartbreaker, with Andy McCluskey and band in full flight. If that wasn't enough, the scenario was continued and made even more epic with "Maid of Orleans," starting with a quick-cut series of melancholic drones and shades before a punchy, then rolling martial beat kicks in, with Malcolm Holmes and technology in perfect combination. With another bravura McCluskey lead and a mock-bagpipe lead that's easily more entrancing than the real thing, it's a wrenching ballad like no other before it and little since. Any number of other high points can be named, such as the opening, "The New Stone Age," with McCluskey's emotional fear palpable over a rough combination of nervous electronic pulses, piercing keyboard parts, and slightly distorted guitar. "She's Leaving" achieves its own polished pop perfection – it would have made an inspired choice for a fourth single if one had been forthcoming – while the heartbreaking "Sealand" and "Georgia" hint at where OMD would go next, with Dazzle Ships.

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OMD - Architecture & Morality (Dindisc, Ariola 204 016) (GER 1981) (Vinyl 24-96 & 16-44.1)

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