''The Best of OMD'' is a compilation album by English

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

band

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Wirral Peninsula, Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboar ...

(OMD), released in 1988; marking a decade since the band's beginnings. The record essentially delineates the group's experimental early years from their pop-oriented later work: side one features recordings from 1979 to 1984, while side two is drawn from the group's 1984–1988 efforts. The album was a worldwide success, becoming a Top 5 hit across Europe and achieving 3× platinum sales in the United Kingdom and gold status in the United States. " Dreaming" was released as a single and made little impact on the UK charts, reaching No. 50, but it was a hit in the US (No. 16), Germany (No. 26) and South Africa (No. 2). ''The Best of OMD'' was named by ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quiet ...

'' and ''

Classic Pop Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

'' as one of the best compilation albums in history.

Background

The version of "

Electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

" used is the same as the one featured on their debut album (which itself is the band reworking

Martin Hannett James Martin Hannett (31 May 1948 – 18 April 1991), initially credited as Martin Zero, was an English record producer, musician and an original partner/director at Tony Wilson's Factory Records. Hannett produced music by artists including Joy ...

's original Factory version). The band was originally going to use their very first version of this song, but found the drumming to be inferior and so settled for the remix of the track instead. "Messages" is the more popular 10" single version; "Tesla Girls" is a compilation version not previously released; and "Talking Loud and Clear" is the 7" edited version. The worldwide CD,

MiniDisc MiniDisc (MD) is an erasable magneto-optical disc-based data storage format offering a capacity of 60, 74, and later, 80 minutes of digitized audio. Sony announced the MiniDisc in September 1992 and released it in November of that year fo ...

and DCC versions of the album are resequenced and feature four extra tracks not present on the LP version: "Telegraph" (a unique mix found only on this release, differing from the album version and both 12" versions), "Genetic Engineering", and 12" versions of "La Femme Accident" and "We Love You". The US CD adds only the latter two 12" versions. The Australian version of the vinyl album replaces "Secret" with "We Love You", since that song had been a popular hit there. There was also a video compilation released with the promo videos of some of the songs featured on the album. ''The Best of OMD'' was the group's final album release of the decade, effectively closing a chapter on their history as co-founder

Paul Humphreys Paul David Humphreys (born 27 February 1960) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who is best known for his contributions to Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), a new wave band which he founded alongside Andy McCluskey in 1978. ...

left the following year. According to the band, they had no interest in releasing a hits compilation and did so in order to pay off seemingly inexplicable debts owed to

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

Reception

Max Bell of ''

Number One Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

'' wrote, "Every song seems to be a classic in its own right... '' he Best of OMD' is a timely reminder of just how good pop music can be."

Robert K. Oermann Robert Karl Oermann is a Nashville-based music journalist and author who is recognized as an authority on country music. Oermann is a long-time regular contributor to the trade publication ''MusicRow'', for which he writes a weekly column. Biog ...

noted, "For years, OMD has been pumping out a steady stream of shimmering, shiny dance-pop singles, custom-made for those late nights spent bobbing and weaving to hypnotic rhythms. This lbumcontains 14 perfect OMD sonic ripples." ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'' critic

Gary Graff Gary Graff (born 1960) is an American music journalist and author. Biography Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Graff attended Taylor Allderdice High School where he wrote for school newspaper ''The Taylor Allderdice Foreword''. He receiv ...

referred to the compilation as a "stellar collection of singles". In mid-1988, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' reported that ''The Best of OMD'' was the ninth best-selling CD album in Britain for the first half of the year. In a retrospective review, Mike DeGagne of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

highlighted the band's knack for strong hooks, and described ''The Best of OMD'' as an "excellent compilation" from a group who "were responsible for some of the catchiest and brightest synth pop that the '80s had to offer". ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' called the record "a concise recapitulation of the band's artistic development", while ''

Quietus Titus Fulvius Junius Quietus (died 261) was a Roman usurper against Roman Emperor Gallienus. History Quietus was the son of Fulvius Macrianus and a noblewoman, possibly named Junia. According to ''Historia Augusta'', he was a military tribune ...

'' writer Ian Wade dubbed it "one of the greatest singles collections ever". It was ranked 13th in ''

''s "Top 20 Compilation Albums".

Track listing

All songs written by OMD, except "Locomotion" written by OMD and Gordian Troeller, and "

So in Love "So in Love" is a popular song, written by Cole Porter, from his musical ''Kiss Me, Kate'' (opening on Broadway in 1948), which was based on Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew''. It was sung in the show by Patricia Morison, reprised by Alf ...

" written by OMD and

Stephen Hague Stephen Hague (born 1960) is an American record producer most active with various British acts since the 1980s. Early life Hague was born in Portland, Maine in 1960. Early career Hague started his musical career in the mid-1970s as a session k ...

Vinyl LP and Music Cassette

Compact Disc, MiniDisc and Digital Compact Cassette

VHS Video

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Credits

*"Electricity" and "Dreaming" are produced by OMD. *"Messages", "Enola Gay" and "Souvenir" are produced by OMD and

Mike Howlett Michael John Gilmour Howlett (born 27 April 1950) is a record producer and teacher based in the United Kingdom and Australia. Career In the late 1960s, Howlett was the bassist in Sydney pop band the Affair, which included vocalist Kerrie Bidde ...

. *"Joan of Arc" and "Maid of Orleans" are produced by OMD and Richard Manwaring. *"Telegraph" and "Genetic Engineering" are produced by OMD and

Rhett Davies Rhett Davies (born 1949 in London) is an English record producer and engineer. Davies' father was trumpet player Ray Davies (no relation to Ray Davies of The Kinks). Davies became a studio engineer at Island Records studios in the early 1970s, a ...

. *"Tesla Girls", "Locomotion" and "Talking Loud and Clear" are produced by OMD and Brian Tench. *"So in Love", "Secret", "(Forever) Live and Die", "We Love You" and "La Femme Accident" are produced by

. *"If You Leave" is produced by OMD and

Tom Lord Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

References

External links

Album lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Of Omd, The 1988 greatest hits albums Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark albums Albums produced by Rhett Davies Albums produced by Mike Howlett Albums produced by Stephen Hague Albums produced by Tom Lord-Alge 1988 video albums Music video compilation albums Virgin Records video albums Virgin Records compilation albums