Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark should celebrate 40 years of existence because their career can be divided into four distinct stages. There were the visionary, pioneering early 1980s; the slicker, America-baiting later '80s; the '90s, during which OMD was a solo vehicle for frontman Andy McCluskey; and the current revival which followed from their 2006 reformation.
It would be difficult to find a more consistently enthralling run of singles than those OMD released between 1979 and 1984. McCluskey and primary partner Paul Humphreys wrote impossibly catchy songs about subjects that were strange and inviting for pop music, even for the time. Song titles like "Electricity", "Genetic Engineering", and "Joan of Arc" speak for themselves. McCluskey chose to address the Cold War and its inherent threat of nuclear annihilation by focusing on the plane that dropped the Bomb. The whirring, paradoxically giddy "Enola Gay" is one of the most enduring singles of its era.
Crucial to OMD's success is their ability to wring genuine emotion out of such unorthodox subjects, often with the aid of haunting, ethereal keyboard textures. From a 21st-century perspective, songs like the alienated "Messages" and coy, ironic "Tesla Girls" seem positively prescient and take on entirely new relevance. All of the pre-reunion singles have been remastered, and they have never sounded better. The synths are sharper and the low-end fuller, making the tracks well worth repurchasing.
| A1 | Electricity |
| A2 | Red Frame/White Light |
| A3 | Messages |
| A4 | Enola Gay |
| A5 | Souvenir |
| A6 | Joan Of Arc |
| A7 | Maid Of Orleans |
| B1 | Genetic Engineering |
| B2 | Telegraph |
| B3 | Locomotion |
| B4 | Talking Loud & Clear |
| B5 | Tesla Girls |
| B6 | Never Turn Away |
| B7 | So In Love |
| C1 | Secret |
| C2 | La Femme Accident |
| C3 | If You Leave |
| C4 | (Forever) Live & Die |
| C5 | We Love You |
| C6 | Shame |
| C7 | Dreaming |
| D1 | Sailing On The Seven Seas |
| D2 | Pandora's Box (It's A Long, Long Way) |
| D3 | Then You Turn Away |
| D4 | Call My Name |
| D5 | Stand Above Me |
| D6 | Dream Of Me |
| E1 | Everyday |
| E2 | Walking On The Milky Way |
| E3 | Universal |
| E4 | If You Want It |
| E5 | Sister Marie Says |
| E6 | History Of Modern" (part 1) |
| F1 | Metroland |
| F2 | Dresden |
| F3 | Night Cafe |
| F4 | Isotype |
| F5 | The Punishment Of Luxury |
| F6 | What Have We Done |
| F7 | Don't Go |
